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[kmack2016]

Children's Everyday Literacies

I really enjoyed this article. It gave a great explanation of what they meant by 'popular culture.' It also gave some strategies that can be used with popular culture. I think using popular culture in the classroom is a great concept. Incorporating the students' interests in the curriculum will help them create connections. The connections they make will be very strong if they can create it to something they are interested in. Also, if you use things the students are interested in, they will notice and will take note that you care about their interests. 

[kmack2016]

Media and Literacy

In the last part of the article, Newkirk addresses that many teachers that are from the older generation may be hesitant to use popular culture in their classrooms. I definitely think this was the case in some of my classrooms growing up. I do not see it being as much of an issue in today's society because our world is more technology driven and more of the teachers are now connected to what is happening in the world and in our culture. Pop culture is often brought into classrooms. 

[kmack2016]

Cutting literacy learning off from students' media-immersed lives makes school an alien and unappealing place.

Newkirk p. 64

I completely agree. Bringing in things from the media will help keep the students interest and create school to be a fun place!

[kmack2016]

Miller Chapter Four

Thinking Aloud: Showing Kids How

I think it is important to plan with the end in mind. Establishing a goal at the beginning is important because if gives you something to work towards. 

Authenticity matters! 

"I want their think alouds to be genuine, their language precise, their responses text based and thoughtful." I think it's great that she sets the same expectations for her students that she sets for herself.

Balance between letting children read and get "in the zone" and making and doing. Don't overdo it. 

Engage children in their learning processes. 

Active Readers Make Connections to Construct Meaning

I love how Miller discusses schema with her students. Schema was not something I became familiar with until my education courses. 

Making Meaningful Connections

I think it's cool the students made connections using their new knowledge of schema.

Thinking Through Text Together: An Anchor Chart in the Making

Anchor charts are a great tool to use in a classroom. It is something the students can see and it helps them remember the different parts of what they read. I like how Miller involved the children in making the anchor chart.

Small Group Work: Early Opportunities for Focused, Student-Led Conversation and Collaboration

I like the use of small groups making connections together. "Here, children are responsible for the thinking, not the reading. With time and practice, the two will merge." I like how she separated the two. It will make it easier to connect the two in the long run if they are only responsible for one part at a time. 

Connecting to Characters: What Can They Teach Us?

"So that children are clear about why we use strategies -they help us actively engage with the story or content, construct meaning, and grow understanding-I almost always link our strategy work to the big ideas, whether our work is in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry." 

Building and Actively Using Schema Throughout the Year

I think it's great how Miller uses the different schemas in her planning. She takes into account the different backgrounds of each child, helping them build their schemas. 

[kmack2016]

The world is filled with atrocities - and with writing (like the puppy-killing article and the Iditarod Committee's letter) meant to convince us to abandon one set of values and replace them with another. Inquiry studies consistently yield a flood of real-world materials and experiences that only need to be acted upon to develop what Brell calls the critical spirit (1990 p 87)

-Crafton pg. 93

There are opportunities for learning everywhere. You can create a curriculum that teaches significant lessons from anything in the world.

[kmack2016]

Xu Article

I love pop culture, so I thought this article was awesome. I think that involving what the children are interested in in their learning will help them make connections which will cause the information to leave an impression in their minds. Using what the children are interested in will help cause them to be interested in what they are learning. Creating interest is important because interested students are engaged students. If the students are engaged in the lessons, they will learn much more and retain the information.

[kmack2016]

Jean did not plan this unit on superheroes ahead of time; rather, she let her students' interests guide her in making instructional decisions as to what needed to be included in the unit and how the interests were tied into a mandated literacy curriculum.

-Xu page 32

I think it's really cool how the teacher took what the children liked and were familiar with and connected it to what was mandated.

[kmack2016]

Vignette 2.1 in Xu article

This reminds me of something that happened in my practicum this week. On Tuesday, Mrs. Ryan's third grade class started learning about alliteration. Mrs. Ryan said there were examples of alliteration everywhere and gave the example of Dunkin' Donuts. She then asked if the students could think of any examples. Some of the answers were Spongebob Squarepants, Chuckee Cheese, and Krispy Kreme. Mrs. Ryan was "capitalizing on the students' familiarity with pop culture to enhance students' literacy learning." It's really cool to see these things being implemented in a classroom!

[kmack2016]

Miller Chapter 3

I love the different strategies Miller uses in her classroom. Book talks, sticky notes, read-aloud, recommending charts, go looking together, pick one, and conferring are all great ways to help a child's reading proficiency (as well as their love for reading) grow. 

[kmack2016]

When I read aloud a favorite book to children, I'm doing more than reading a good story. I'm showing my love and enthusiasm for reading and learning. I'm sharing my thinking and inviting children to join me, and I'm encouraging and expecting students to do the same in their reading. My message is clear: I love reading. I know you will, too. Let me show you how.

Miller pg. 54

[kmack2016]

Connecting what children know about the books in the classroom to what they know about themselves as readers helps narrow their selections. When a child knows that he is just starting to read, and that the "Ready Set Read" books usually contain familiar fairy tales, with only a few sentences on a page, attractive pictures, and big print, he knows right where to go.

-Miller pg. 54

[kmack2016]

Workshop time usually ends with a group share. Students stop their work and come together to share something they have written, something they are doing as readers, for instance, using a new reading strategy, or responses to books they are reading. Other students offer comments, questions, and suggestions. The interaction is an important part of the workshop experience because it builds and reinforces a sense of community among learners.

-Five and Egawa p. 2

[kmack2016]

Miller Chapter Two: In September, Part One

I think setting a goal for what you want your students to walk away with at the end of the year is important. It gives you something to keep in mind with planning each lesson. 

I really loved this chapter because I love organization and having everything planned out. Planning ahead may be time consuming, but it saves time in the long run. Having a long term plan is key in keeping things on track. 

I like how Miller said she modeled the things that readers do, so that her students will do the same. She models and practices these behaviors because she knows the value it has. 

"Children don't always know that they know something. My modeling, guiding, and nudging them to think back, think out loud, and take a reflective thoughtful stance often shows them that they do. 

What About Phonics and Word Work? "It's essential that children have significant time every day to practice applying what they're learning in context, with real books.

"Having a clear understanding of what kids need to know and do will guide you and help ensure that no child falls through the cracks."

[kmack2016]

I want children to understand that readers read to get smarter, and to learn about themselves, other people, and the world --that reading is something they can do independently that empowers them to control their lives and make the world a better place.

-Miller p. 29 

I LOVE this! I love to read and think reading is so important. I really value reading and hope to pass on my love of reading to my future students. 

[kmack2016]

Miller Chapter One: Guiding Principles

I really enjoyed the section entitled "Community: Creating a Culture and Climate for Thinking." I agree with Miller in that creating a classroom community is everything. She says on page 21, "When our vision of community expands to create a culture and climate for thinking (Perkins 1993) --when rigor, inquiry, and intimacy become key components of our definition-- it's essential that we work first to build genuine relationships, establish mutual trust, and create working literate environments." I think that it is important to build relationships and trust before you can expect a child to be open to learning in your classroom. When a child trusts you, they well be receptive of the activities in the classroom. 

In the section "Establishing Mutual Trust," Miller discusses the importance of trusting children with the "time and tools to think for themselves, to pose, and solve problems, and to make informed decisions about their learning." Mutual trust is very important in the classroom setting, when you show a child you trust them,  they will trust you!

[kmack2016]

Talking back and taking over: Young children's expresive engagement during storybook read-alouds

Types of response within expressive engagement

1. Dramatizing

2. Talking back

3. Critiquing/controlling

4. Inserting oneself (or friends) in the story.

5. Taking over the text and manipulating it for one's own purposes.

carnivalesque-a of the "carnivalesque." Bakhtin saw carnival as subver sive, a time when power relations are up-ended and humor becomes outrageous. Carnival often centers around the body and bodily functions.

[kmack2016]

Second, teachers need to acknowledge fully the crucial importance of children's home experience with books. Not only should they continue to encourage parents to read to their children, but they need to explain why, how, and what they should be reading to them.

-Doake

I think it is important that teachers let the parents know how important reading is and how they can help at home.