EDRG 3321 Authors profile

I was looking around google when I came across Ken Nesbitt. I was not able to read his whole collection of poetry but what I did get to read had me laughing. The collection is called "When the Teacher isn't Looking". Here is one poem from it:

Falling Asleep in Class

I fell asleep in class today,
as I was awfully bored.
I laid my head upon my desk
and closed my eyes and snored.
I woke to find a piece of paper
sticking to my face.
I'd slobbered on my textbooks
and my hair was a disgrace.
My clothes were badly rumpled
and my eyes were glazed and red.
My binder left a three-ring
indentation in my head.
I slept through class, and probably
I would have slept some more,
except my students woke me
as they headed out the door.

Kenn Nesbitt
Copyright © 2005 Kenn Nesbitt. All Rights Reserved.

I found this poem at http://www.poetry4kids.com/modules.php?name=Poetry_Books&op=ShowBook&bookid=2 at this website you can find other books by him and other authors that write children's poetry. As I googled more information about Nesbitt I found a website that had information about having him come to your school and read his poetry and speak with the students! How great that would be! I am so glad that author are willing to go to schools and show students that they are real people just like them. If the students and others were interested the kids could have fundraisers throughout the year to pay for Nesbitt or someone like him to come and speak. I am looking forward to purchasing a few of his books to place in my collection for my classroom!

Shel Silverstein

One of the books that picked for my poetry genre was "This Missing Piece" by Shel Silverstein. I used to read books by Silverstein when I was in the 6th grade. My friend had "Where the Side Walk Ends" we loved to read the poems out of that books. His poems are fun and creative for children, which is why they love them so much. As I was looking up information about him I came across his website. It is sooo much fun, it would be great to use in the classroom when you are studying poetry. As soon as you hit the enter button you are taken into the world of Siverstein, where shoes can walk without legs and a head can have a wheel for a body! I loved exploring his website. I also found so you tube videos that would be a great way to incorporate technology into your lesson. Silverstein is a beloved children's author and is one that I will have in my own classroom! I hope you enjoy the web links!

http://www.shelsilverstein.com/indexSite.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO5JHUj4aiI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWFR8pcm8x4&feature=related

Authors Profile EDRG 3321 MW

When I think of children's book one of the first authors that comes to mind is Maurice Sendak. I love his book Where the Wild Things Are. This is the story about a little boy named Max who is sent to his room by his mom, when he gets there his imagination runs wild and takes him to a far away land where the wild things are. He becomes the King of the wild things and they go on a wild rumpus. Sendak is both the author and the illustrator for this book. His use of pictures and colors are phenomenal! Where the Wild Things Are will soon be in the theater which will make this a great story for me to use in my classroom. By the time I start teaching it should be on video! Sendak is also known for other books like, In the Night Kitchen and Kenny's Window. Where the Wild Things Are is the book that he is best know for. It became so popular that it has been translated into 15 different languages. This story will be great in the classroom because it is fun for children to read and it helps teach them about the importance of using their imagination! This is a you tube video I found to go along with Where the Wild Things Are. Check it out if you can! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSkHA6IjrlY&feature=related This video would be good to show to students and have them read along with you. I think it's cute, enjoy! :)

EDRG 3321 Courtney Holley Ch. 3

Chapter 3 is all about comprehension. It wasn't until I read this chapter that I understood what comprehension truly is. Comprehension is the process of understanding or making meaning from what we read. There is different ways to comprehend material: reading story/text, looking at a map, environmental comprehension and many more. The idea of comprehening more than just text was a new concept for me. As teachers it is important to have our classroom environment set up in a way that is challenging for our students and will help then expand on their prior schema. This chapter also talks about how the teachers role is to enable and support comprehension by matching students interests and reading ability to "ensure successful reading."(Kasten, Kristo and McClure Pg. 38) The "Questions for Levels of Comprehending" are also going to be very helpful in the classroom. This is just one way that a teacher will be able to assess her students comprehension of the story. Mapping, comic strips, drawing and writing to learn are other ways of assessing comprehension. This chapter opened my eyes to the importance of reading comprehension and how I can help my students achieve this very important goal!

EDRG 3321 Courtney Holley Ch. 2

Chapter 2 is all about how important it is to make your classroom culturally responsive. The chapter opens up by explaining what culture is. Culture is ways of knowing, believing, valuing, and thinking among a group people. (Living Literature pg. 22) A big area from this chapter that stuck out to me was under the titled section "The Need for Culturally Responsive Schooling" where it says that there are two challenges that each teacher has to face, 1 is being aware of your classroom mismatch culture and 2 that as a teacher you need the opportunity to know in death your students background, families, home experiences, and values. This is very important information for us as teachers to gather about our students. I really like this chapter it is one that will help you understand how to reach all of our children!

EDRG 3321 MW 11 a.m. Children lit websites

The first site that I found was Judy Blume's site. I loved all of her books when i was growing up! I was not a big reader but these books helped me to find enjoyment in reading. I would use her books to help my students enjoy reading. http://www.judyblume.com/about.php Her website has a section talking about her and her accomplishments and a section for kids which includes writing tips. http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html This is the other site that I really like. I am a big fan of Eric Carle. When I was working at The First Baptist Day Care the children loved these books. The colors, pictures and white backgrounds are great for little eyes to be able to focus. This website has a list of all of Carle's books and other resources. I hope you enjoy these. I have not recieved my textbook yet so I am not able to write about chapter 1. It's in the mail and should be here soon though!!

Courtney Holley