Lesson Plan

When flipping through the Craft Lesson plan book, I was so surprised to find out the multiple lesson plans that were so short and simple to teach with the help of a childrens book.  I had not planned on buying this book because I didn't believe that it would be of any use in my future. However, after reading through the lessons and connections that it made with many common children's books, I couldn't be more excited to teach mini lessons using the lessons given.
  I chose to use the lesson on Crafting a Lead (pg. 77), using the book Wilma Unlimited.  Without looking into the story, I quickly looked up the call number and checked out the book. When returning home I was disappointed becuase I found out that in order to teach the lesson, I would not particularly need to have the book with me.  Even though it wasn't needed, I sat down to read the book about Wilma's life and was so interested in the story.  The short non-fiction book was very intesting and will help me teach the story becuase I have a better understanding of what the whole book is about.  This is something that is very important when teaching small lessons that don't require a full read of the book. I think that it is also a great idea to have the book that is discussed in the lesson on hand to encourage children to read the story during their independent reading time.  If the book is something that is appropriate for a group it could also be read during guided reading and/or shared reading.

Teaching Codeswitching/ MGRP

Codeswitching is something that I have heard about in other classes before this.  By reading the article by Wheeler and Swords, codeswitching took a much more practical place in a classroom.  Learning how to teach children the right time for formal/informal language is something that every teacher will face at some point.  Because of the language that children speak comes primarily from their parents, students need a Formal Language 101 lesson just as Ms. Swords taught on how to show the two compared to one another.  I believe that if a teacher brings out this process in every class that they teach, it will be a much smoother process for future informal translations that occur in the classroom.

For the multi genre research paper, I was very surprised to find out how open the topic choice was going to be.  Because this is not something that most children are allowed to do, I believe that learning how to construct a MGRP in a classroom setting by completing one is a great idea.  Although I am not sure what my topic choice will be, I began to write down a list of ideas that I find interesting.  Not coincidentally, most of the topics that come to mind are educationally related.  This is something that I need to try to branch out from becuase I am so used to picking a topic that has to do with the class that I am writing the research paper.  If I want to use this paper as an example in the future, I would like to be able to present a topic that is not typical for my students to see that their options are completely open.

Teaching Spelling and Phonics

Reading the articles that were assigned for week three allowed for a deeper evaluation of what I would do as a teacher in many situations.  I was first struck by the article by Cusumano.  She gave us a sample writing by a 5 year-old student and evaluated it on many levels.  Before reading her evaluation, I too took a look at the writing that this child did, and in my head evaluated it from the beginning.  After completing the article I was shocked to find out how brilliant this child truly was, and how easily it can be overlooked.

• drawing along with writing
• writing from left to right
• flexible shapes of letters
• spaces between words
• multiple spellings for words
• a special mark at the end

All of these practices were included in the 5 year-olds writing showing her knowledge of the very complex topics on a basic level.  Thinking about how children understand these conventions and can apply them to their work shows the importance of freedoms that teachers give to children.  At such a young age, writing on lines, proper spelling, capitalization, and many other aspects of writing that are required in the later years, are not important.  Although I am not sure if I will be teaching children of that age level, it requires me to think about whatever level of students I will be teaching and how I can apply this to them as well.  If teaching students of a 1st through 3rd grade level, there will be a very wide range of writers.  Knowing each students abilities can show what should be expected of them. Working off what they can practice they will be able to grow at a better rate than throwing them into the writing of different abilities so that I can "Provide praise and

encouragement for the ideas without criticizing the errors in conventions."

Literacy Dig

The weekly assignment for week two required for groups to observe literacy in action.  The open field of Bloomington allowed for many options on where to take this observation.  As a group, Laura, Riley, Allison, Josh, and I chose to view this taking place in the arboretum.  Because of the multiple students walking through the area, as well as the beautiful weather on the chosen day, this was a wonderful place to view literacy. 
I was assigned to observe and record the physical environment to describe the area that we were located in.  I completed this task by taking a picture on my cell phone, drawing a very simple map, and picking up a leaf off the ground. The physical environment was very opportune for many literacy's to take place.  As it was on Monday September 6th a very beautiful day, there were many students leisurely laying in the arboretum. The trees, water, grassy area, and central location on campus attract those who are looking to sit outside in between classes.  There are small brooks, benches, and wide sidewalks winding all through the area.

I was not surprised by the observation in any way.  The three literacies that occurred were sometimes interrupted by causal talk between the couple that we observed. I found the observation interesting because of the location that we chose.  By not completing this observation in a closed area, there was much room for complications of retrieving the data. Seeing that there is literacy found even in a arboretum on a beautiful sunny day only reinforces my knowledge that there is literacy everywhere and that teaching it will be one of my most important tasks in the future.