Reading Journey

This class has forced me to reach out of my comfort zone in reading. With that I have found a new childrens author who I absolutely adore. Lois Lowry is the author of books such as A Summer to Die, Number in hte Stars, and The Giver.  Her books are very personal and touch on rougher subjects but in a way that is enjoyable. Each of her books has a sensitivity to it while stating harsh facts. She has become on of my new favorite authors and I will definently be using some of her books in my classroom library.  

Dizzy By: Jonah Winter

Dizzy is the story of a child who was born with music in his blood. From a very young age Dizzy played his trumpet. He was born in a very small town in South Carolina, but he knew he wanted to go somewhere bigger. So he moved to New york City. There he played, and he played. His bubbly, fun, over the top personality often got him into trouble though. He was not a normal horn player, he had a spunk to him that was very catchy and everyone loved. This was where Bebop began.

Jonah Winter does an amazing job depicting the story through his words. He has a way of making up words to sound like sounds so that you can imagine exactly what is going on. It is a biography that is enjoyable for all ages.

The illustrations, and the layout of the book are very captivating. It is pleasurable to read and see. It was one of the most fun books that i have read in a while.

                                           

Multicultural Literature

What is Multicultural Literature? It is literature that introduces different cultures into a classroom. Why is this important? Because we are to teach our students about the diffrent cultures so that they will be more open minded and understanding to the world around them. Living in the United States we are a "melting pot" country. Our studnets will encounter many different cultures within their life time, and it is important that they are somewhat knowledgable about those cultures. Introducing it through literature is a great way to incorporate it into the classroom. There are many books out there having to do with different cultures, and with those books there are many activities you can do. Multicultural Literature will be a mandatory action in my classroom!

Writing a Childrens Book

For our latest class assignment we had to write a children's book. How hard could that possibly be? Very! My book was based upon the Dr.Seuss books. It was called "A Dream Away". In this book i came up with 20 lines that rhymed. I had to make up some words (just as Dr.Seuss does) and use words in ways I had never really thought of before. I had a very difficult time finding a way to make it entertaining. To me it seemed to be more of a night time story rather than one I would read to my class in school. We did not have to have illustrations or anything yet, I could only imagine how hard it would be to incorporate all of the other elements that go into a children's story book!

Oscar's Half Birthday

This is a story written by Bob Graham about a little boy whose family was so anxious for his whole birthday that thye wanted to celebrate his half birthday with a picnic in the park. This story was so full of imagery through Grahams words. Although there were pictures there to guide us, if we had not had any pictures we would have been able to imagine his creations vividly. He captures the mind of a child greatly. His writing is so detailed that there is not a piece of the picture that would be missing. He paints the picture of the older sister Millie with her wire hanger fairy wings, and her dinosaur puppet. He paints the picture of the sky in the park. His words are so vivid and entertaining. One of the best childrens books I have read in a while.

Graham, Bob. (2008) Oscars Half Birthday. Walker Books