Explore the Arts

Incorporating different forms of Art into the classroom and more spacifically, students writing, can make such a large impact on the classroom. Bringing in art, music, and drama into the classroom can make student more interested in literacy amongst other forms of learning. It gets them more involved in the activity and helps them to relate to the topic. It brings fun into education!Bringing music and internet or photos into research can make the process more enjoyable and less stressful for students. I will giving all of the resources and more to my students because i want them to WANT to learn.

MGRP review!!!

This research paper has been a very long process and has taken a lot of time and focus. I really enjoyed researching this topic because i value the information that i found on children with autism. I am a huge supporter of having them be involved in the classroom and not having them separate simply because they have a different way of communicating. They have so much to offer students and teachers that are overlooked and mistaken. With the research i have done i have come to find that their differences are actually something a classroom needs and should value. I also found that it really does help teachers and forces them to be more diverse and prepared for class. They give you a sense of ease even if they are socially awkward. I am very happy that i chose this topic for my research paper and that i found all the information that i did.

Literacy Moves On 1-5

Chapter 1
This chapter was about all the different types of modes and medias that can be used in childrens texts that can be used in the classroom. It really opened up my eyes to how many resources there are available for students and how necessary it is to open the door for each child as much as i can. The more opportunities we give to our students the wider the range for childrens thinking. There is more to reading then simple text. The pictures that come along with text can open up even more opportunities to students and giving them a better range of ideas.

Chapter 2
Chapter two focused more on media education. Introducing technology to any grade is something that should happen because it is becoming a huge part of our society, however, letting take over education is not something that i think is a good idea. There is so much more that can be done with education then putting students on computers or letting them watch tv. I think that everything in moderation is what should be taken into consideration when including technology into the classroom.

Chapter 3
This chapter discusses immersed children that get caught up in their video games. The difference between that and engaging them in education. There does have to be an understanding that no matter what children do they are getting some type of knowledge but the concern should be about what the contexts contain and if it will help them in their future. Again, technology is something that can be very useful in a classroom whether through video games, movies, or computers. But, if it takes over education in the classroom it will not be giving them the appropriate amount of both sides.

Chapter 4
This chapter discusses the importance of broadening students range in writing. That it is better to give them more opportunities to write then just with pencil and paper. Giving them the chance to have online journals or personal journals of their own. It is important to keep up with society and how much technology is becoming a part of it and therefore i will incorporate technology into my classroom. However, i will do it in moderation.

Chapter 5
This chapter talked about how important it is to realize what your students are interested in and how, as a teacher, you have responsibility to find their hobbies and how to connect them to the classroom. The better you get to know your students and what they are interested in the more likely you are to connect the literacy information to the students. Listening to all the stories backs up the fact that it is crucial for teachers to find what their students are interested in and how to relate it back to the classroom

Chapters 10, 11, and 12!!

Chapter 10 talks about how to get through a conference correctly and efficiently. They discussed the 5 parts of a conference that will help a teacher the most and these consisted of; transitions, naming the skill, saying why it's good, say back to me, and record the teaching. Transitions are just a good base for teachers to be prepared for conversation and topic discussions so that things run smoothly throughout the conference. Naming the skill is important because it emphasizes the high points for the students and gives them a boost of confidence. Saying why it is good and repeating it back to the teacher helps to make sure the students have a better understanding of the main goals of the conference. I think this is a great idea and truly helps prepare the teacher and students to move forward together.

Chapter 11 discusses group conferencing and other ways to better manage your classroom. One of their ideas were to have mini lessons and organize the classroom to better suit these lessons. I thought the idea of getting a colorful carpet and having the students sit and get through a small and short lesson. I also thought it was a very crucial and important fact to introduce students to what is expected of them and inform them on the conferences they are going to have throughout the year as soon as they attend school in September.

Chapter 12 was focussing mostly on Rubrics and the different ways in which to format these rubrics for your class. They were very specific on the organization of the rubrics and making sure they had all the different parts needed. I think its really important to organize your classroom they way you like things to operate and make it very clear to all of your students so they can all be on the same page. I also think it is very important because it helps the teacher to be more prepared for class and all of the flexibility and change that comes into play on a normal daily basis.

Chapters 7, 8, and 9

When I was reading through chapter 7 a few different things stuck out to me. First, I think live writing is a great mini lesson and can be very beneficial to the students. This is because when a teacher makes public the thought process behind writing it demonstrates to the students how they can go about their individual writing skills. Second, I really liked all the different types of Try-Its. I think its great to get students involved with each other throughout the lessons along with different types of writing Try-Its. Again, the more practice and examples the students can experience the better they will get.

Chapter 8 explained how to have a conference with students in order to find their strengths and weaknesses with reading and writing. I feel as though its very important, as a teacher, to research their students to become more aware of their needs and characteristics. Being able to find a students strengths is a huge part of their growing process because then you can find what they need to work on as well. Building conversation and observing your students are also important because it helps the relationship between student and teacher. In a sense your getting two things done at once!

Chapter 9 discusses more researching skills and techniques in order to make the process even more beneficial. As a teacher, throughout your conference you should be able to find related topics or craft skills that would help the students understanding. Observing is also a huge part of the conference and should help the teacher find things like absence of punctuation, a need for general writing strategies, absence of a specific craft, and so on. These are important qualities to find in a student because without them they will struggle more with their writing. The more a teacher can find out about a student the more he/she can help them develop a better schema with reading or writing.

Chapter 4 and 5

Chapter 4 was very interesting to me because it explains how and why children write sentences and chose words when writing. Getting children to write the correct way or having them create a better vocabulary has always seemed somewhat challenging to me. This chapter explains specific crafts that make it so much easier for a child to catch onto his writing. The five senses really caught my attention because I feel as though it makes a huge difference in writing, especially with elementary children. The idea to add one more sentence to describe and event or feeling was shown to be very helpful to the students. I think that is a great idea because it not only adds more depth to the child's writing but gives them an opportunity to give a wider range in vocabulary.

Chapter 5 was over punctuation which I remember very well from elementary school. Adding periods to the end of every sentence seem to be an easy thing for children to remember but run-on sentences and commas were much more challenging. I thought it was a great idea to have them use commas first only in series. I remember doing that as well and it really made a difference in my sentence structure.

Wilde reading!

This reading was very interesting to me because I have had many struggles with spelling throughout my life and I do remember how my teachers went about helping us learn in elementary school. In the article she talked about teachers just giving the correct spellings to the students if they would ask and how that will never be a useful resource to them for their futures. Spelling is like math or any other subject, you dont want to give the students the answer or they will never learn. Also the different ways that she talked about useful resources for spelling were very similar to how I approach the them in everyday life. I feel like giving each child a dictionary and having them spend more time with activities on spelling would be very helpful and beneficial to their futures. I have always felt that spelling is important to writing and literature and also helps them become more familiar with vocabulary words. The more practice with using their own resources the better and easier it will become.