ch9& class discussion

I probably won't ever forget tonight's discussion on the stiletto stoners. Personally I do not smoke pot, cigarettes, drugs, or even drink. I did recently find out an acquaintance of mine decided to tell me she smoked pot all through her pregnancy! I was shocked and her view about it was very differently from mine! She is from California and apparently the area she is from this is common practice! When I told her about the dangers of smoking pot while you are pregnant she looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language! I am amazed at the different attitudes people have on these types of issues. I do think information should be given to students on the dangers of these types of things just in case the children are coming from a household like my acquaintance!

ch8 fiction

I enjoy fiction books. I found it interesting to see what type of fiction books other classmates enjoy reading. I noticed there was a wide variety of interest. I am sure it is the same for children in a classroom. I personally do not enjoy romance books; however, I notice a classmate said she loved to read about love stories that never really happen. lol I noticed some people enjoy scary stories! I recently worked at a children's home. The children were toddlers ( age 3-5) and they also enjoyed this scary stuff! The kids liked Goosebumps. I was shocked! They would sit there glued to the tv gobbling up chili and popcorn. The kids would listen to the books too! hummm I believe these books were not meant for toddlers but the staff there read it to them all the time and the kids were never scared! Maybe I'm a chicken. Sometimes as a small child I was often scared of The Count on Seseme Street!

Isaac Millman

http://us.macmillan.com/author/isaacmillman

Issac Millman has written stories on a little Boy named Moses which is deaf. The books are written to relate to deaf children. Moses does regular activities that a non deaf child would do. The books include: Moses goes to a play, Moses goes to the circus, Moses goes to school, Moses goes to a concert.

ch 7

Picture books are wonderful. Children and adults enjoy looking at pictures as they read. I think it is a tool to help the children expand their imaginations. I have noticed sometimes the children will look at a picture and want to create their own story of what is happening. This is a great way to get them reading and writing. I say go ahead and read the picture book then let the children make up their own stories to the pictures. let them write their stories and publish it in the classroom.

ch 6 traditional literature

I now know there is a reason for starting a book with once upon a time in a far far away etc. I did not know that these books are started in that manner as a way to continue through decades and to appeal to different areas. As a child reading these books I often got tired of the books starting that way and they completely lost my attention. Really couldn't we have been more creative? I believe fairy tales could have started differently. I do love the "fractured folktales". I find them to be amusing and more creative. I also learned that these tales are influenced by the oral tradition of culture.

author+down syndrome

I would like to share these wonderful books on children with down syndrome. These books will easily include your students with down syndrome in the classroom. They are wonderful books introducing children to diversity.

The ABC book displays each letter of the alaphabet that is represented by a child with Down syndrome. The book is designed for preschool to first grade, each page also has the corresponding letter and name of the object, to encourage letter and word recognition. There is also a companion book "1 2 3 for You and Me".

Russ and the Firehouse is about a five-year-old boy with Down syndrome. the story is about Russ and his uncle at the firehouse. Author Janet Elizabeth Rickert's focuses on the child and not his special needs.
Chimp is about a girl with Down syndrome, no mention is made of her special needs. The author Berniece Rabe tells the story of Misty and her dad searching for her stuffed animal. Most young children enjoy stories of animals.

ch 5 poetry+book I AM OF TWO PLACES

Poetry was never one of my favorite subjects. It was probably the way it was taught to me. I sat in class, listened to the teacher, but all I heard was blah blah blah, determined what she wanted to see and produced a paper for an A. I would like to think that I can come up with creative ways to introduce children to poetry. I realize it is important as a teacher to try to be positive about the subject. I hope I will be able to come up with fun activities on poetry. I think an important issua to remember is to let the children pick topics that they are interested in. I did find a wonderful childrens book that teaches children about poetry. the poems are actual poems that young children have written. They are poems telling the children's experiences of having ties to both America and Latin America. one of the peoms is a little girl account of being a translater from spanish to english for her parents. the child was 10 years old when she wrote the poem. Once reading these peoms I will never forget the children.

BOOK NAME: I AM OF TWO PLACES