Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Welcome to Reading and Responding to Children Literature!!
Hello Everyone, and welcome to TE 348: Reading and Responding to Children Literature! In this course we will read and respond using a critical and analytical frame of reference to children literature from around the world. This course will also focus on ways to incorporate children literature into your classrooms and the best methods for evaluating children literature texts. Throughout the course we will learn about different types of children literature and effective ways to utilize books to help children make sense of the world around them. I am looking forward to a great semester where we are able to learn a lot from each another while creating a culture of "achievement and professionalism."
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20 comments:
I guess this attached my blog thing to it and so you probably don't know who this is. So I figured I should leave my name on here so you know who I am and I get credit haha
Melyssa Ziulkowski
I have truely enjoyed the first couple sessions of class and really and looking forward to this semester:)
From reading chapter 4 in the text and the 2 articles for September 24th's class. I thought it was very interesting how much poetry can influence a child's life. How it helps students remember academic content and manipulates speech sounds. I never realized how much poetry can effect a child's learning and their imagination process in and out of the classroom. These readings have definetly opened up my eyes to poetry.
After the reading Chapter 4 and the articles written by Apol and Harris I thought that it was very interesting how much poetry can actually help a child to learn various ways to express themselves using poetry. It was especially interesting to read in the article about how just after a month of using poetry in the classroom many students began to write poetry on their own and well as too look at the outside world in order to come up with ideas on what to write about. In the readings as well as in the examples given in the readings, it is obvious that poetry can open a lot of doors for people, especially when introduced at such an early age.
After reading Chapter 4 and the two other articles, I never realized how important poetry is. Poetry is an excellent way for developing phonemic awareness. In the article by Apol and Harris, I thought the classroom activity of writing poems was a great idea. I remember in elementary school, our classroom made a poetry book of about ten different styles of poetry. Once all our poems were finished, we put them all together to create a book.
I agree with all the previous comments about how poetry can influence a child's life. I never thought about this until after doing the readings. I thought is was interesting how the article by Apol and Harris said the the pleasures of poetry "occur early and quite naturally in our lives". This seems true because as a child, I enjoyed hearing poetry and trying to read Dr. Seuss all on my own. I also thought is was interesting how "choral reading" or reading poems out loud helps the children learn more about the poem like it's meaning. Having the students read the poems out loud and write their own can also improve upon vocabulary and spelling skills. I really enjoyed the poetry activities and reading the children's poems in the article!
Actually, I was going to say what Christina mentioned. I also remember writing poetry (many different types, too), illustrating each, and putting them into a book in the end of the poetry unit.
It never really occurred to me how influential poetry is. Although most people disagree, I usually have a hard time creating poetry, and find it difficult to find a place to start. I guess it's just personal preference. However, these readings allowed me to see how influential poetry is, especially to a child, and allows them to relate what is happening in their life as well as past experiences and express them in other ways beyond stories, essays, journals, etc.
I wanted to comment on those who wrote about writing poems when they were younger in the classroom. However I can not remember writing poems growing up. I think it is interesting how different styles of teaching there are. I never read a poem when I was younger that influenced or inspired me. As for the readings. I agree with everyone else. I never realize that poetry no matter what form, helped children as much as stated. Considering I do not remember poetry growing up. The articles interested me as well. I thought it was creative how different people described what they thought poetry was. Some said it was like music, others described it as the world around them.
I really enjoyed Chapter Four on Poetry, which surprised me because I have never been a big fan of poetry. I never thought about poetry in the way of using it as a learning tool, but I started to think about it during the reading. It makes a lot of sense to use it for teaching because kids always remember the songs you teach them (like the clean-up song), which is just like a poem- repitition, rhyme, rhythm, etc. It is a way of helping kids learn and memorize something like a Science lesson that may not be that interesting to the child, but by making a poem out of it makes it interesting. Like the book said, children love poems with rhyme. I really enjoyed reading the poems that actual children wrote for two voices in the Apol and Harris article. Some of them were so thoughtful, like the "Detroit" one. Overall it was very interesting.
I agree with Christine B. about the point the reading brought up that poetry occurs naturally and early on in life. We can see that with how songs and music are such a big part of our lives and culture.
Poetry used to be a big thing for me. I used to attend "poetry slams" and even got to perform one of my pieces at the Power Center in Ann Arbor when I was in high school. I probably haven't written since then.
I agree with past responses that poetry is a learning tool that can help students learn rhythmatic flow. For example, in the notebook Noah's father makes him continuously read poetry because he has a stammer and it helped him to get rid of it.
However, I also believe that there are only certain kinds of poetry that help students. What good does a haiku poem hold!!
one comment in ch 4 that struck me was the fact that they say if a child is made to memorize a poem at a young age they almost always remember it later in life. in 4th grade i had to memorize a poem named "Daffodils" by william wordsworth. i can only remember the first line.....
After reading ch. 4, I think that poetry can be very influential in a child's life if presented in an appropriate manner. Although I have always enjoyed reading poetry, writing it is a different story but I think it has a great deal to offer both the reader and the writer. The articles show that poetry is not only beneficial in the classroom but also in the "real world". I hope to incorporate poetry in my classroom one day and help my students appreciate poetry and also give them all that poetry has to offer them.
Poetry was never my favorite subject in English class, but, I never really disliked it either. I guess I was indifferent. After reading chapter four I realized that poetry is around children from a young age whether they realize it or not and it is helpful in teaching them as long as they can relate to it. I had to memorize the beginning of a Robert Frost poem and I still remember it beause I could relate to it. It's one of my favorite poems now.
AFter reading chapter 4 and learning about all of the different types of poetry I truly think it is one of the best tools for children to understand the deeper meanings of text and tone of words because they are fun to read. My favorite type of poetry would have to be free verse and haikus. I also thought it was very interesting how poets play with sounds and rhythm which ultimately helps child remember them!
From reading chapter 4, I found that I am able to relate to the children that were survied on their likes and dislikes of certain poems. Like them, as a child I found poems interesting only if they had rhythm or a rhyme. Also, like the kids that were studied, I did not like poems that had figurative language or imagery. I believe that children like poems that are little more straight forward because they are eaiser to understand. From a teachers point of view it helps to know what a child prefers in order for the child to get the most out of a lesson.
In the article by Apol and Harris, the interviewed students did something called "Poems for two voices." I found this really interesting. There was a poem done about Detroit, and it was very interesting to see how the student described Detroit. These poems helped students understand the relationship between content and form in poetry. I thought this was a great idea. From reading chapter 4 I have a better understanding of poetry. Poetry can be used to tell a story. I think poetry is a great thing for students to be introduced to at earlier ages in life.
After reading the poetry chapter and the article I think I may have a new perspective. Its very interesting as to how it can be used within the class room, especially for people in Speech.It also caters to the imagination of younger and older children.Its a great outlet for any age.
I enjoyed doing the midterm book talk. It gave us the chance to pick out our own children's picture book that we have either read as a child or enjoyed reading/looking at the pictures. The book I chose to research was "Dinner at Magritte's" written and illustrated by Michael Garland. The pictures were drawn in surrealistic style that resembled those of the artists Magriette and Salvador Dali. There was a lot of color throughout the entire book. Also, there were many hidden messages that got the reader thinking what the author has meant by that, or if there was even an actual reason for him putting them in the story.
I read the article on "The Truth about Helen Keller" and was very surprised about everything in her life that hadn't been told to the public. I don't understand why authors who have written books about her life choose only to write about her childhood, and use only a page to summarize part of her adult life. I think that everything she had done for women and children especially should be recognized, and people should know that it was her who changed many things. I love to hear how such a person (who can't see or hear) could do so much for other people, and to be able to stand up for something so strong. I never knew she was apart of the 20th century social movements and was very impressed with everything that she had done. I also was impressed that she took leesons to improve her speaking voice, so that she could publicly speak out against injustice. That had to be a big thing for her, since she couldn't actually see people's reactions, let alone a person who would be able to see. She was a very courages woman who should have her entire life be told, with nothing hidden in between the lines!
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