There are many activities that you can do with the book Double Trouble because the text is so basic you can change the story through the illustrations in numerous ways.
One thing you can do is have the children totally change the characters of the story. The text of the story never says that the characters are raccoons; you only know this by looking at the pictures. So the students can change the characters to anything they want to, humans, pigs, mice, cows, dogs, cats, lions, bears, the possibilities are endless.
They can also change the events by changing the pictures. The text is not very detailed, so the children can change the story by changing the pictures. For example, there is one page where the text says: Tim and Jim act alike. The illustration shows the two raccoons swinging on swings hanging off of a tree. They could change the illustration by making the two characters play basketball or be ice skating.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Double Trouble
Double Trouble by Rose Greydanus and illustrated by Roland Rodegast is one of my favorite picture books! It is about two racoons that look a like, sound a like, and act alike.
I like this book for many reasons. One is because the animals are racoons, and they are so adorable! The story line isn't much but it is funny. All of these good things happen and you dont know if it is Tim or if it is Jim who did them. But in the pictures one racoon is taking the credit for it and smiling while the other is frowning. However, bad things start happening. Like eating all the cookies and making a mess. Now you see the two boys pointing at each other, blaming the other one!
This reminds me so much of my younger brother and I. We aren't twins but we act like this. When one of us does something good we both try to take credit for it. But when something bad happens our fingers sure are pointing!
After our discussion of pictures and how they help create the story, I can really see how it works in this book. You can see things in the pictures that you don't get from just reading the text. The illustrations really add to the story.
I like this book for many reasons. One is because the animals are racoons, and they are so adorable! The story line isn't much but it is funny. All of these good things happen and you dont know if it is Tim or if it is Jim who did them. But in the pictures one racoon is taking the credit for it and smiling while the other is frowning. However, bad things start happening. Like eating all the cookies and making a mess. Now you see the two boys pointing at each other, blaming the other one!
This reminds me so much of my younger brother and I. We aren't twins but we act like this. When one of us does something good we both try to take credit for it. But when something bad happens our fingers sure are pointing!
After our discussion of pictures and how they help create the story, I can really see how it works in this book. You can see things in the pictures that you don't get from just reading the text. The illustrations really add to the story.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
poems
In my RDNG 302 class we had to write poetry. The type I had to write was Limericks. Here are some that I wrote:
There once was a cow named Tim
Who liked to play with Kim.
They ran about
And gave a shout
She fell in love with him.
There once was a frog named Dan
Who didn’t have a fan.
He got so hot
His skin started to spot
And he got a tan.
There once was a dog named Gail
Who liked to wag her tail
She played ball
And had a great fall
She liked to fetch the mail.
There once was a boy named Tum
Who liked to chew gum.
He was a sight
Because he wasn’t very bright
Some people called him a bum.
There once was a bride
Who had a cool ride.
She planned the wedding
With out even sweating
And then she went to hide.
There once was a cow named Tim
Who liked to play with Kim.
They ran about
And gave a shout
She fell in love with him.
There once was a frog named Dan
Who didn’t have a fan.
He got so hot
His skin started to spot
And he got a tan.
There once was a dog named Gail
Who liked to wag her tail
She played ball
And had a great fall
She liked to fetch the mail.
There once was a boy named Tum
Who liked to chew gum.
He was a sight
Because he wasn’t very bright
Some people called him a bum.
There once was a bride
Who had a cool ride.
She planned the wedding
With out even sweating
And then she went to hide.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
See Spot Run!!!!
After class on Friday I was reminded of how I learned to read in kindergarten. We had this set of books, and the one I remember the most is a green one. They were old, old, old! They had black electrical duct tape on the spine because they were falling apart, you could tell how used they were because the pages were tented yellow and the cover of the book was ripping at the edges. See, I’m from a small country town called Moulton, population is about 994 (I think). We are stuck in the old western times! Not really, but we really are a small country town and our school doesn’t really change much. Let me show you how.
I came home this weekend and I was telling my mom about my English professor asking if any one learned how to read from the Dick and Jane Books. My mom told me, “I learned how to read from those books. Actually the same copies you learned off of in school.” I was like WHAT? That is so horrible-my school didn’t even buy new books? Then my mom continued to tell me, “You know what they did?” I thought, no telling with Moulton. She said, “They found a company that restores books and they sent off all the copies and had them redone.” I was like WHAT? Really, you’re not joking? And she wasn’t! They are still reading those same books that I learned how to read from, that my mother learned how to read from!!!
See Spot. See Spot Run!!!
I came home this weekend and I was telling my mom about my English professor asking if any one learned how to read from the Dick and Jane Books. My mom told me, “I learned how to read from those books. Actually the same copies you learned off of in school.” I was like WHAT? That is so horrible-my school didn’t even buy new books? Then my mom continued to tell me, “You know what they did?” I thought, no telling with Moulton. She said, “They found a company that restores books and they sent off all the copies and had them redone.” I was like WHAT? Really, you’re not joking? And she wasn’t! They are still reading those same books that I learned how to read from, that my mother learned how to read from!!!
See Spot. See Spot Run!!!
Friday, April 18, 2008
activities for Fairy Tales Keepsake Collection
There are many activities that you can do with the book Fairy Tales Keepsake Collection.
You are sitting in your classroom and you have five minutes before the bell rings, the students are finished with their work- What am I going to do for the rest of the class? Pull out this book, select a student to come up, have them close their eyes and open the book. Whatever page they open the book to, that will be the story you read!
Another thing you can do is read one of the stories and have the students re write it in their own words, draw their own illustrations for the story or their own version of the story, or even rewrite the story changing the characters names and the sex of the characters or the setting of the story. The possibilities are endless!
You can also use this book when teaching lessons over author’s style or parts of a story. One specific example is the style called allusion. In the novel Ella Enchanted, the author alludes to the classic fairy tale of Cinderella. To teach allusion, you can have the students read Ella Enchanted then read the story Cinderella in this book. They can go back and forth between the stories and pick out the parts of Ella Enchanted that allude to Cinderella. For example, going to the balls!
You are sitting in your classroom and you have five minutes before the bell rings, the students are finished with their work- What am I going to do for the rest of the class? Pull out this book, select a student to come up, have them close their eyes and open the book. Whatever page they open the book to, that will be the story you read!
Another thing you can do is read one of the stories and have the students re write it in their own words, draw their own illustrations for the story or their own version of the story, or even rewrite the story changing the characters names and the sex of the characters or the setting of the story. The possibilities are endless!
You can also use this book when teaching lessons over author’s style or parts of a story. One specific example is the style called allusion. In the novel Ella Enchanted, the author alludes to the classic fairy tale of Cinderella. To teach allusion, you can have the students read Ella Enchanted then read the story Cinderella in this book. They can go back and forth between the stories and pick out the parts of Ella Enchanted that allude to Cinderella. For example, going to the balls!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Fairy Tales Keepsake Collection
Fairy Tales Keepsake Collection from Publications International, ltd. is an amazing book. As the title says, it is a collection of fairy tales. The tales included in this specific book include: Rumpelstiltskin, King Midas, Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, Thumbelina, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio, The Frog Prince, and Sleeping Beauty. Obviously I love this book because I love fairy tales, one day I’ll be Cinderella and get my prince (I hope!). But I think this is a very useful book to have.
One, when I have a family one day I wont have to have 11 different books, I can have one with all 11 stories in it! A big space saver! Also, the pictures are amazing and the font is big which makes it easy for smaller children.
This will be a great tool to use in my future classroom one day. Not every child grows up in a house where the parents read to them and tell them the fairy tales that I have grown up with. Therefore, I will have to take careful care when referring back to the fairy tales in my classroom. With this book, I will have easy access to eleven fairy tales. So, before I make reference to a fairy tale, I can pull out this book and read that specific fairy tale to the class. This way, the entire class has heard and experienced the story. This is will put all of the students on the same playing level.
I really like this book and plan to have it in my classroom one day!
One, when I have a family one day I wont have to have 11 different books, I can have one with all 11 stories in it! A big space saver! Also, the pictures are amazing and the font is big which makes it easy for smaller children.
This will be a great tool to use in my future classroom one day. Not every child grows up in a house where the parents read to them and tell them the fairy tales that I have grown up with. Therefore, I will have to take careful care when referring back to the fairy tales in my classroom. With this book, I will have easy access to eleven fairy tales. So, before I make reference to a fairy tale, I can pull out this book and read that specific fairy tale to the class. This way, the entire class has heard and experienced the story. This is will put all of the students on the same playing level.
I really like this book and plan to have it in my classroom one day!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Tim Tingle
I had the chance to see Tim Tingle speak at the Library on April 8. He is a Choctaw Indian and he tells stories around the world. He was amazing! He started off with the Choctaw Indian version of Amazing Grace, playing the beat on one of his awesome drums. Words cannot explain how wonderful of a storyteller he was. His stories were awesome and very heart touching. The part of his story that really caught my attention was the story about his trip to Alaska.
He went to Alaska to visit a school and while he was walking through the hallways, the principal told him, “You are about to see something you have never witnessed before.” While he was telling us this story I was thinking to myself, what in the world goes on at this school. Then Tim Tingle proceeded by telling us that at five minutes till ten, the secretary unplugged the phone and shut down her computer, the teachers came out of their rooms and got a cup of coffee, and the students moved to where they wanted to in the building. Each person had a book, every teacher, coach, secretary, administrator, and student had a book to read for fun. They could not read any book that had to do with their school subjects; it was purely reading for pleasure.
The school called it “The Sound of Reading.” I think this is amazing. They had an hour a day to read for pleasure! This is something that I think is very important. Reading opens so many doors; however, some people don’t explore those doors because they never have the chance to read for pleasure. I think this is a great way to get students back into reading and I really want to use this in my classroom one day.
He went to Alaska to visit a school and while he was walking through the hallways, the principal told him, “You are about to see something you have never witnessed before.” While he was telling us this story I was thinking to myself, what in the world goes on at this school. Then Tim Tingle proceeded by telling us that at five minutes till ten, the secretary unplugged the phone and shut down her computer, the teachers came out of their rooms and got a cup of coffee, and the students moved to where they wanted to in the building. Each person had a book, every teacher, coach, secretary, administrator, and student had a book to read for fun. They could not read any book that had to do with their school subjects; it was purely reading for pleasure.
The school called it “The Sound of Reading.” I think this is amazing. They had an hour a day to read for pleasure! This is something that I think is very important. Reading opens so many doors; however, some people don’t explore those doors because they never have the chance to read for pleasure. I think this is a great way to get students back into reading and I really want to use this in my classroom one day.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Esperanza Rising-Quiz
Esperanza Rising
QUIZ
What is the name of the ranch Esperanza grew up on?
a. El Rancho de las Rosas
b. El Rancho de las Uvas
c. El Rancho de las Papayas
What happened to Esperanza’s father?
a. he was killed by bandits
b. he drowned in a river
c. he was hurt while hunting
Who wanted to marry Esperanza’s mother after her father passed away?
a. Her uncle Tio Luis
b. Their servant Miguel
c. Their servant’s brother Juan
Where did Esperanza, her mother, and their servants immigrate to?
a. Texas
b. California
c. New York
What did Esperanza’s mother get sick with after the dust storm?
a. Valley Fever
b. Hay Fever
c. Scarlet Fever
What does Miguel and Alfonso water on their way to California?
a. their pet cat
b. the rose roots that they got out of Papa’s fields after the fire
c. the grape seeds they saved from Papa’s fields after the fire
Why doesn’t Isabelle when Queen?
a. because she was failing her classes
b. because she was Mexican
c. because she did run for it
True or False Esperanza’s mother does not survive Valley Fever and she passes away while in the hospital.
True or False Esperanza goes to work in the fields as soon as she gets to California.
True or False Miguel steels Esperanza’s money orders to get Abuelita from Mexico.
What does the title of every chapter of the book have in common?
a. they are the names of Esperanza’s dolls
b. they are the names of food that are grown in order
c. they are the names of the places Esperanza visits
Write three paragraphs, make sure you are using a topic sentence and conclusion sentence.
Paragraph one: What is your favorite part of the book?
Paragraph two: Explain why Esperanza, her mother, and their servants had to immigrate to California.
Paragraph three: How would you feel if you were Esperanza, experiencing the same situations she experienced?
QUIZ
What is the name of the ranch Esperanza grew up on?
a. El Rancho de las Rosas
b. El Rancho de las Uvas
c. El Rancho de las Papayas
What happened to Esperanza’s father?
a. he was killed by bandits
b. he drowned in a river
c. he was hurt while hunting
Who wanted to marry Esperanza’s mother after her father passed away?
a. Her uncle Tio Luis
b. Their servant Miguel
c. Their servant’s brother Juan
Where did Esperanza, her mother, and their servants immigrate to?
a. Texas
b. California
c. New York
What did Esperanza’s mother get sick with after the dust storm?
a. Valley Fever
b. Hay Fever
c. Scarlet Fever
What does Miguel and Alfonso water on their way to California?
a. their pet cat
b. the rose roots that they got out of Papa’s fields after the fire
c. the grape seeds they saved from Papa’s fields after the fire
Why doesn’t Isabelle when Queen?
a. because she was failing her classes
b. because she was Mexican
c. because she did run for it
True or False Esperanza’s mother does not survive Valley Fever and she passes away while in the hospital.
True or False Esperanza goes to work in the fields as soon as she gets to California.
True or False Miguel steels Esperanza’s money orders to get Abuelita from Mexico.
What does the title of every chapter of the book have in common?
a. they are the names of Esperanza’s dolls
b. they are the names of food that are grown in order
c. they are the names of the places Esperanza visits
Write three paragraphs, make sure you are using a topic sentence and conclusion sentence.
Paragraph one: What is your favorite part of the book?
Paragraph two: Explain why Esperanza, her mother, and their servants had to immigrate to California.
Paragraph three: How would you feel if you were Esperanza, experiencing the same situations she experienced?
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan is a Historical Fiction book set in the 30s during the Great Depression. Esperanza and her family live in Mexico on El Rancho de las Rosas. The night before Esperanza’s 13th birthday, her father is killed by bandits on a cattle drive. Then her uncle burns their house down after her mom refuses to marry him. Esperanza’s life is turned upside down as her and her mom immigrate to California to work with their servants family. Esperanza’s mother gets sick and put in the hospital and Esperanza grows up leaving her “royalty” life and turning into a hard working young girl. The hardships the immigrants in this book encounter are a clear-cut description of real life situations immigrants faced in the 30s.
Surprisingly I really liked this book. I am a fantasy person and I would rather read about flying into Neverland versus people dying and houses being destroyed. I think the author’s use of setting is what made me like this book so much. I felt like I could feel and see what Esperanza felt and saw.
My favorite part of the book was the connection Esperanza had with her father growing up. I am my dad’s baby girl and even though we never laid on the ground to listen to the Earth’s heart beat, we had many moments together that have made huge imprints in my heart. I love this book and recommend it to anyone to read!
Surprisingly I really liked this book. I am a fantasy person and I would rather read about flying into Neverland versus people dying and houses being destroyed. I think the author’s use of setting is what made me like this book so much. I felt like I could feel and see what Esperanza felt and saw.
My favorite part of the book was the connection Esperanza had with her father growing up. I am my dad’s baby girl and even though we never laid on the ground to listen to the Earth’s heart beat, we had many moments together that have made huge imprints in my heart. I love this book and recommend it to anyone to read!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten
Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate and illustrated Ashley Wolff is an amazing book! The books takes you through the different things students do while they get ready for school, and it also shows what a teacher goes through to get ready for the first day of kindergarten.
This book can be used for many different things. One, it can be used to lighten the tension on the first day of school. But it can really be used for a teaching aide. It would be really good to use when teaching the alphabet. Each child’s name is a different letter of the alphabet and the letter is in a different color. For example, A is Adam, B is Brenda, and C is Christopher. Each character is an animal whose name starts with the same letter of the alphabet. For example: D is for Danny who is a dog, E is for Emily who is an elephant and F is for Fran who is a frog.
This book could also be used to teach rhyming. Each saying on the page rhymes which makes the book catchy and fun for young children. Well, I like rhyming books too, so maybe for everyone it’s catchy and fun! Some examples of the rhyming are “Gwen McGunny packs her bunny. Henry Fetter fights his sweater.”
Over all this is a great book to use in a classroom or to read to your kids on their first day of kindergarten.
This book can be used for many different things. One, it can be used to lighten the tension on the first day of school. But it can really be used for a teaching aide. It would be really good to use when teaching the alphabet. Each child’s name is a different letter of the alphabet and the letter is in a different color. For example, A is Adam, B is Brenda, and C is Christopher. Each character is an animal whose name starts with the same letter of the alphabet. For example: D is for Danny who is a dog, E is for Emily who is an elephant and F is for Fran who is a frog.
This book could also be used to teach rhyming. Each saying on the page rhymes which makes the book catchy and fun for young children. Well, I like rhyming books too, so maybe for everyone it’s catchy and fun! Some examples of the rhyming are “Gwen McGunny packs her bunny. Henry Fetter fights his sweater.”
Over all this is a great book to use in a classroom or to read to your kids on their first day of kindergarten.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Enchanted
Enchanted is a movie that puts a twist on our classic fairy tails. The princess is supposed to marry the prince until the wicked step-mother pushes her into the well where she ends up in New York City. While watching the movie, I noticed that there are a lot of things that tie back to the fairy tales. First of all, the princess and prince are obviously in just about every fairy tale. But we have the wicked step mother in this movie. She is the step mother of the prince and she plots to keep her prince from marrying the princess so she gets to keep the thrown.
Like in snow white, we have the evil step mother turning into an ugly old lady to defeat the princess. The first sign of her is at the beginning when she pushes the princess into the well and sends her to New York. Then we have three poison apples she uses to try to destroy her. The first one is given to the princess has a candy apple, but she throws it and never eats it. The second one is given to her as an apple martini, but the cute little chipmunk knocks it over. Then towards the end, when the wicked step mother comes to New York, she turns herself into an ugly old lady and she gets the princess to eat the last poisoned apple. The princess will die if she doesn’t get true love’s kiss by midnight. Then the prince from the fairy tale world kisses her and doesn’t wake her up; however, when her “prince” from New York kisses her she wakes up and lives.
There is also the “slaying of the dragon” in this movie like there is any many fairy tales. It just so happens to be that slayed dragon is a bus in New York City!
I really liked this movie and the more I watch it the more I see things from the classic fairy tales. My favorite part thing from the movie is the chipmunk! He is so adorably funny! What I find funny is how when they are in the park in New York, everyone knows the dance and there is like eight couples getting married in the park at that very time. I laughed just about the whole time; it is a very good movie!
Like in snow white, we have the evil step mother turning into an ugly old lady to defeat the princess. The first sign of her is at the beginning when she pushes the princess into the well and sends her to New York. Then we have three poison apples she uses to try to destroy her. The first one is given to the princess has a candy apple, but she throws it and never eats it. The second one is given to her as an apple martini, but the cute little chipmunk knocks it over. Then towards the end, when the wicked step mother comes to New York, she turns herself into an ugly old lady and she gets the princess to eat the last poisoned apple. The princess will die if she doesn’t get true love’s kiss by midnight. Then the prince from the fairy tale world kisses her and doesn’t wake her up; however, when her “prince” from New York kisses her she wakes up and lives.
There is also the “slaying of the dragon” in this movie like there is any many fairy tales. It just so happens to be that slayed dragon is a bus in New York City!
I really liked this movie and the more I watch it the more I see things from the classic fairy tales. My favorite part thing from the movie is the chipmunk! He is so adorably funny! What I find funny is how when they are in the park in New York, everyone knows the dance and there is like eight couples getting married in the park at that very time. I laughed just about the whole time; it is a very good movie!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Tale of Two Grizzly Bears
Once upon a time in a far off forest, there lived two grizzly bears. The older one, Fido, was the biggest, meanest brown grizzly bear you have ever seen. He was the king of the forest and all of the animals feared him. The other one, Corky, was a medium sized bear who was friends with every creature in the forest. The grizzly bears spent their days roaming through the forest and Fido would command Corky to do things for him. See, Corky was cursed; he had to obey Fido no matter what. Fido would command Corky to do things like catch his fish, walk first to nock down the grass, and fight his battles as well. Corky tried and tried to break the spell, but he couldn’t. The harder he tried to break it, the more Fido commanded him. Fido liked the fact that Corky was under a spell and had to follow his every command, that’s why he made Corky’s life harder and harder every time he tried to break the curse.
One day, Fido commanded Corky to cross an old rotten log to get to the other side of the river where the trout were swimming. Corky begged and begged not to take the walk on the death bridge; however, Fido wouldn’t listen and commanded him to cross the rotten log. Well, the woodpecker in the sky overheard this command and rounded up all of the creatures in the forest. They all ran up to the log, right in front of Corky’s paws and built a barricade. Corky tried to push through them; he had to follow the command. But the animals would not let him pass. Fido commanded the animals to move at once, but they stood their ground like trees with roots in the ground. Once again Corky tried to break through the wall, but once again the animals wouldn’t move. All of a sudden, lightening and thundering filled the pitch-black sky. Scared half to death, the creatures continued to hold their ground. Fido commanded Corky to cross the log again and to everyone’s surprise Corky shouted no, I will not cross that log. With the help of the creatures, Corky broke the curse. The sky cleared up and the animals all gave a cheer as they chased Fido out of the forest; he was banished forever. Corky and the creatures of the forest lived happily ever after!
One day, Fido commanded Corky to cross an old rotten log to get to the other side of the river where the trout were swimming. Corky begged and begged not to take the walk on the death bridge; however, Fido wouldn’t listen and commanded him to cross the rotten log. Well, the woodpecker in the sky overheard this command and rounded up all of the creatures in the forest. They all ran up to the log, right in front of Corky’s paws and built a barricade. Corky tried to push through them; he had to follow the command. But the animals would not let him pass. Fido commanded the animals to move at once, but they stood their ground like trees with roots in the ground. Once again Corky tried to break through the wall, but once again the animals wouldn’t move. All of a sudden, lightening and thundering filled the pitch-black sky. Scared half to death, the creatures continued to hold their ground. Fido commanded Corky to cross the log again and to everyone’s surprise Corky shouted no, I will not cross that log. With the help of the creatures, Corky broke the curse. The sky cleared up and the animals all gave a cheer as they chased Fido out of the forest; he was banished forever. Corky and the creatures of the forest lived happily ever after!
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