Chapter 10

In reading the chapter in the text on historical fiction, I was again reminded of my own love for this genre of literature. As a young child, I read many of the American Girl books, as well as those in the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. I found myself fascinated with colonial American life, everything from the day to day keeping of house to the settings, cities and prairies. I found myself having “ah-ha” moments as I saw familiar titles, and making a list of others that might appeal to me. Katherine Paterson’s Lyddie jumped off of the page for me, because this is one that my grandmother (who was a librarian) gave to me for my birthday one year. That book is one that is still in my collection, as well as other classics such as Johnny Tremain.

I find historical fiction so intriguing simply because of the way that many of the authors go about creating their setting and the tone of the story based on the character. For instance, In Johnny Tremain the author doesn’t simply retell the story of the American Revolution, she creates a character and the setting of Boston through this character to retell some of the key events. The key players in the American Revolution are not the main character in the story, yet they appear and the story of the Revolution is still told so that the reader can piece together the knowledge of history that they brought to the text, as well as the details, both factual and fictional, that the author provides, to create a vivid and memorable story. The ability of an author to tap into a reader’s prior knowledge through the genre of historical fiction is an incredible thing to me, and perhaps why I enjoy this type of literature so much, since it takes the seemingly dry things of the past and makes it come to life.

Unit planning and learning theories

Through developing my unit plan, I have seen elements of our study of learning theories come into play. I think that I tend to relate more to cognativism than to the other learning theories, simply because it is the one that seems to make more sense to me as a classroom teacher. As I was writing this unit plan, I tried to approach the topic in such a way that it would relate to prior knowledge that students would have, encourage them to engage in the learning through interesting presentation (such as artistic expression and creating their own constellations, etc.), and allowing them to make some modifications to previous learning without stretching them beyond the scope of what would be reasonable for 6^th graders.

That being said, elements of social constructivism also play a role in this centers unit, as students will be working on individual products, but will have a group with which to communicate about ideas and to discuss their questions. Since the students would be discussing their reading, information gathering, etc. in their groups, this would lead to more life-long learning, because the students would not only be creating the products, but also having the conversations about their learning, which helps them to gain a greater understanding of the material than they might have gained on their own.

I have also found it interesting to take on the role of the media coordinator in this assignment rather than that of classroom teacher, as I’ve been accustomed to doing. I’ve found that playing the role of co-teacher is somewhat more challenging than I first had anticipated, because I’m trying to step into someone else’s ideas and make them my own, while maintaining the original integrity (does that make sense?). In other words, instead of creating my own lesson entirely from scratch, I had to begin with what the cooperating teachers had in mind and work with that to create an effective lesson that would steer students in the right direction. After my introductory lesson, I would then take on more of a co-teacher role and help students in the information seeking process using the resources both online and in the library.

Overall, I think the project was an effective way to get me to approach my new role as media coordinator. Since I developed this unit with my team teacher, we will be using it next year, so I’ll be interested to see how it actually plays out with the students. Things never quite go as planned in the classroom, especially with middle schoolers, but that’s usually what makes it most fun!

Runny Babbitt

I had an interesting conversation about this book after reading it for last week with a friend of ours who has an eighteen month old daughter, Macyn. She was saying that she was a bit reluctant to have Macyn listen to the book out loud or on audio CD because she was afraid that she might learn the words the way Silverstein writes them, rather than the correct way. I thought it was a valid point and wonder what applications this might have for other kids who may struggle with language delays and development (this is not the case for Macyn). Is there any research to support this theory?

For kids who have already verbally reached some mastery of the English language, I don't think this would be a problem, but it would be an interesting tool to pull some kids into the study of poetry. Especially kids who "don't like poetry", as is the case with so many middle school boys. I might use some of the poems to introduce my poetry unit and have kids write their own versions for their poetry portfolios.

How to eat fried worms

I was a bit disappointed with the character development in the beginning of the book and found it difficult to get into as a result. I couldn't get a clear picture of the characters right away and found myself wondering which character was saying what as a result. I wonder if struggling readers would have the same difficulty.

I think it would be really neat to integrate this book into a soil study unit and I wonder if there are enough texts out there to do literature circles in a science class on the topic. I have a few in my collection, so it might be something I try next year. (although I may have mutiny on my hands if I deviate from the text book, although it's still in the SCOS)

The parenting is interesting and reminds me of what I see with some of my students... the inconsistencies. Sometimes parents are tough on them, and other times they're lax... and I know that they're human, but consistency is so important for children in order for them to know where they stand. I know that once I have kids, I'll have a whole new perspective to bring to the table on this issue.

How did I get so confused?!

Geez... usually I am so on top of things! Well, in looking again, I did read the right chapter and post the right thing... and I guess I'm now ahead since I've posted about A Dog's Life also. I guess I'll blog about Runny Babbit when I return.

The online class meeting was difficult for me. I didn't focus as well and my computer kept cutting out on me. I guess I didn't really realize how confused I was until today. Hopefully it'll all work out.

A Dog's Life 2

When the young son of the Merrions discovers the puppies, he befriends the puppies, but wants to keep them a secret from his mother. It's an interesting perspective that Martin paints of humans from this first person dog perspective; that there are ulterior motives or the mixed messages that are sent. She cleverly helps the reader to pick up on the "sixth sense" that animals have for humans and their mistrust of them. Martin helps the reader to understand the mistrust that animals have for humans through a variety of interactions, including Squirrel being picked up by humans later on in the story and then dumped because she's not what they wanted.

In the end of the story, Squirrel finds companionship as an elderly dog with a retired woman who enjoys her company and keeps her warm, comfortable, and fed. Susan befriends Squirrel, now named Addie, and enjoys her companionship in the car running errands and in the evenings by the fire. Martin cleverly redeems the sense of mistrust of humans by providing a comforting sweet woman who gives Squirrel the home she's always deserved.

A Dog's Life

OK, so I'm officially an idiot. I was looking at the wrong section of the syllabus this week and read the poetry chapter and was reading poetry! Glad I looked before class today.

So, I decided to read A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray. As an animal lover, it appealed to me. When we finally get our house built, we're planning on having at least one dog. In the story, it begins with a prologue entitled Night where Squirrel is thinking back to "puppyhood" and remembering the days of old, so to speak. As the chapters unfold, we discover that Squirrel had a brother named Bone in a shed in Lindenfield on the property of the Merrions, a summer home. The puppies explore the yard and shed, meet a family of cats, and see a fox named Mine, whom Mother is afraid of. When the family returns to the property for the summer, Mother is wary and discovers that the Merrions have killed Mine. Soon after, Mother leaves Squirrel and Bone in the shed never to return.