Teacher Guide

Noel and I will be working on a teacher guide and presentation for the award winning childrens video, Miss Nelson has a Field Day. It is a really cute story about a teacher who creatively whips her school's unruly football team into shape after they drive their coach batty. The ALA awarded this film with the Carnegie (sp?) medal, I believe (I don't have the award right in front of me). I'm not sure what that medal is for, specifically, but I'll look it up when I prepare the presentation. Noel and I met last week to watch the short video and delegate jobs. She is working on the teacher's guide and I am preparing the presentation. The teacher's guide shouldn't be too tough, b/c there was already a teacher's guide availabe on United Streaming. :) I hope it's ok if we use some of those activities on our own guide. (I don't see the point in totally reinventing the wheel!)

Different choice for historical fiction

Since I didn't enjoy reading Adam of the Road, I decided to choose a different book to read and review for the wiki. I chose Soft Rain, which is a story about a young Cherokee girl and her journey out west on the trail of tears. It was a very moving and sad story. I was really unaware of all the hardships that the Native Americans had to endure. I wish I had learned about history through literature like this. I think it would've stuck in my head a little better (esp. if I had an emotion to attach it to and a personal experience). I learned from textbooks, and I never enjoyed history, geography, social studies, or anything of that nature. It's boring reading from a textbook b/c there are no personal experiences to tie the events to. I really enjoy reading biographies, memoirs, and, I've found after reading this book, even historical fiction (if it is well written). I'm sure children would much prefer learning through stories than reading facts from a textbook.

Australian Discussion Board

I've been checking the discussion board and I've read posts from other groups, but my students have yet to sign on and post anything. It was somewhat disappointing. From what I understand, there were some technical issues or something that was keeping them from posting comments. I wish I would've been able to chat with them about this book. I think it would've been beneficial to both of us. They would be learning about literature and I would be learning about the technological possibilities available to me and my students. It would've been a great experience, but since our last class is in a couple of weeks, I suppose we won't be interacting with the students at all. At least some groups got an initial post from their students. Mine didn't sign on at all. :(

Poetry Selection: If Pigs Could Fly by Bruce Lansky

This book, to me, was very entertaining... at first. The humor was immature. My second grade son loved it. The author pokes fun at everyone from teachers to siblings. I loved the drawings in the book as well, I believed that really helped the comedic aspect of the book. The poems were very simplistic... very little depth, but again, they were very light hearted and quite entertaining. I would recommend it for a young child, or even older children, actually. I have some 6th grade boys that would probably find it enjoyable (reluctant readers).

Group Book on Realistic Fiction: Molly's Pilgrim

I had forgotten to post about this book before, but my group discussed the book Molly's Pilgrim. I really enjoyed reading this story about a little girl who migrated to America. At first, she was ridiculed about her differences, but she later learned to accept herself and be proud of who she was and where she came from. Her teacher told the class to make a pilgrim doll one night for homework, but her mother didn't know what the first pilgrims looked like, so she made the doll to look like Molly, the main character. Molly was afraid to show her doll the next day because she knew that wasn't what it was supposed to look like, but after she explained that her mother made the doll to resemble her because she, too, was a pilgrim (one who came to the country for religious freedom), the teacher told her she had the most beautiful doll in the class and put it up on her desk for the class to see. It's really a great story to help children learn to celebrate diversity and learn to appreciate their differences. It's also a great story about self-acceptance. I would recommend it to 2nd or 3rd grade students.

Book Choice for Chapter on Historical Fiction: Adam of the Road

I must admit that historical fiction is not one of my favorite genres, so this book was not an easy read for me. It nearly bored me to tears, actually. It was written well enough and it might be entertaining to someone who was into this genre and interested in this time period, but not to me. This was the first book that I've read this semester that I actually didn't enjoy at all. It was the winner of a Newbery Medal, however, so I clearly must be missing something. I just think that because I have no interest in history, it was just not something I would've chosen on my own. It was set in 13th century England and is about an 11-year-old minstrel who goes in search of his stolen dog and missing friend. It would be appropriate for probably a 5th or 6th grade student.

Unit Plan

I'm collaborating with another 6th grade teacher to create the unit plan on children's literature. It worked out really well, because we will both be able to use the plan. We've decided on a two week plan that deals with the subject of propaganda. Neither of us have taught that topic yet and it does appear in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study objectives for sixth grade. I believe we are going to discuss the book, Number the Stars, since it deals with World War II. The librarian at my school has also agreed to share a video with us that she used to use when she taught the unit to her students. We plan to introduce the topic by allowing the students to search magazines and newspapers for advertisements that may display some propaganda. It will be an exciting and useful project!