I am so glad that you found the Fluency Blog! Please post the Overview of your Module 4 assignment within the blog. You can do this by clicking on Post a Comment. Please copy and paste your Overview in the text and publish the comment. If you are new to blogging, not to worry! Don't be too concerned about creating an error within the blog. This is just a great way to converse.
In addition, please feel free to post your photograph. It is great to see each other and share!
Welcome! Sharie
MEREDITH JOHNSON: The book chosen is Library Lil by Suzanne Williams. It takes a little from Paul Bunyan and goes on a little toward folklore. Library Lil talks about her life from childhood through becoming the town librarian. She was super strong like some of our folk heroes and used this to make reading important to her town of Chesterville. She only won over the town when a terrible storm came through and put all the TV’s out of commission. She restarted the Bookmobile and everyone began to read again. After her storytelling skills and work with the Bookmobile, everyone in town was reading. But the story does not end there. Pretty soon a rough biker gang came through and was more interested in stirring up trouble and watching wrestling on TV than reading. Library Lil stepped up and in her own way convinced them that reading was a great idea. She used her super-hero strength to win over the biker gang and their leader “Bustem – up Bill”. The story ends with everyone learning to love reading and Library Lil began to focus on “Bookworm Bill” rather than reading all the time. It is a good book to introduce reading and even reading for those that do not have good reading skills. If a biker gang leader can read and like it, so can you.
ReplyDeleteWill post picture later.
ReplyDeleteGreat, Meredith! Glad that you found your way within the blog!
ReplyDeleteExtra Credit by Andrew Clements
ReplyDeleteAbby Carson, a sixth grader does not like to do her schoolwork and is now failing. The only way she can make this up is to find a pen pal in a foreign country. No problem, she thinks. Her first letter is received in Afghanistan where Sadeed Bayat is chosen to be her pen pal. In Sadeed’s village it is not appropriate for a boy to be corresponding with a girl. At first, Sadeed has his sister write what he dictates to her. He becomes suspicious about what his sister is writing so he takes it over completely. Abby and Sadeed become good friends and find that having this long distance relationship is crossing a huge cultural divide. People in both of their communities are not happy about this relationship. Now it’s a big problem.
Thanks for posting, Kristi! I loved your picture. I always enjoy the blog because I can "see" my students. I remember when I was assigned a pen pal in a different state when I was in sixth grade. She became a very good friend.
ReplyDeleteMy book is John Henry: An American Legend, By Ezra Jack Keats.
ReplyDeleteJohn Henry is special from the day he is born he was strong and determined. When he is grown, he contributes his enormous strength to building the new railroad across America. One day, he challenges a drilling machine to a contest to see whether he or the machine could clear a tunnel through solid rock faster. John Henry won the contest, but even his big heart could not bear the strain of such an effort and it stopped beating. John Henry is a legend because people were amazed at what he could do.
Book: The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas
ReplyDeleteAuthor: John Boyne
Overview:
Bruno, a 9 year old boy living in Berlin, finds out that his family is moving to a place called ‘Out-With’ when he comes home to the maid, Maria, packing his things. He is very sad to be leaving his town and all of his friends. Bruno’s naivety proves to be an issue throughout this entire book. The reader finds out that Bruno’s father is actually a Nazi commander who is in charge of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Bruno befriends a young Jewish boy, Schmeul, through the concentration camp fence without his parents knowing. Bruno’s curiosity leads to an interesting and upsetting turn of events where certain members of the Nazi party, including Bruno’s father, get a taste of their own medicine.
This Is me Lesa and My Grand Son Ayden!
ReplyDeleteThe book I chose was Oh, No! Henry has Chocolate Fever, by Robert Kimmel Smith
This book was about a young boy who adores chocolate he eats it at every meal and anytime of the day. One day when he was on his way to school he began to feel funny and started to acquire brown spots on his body. Henry saw a doctor and he poked him all around and still could not figure out what was wrong. Henry was afraid so he ran away and had an awesome adventure though he learned a valuable lesson as well.
Remember, students, to post an overview of your literature unit. I recommend adding justification for teaching fluency, as well. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThis unit involves working on vocabulary as well as breaking down words into syllables. Each lesson is broken down into parts that are usable in the Success For All reading program. Day one uses a combination of vocabulary, base-words, using chunk words, and reading pairs. The first lesson should always cover the new vocabulary and the importance of breaking down words to use so that fluency comes. If a student cannot easily break down the words and pronounce them he/she spends too much time doing that
ReplyDeleteand looses out on comprehension. The skill reviewed with every story and in every reading lesson must be how to break down the words so that eventually he/she will be able to do it with ease and not have to concentrate on breaking down words but more on reading with fluency. In this lesson we need to make sure the students understand the rules for pronouncing by syllable. This is always presented at the beginning of a new reading lesson.
By the way,Meredith and mjohnson are one and the same but I still can't figure out how to respond to someone in particular.
ReplyDeleteMonster
ReplyDeleteBy Walter Dean Myers.
This book paints a portrait of a terrified young man wrestling with his conscience. Most of the plot takes place in the courtroom as the young man awaits his fate. It is up to the judge to decide whether he is innocent of murder or the “monster” that the prosecutor says he is.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe book I chose was Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Clearly. This book is about a boy who writes to an author in the second grade after his teacher reads a book called Henshaw's Ways to Amuse a Dog. He continues to write to the author until sixth grade. As a six grade assignment he asked the author ten questions. The author replied and asked the boy ten questions. His mom tells him to reply. His dad is a truck driver and his mom works part time catering and takes a couple college courses. He explains his parents are divorced and that he really misses his dog that travels with his dad. Leigh feels frustrated, lonely, and angry and thinks he is to blame for his parents divorce. Someone steals his lunch and he does not know who. Later he pretends to write in his personal diary to Mr. Henshaw. Mr. Fridley tries to explain to Leigh that he is not the only child with problems. Leigh then builds an alarm for his lunch box and enters a Young writer's Yearbook. His alarm became successful and he wins the honorable mention. He then gets to eat out with an author who has met Boyd Henshaw. In the end Leigh's dad returns to see if there was a chance for him and his mom to get back together. Things don't turn out due to his job. Leigh later understands and feels sad but a whole lot better at the same time.
ReplyDeleteMy mini unit will focus on making sure my students understand the book and what they are reading. Vocabulary will be given. They are to define using a dictionary. Two groups will be formed and competition will be held. Group who wins will get a prize. Spelling will also be given by having a spelling competition and by writing on a personal board. Writing will be done in a certain format. They are to write to me and let me know what frustrate them, irritates them or makes them angry. Teacher will respond on a one to one base or on journal with positive feedback. They will also write to an author and ask them questions. I will also discuss about reality and that people go through all kinds of problems and there are ways to approach it. They can speak to somebody or write in their journal. Questions will be given throughout readings and further discussion will be done. Assessment will consist of a true/false quiz, multiple choice, context clues, comprehension, and writing. For writing they will complete an essay “If someone had stolen from me I would...”.
Twister on Tuesday; Magic Treehouse Series
ReplyDeleteBy Mary Pope Osborne
In this story, Jack and Annie travel to an 1870s one-room schoolhouse. They see how the teenage teacher teaches a room full of students. On the way back to the treehouse to go home, they spot a tornado. They remember reading in their research book that the sellar is below the schoolhouse. They run back to the schoolhouse and save the day when they show the students and one teacher that the sellar is beneath the schoolhouse and under the rug.
This book is used for fluency in the 4th grade. It uses complex wording about weather.
Overview by Linda Commedo
ReplyDeleteThe book I chose for my mini-unit No Talking by Andrew Clements. Dave's fifth grade class is called "The Unshushables" by their teachers because of their constant talking. His grade is also unusually immature when it comes to boys and girls getting along with each other. While studying about India, fifth-grader Dave Packer discovers that Gandhi did not speak for one day every week to bring order to his mind. Dave tries to stay quiet for a whole day but he only makes it until lunch before getting into an argument with Lynsey, the leader of the girls, and they end up making a bet: two days of no talking, boys against girls. Whichever side talks less, wins. Not talking, though, is harder than it seems, and has all sorts of unintended consequences -- including a confrontation with the principal, who has been trying to get them to stop talking for years. What do they learn about language and the power of words? This is a very funny book that will make everyone think about how much we talk and all those wasted words.
This book would be great to teach fluency and the importance of words. It also shows how important it is to communicate with one another in positive and effective ways
The Cat That Went to Heaven
ReplyDeleteThere are many ways to teach a student how to read. Even though reading is an essential skill that students will use for their entire educational career it is a complicated skill to teach. All children do not learn how to read on the same time frame nor on the same level. This essay will be a summary of the book The Cat That Went to Heaven. Also included will be a brief overview of a mini unit on how this book can be used as a tool for helping with instruction in fluency reading.
The author of the book The Cat That Went to Heaven is Elizabeth Coatsworth. The book is considered a classic that was written sometime in the 1930’s and won the “Newberry Medal” for excellence in American children’s literature in 1931. This book is advised for grades four, five and six. The reading level is too advanced for student’s young than that.
The book is of a Buddhist folk tale, a poor starving artist who is to paint a picture of the Buddha while on his deathbed accompanied by animals. All animals are blessed by Buddha except the cats. According to the belief of many Buddhists cats cannot be glorified due to the unlucky nature of cats that prevents them from entering Nirvana and because they rebelled against Buddha (McLean, 2003).
Just before the artist received the painting assignment his house keeper brought home a white Japanese bobtail cat instead of buying food like she was asked to do. Therefore the artist hates the cat and is still hungry. He soon realizes the cat is praying to Buddha and has human characteristics. This makes him realize his lack of prayer time. He changes his mind about cats and now wants to include cats in his painting (McLean, 2003).
The chagrined cat is upset that the artist did not include a cat on his elaborate painting of the dying Buddha. The artist notices the cat’s sadness and decides to add a small cat. He is aware that this will upset the monks but paints the cat anyway. After the painting is given to the priest it still may not be hung up in the village temple because the cat has not been blessed by Buddha.