Picture Books

Picture Books are my favorite to read.  What I didn't know that I learned today was that all picture books have 32 pages in them.   Some of my favorite ones when I was little was the Clifford the Big Red Dog books.  We read these often at school and  I remember coming home and reading them to my mom.  Another book that I was introduced to was The Hallo-Weiner.  I remember in Elementary School that around Halloween we would read it.  Picture Books I still enjoy reading today.  When we watched the video of the lady reading to the student it referred to everything she was doing wrong.  I can remember in school the teacher always told us about the author then about the verso page.  My teachers always took the cover off the book too.  When they were reading the story they always had it to where we could always see the pictures.  Whereas the teacher in the video put the book down several times and it was taking her a long time to read the book.  

Anansi

Today in class we learned about themes, motifs, and a few other things.  Then we watched a video called Anansi the spider.  The story was about a tiger that owned everything in the bush.  Anansi wanted to be able to tell everyone that he owned something.  He went to the tiger and asked if he could own the stories.  The tiger said if by Sunday you can catch the snake you could have the stories.  Anansi tried everything until Saturday he got the snake on a piece of bamboo.  He told the snake that the piece of bamboo was longer than he was so the snake told him to tie him down.  In the end Anansi got what he wished for.  I thought this was a great little story.  The spider never gave up and kept trying.  I also like how we talked about how our different cultures all have different things that we are scared of or that we have stories about.  

Maya Angelou video

Wow these videos were an eye opener today.  My favorite part of the videos is when she actually recited some of the poems.  To me it was if her face lit up and it seemed like she was getting into them.  She said poetry needs to be said to be really appreciated.   I am really glad that Ms. Pickett let us watch this.  She shared so much information and some of it was touching.  I did a little research and looked up some of her poetry.  I am looking forward to learning more about poetry and reading more poems.    

 “ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”

A free bird leaps on the back of the wind

and floats downstream till the current ends

and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage

can seldom see through his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill

of things unknown but longed for still

and his tune is heard on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill

of things unknown but longed for still

and his tune is heard on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom.

 

CHapter 5

Chapter 5 is about Poetry.  Poetry is a musical language.  Rhyme is one of the most important aspects of sound in poetry.  What makes the poetic language music to the ear is sound.  This is one of the main reasons why poetry is better read out loud.  One of my favorite poets when I was little was Shel Silverstein.  I was always checking out his books from the library my favorite was Where the Sidewalk ends. http://www.shelsilverstein.com

There are different forms of poetry for children.  While children are not really concerned abut the form they are taught bout haiku.  Poetry can be categorized in several different ways.  Here are some examples by author, type of collection, literary device used, and theme.  Many poets often use repetition so that they can develop rhythm of a poem.  This can be done by repeating one word at the beginning of the line or it can have a bigger pattern.  

Author Profiles

One of my favorite authors as a child was Zeno Zeplin.  He actually came to my elementary school and read us one of the stories and we could buy books and he signed them for us.  I searched all across the Internet but cant seem to find a website for him.  From the back of the book I found out that he is a Texan native who graduated from Texas A&M with a B.S. Degree.  He started writing stories for his grandchildren. 

 

Another book series that I was really into was the Lemony Snicket A Series of Unfortunate Events.  I started reading this series in Junior High and I was addicted to it. http://www.lemonysnicket.com/

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 has been a very fun chapter.  This chapter talks about a connection with schemata and what readers respond about the text.  Today in class Ms. Pickett handed us out a story but she told us not to read it.  Then we got out three different colored markers to use.  She then told us to, as she was reading highlight what we found interesting.  Then we talked about it.  Next she told us to imagine that we were a burglars going to look for items in the house.  After we highlighted we explained it.  Lastly we highlighted as if we were buying a new house.  Then we explained it.  I think this is an excellent way of describing different views of a story.  I remember back in school we would go to the library to pick out books to read.  After we read the books we had to take the AR test over it.  When we read as a class there were always worksheets or quizzes to follow.  I like how the book gives different examples of activities that teachers can do.     

Chapter 3

Wow what another great chapter.  Every time we start a new chapter I’m learning something new.  Chapter three begins talking about comprehension, which is the process of understanding.  When Ms. Pickett starting talking about as a child reading James and the Giant Peach and how the teacher would read a few pages then stop to explain.  I remember back when I was in school my teacher would do the same thing.  All we would want is to find out what happens without having a lecture about what she had just read to us.  Another point she said is that when children go to the library and pick out a hard book the librarian has them sit and read the first pages to make sure they will be able to do it.  If the child can’t do it then they wont want to read and wont make an effort.  I know for a fact that if a book is not interesting for me I’m probably not going to get far in it.  She also said that every time she is up front in the class talking that she is becoming smarter.  If students are able to stand up and do that then they would probably learn better.  Louise Rosenblatt is a very important person.  She changed the way of reading researchers and the theories about compensation.  Her view of reading often defines how readers often read differently for different purposes.