blog 4 fryday the 30th of Jan

I really enjoyed the article "Getting Ready." It is cool when she likens her classroom to an artist's studio (painting, sculpting--that kind of art). Students in her class have at their disposal paper, pencils, staples, resources, scissors, 3-hole punches, etc. It helps keep time from being wasted. I know from my substituting experience that a large amount of time is wasted when students are searching for that elusive pencil, or note pad. When a good painter gets inspired, I know she does not want to spend 1/2 an hour searching for her Cadmium Yellow.

Concerning Seedfolks, my stepdaughter has been having trouble in the Language Arts subject. I figured I could help her out. She is 10. I had her read it and write me a book report, and a person response/what she learned page. She said she learned that it is good to help other people out when you see they have a problem (like the man who watered Kim's dying lima beans).  She is so precious. Our next project is a contrasting between the MGM film The Wizard of Oz, and L. Frank Baum's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Here...We......Go!

In the article, "Narratives about Teaching Literature and Reading," I thought there was quite a lot of useful information concerning teaching literacy. One thing that struck my mind as I read was the tactic of using a YA novel as as entry way into a classical text. With the YA novel, students can begin to grapple with concepts and societal issues without the daunting classical text alone looming over the secondary student.