What Have I Learned....

So much has happened this summer session that were extremely unexpected that I wish I had not put off my Unit Plan.  I am normally not a procrastinator, but unforeseen things kind of made me this session.  Although I feel like my head was not completely into this class, like I would have wanted it to be, I have found I really like Language Arts.  There is so much you can do with it and it is so important.  I think my favorite strategy that I learned was the piling strategy (organizing your brainstorming ideas).  I like it so much I integrated it into my unit plan.  Also, another thing I really enjoyed and loved in class was the book lists.  There are so many great books out there and it is heard to choose which one, having your classmates make lists and share them with you is a huge help. 
The last thing about this class I really enjoyed is the blog posts.  I really enjoy them a lot more that the "discussion" posts on D2L.  I feel like you have more freedom to express things and you can be yourself a little bit more. 
All in all, I really enjoyed this class and I have learned a lot. 

Childrens Booklist to help deal with frustration

To young children emotions are difficult to understand, sort through and deal with, especially frustration and anger.  I know that their are a lot of great books out there to help kids with the emotion of frustration, but I picked a few that were on the lighter side, easy to understand and funny.  One thing kids should know is that everyone gets frustrated, you just have to deal with it in a good way.

1. Llama Llama Mad at Mama

By: Anna Dewdney

Baby llama is not happy about having to go shopping with mama and he is mad.  This is a cute rhyming book about what baby llama and mama llama can both do to help with anger and frustration.  This book is good because it shows that we have to do things we do not always want to do.

2. I Was So Mad
By Mercer Mayer

Little Critter is not having a great day.  Everything he wants to do gets a big ol "no" from his family.  He finally gets mad enough and decides to run away, that is until his friends come by and ask him to play baseball.  This book is good at showing one small thing can turn around a bad mood and a bad day.

3. A Volcano in My Tummy
By: Eliane Whitehouse

This book is written for children 6-13 to give them tools to help be aware of anger, communicate emotions, and the skills of anger management.  The book has activities, stories, games, and articles that help to demonstrate these tools and skills.


4. Zach Gets Frustrated
By: William Mulcahy

Zach is having a bad day.  Zach's dad teaches him 3 steps to calm down when he is frustrated.  1. Name it. 2. Tame it. 3. Reframe it.  This is a great book to show kids how to turn a bad mood/day around in 3 easy (rhyming) steps.

5. The Very Frustrated Monster

By: Andi Green

Twitch, the monster, gets upset very quickly when things do not go his way. "It's not fair" & "Why me?" are his favorite sayings when he is frustrated.  The author puts life's mishaps into perspective and makes them quite funny in this cute book.

6. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

By: Judith Viorst

Alexander's day starts off bad, and gets worse from there.  Alexander thinks that if he moves, it will be better.  His mother informs him that everyone has bad days.  This book good to show kids that everyone has bad days.  It doesn't matter who you are or where you live.

7. When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really Angry

By: Molly Bang

This book is colorful and helps children learn how to deal with their emotions.  Being angry can really upset a child and this book can help them to understand what they are feeling, and that it is ok.

8. The Rain Came Down

By: David Shannon

This book is about how a beautiful sunny day turns into a rainy loud day; one event at a time.  The pictures in this book are amazing and funny.  At the end of the book, one good event leads to another.  This book shows that one small good event can change the course of a day.

9. Frustrated (How I Feel)

By: Marcia Lenonard

This book helps to build a child's emotional intelligence.  It shows them how to recognize their emotions, label them and describe them.  Building up a child's emotional intelligence is very important.

10. The Chocolate-Covered-Cookie Tantrum

By: Deborah Blementhal

Little Sophie sees another child in the park with a cookie and wants one too.  Her mother will not give her what she wants, so she throws a horrible tantrum.  This book is good to show kids that they cannot always get everything they want, when they want it. 

As I said before, emotions are hard for everyone; adults and children.  Feelings of anger and frustration can be the most difficult to deal with because children have not necessarily been taught how to correctly process the emotion.  Books are a great way to teach children about emotions and how to identify, understand, process and deal with them.  Seeing a character go through something can help a child see that they are not alone.

Childrens Booklist for Fairy Tale Variations

Fairy Tale variations are a fun group of books to have.  Everyone knows the basic Fairy Tales; they have been told for generations and will continue to be told for years to come.  What is fun is to read the stories that have a spin on them, the ones that have a slight variation.  There are so many great books out there; it was hard to pick just 10, but here they are...

1. Super Red Riding Hood

By:  Claudia Davila

This book follows the basic story of Little Red Riding Hood.  But when she puts on her red cloak, she becomes SUPER Red Riding Hood!

2. The Rockabilly Goats Gruff

By:  Jeff Crosby

Three Billy goats that love honky-tonk music turn the mean, grumpy troll into a rockabilly music fan.

3. Cinderella: A Fashionable Tale

By: Steven Guarnaccia

This book is based on the exact story of Cinderella.  But Steven Guarnaccia gives Cinderella a modern 20th century makeover complete with couture designs, Prada inspired slippers, Vivienne Westwood-inspired ball gown, and lots of accessories!

4. Little Red Writing

By: Joan Holub

A little Red Pencil makes her way through all of the difficulties of writing a story. 

5. The Princess and the Peas

By: Caryl Hart

Lily-Rose May will not eat peas, no matter what!  She is diagnosed with Princess-itus and is sent to live in a palace.  But unfortunately, the only food for princesses in the palace is peas! 

6. Goldie Locks has Chicken Pox

By: Erin Dealey

Goldie Locks comes down with Chicken Pox.  All of her storybook friends come by for a visit to see how she is doing.  Goldie Locks' brother begins to get jealous of all of the attention she is receiving, but suddenly all eyes are on him.

7. Big Bad Wolf is Good

By: Simon Puttock

The Big Bad Wolf decides that he will no longer be lonely if he changes into the Big Good Wolf.  Unfortunately, no one wants to give him a chance and is still afraid of the wolf.  He decides to go back to his bad ways, but is then faced with a decision to be good or bad...

8. Fractured Fairy Tales

By: A.J. Jacobs

This book has a collection of 25 retelling of classic fairy tales that are funny, twisted and satirical.  Some stories include; Pinocchio, Jack and the Beanstalk, and King Midas.

9. The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School

By:  Laura Murray

The classes freshly baked Gingerbread Man is left behind while the class heads out to recess.  He decides to try to find them, "I can catch them! I'm their Gingerbread Man!"  He does get a little help from employees at the school, but eventually he does find his class.

10. The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza

By: Philemon Sturges

The hen decides she would like to make a pizza after seeing a can of tomato sauce in her pantry.  She has to go shopping for the ingredients, make the dough, put the topping on and mostly by herself.  Until her friends finally decide to help her out in very suprising way!

Fairy Tales have always been a personal favorite of mine.  Reading variations of them can add new life to an old story.  A lot of the new stories have funny twists to them that make them quite comical, even for adults.  Like I said before, it was difficult to narrow a the list down to 10; there are so many great Fairy Tales Book Variations out there.

Childrens Books for Kindness

Kindness is an important thing to teach children (and adults!)  Having books in a classroom (or home) to help demonstrate what to do or not to do can make things easier for little readers or listeners.  There are so many great books out there about kindness, it was difficult to narrow it down to just 10.  I picked some of my all time favorite ones from when I was a child, some that my little ones love now, and some that come highly recommended.

1. The Giving Tree 
By: Shel Silverstein

This story is about a tree that love a little boy so much, that it gives him everything it has.  As the boy grows from a young child to an old man the tree is always there for him.

2. Horton Hears a Who

By: Dr. Seuss

Horton, the elephant, hears a little voice on a clover.  He wants to help save the world of the Whos that live on that clover, even though everyone thinks he is crazy.  "A person is a person, No matter how small."

3. Stone Soup

By: Marcia Brown

This story is about three hungry soldiers who trick and outwit the greedy villagers and make them a wonderful meal.

4. My Friend is Sad

By: Mo Willems

Gerald, the elephant, is feeling pretty down.  His friend piggy is going to do anything and everything he can to cheer his up!

5. How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends?

By: Jane Yolen & Mark Teague

This book has great rhymes and pictures to show children how to "play nice."  Almost every child loves dinosaurs and the pictures are quite funny, so it is a good book to show how to play with friends.

6. A Sick Day for Amos McGee

By: Philip C. Stead

This is a wonderful story about showing kindness to all living things.  Showing thoughtfulness and kindness to all species, not just humans, is very important.

7. Hey Little Ant

By: Phillip & Hannah Hoose

This book questions whether you would talk to an ant if it talked to you?  What about a big huge animal?  This book helps to get discussions started with children.

8. Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler

By: Margery Cuyler

This book helps to show that doing small random acts of kindness can make a huge difference in the world.  Whether it is at home, school, the store, anywhere.  It can be cleaning off the table, showing someone where to go, carrying a book for someone, etc...  This is a wonderful book.

9. Hav You Filled a Bucket Today?

By: Carol McCloud

This book teaches children to use positive, kind behavior to fill an invisble bucket.  Everytime they do something kind they put something in the bucket, but if they do something unkind or negative they dip out of the bucket. 

10. The Invisible Boy
By: Trudy Ludwig

This story is about a little boy that no one paid any attention to.  Then one day, a there was a new kid in class and the "invisible boy" was first to welcome him.  This book shows how small acts of kindness can make big differences in people lives.

As I have said, there are so many great books out there that can show and teach kindness, my list could have easily been 100 books long!  But these 10 are some of the best and dearest to my heart!

Word Walls

Wow, there were so much great information about word walls tonight.  If I had to choose what word walls to put in my classroom right now, my whole classroom would be word walls!!! Here are two ideas that I really liked:
1. Look Who Used a Word We Know!-  the teacher would put a students paper up on the bulletin board, where they used a word from the word wall.
2. Flashlight Fun game-  With the lights off, the teacher would use a flashlight to focus on a word on the word wall.  From there, you could make them say the meaning, spell the word, give a synonym, or antonym.
Word Walls are so helpful and there are so many ways to make them and use them. They are also helpful in any content area and any grade level. 

The Websites We got in Class

I just have to say the websites that the instructor gave us during the class tonight were so great.  I cannot get over them.  They would have been so handy to have last session, if not years ago.  I love all of the information that is on the sites.  Not only do they have great printables and worksheets that are free, but they also have lesson plans and unit plans to help. 
Coming up with ideas for lessons and units can be the hardest part in getting started.  These two websites will definitely help with that.  I am so thankful we were shown these.  These will help in all of my classes in the next year!

Completely Not What I Thought

I was not sure what I was expecting from this class, but it was great.  I have learned so much about integrating reading and text into different subjects!  When I taught my lesson to the class of 3rd graders I really felt in charge and confident.  I have taken a lot away from this class that will help me in any classroom I will teach in from Kindergarten to 12th grade. 
Also, I got an unexpected surprise.  The instructor was actually my preschool teacher, whom I LOVED.  I would never had known, if she had not had a creative blog post for us.  Being able to reconnect and catch up has been amazing and I will always be thankful for this class for reconnecting us!

Assessments

There are three main types of assessments; formative, summative, and authentic.  A formative assessment is a quick check to see if the students are grasping the concept, it is a quick check for understanding.  A summative assessment is a more formal "test".  It may be an end of a unit test, a portfolio, a presentation, a project, etc...  An authentic assessment is a special type of assessment that relates to the "real world."  If you were doing a lesson or unit over a famous person, you could have your class write them a letter.  If were teaching nutrition, you could have the students plan snacks for the week for plan a dinner for home, shop, cook it and report about it.  Authentic is something that they would actually do in real life, something that happens in the real world.
I have many formative assessments built into my lesson plans.  I always feel that you should check for understanding with your students.  It can be something very simple.  I also have an authentic assessment in my 1st lesson, the webquest.  It asks the students to write a letter to the president of the United States.  I also have a couple summative assessments in my lesson plans too.  Both happen to be pretty small quizzes or tests, nothing too big because it is not over a unit, just a lesson.  I think that assessments can be fun, they do not always have to be pencil and paper "tests."  They can be a game of Jeopardy, creating something, writing a letter, presenting something.  I feel that if you make assessments more creative, students will learn that they don't really hate them

Webquest Presentation

Well, I did my presentation on my lesson plan.  I think it went well!  I hope the class liked it and I hope my future students like it.  I think it is an versatile lesson that can be easily changed when the presidents change.  I spend quite a bit of time on the actual Webquest itself, so I would hate to lose all of that work.
The session is almost over, so I have to get to work on the rest of the 9 lessons!  I believe I have all of my strategies paired up with the lessons and texts.  It is just a matter of getting them all typed up and getting my 10 Blooms questions for each of the 9 lessons. 

Sematic Mapping

I am definitely planning on using the Sematic mapping on at least one of my lesson plans.  I love this strategy and how it involves the whole class.  This strategy will also work very well math, which most of my lesson plans are. 
I really liked a lot of the strategies that were presented tonight.  It really helped to ease my mind about these lesson plans!

Strategies

Directed Reading Thinking Activities (DRTA)- This is strategy that can be used for reading in almost any content.  The teacher would first give the students background information, ask open ended questions, ask the students to make predictions, etc...  Then the students would read the material provided.  After they would see how "correct" their prior thoughts were, baised on questions the teacher askes.
         I am not sure how this would work with math, which is what I am doing my lessons on.  Any ideas or help would be great!  I am not sure how you can have children read about math (3D shapes) and make predictions, etc...

Group Mapping Activity (GMA)-  This is a strategy that can be used for reading in almost any content also.  You would use this after you read the material.  The teacher could break the class into groups or do it as a class.  The would map out ideas, settings, characters, ect... that they have learned in the text.
           This could be used in a math lesson.  The students could draw maps connecting differences, similarities of shapes (2D & 3D).  They could also connect verticies to sides.  There is a lot that could be done with this.  Because of the grade level, the teacher (me) may actually have to guide it instead of breaking the class up into small groups.

Reading Comprehension

1st Lesson Plan

My ideas for lesson plans are for math, more specifically geometry.  I am working on incorporating the reading element into my lesson.  I feel like we would read a piece out of a text book, but I am not sure that is enough.  Also, vocabulary words are parts of reading and their definitions.  I just am not sure what is expected.  I always hate the 1st assignment of the class!

How I Learned To Read

Wow, it is hard to think back so long ago about how I learned to read.  I know that my parents always had books in our house and always read to us, even as babies.  Both my brother and I went to preschool where we were taught the basics of reading and phonics.  Once I began Kindergarten, I really took to reading.  I was placed in many of the gifted programs for reading and math; it just came easy for me.  I think it was because of all of the time and effort my parents put in when I was younger, because my brother was also in many gifted programs and we both have a love of reading.  I try to do the same for my children now.  I want them to know and see that reading is fun and a great experience.
I think that is one of the key parts of teaching children to read; teach them to love it and everything else should fall into place or can be worked on.

My Bio-Poem

Angee
Perfectionist, Happy, Worrier, Caring
Mother of Grayson, Jackson & Aria, Wife of Eric Whitesides, Daughter of Joe & Cindy Falco
Lover of running, learning, and laughing
Who feels love, fear and compassion
Who accomplished running 10K while pregnant, running a half marathon (13.1 miles), and who cherishes every moment
Who would like to see her children play in the ocean, herself graduate college and her husband graduate college
Resident of Columbia, Missouri
Whitesides

Frontloading

I plan on using frontloading quite a bit when I begin teaching.  Giving my students as much information at the beginning and before the lesson, is one of the best ways to insure that they are engaged and understand important pieces and parts of the lesson or unit. 
If a student does not understand a part of the lesson, it can be detrimental to the child.  Giving your students as many tools and information to help them succeed is extremely important.

New At Blogging

I have never blogged before, so this is all new to me.  It was fairly easy to set up and seems easy to customize.  Although, I will wait till I am not so exhausted and do not have an almost 2 year old trying to help me blog!  Anyway, goes to show, you can always learn something new; especially when you least expect it!

So Far...

So far...
I have been a little frustrated with classes that I need.  I transferred from MACC with my AAT (Associates of Arts in Teaching) and should have been a junior.  For some reason, I am still "technically" a junior even though I actually have enough credits to graduate college.  I know that the Department of Education is continually making changes to requirements, but it can be extremely frustrating.  I had hoped to be student teaching by fall and graduating in December, but that is not going to happen. 

I still have hope that things will go smoothly.  I know that I will have to overload most sessions and work extra hard Columbia College and cannot wait to start student teaching and teaching.  I really hope to be placed in a Special Education class; SPED is my true passion!