Field Experience Reflection

1. How many hours did you complete?

Through my field experience I ended up completing 20 hours. I spent ten hours with our school media specialist and ten hours in our public libraries.

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

As I spent time with our media specialist I helped her organize new books that had come in, choose books to order for the following school year, and we did a lot of planning on how we can team together to teach the fifth grade content next year. I am very excited about what we have in plan!

The second half of my field experience hours was spent in our public libraries. I babysit three children over the summer who are 5, 7, and 9 and they LOVE the library! We went to several classes that our different libraries have to offer; we got to bring our dog and they read aloud to the dog, they created art after reading a children's book, they took part in a science experiement on the states of matter after reading an expository text, and many more activities. All of the ideas were great resources for me to use within my classroom!

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

My field experience is really going to help with with KTS2; the teacher designs and plans instruction. Through the observations and hands-on things that I did in our public libraries I gained a lot of information on how to use different books--especially non-fiction books! The activities were great resources that I will take with me.

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

The most important thing that I learned through my field experience is just how important our media specialist is. She truly wants to be a part of our classroom and help our students make connections to content through her class. She is willing to help us with projects and give our students the additional support that they need. I never really thought that she "just checked out books" but I did not realize how much she really does. This was a great learning experience for me!

Reading Log and Wiki Posts

             I.      Non-fiction/Informational (1 reflection required on blog)    

1)      The Camping Trip That Changed America By Barb Rosenstock (picture book)

2)      When Harriet met Sojourner By Catherine Clinton (picture book)

3)      How to Write an Interview By Cecilia Minden and Kate Roth

4)      The Declaration of Independence By Elaine Landau

5)      Who’s that Stepping on Plymouth Rock? By Jean Fritz

          II.      Poetry (1 reflection required on blog)

1)      Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? By Mel Glenn. (required for discussion)

2)      Where the Sidewalk Ends By Shel Silverstein

3)      Falling Up By Shel Silverstein

       III.      Modern Fantasy (1 reflection required on blog)        

1)      A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. (required for discussion)

2)      Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone By J.K Rowling

3)      Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets By J.K Rowling

4)      Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban By J.K. Rowling

5)      Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire By J.K. Rowling

6)      Midnight Magic By Avi

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

1)      Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. (required for discussion)

2)      Island of the Blue Dolphins By Scott O’Dell

3)      Bull Run By Paul Fleischman

          V.      Multicultural/Traditional (2 reflections required on blog – one can be a picture book)         

1)      Elijah of Buxton By Christopher Paul Curtis

2)      Bud not Buddy By Christopher Paul Curtis

       VI.      Realistic Fiction (1 reflection required on blog)

1)      Bucking the Sarge by Christopher Paul Curtis. (required for discussion)

2)      Hatchet By Gary Paulsen

3)      Holes By Louis Sachar

4)      Ida B… and her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World By Katherine Hannigan

5)      The Westing Game By Ellen Raskin

6)      Shiloh By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    VII.      Picture Books (6 reflections required on blog)

1)      Seven  Blind Mice by Ed Young. (required for discussion)

2)      Grandfather’s Journey By Allen Say

3)      The Spider and the Fly By Tony DiTerlizzi

4)      Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky By Faith Ringgold

5)      Black Cat By Christopher Myers

6)      Betty Doll By Patricia Polacco

7)      My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother Patricia Polacco

8)      The Keeping Quilt By Patricia Polacco

9)      Henry’s Freedom Box By Ellen Levine

10)  The Hello, Goodbye Window By Norton Juster

VIII. Wiki Posts

1)      Extra Credit By Andrew Clements- Social Studies

2)      Where the Sidewalk Ends By Shel Silverstein- Science

3)      Falling Up By Shel Silverstein- Math

4)      Grandfather’s Journey  By Allen Say- Language Arts

5)      Elijah of Buxton By Christopher Paul Curtis- Art

The Declaration of Independence

Landau, Elane. (2008). The Delcaration of Independence. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

The Declaration of Independence is one of the A True Book series of photo essays. The book describes in an intermediate grade level vocabulary how the Declaration of Independence came to be. I love that the book discusses the document beginning with how the colonies began-- this fits perfect with our social studies series and I know my students will love the additional information! I felt that the best thing about the book was not exactly the content that was within it, but instead the way that it started off with two true or false questions for the students to predict before they read-- what a great way to get their attention before reading a non-fiction book. I could see taking those questions and putting them on the clicker system that we use in my classroom and having the students answer them that way; non-fiction always seems to be offputting for a lot of students so this would be a fun way to distract them from the fact that they are reading non-fiction.

The organization of the book was great; it is broken into four chapters beginning with why the colonies were started and why they were unhappy, then going to how the colonists started standing up to the king and the things he was doing that they did not like, leading them to the decision of going to war, and finally ending with the Declaration of Independence and what it stands for. The pictures and captions that go along with the information are great, many of which are also in our Social Studies books so I can see students having an easier time making the connections between the two.

The author uses a very formal tone in the writing of this book, there is a lot of information and instead of talking conversationally she chose to give you the information much like a text book would... except more kid friendly. The vocabulary that the author uses is great and aligns perfectly with our social studies content. As I was reading I didn't really see any words that were not bold and supposed to be new for the students that they wouldn't understand; many times I feel like in non-fiction the author will use difficult words in their writing that have nothing to do with the main topic so it sort of puts students off-- that was not the case in this book.

I definitely see myself using this book in my classroom this year! Using expository texts is definitely a weakness of mine that I want to work on, so this is a great way to start towards my goal!

Big Question:

If you were writing a declaration for something what would it be for and how would you start it?

Island of the Blue Dolphins

O'Dell, Scott. (1960). Island of the blue dolphins. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Karana is the young daughter of a chief on an island called Ghalas-at, also known as the Island of the Blue Dolphins because of its shape and the dolphins that you can see swimming near by. Karana and the others on her island work together as a tribe live by the laws of their culture-- their world begins to turn around when they have visitors come to the island. The Aleuts come with Captain Orlov, a Russian captain, to hunt sea otters on the island, when Captain Orlov doesn't hold up to his end of the bargain things begin to go south for the Ghalas-at tribe. Many men are killed during the battle that erupts over the disagreement, the chief--Karana's father, being one of them. With the loss of tribe members and the injuries that have been left to its remaining members the life that the people were used to no longer exists. When the new tribe chief sends for help something happens and Karana finds herself stranded on the island by herself. Will Karana be able to learn how to survive on her own on the island? Will she ever be rescued? Read Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell to find out.

Hatchet

Paulsen, Gary. (2007). Hatchet. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers.

Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen is a survival realistic fiction book about a thirteen year old boy named Brian whose plane crashes in Canada where he becomes stranded, forced to learn how to survive when he is use to his urban life in New York. Brian's parents have recently divorced and he knows a "secret" that his mother is/was having an affair. Brian does not know how to deal with these changes in his life and isn't quite to the place in his life where he is ready to become an adult, though he feels like the divorce of his parents is making him try to be.

I can see how a lot of students would enjoy this book because they are able to relate to it. Unfortunately, divorce is something that many of our students are faced with and it can take the best and strongest of kids and turn their world upside down, making them a different child. The idea of divorce and the way that Brian feels as though he is forced to grow up and no longer has the identity of his family to fall back on, is definitely a relatable subject that causes readers who have been in similar situations make an automatic connection with Brian.

I believe that another key part of the book that keeps people interested is simply the survival part; the conflict of man versus nature. There were so many instances in the book where I couldn't help but think of some of my students-- our students these days are so reliant upon video games and don't play outside as much as I can remember when I was a child, and I think that many of them would be in many of the same situations as Brian if this ever happened to them. Throughout the entire book Brian finds himself having run ins with different forms of nature; a porcupine getting into his tent and pricking him, a tornado destroying the home he had build, the berries making him such, and being sprayed by a skunk are just a few of them! In the beginning of the book Brian is frustrated because of all of the problems that he has with nature, but as the book goes on you see his frustration and confusion begin turning into amazement. The tornado that destroys Brian's house he sees as both beautiful and terrible; he also decides getting rid of the rifle that he finds in the plane's survival kit because he feels as though it does not fit into the natural order of things, he would rather use the skills that he has acquired.

Symbolism is a big component of this book. The book is named Hatchet, and a hatchet is a symbol in this book. Brian's mother gives him the hatchet before leaving for Canada so that he can use it in the woods while he is visiting. At first Brian only puts the hatchet on his belt to please his mother, but the hatchet actually turns into the thing that helps keep him alive. The hatchet is the only thing that Brian has during his time in the woods. I believe that hatchet shows just how Brian grew during this time; in the beginning he had no idea how to exactly use the hatchet but as the story went on he used it to get food and it ultimately is what helped him get the survival kit from the plane and lead to his rescue.

Big Question:
What would you do if you were in a situation like Brian? Do you think that you would be able to survive on your own?

Falling Up

Silverstein, Shel. (1996). Falling up. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Shel Silverstein's Falling Up is a compilation of humorous children poems. The books consists of single illustrated poems that are math, science, social studies, and every other subject area related-- including several that are just silly poems. The poems within the book are written about subjects that children can relate to which is, I am sure, a big reason why they are so popular among children.

On any given page in the book you can turn and find rhyme-when the end of the words have the same sound, assonance- when the same vowel sound is heard repeatedly within a line or a few lines of poetry, alliteration- a pattern in which the beginning consonant sounds are heard frequently within a line, consonance- similar to alliteration except it is the final sound that is similar, and onomatopoeia- when the sound of a word imitates it real-world sound... all of which are elements that keep students interested.

On page 11 the poem Snowball is a funny little poem that is a great example of rhyme and personification; using words like be, me, head, and bed it allows the flow of the poem to go a little more smooth. It also includes personification, saying that the snowball "wet the bed"; the students have to use inferencing and realize that this meant that the snowball actually just melted because it wasn't cold enough.

The poem Spoiled Brat  on page 89 is a great example of a poem that has several pieces of alliteration in it. Within the same sentence you have hole/head, coat/cat, broke/bike/bat, and spite/salt/sage. The constant use of alliteration within the poem is something that helps keep the readers attention and makes it more fun to read.

One of my favorite poems in Falling Up is, The Monkey. I love that he uses numbers to supplement words which ties great into math! This would be a fun math activity to do with students--let them create their own poem with the same idea behind it.

Big Question- Can you name a type of figurative language (from a given poem) and explain it.

Elijah of Buxton

Curtis, Christopher Paul. (2007). Elijah of Buxton. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Elijah of Buxton is a book set during the Pre-Emancipation Proclamation era where slavery was still what the United States thought of as acceptable. Written in a first person point of view with a heavy southern dialect, this African-American Literature book is bound to hold the reader's attention from beginning to end.

Elijah is the first freeborn baby born in the settlement of Buxton in Canada. Being born free and not understanding everything that it means to be a slave, Elijah finds himself in the face of conflict at times because of his lack of knowledge. Elijah's mother and others see him has a fra-gile boy who is afraid of just about anything. Being young and not knowing any other life outside of Buxton Elijah is at times a naive boy which also gets him into some trouble. As the story goes on Elijah finds himself making brave decisions that help other people than just himself and those that he knows, making him not so fra-gile as it seemed.

The story being told in first person through Elijah's eyes is one reason that it is so appealing to the reader. As we read we get to see Elijah, with his heavy dialect that has been passed down from some of the adults on the settlement, and his thoughts, feelings and humor. There are points in the book that you can't help but to laugh out loud because of the way he tells that he experienced it; such as the pulling of the snake from the cookie jar. When Elijah is faced with situations that he knows is wrong but has a desire to do them anyway, you can't help but to empathize with him because we all go through that. I can see how so many young readers would love this book because of the similar humor that they may have with Elijah and the powerful connection that you make with him because of similarities.

As the plot progresses you get to learn a little more about Elijah and the other people within the settlement of Buxton including: Cooter, Mr. Leroy, The Preacher and many others. At the beginning of the book Elijah flashes back to tell us about "scar" that he is going to have with him the rest of his life--throwing up on THE Fredrick Douglass! Though Elijah was merely an infant at this time it is something that he cannot seem to get over and feels goes along with his fra-gileness. The suspense in the book is what kept me reading the most. The book starts of with Elijah and Cooter finding an animal trail that they have never seen before; they come across the Reverend and he tells them of the hoop snake that the freed slaves have brought with them. As I was reading I could feel worry building up through Elijah's emotions but I just wanted to laugh at how naive he was. The suspense continues throughout the entire book, with the preacher putting Elijah is sticky situations and wondering whether Elijah is going to come back to help the runaway slave family escape to freedom.

Coming of age is a big theme in this chapter book. Elijah is a young boy who describes himself as being ten months from twelve; he is clearly much younger than he wants to see himself as being. The thing that Elijah seems to want to understand the most is "the secret language of being growned up". From hiding in the closet when slave catchers were spotted, to realizing that the "Right Reverend" wasn't exactly the most honest man as one would think a preacher should be, to helping slaves cross the border into freedom, Elijah is faced with tribulations that help him grow up a little at time.

Big Question:

Do you every wish that you were "growned" up? What are things that you wish you could do that grownups are allowed to do. What are some things that you do that you think grownups wish they could still do?

Grandfather's Journey

Say, Allen. (1993). Grandfather's journey. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Grandfather's Journey is a book about a young Japanese man and his journeys to and from America. The book is written with moderately simplistic language; the wording describes the event and the event only, there is not additional wording to help the reader visualize his journeys. The illustrations in the book are so realistic that it is almost as if the author purposefully used little language to describe the places because he did not want to take away from the illustrations of the story.

Grandfather's Journey is a story told in first person; the author tells you about his grandfather's journey and uses pronouns such as I, my, and mine. I think that the point of view of the story really adds to it, it seems as though the emphasis is on the illustrations and simply the grandfather's love for the places he visited and his home in Japan. The author only told the reader what he was told and did not add any thoughts or dialogue that his grandfather may have said; the emphasis was on the places he visited and his love and adding dialogue and thoughts could have distracted the reader from this. I think that the story would have been different if it had been told in a different point of view and could have potentially taken away from the meaning and the illustrations.

The illustrations are paintings that are incredibly realistic and keep the reader's attention. The pictures of people look as though they are a painting of an actual photograph, and the illustrations of the places visited are eye-catching with the colors and layout that is used on each page. On page 8 when Say's grandfather visits the deserts and canyons I found myself wanting to stay on that page and keep looking at the illustrations; it was so warm feeling with the way that the sun seems to be setting in the canyons and the colors that are used to portray this. The composition of the pages is something that adds to the attention drawn to the illustrations; the main image that the author wants you to pay attention always seems to be in the center of the page. On pages 4 and 5 the grandfather is the emphasis so he is in the center of the page, yet on page 7 where the transportation that the grandfather used is the main thing talked about, the steam engine is the largest image in the picture that draws your attention.

Big Question: Is there anywhere in the world that you would like to visit? Why?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Rowling, J.K. (1997). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York, NY. Scholastic.

The Harry Potter series is a series that I have been wanting to read for a long time, but with all of the other recommended books that have been given to me throughout the years I have not had the opportunity. I even saw the first four movies then decided to stop watching them because I knew that I was going to read the books one day! I am so happy that I have taken the time to start reading the series, and I am even more happy that my little sister who is entering the eighth grade is reading them with me; we are reading a book then watching the movie to follow.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the first of a seven book series about a young boy, name Harry Potter who learns he is a "famous" wizard and doesn't even know it. The Harry Potter series is a modern fantasy/quest series that focuses on the struggle between good and evil in the wizard world. The first book starts off introducing how Harry entered into the "normal" world, then goes into the problems that he has with his relatives he has been forced to live with. Harry does not know that he is a wizard even though strange things always seem to happen to him when he is sad or angry; such as his hair growing back after being scared people will laugh at his embarrassing haircut or glass disappearing from a snake cage at the zoo when he is angry at his cousin Dudley. Harry's family does not acknowledge that there is magic in the world and refuses to tell him of his abilities; because they did not like what his parents were they treat him as if he is not a part of the family. When Hagrid, the groundskeeper from Hogwart's arrives to take Harry to Hogwart's School of Wizardry, Harry's life starts to change; he goes from being picked on by Dudley his overweight snob of a cousin, to going to Diagon Alley where everyone knows who he is and wants to shake his hand. Throughout the book there is a mystery going on that Harry and his friends Ron and Hermoine help him to figure out; what is being hidden in Hogwarts and why?

Throughout the first book there is a series a person versus person conflict. The story begins with Harry's parents being killed by Voldemort in a good versus evil battle of magic. As Harry begins to get older and is living with the Dursleys he has a constant battle with his aunt and uncle, but mainly his cousin Dudley. Dudley and his friends are always doing mean things to Harry at school and at home. When Harry is taken to Hogwarts by Hagrid he immediately meets a classmate by the name of Drako Malfoy that reminds him of his cousin and much like Dudley, Drako has it out for Harry and will stop at nothing to see him fail. As the plot develops and you learn more about Voldemort and his history with Harry, this then becomes a new conflict that Harry is faced with; how to overcome the power that Voldemort seems to be getting.

I think that the most interesting part of reading the first book was just seeing how Harry developed as a character throughout each chapter. Harry is without a doubt the protagonist of the book; we learn about his life and are able to make connections with him and what he is going through--what was more fun to read though was how Harry grew as a character in this book. Harry starts off being a character that is described as being a small, skinny boy with glasses who never seems to stand up for himself; no matter what his cousin Dursley does to him he just takes it. When Harry makes friends with Ron you see him starting to become more confident as he stands up to Drako when he begins to bully Ron. Ultimately you see Harry grow the most at the end when he is brave enough to go searching for the Sorcerer's Stone even though he knows that someone is going to be waiting for him that is on the evil side of magic.

I completely understand why my students love these books so much-- they are the ultimate underdog story where a boy who had nothing learns to have confidence in himself to overcome whatever obstacles are in his way.

Big Question: How have you grown as a "character" throughout this school year? What are things that you do now that you would not have done at the beginning of the school year?

Henry's Freedom Box

Levine, E. (2007). Henry's freedom box. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Henry's Freedom Box is the story of a slave named Henry Brown. At the beginning of the story Henry is a young boy who lives with his family as a slave, but he soon gets ripped away from his family to work for another master. Throughout the story you hear of the hardships and mistreatment that Henry received such as being poked with sticks when he did not do his job to satisfaction or having his family ripped from him. Henry decided that he wanted to be free and came up with a plan to get him to freedom; he would be shipped in a box!

This book is probably one of my all time favorite books! The very first sentence of the book catches the reader, then the illustration of young Henry sitting and staring straight at you keeps the readers attention and has them wanting to know what the boy is thinking and feeling! This book was a Caldecott Honor book so I knew that the illustrations would be good, but I just could not believe how realistic they are. The illustrator, Kadir Nelson, does a great job of adding small details that make the story come to life such as on pages 13 and 14; the illustrator not only adds the small cracks to the skin of the characters like all of the other pages, but also adds detail to the quilt hanging on wall, makes the fire seem like it is burning bright, and even adds the small detail of being able to see the brick in the back of the fire place. Every page in this book jumps out and tells the reader that this is a true event and it even tells you what emotion you should have on each of the pages because of the colors that are used.

One of the main things about the illustrations is that the illustrator adds lines that make you want to touch the pictures. The main thing in all of the pictures in this book that does that for the reader are the people! The lines on their skin make it look so realistic that you just want to touch it to see if it really is the close up of Henry's face on page 15 and 16 is the best example of this.

I can see using this book to introduce slavery to my students. The emotional connection that you make with the characters would be a great way to get my students to understand how emotional it really was.


Big Question:

What would you do if you were being treated unfairly and you knew that it was not right?

Betty Doll

Polacco, P. (2001). Betty doll. New York, NY: Puffin Books.

Before every reading any of Patricia Polacco's books I had heard that she liked to write stories that reflected on her own personal life; this story is an example of just that. Patricia put a letter that she found written by her mother into a book. The book was about Patricia's mother's doll that she made and named Betty Doll. The doll had seen many events that had happened through out her mother's life and the story reflected some of those events. As I was reading, I felt that for a children's literature book it was kind of emotional; all of the talk about the different occasions in the book and the deaths, yet it went into how Betty Doll helped her to move on from the sad things that happened to her.

I recently read Polacco's book The Keeping Quilt and mentioned that color was a big part in the book because on each page the only thing that was in color was the quilt. It was interesting to read this book and to see the same style used; the only thing ever in color was Betty Doll or anything that was being put on Betty Doll. Color continuously seems to be a big part portraying the message of the illustrations in Polacco's books.

My favorite part of the book, though it was a sad time, was on pages 13 and 14 when Mary Ellen and her brother are under the bridge during the snow storm. Mary Ellen had dropped Betty Doll and could not find her, and her and her brother were scared because of being stuck under the bridge until someone found them. The emotion from the illustration was just pouring off of the page! The expressionistic style allowed readers to look at the illustration and really understand just how cold and scared the characters really were. I found my self searching the page hoping to find a small spot of color where Betty Doll was buried in the snow, thinking this would bring a little bit of happiness, but there is not any color on the page.

Another thing that I found myself spending a lot of time looking at were the pictures towards the end of the book. Really, throughout the entire book Mary Ellen's face was always drawn with such detail that it almost looked as though it was a photograph, but then at the end of the book Patricia started adding photos to the illustrations. Beginning on page 26, you start to see photographs of Mary Ellen and her siblings which I though was a great eye catcher. I loved seeing the actual pictures, then I would go back and compare the portraits to the drawings of the characters and I could not believe how realistic the faces were of the main characters.

I think that this book would be great to use in my classroom when talking about the different book genres as well as in an art class when learning about sketches. It looks as though all of the illustrations (with the exception of Betty Doll) are done in pencil using shading.

Big Questions:

Have you ever lost something that you care about? How did it make you feel? Did you ever find that something?

The Keeping Quilt

Polacco, P. (1988). The keeping quilt. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

This is a great book about customs and how families that come to America bring their culture and customs with them from their home country. The story is about Patricia's family's history in America and how they use they keep their culture with them. The weddings that take place throughout the book show how Patricia's family has kept their culture throughout the year but also how it has changed throughout the generations. On page 16 Patricia describes her great grandmother's wedding and how men and women danced seperately after the ceremony, then on page 32 she talks about her own wedding and how the women dance together.

Color is a key part of this book, being that on every page there is only one thing that is in color--the keeping quilt. The use of color draws the reader's attention to the quilt each time and allows the reader to see the many uses of the quilt.

The plot of the story is one that keeps the reader's attention because you want to know what the quilt is going to be used for next. Going from one generation from another and seeing how the quilt affects the family and how its uses can change due to time but in many cases, it stays the same because of their culture.

This book would be a great one for intermediate grades, especially in a school like mine. Almost a third of our school is ELL and a book like this is one that they might relate to. Many of my students talk about their Quincenera and love to explain it to the students who not know what it is. This book would be a great introduction to culture and leading my students into discussing things that they family does.

Big Question:

Does your family have a custom or item that has been passed down from generation to generation? Have the uses of this item changed throughout the years?

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother

Polacco, P. (1994). My rotten redheaded older brother. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster

This is a great book that all students can relate to, even if they don't have a sibling there is someone in everyone's life that they compete with. On page 17 when Patricia asks her brother if he likes rubbarb and he tells her know, she thinks she has him beat... then she find out he doesn't like rubbarb--he loves is! That section on page 19 made me laugh out loud, and I can see it doing the same for my kids.

The illustrations in this book made it all the more intersting to read. The vibrant colors on each page draw the reader's eye to the key character, that rotten redheaded older brother. I found it interseting that all of the characters had red hair but the brother's was a brighter hue to draw your attention-- not to mention it was sticking up in every picture just like you would picture a rotten older brother.

I am not big into visual elements but as I was reading and looking at the illustrations of the book I couldn't help but feel like the lines in the book were drawing me to the older brother.

This would be a great book for the intermediate students because at that age they are really starting to complete with the people around them, whether it be their siblings or their friends. This book would be a great way to relate their real life to reading, plus the humor that is added makes it funny for the kids to read. I also like how it ties in Social Studies at the end of the book when it talks about a custom that her family has.

Big Question:

Who in your life do you have that you like to compete with? What drives you to complete with this person?

Required Reading for REOL 536

Glenn, M. (1996). Who killed Mr. Chippendale? New York, NY: Puffin Books.

Reflection to come


L'Engle, M. (1962). A wrinkle in time. New York, NY: Square Fish.

Reflection to come

Curtis, C.P. (2004). Bucking the sarge. New York, NY: Laurel-Leaf.

Reflection to come

Vanderpool, C. (2010). Moon over manifest. New York, NY: Delacote Press.

Reflection to come

Young, E. (2002). Seven blind mice.

About Me

Hello all! My name is Amanda Sigmon, and this is my very first blog! I am a fifth grade teacher at an elementary in Boone County, KY; this is my third full year teaching. I really enjoy teaching math, social studies, and writing but feel that I could strengthen my skills in teaching reading. I am looking forward to gaining resources through this class that I will be able to use in the future! I graduated from Northern Kentucky University in 2008 where I received the Outstanding Teacher Award for elementary education. This current school year I was nominated for and received the Excellence in Teaching Award from Campbellsville University! Until entering college I had never really won anything before so these two awards I am very proud of. I have been married for 4 years and we currently do not have any children. This is a very exciting time for my husband and I though because we just bought our first home and we actually go next week to pick up our Goldendoodle puppy whose name is Jax. I am looking forward to everything this course has to offer!!