Final Reflection

Wow! I can't believe this semester is already coming to an end. Looking back to the beginning I can see how much I've grown this semester. If you had asked me at the beginning of this semester if I was excited about the idea of creating a blog, I'd have said no. But after blogging for an entire semester I am amazed that I've never had to do this before. Not only did I read tons of books over the semester, but blogging allowed me to hear the thoughts of my peers and other people. I was able to receive comments that agreed with my thoughts, and ones that disagreed. Both of which were really helpful. In addition to receiving comments this blog allowed me to check out the books my peers were reading, which allowed me to understand the gist of books I didn't event read. This was a great tool, and I feel that my knowledge and personal library of children's literature has expanded greatly.
In addition to the blogs I love our classroom discussions. They have all been wonderful, and helped me truly understand that the role of a teacher is to be someone who both teaches and learns. I also love how the topics discussed are ones that aim at accepting all the students in the classroom, and making sure they feel comfortable in the classroom. I also loved the discussions that talked about the messages that are sent through our language and what we say. Such as, "Bring this home to your mom and dad", or How TV week is a classist, and how to address other difficult topics that may come up in the classroom and school setting.
In addition to great discussions I can honestly say that our class projects have all been extremely useful, and I can see using some of these projects as resources in my future classroom. The glogs and text sets are ones that I will definitely incorporate in my classroom. I also have a much better understanding of the various genres, and that it is important to cover a varitey of books in the classroom.
I have really enjoyed this class a lot, and I think one of the most important things I've learned this semester is that reading is reading, whether it's a comic book, manga, newspaper article, goofy chapter book, or a magazine. If students are reading that's what is important!

"Button Up!" By: Alice Schertle

Button Up! is a fun book of poems. The poems all rhyme which gives them a fun rhythm, and makes it a quick read! In addition to a little rhythm the poems are all told from the perspective of an inanimate object. For example, some poems are told by shoelaces while others are told by a pair of new shoes. One of my favorite poems in this book is called, Hand-Me-Down Sweatshirt.
The illustrations in this book are very colorful. The illustration size and placement varies for each of the poems. For example, one of the poems has many little illustrations that are interspersed between the various stanzas. On other pages the illustration takes up the whole page. The illustrations were done with watercolors. In addition to the fun illustrations I really liked how the titles were displayed. Every title has the inanimate object bolded in color. So if the poem is told by a swimsuit, then the word swimsuit is bolded in color in the title. The end pages even fit the fun colorful theme of this book with purple butterflies on blue fading to yellow paper.
I thought this book was very cute. It is definitely geared to a younger audience. Kids from kindergarten to 2nd grade would really enjoy this book. Although the poems in this book are geared to a younger audience I could see using a few of these poems to show how poetry can be written from various perspectives. I'm not sure that older students would enjoy this book being in the classroom library all year round, but I think during a poetry unit it would b a good book to have in the classroom library.

"Don't Read This Book, Whatever You Do!" By: Kalli Dakos

How could I not read a book titled, Don't Read this Book, Whatever You Do! I loved this book! It's a really cute book filled with poems all about school. The poems focus on the various aspects of school. Some of the poems are multiple voice poems that are written with students' voices and a teacher voice. Other poems are stories about things that happen at school. For example, one is about a kid who fell asleep during the school play. Others focus on the thoughts and feelings students have related to school.
I really enjoyed the poems in this book, and I think many students would find these poems funny and relatable. In addition to fun poems the illustrations are very cute. The book is printed in black and white, so the illustrations look pencil drawn. On some pages the illustrations frame the text while on other pages the illustrations are larger and go along with the story.
I can definitely see students enjoying this book! I would definitely put it in my classroom library for students to read, but some of the poems are so funny that I might have to read a few aloud to the class. I think this book would be a great addition to my future classroom!

"Falling Down the Page" Compiled By: Georgia Heard

The book, Falling Down the Page, is a really neat book of poems. It is a book full of list poems. There are many variations of the list poem, and this book highlights the various ways to create a list poem. A few of the poems even combine the list poem method with other methods, such as call and response and multiple voice. The poems in this book highlight lists that can be made from the things we see everyday and at school. I really liked this book because everyone can relate to it because the poems are created from things that happen in our daily lives.
In addition to a great collection of poems I really liked how this book was set up. It's a very narrow book, and rather than opening it up horizontally it opens vertically. I liked this little twist to the book format. Although the pages aren't very colorful the format of the poems are very neat. The titles twist in all different directions, and each poem seems to be formatted differently. Some poems even make you rotate the direction of the book! I really enjoyed reading this book of poems. I can see this book being very useful in my class, especially because it relates to everyday events and school. Some of these poems would make great read-a-louds before activities. For example, there is a show and tell poem in here which would be a fun one to read before introducing show and tell to the class.

"Looking Like Me" By: Walter Dean Myers

The book Looking Like Me is a really neat book. It's about this boy, Jeremy, who is figuring out who he is. With the help of friends, family, and people he knows he's able to see all the different things that make up who he is. The illustrations are collages, and the poems are on pieces of black paper with white ink. The pages are put together in such a way that the text is part of the illustrations. The illustrations are collages that combine pictures, colorful paper cut into the shapes of people, and colorful ink.
My favorite part of this book was the last page. At the end of the book the author and illustrator used the about the author and illustrator page to show how they came up with the book. It says, "We've looked in the mirror and what did we see? Two handsome dudes and a..." I liked this page because it showed pictures of them when they were young, and then the list of things that make up who they are. I thought this was a great page because I could see using this idea as an opener for writers notebooks. The students could write a poem about what they see when they look in the mirror. They can either use the literal meaning of what they see or they could write their poem about the person that they see when they look in the mirror. I think this is a great book, and I plan to use it in my future classroom.

"Jazz" By: Walter Dean Myers

The book, Jazz, is a great book! It starts off with an introduction about the history of jazz and its origins. Then it goes into a series of poems that are written to depict a certain style of jazz. They also tell about various jazz musicians, and about some of the history. The poems emphasize certain phrases or words by using a different font and highlighting them a different color. At the end of the book there is a jazz glossary, which explains what various jazz terms mean. And at the end of the book there is a timeline of important events. This book not only has a bunch of great poems, but it is full of information about jazz to help the reader better understand the rhythm of the poems.
In addition to a wonderful book the poems are laid out in a fun way, and the illustrations fit the colorful jazz theme. On some pages the poems are set normally while other pages the poem is tilted sideways, and other times the book needs to be held vertically to read the poem. The illustrations are very colorful, and made by placing black ink on acetate and then placing it over acrylic.
This book is definitely one that I'd like to incorporate into my future classroom. It'd bring both music and poetry together while incorporating some history in a neat way. I think it would be neat to split the class up into groups, and have them each present a poem. It would be fun for them to re-read the poem multiple times in order to decide how to perform it. In addition to reading the poem multiple times they would also listen to the jazz style in order to get an idea for the particular style of music that their poem is representing.

"Love That Dog" by: Sharon Creech

I thought the book Love That Dog was really cute book. It had a very simple plot, but the writing was what made it interesting. The book is written in short poems by a boy Jake. Jake is a student who is learning about poetry. At first he doesn't believe in himself as a writer so he refuses to let his teacher post his poems. He agrees to have his work posted in the classroom anonymously, and as the book goes on he gains confidence in his writing. Throughout the book we also get to hear his thoughts about other poems the teacher reads to the class. He really enjoys the work of a specific writer, Mr. Walter Dean Myers. Jake is encouraged by his teacher to write to him, asking if he can come to their school.
I thought this book was really cute, and I loved seeing the boy evolve as a writer. I also really liked how the book referred to poems by other authors. These poems are included at the end of the book, which was nice because I didn't know any of the poems before reading this book. What I really loved was how the author shows that poetry doesn't have to rhyme to be poetry, and she brings this topic up in the story too.
I think this would be a great book to read as a class because it a novel that is written in poetry. Exposing students to various types of books helps them become better readers and writers. I think by having students read this book they will gain a new understanding and appreciation for poetry. I also think it will encourage them to write in poetry more often because the book presents poetry in a very approachable manner. This book also encourages discussion about topics such as confidence and loss. Jake is able to write about his loss, and his confidence grows as he writes more poetry. I think that this was a really interesting book, and I can see reading it with a 3rd grade class and reading it with students as old as 6th grade.