Teacher's View

My unit is over reading and narrative writing including imagery and figurative language. I did use one specific trade book throughout my whole unit but there are others I could use too. 1. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen- This is the book that is the main example of narrative stories and the use of imagery and figurative languages.  2.  Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume- This book could be use by reading a few pages and asking students what point of view this book was written. Judy Blume also uses figurative language throughout the book which is similar to Gary Paulen in Hatchet.    3. Prairie Evers by Ellen Airgood- I had not read this book before but it is a book that tells a great story. The book also uses figurative language that students can see how they can incorporate it into their writing.  4. My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook- This book is a short book that I can use to show illustrations. Illustrations would be he...

Week 5! Crazy how time flies and I feel like I still have so much to do! I decided to stick with the grade I am more familiar, 4th grade. Like I mentioned before, I student taught in grades 4/5, but I spent teaching language arts with mostly 4th graders and enjoyed it. When thinking about my unit plan, I thought of how my cooperative teacher and other teachers in the unit planned out lessons where the writing was relative to writing. I personally thought it was the most effective way for students to learn and wanted to follow. I have plan on my unit being like a guided reading lesson, but also have writing exercises for students to complete. The main objective is students knowing what descriptive writing is and demonstrate their understanding. The main problem I am having is putting my ideas/lessons into paper. I have many ideas going through my mind and just want to make sure the lesson would be effective and students are learning. What grades are you guys using for you...

This week we had class differently, but I learned more about vocabulary and language in general. From chapters 4 and 5, the stages of spelling was explained. I had previously touched a little bit about the stages in another education class, but I am glad to be reminded of the four stages: Precommunicative, prephonetic, phonetic, transitional, and conventional. I think in my experiences I have seen each stage from working at a daycare to working with elementary students. When I was younger, my mother kept several of my writings and school projects and I remember looking through them and seeing my spelling improve throughout the years. Does anyone still have any of their childhood writings still? During my student teaching experience, I noticed that vocabulary was taught differently than when I was in school. I remember having to write my words out a certain about of times and looking up the definitions in a dictionary. Now, many schools used word study, which is something I really e...

Word Walls. I think Word Walls add on to the classroom especially in an elementary school setting. From Kindergarten where they start learning how to spell words.....  (Pinterest.com) (firstgradenest.com) To even high school where a teacher teaches a certain subject only.   (pinterest.com) Words walls are useful for all ages. It is available information for students to use. Word walls are there to increase students' vocabulary throughout the school year. Once I get my own classroom, I do plan on using word walls. I have seen my cooperative teachers use creative kinds of walls and it seemed that students enjoyed them. Word walls can also help students with their spelling because the vocabulary on the wall are typically the words they will use in everyday basis.  I also think it would be helpful in reading. If they know what the "sight word" or "word wall", they will be capable of increasing their reading level. I have also seen te...

Ahhhh! I almost forgot to blog this week! Well, Week 2 just showed how as a teacher, you have to have a Plan B because there will be times when things do not go as planned when using technology. I have learned you can not solely depend on technology in lesson plans. Just keep calm and move on or make some adjustments when needed. Reading through the first three chapters, I saw familiar terms, but also terms there were new to me. One was constructionist. I know now that it is define as a point of view where readers, who are typically students, process the language through their own experiences. I would use this kind of approach to teaching and encourage students to create connections while they are reading to reading. Anecdotal record keeping was one that I was somewhat familiar, but once reading about it, it came back to mind. This is tracking of a certain student's development and I also think it would be useful in my classroom because I can see progress or no progre...

Tonight was the first time we "met" and feeling overwhelmed! I only had a week off in between student teaching and this class, so mentally I was not ready for more work. However, I am keeping in mind this is my last class and can finally receive my certification!  I am very happy with how class went today. Compared to some online classes I have taken in the past, students were never given time to work on their assignments during class. Today, students completed the first two discussions which required to explore two sites with teacher resources. I really liked those sites and saved the links just in case I need some help with lesson planning.  Thank you Dr. Steffes for letting class have time to work on first assignments and answer questions. Going over and clarifying assignments from day one, gives students an idea on how much time they have and what is to be expected. I dislike when professors wait until the end of the semester and give out projects.  Overall...