My Life in Dog Years- Non-Fiction- Week 8

Paulsen, G. (1998). My life in dog years. New York, N.Y: Delacorte Press.

Summary:
My Life In Dog Years is a biography of Gary Paulsen's experiences with his pet dogs throughout his life. Each chapter tells a story of a different dog and details of Paulsen's life at the time he was with the dog. One dog, Cookie, saved his life and several dogs helped him get through some pretty hard and lonely times he encountered growing up.

New Terms:
My Life In Dog Years is a partial biography because it doesn't tell about Gary Paulsen's life from birth to death. The story only includes portions of his life that include the dogs in which he tells about. I think this book could also be considered a collected biography if you consider that each chapter is about the life of a different one of Gary Paulsen's dogs.

Curriculum Connection:
This book could be used to help students write their own biographies. The book isn't extremely long and you could discuss with students how Paulsen kept his readers interested throughout the book.

Standard:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

BIG Question:
How does Paulsen keep his reader interested throughout the book?

Field Experience Questions- Week 8

1. How many hours did you complete?

                5

2. In a short paragraph or bulleted list, how did you spend your time?

·         Assisted LA teacher in classroom.

·         Observed LA teacher in classroom.

·         Collaborated with SMLS to integrate technology into a lesson.

·         Interview with SMLS

3. How did the experience help you to strengthen at least one Kentucky Teacher Standard? (be sure to name the standard)

Standard 6: The Teacher Demonstrates the Implementation of Technology. Through class assignments (book talks, book trailers, etc) I was able to come up with ideas for my students to do in my own classroom. Also, through the interview with our SLMS, I was able to collaborate with her on ways to integrate more technology in my classroom.

4. Talk a little about one thing you learned because of this field experience.

            I learned how to incorporate more reading into my science content throughout the year. I am very excited to use some of the ideas I learned in this class.

 

October Sky- Booktalk- Week 7

Hickam, H. (1998). October sky. New York: Island Books.

Have you ever wanted to do something different than what your parents had planned for you? Well so does Sonny Hickam in October Sky. Sonny lives in the small town of Coalwood West Virginia where everything is owned by the coal company. You can’t even live there unless you work for the coal mines. That’s because the coal company owns all the houses and only leases them to workers. All the boys in Coalwood grow up and go to work in the mines. But Sonny has other plans. He wants to build rockets for NASA. In this memoir by Homer Hickam, you’ll read a story of a young boy growing up with a passion for rockets and a rebellion against the town’s norm.

Week 8- Reading Log

Reading Log for 30 books (to paste into your blog in at the end of the term)

Genre / Titles you read (Hit enter after each one and a new number should pop up)

             I.      Non-fiction/Informational (1 chapter book or photo essay book reflection required on blog)

1)      My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen 

          II.      Poetry (1 chapter or picture book reflection required on blog)

1)      Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

2)      Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

 

       III.      Modern Fantasy (1 chapter book reflection required on blog)          

1)      Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix

2)      The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

3)      Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

4)      Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

5)      Divergent by Veronica Roth 

       IV.      Historical Fiction (1 reflection required on blog –can be a picture book)     

1)      October Sky by Homer Hickam

2)      The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman 

          V.      Traditional (1 reflection required on blog – one can be a picture book)        

1)      Jack Tales (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      Chicken Little by Rebecca Emberley

3)      The Boy Who Cried Wolf retold by B.G. Hennessy 

       VI.      Realistic Fiction (1 chapter book reflection required on blog)

1)      Rules by Cynthia Lord

2)      The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster

3)      The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie

4)      Maniac MaGee by Jerry Spinelli

5)      Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

6)      The Canning Season by Polly Horvath 

    VII.      Picture Books (2 reflections required on blog during the first two weeks of class. There should be a total here of at least six.)

1)      Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka

3)      The Treasure by Uri Shulevitz

4)      The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

5)      The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen

6)      Thumbelina by Hans Christian Andersen

7)      This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

8)      The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don & Audrey Wood

9)      The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

10)  Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

11)  I love You with All My Heart by Sally Huss

Rules- Booktalk- Week 6

Lord, C. (2006). Rules. New York: Scholastic.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1Es1SGtKQBz

Does your brother or sister ever get on your nerves or embarrass you? My brother, David, embarrasses me all the time. Like if he spills anything on his shirt or pants he must remove them as soon as possible or when he puts his toys in our fish tank. My mom says I should go easy on him, but somebody needs to give him rules. When I go to take David to his Occupational Therapy, I get my mom all to myself while someone else is in charge of David. Recently, though, I have made friends with a boy there named Jason. He can only talk by pointing at his communication book of cards. I have tons of fun making new cards to add to his book, like “stinks a big one!” Everyone should be able to say that. My new neighbor thinks I should bring Jason to the dance, but I haven’t told her Jason is in a wheelchair.

SLMS Interview Summary- Week 5

After meeting with our school's library media specialist I have discovered several things I did not know. I realize our library has several resources to help students in my science classes; things from book sets to science encyclopedias. The library also has tons of electronic devices to help me in my classroom. We have Elmos (document cameras) available for checkout as well as Activotes (interactive testing system). My librarian is available to give booktalks to my students on books related to topics we are covering in class as well as assist students in researching different topics throughout the year.
To my surprise, there is no manual or set of procedures for our library covering books that have mature content. If the library is notified or knowingly has a book with such material, it is kept in the librarians office and is available to students who request it. I really thought our library should have something more concrete than just keeping it hidden and by request only.
I am looking forward to utilizing some of what our library has to offer (and taking the SMLS up on her offers) this year. Glad I took the time to interview her:)

Love That Dog- Poetry- Week 5

Creech, S. (2001). Love that dog. New York: HarperCollins.

Love That Dog is about a boy, Jack, who is uncomfortable writing poetry when his teacher asks him to. He finds that he can't avoid the assignments and writes poetry anyway. Throughout the course of the book, Jack opens up about a dog he loves and finds he does enjoy writing poetry.

Love That Dog is considered narrative poetry. The book progresses just like any other story we would read, (in a sequence of events) but includes poems to tell us the story. Throughout the book are several free verse poems. There is also an example of concrete poetry on page 37 in the book. The boy decides to try concrete poetry when the teacher shares an example in class. Of course, his is about his yellow dog.

Curriculum Connection:
Just as the teacher does in Love That Dog, you could introduce the poems Jack discusses in the book. Have students write their own versions of the different poems before reading Jack's version. Then they can compare.

Standard:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.9a Apply grade 6 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres [e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories] in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics”).

Big Question:
Almost every poem Jack writes in the book is about his dog. Can you think of something you are passionate enough about to write several different poems on the same topic?