Edrg 3321 Monday Night

Author Profile- Lynee Reid Banks

The Indian In the Cupboard by Lynee Reid Banks is one of my all time favorite books. The idea to turn an action figure into real life was an excellent one. I remember reading this book and watching the movie. The way the book was written made me enjoy it so much. This was the first time that I actually enjoyed the book more than I did the movie, and this rarely happens. I really enjoyed it and the way the author made the cupboard so powerful and magical. There are several sequels and additions to the book that I was never aware of. There is The Return of the Indian, The Secret of the Indian, The Mysetery of the Cupboard, and the Key to the Indian. I plan on reading all of these. For more information on Lynne Reid Banks, visit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Reid_Banks

EDRG 3321 Monday night

Literature cirlces are something that I enjoy doing. I've had the opportunity to do them in my assessment class this semester and they are very beneficial. Lit circles give every group member an opportunity to particpate in sharing something that they found in the book that is of some importance in one way or the other. One of the jobs is the discussion director. I found this job to be the most important because this person was in charge of starting off the discussion as well as making sure that everyone remained on topic. I enjoyed this position. Another one of the jobs is the illustrator. This person has to draw a picture of something that happened in the book or of something that has happened in real life that reminded them of the book. I struggled with this part because I'm not a very good artist. There are several other jobs in the literature circle and all of them are of equal importance. The good thing about literature circles is that they can be used on young and older students. All in all, I think literature circles are very helpful and should be used in all grades.

Author Profile- Stan and Jan Berenstain

The Berenstain Bears book series is a series of novels that I've always enjoyed reading. They have been around since I was a little kid and they are still being read by today's younger generation. One of the reasons I like this series of books is because the bears face everday life situations that we as humans face. The authors do such a good job of making the bears seem like noraml people and at the same time they have so many of the same characteristics as humans do. Stan and Jan Berenstain have done a really good job with these series of books. The idea to make stories about bears and make them seem so real was a brilliant one. To learn more about Stan and Jan Berenstain you can visit this site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_and_Jan_Berenstain

EDRG 3321 Mon Night 7-950

In my opinion, shared reading is something that benefits children of all ages. But I definitely think that doing shared reading should begin at a very early age. book choice is very important when it comes to shared reading. It is important to pick a book that you know your child or student will enjoy. It needs to be exciting and have the ability to capture the reader's attention. The aritcle used an example of a book called The Very Hungry Catepillar. We all like that book because it was probably shared to us when we were bery young. The little girl in the article loved the book. What was even better for her was that she had her own little worms that looked like caterpillars. Although she was a little toddler, she was still able to relate to the book. Shared reading allows for discussion as well as re rereading. Re-reading is good because it allows the students and teacher to emphasize on key words that students need to know or or having difficulty pronouncing. All in all, shared reading is an excellent way to share a book with your students and children.

EDRG 3321 Mon night 7:00-9:50

Author Profile- Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Quiet Cricket, and The Grouchy Lady Bug are all written by Eric Carle. I know we've all at least read of one of these books. The one that sticks out to me in The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This great children's book contains wonderful inllustrations of the caterpillar and all of the food he eats. This book not only shows how the caterpillar turns into a butterfly, but it also promotes counting and the days of the week. For ex: "on monday the caterpillar ate 1 apple, on tuesday the caterpillar ate 2 pears, on wednesday the caterpillar ate 3 plums...etc. This book is a all time great and will continue to please children for many more years to come. Learn more about Eric Carle and his books at

www.eric-carle.com/home.html

EDRG 3321 Mon Night 7-950

Chapter 9: Non fiction

The chapter talks about teachers using non fiction as substitiutes or alternatives for teaching content to their students. I remember doing textbook work in high and middle school. and it was one of the most dull and boring ways to learn. I never was able to see a teachers textbook until a couple of years ago. I remember seeing that their copy actually had notes on what to say and what important words to introduce. It even had teaching strategies. I always wondered why the lecture was always the same in highschool. It's because the teachers always did what the book told them to do. Using non fiction books means that everyone would have the same book and the teacher would shy away from being told how to teach and hopefully would be able to come up with new and exciting ways to teach.

Author Profile- Dr. Suess

Dr Suess is an author that hopefully all of us have had the oppurtunity to know and read. He has many great books, poems and is one of the most loved children's authors in the world. Green Eggs and Ham, If I Ran The Zoo and Yertle the Turtle are all books that Dr. Suess has written and the readers have really enjoyed. All of his books can be used in early childhood classrooms. Rhyming is a great skill that students need to practice because it allows students to really use every possible word that they know as well a learn new ones. Dr Suess books a promote a fun rhyming environment.

For more on Dr. Suess please visit this site

www.seussville.com/

EDRG 3321 Mon Night 7-930

Chapter 9 fiction

Fiction is a genre that all of us love. Or at least i though we did. Our mini presentations in class were interesting. Most of us said that we enjoyed fiction and gave reasons adn meanings that represented fiction to us. However some of us described fiction simply as not real. The beginning of chapter 9 describes fiction as being more than not real or untrue. It described it as something that illuminates the truth and makes us think about and reconsider what is real. We think of fantasy often when we think of fiction or at least I do. The fairy tales and folk tales stick out in my mind the most because they really allow one to utilize their imagination.

Author Profile- Peter Harris

In this book Harris does a great job informing readers that female pirate did indeed exist. He shows the use of imagination by the characters in the book who pretend to be pirates which lets the young audience know that using imagination is very rewarding and powerful. In this book a boy named Tom is awakened by what sounds like pirates. He steps outside his house and sees his neighbors sailing up the street and onto his drive way. He hops on the ship while his parents are sleeping and spends his whole night on a pirate adventure with his friends. Then they encounter grown up pirates that capture them and end their journey. the grown up pirates end up being the parents and the pirated journey ends that night. This is a great story by Harris.

EDRG 3321 Mon Night 7-930

Picture books! Picture books are every adults favorite for many reasons, mainly because if you're reading to your children you usually have less to read. And for children, well every child loves to look at pictures. There are very important elements in picture books like line which defines what they draw or paint. Color which is very important because color sets the tone and mood for the story. Shape and texture are also very important because they allow the reader to reach out and touch an illustration. A good thing about picture books is that they allow beginning readers to use context clues to determine a new or difficult word. For example, a reader may not know how to read the word elephant but seeing a picture of an elephant can help him figure out that it says elephant.

Author Profile- Brie Spangler

Peg Leg Peke by Brie Spangler is a wonderful children's book. It is target for 3-6 year olds and would be a great idea if used as a read aloud. In this book, a little Pekingnese puppy breaks his leg and fantasizes that he is a pirate. Like all pirate, the dog doesn't stop until he find and captures what he is looking for. Now the dog with a peg for a leg is on the hunt for a treasure and will not stop until he finds it. Brie Spangler does a great job with this book. She is a talented author but has excelled for many year as an illustrator as well. This site http://www.jacketflap.com/profile.asp?member=bspangler is a great site to visit to know a little bit about B. Spangler. It contains background knowledge as well as other works of Spnagler.