Wednesday, 30 January 2008 - 10:23 PM MST

Name: "Mary"

Hello fellow students! What a first class meeting! Maxime was great fun. It was interesting how we were allowed to be involved in the design of a perfume ad campaign. It was great to see how everyone’s creative side came out when we smelled the interesting scent given to us. It was also interesting to explore the different Genres for different stories.

The San Juan College Library was also a special treat. It was a very informative “field trip”. The books that were introduced were guides for Children’s Books included: Horn Book, A to Zoo guide for children’s books, What do Young Adults Read Next?, and periodical references such as Book Links.

The children’s section of the SJC Library can be found in room 6212A (children’s books) and room 6214B (periodicals and young adult novels as well as Award winning books). These rooms can also be reserved for studying. If there are any other questions about the SJC Children’s section, you can talk to Chris or Joseph. They are reference librarians at SJC.

Next week we will meet at Tibbits Middle School. Tibbits is located on the corner of Dustin and Apache. We will meet in the school’s lobby and sign in at the school’s office. We will meet with Penny Smith and Beth McDaniels to discuss the logistics in working with students at Tibbits. Francis has asked for everyone to get back to her and let her know if we can meet until 4:30 as we will arrive 30 minutes later for class.

Well, I will see you all there! Have a great and safe week!

Thursday, 31 January 2008 - 11:41 AM MST

Name: "Frances"

Thank you, Mary, for showing us the scribe way!

Wednesday, 6 February 2008 - 9:35 AM MST

Name: "Christine"
Home Page: http://clouh73.tripod.com

Like always Mary, thank you!  You were very detailed and pointed out areas that I did not catch during the walk through of the SJC library.  I went there recently for information and to checkout material for research.  FYI:  If you currently have a SJC ID card you will have to go to the librarian’s front desk to have it renewed (takes only a few seconds), if you have not already done this.

This is a wonderful way to refresh my memory of what we did in class.  I hope you all enjoyed your SNOW DAY!  I did. See you all in class next week.

 

Thursday, 7 February 2008 - 7:06 AM MST

Name: "Frances"

Dear Children's Literature readers,

Thanks to our winter wonderland weather we did not have class Monday, Feb. 4. Please continue to read and add to your booklist.

Penny and Beth will be expecting you next Monday, Feb. 11. Remember to record your reflections about your interactions and experience that day in your Teaching Reflections.

Ms. Smith (ACE) will be teamed up with Mary, Sarah, Nikki, Nancy & Chelsea

ACE pages to review:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/oipd/mspap/writing/acestrategy.pdf

http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/web/2000/james/ACEpage.html

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:_9naIooV97cJ:www.animask12.net/Staff_Development/ACESLIDESFORALL.ppt+ACE+strategy&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us

Ms. McDaniels-Hill (Persuasive Writing) will be teamed up with Barbara, Christine, Shantel, Anna & Frederick

http://www.americaschoice.org/wawhatsincluded

http://www.ncee.org/store/products/detail.jsp?setProtocol=true&id=104

Members of each team visit the websites provided above as background preparation before Monday, Feb. 11.

Please take the initiative as independent learners in preparing yourselves. I will return for our Tibbetts visit at 12:40pm on Feb. 25.

I forgot there is no school on Monday, Feb.18, Presidents' Day, so there will be no school at Tibbetts. Please use this day to your advantage taking care of  our course responsibilities: read email from 2/4; read our course syllabus; browse our course blog to see what's on there of interest to you; and create web page IF you want-optional.

Remember, you do not need me to be 'snooping around' for you to be productive learners. If you have questions that can wait until 2/25, I will address them. If they cannot wait, talk it over with another peer or call Dawn at our UNM office. Dawn also has a copy of our email correspondence.

Enjoy yourselves and your learning adventures. Until we meet again-soon...................Frances

Monday, 25 February 2008 - 5:21 PM MST

Name: "Christine"

Greetings All!  What an adventurous day we had!  Most of us arrived at Tibbett’s to learn that testing for the Farmington Public Schools have begun therefore, we would not be working with the students today.  That will all begin next week.  So post that on your calendar, IPOD, cell phone reminder, whatever source you have that will remind you we meet at Tibbett’s at 12:40pm on Monday, March 3rd.

 

After discussing where we will meet, we all left Tibbett’s to meet at the Student Success Center at San Juan College.  When we arrived we again had to decide where to meet until 2:30pm (our scheduled time for the Student Success Center Lab).  After adjusting our attire, we proficiently trailed after Frances to find ourselves seated at an elegantly designed room with soft blue and purple walls, burgundy furniture and a mahogany wooden table that looked like it belonged in the Library of Congress.  We sat around the table as Frances told of her adventures on her sailing trip.  She provided us with a map that she picked up from the Islands.  I believe the most intriguing part for me was to listen to the dialect and mixture of the citizens that live on the islands.  She brought with her some samples of fascinating children’s literature that they have on the island – I learned where the song Banana Boat Song came from and now understand the meaning behind it.  WOW! I’d like to learn more about the culture (looked it up on the web) – Thanks Frances for the insight.  Frances also briefly answered any questions that we might have before we went to the Student Success Center Lab.

After the brief meeting in the CTX room, we moved on into the Student Success Center where we were given the opportunity to create our web page or add onto it if we already created it (~1hour).  After we had to find another place to meet since that beautifully light room would not allow us back in.  We situated ourselves around two tables in the far corner of the large student lounge at the entrance of the library.  Here we further discussed the syllabus in detail.

Your book list should be in progress – read any type of children’s literature that interests you.ADDITION:  Graphic Novels (at lease 3)Session Scribe – Look on Course blog to see when you are the scribeLiterature reading journals – your process of thought, memories of reading, experiences of reading, etc.Author and Illustrator Biography – see a sample on Frances’ webpage.Tibbett’s Lessons – Our groups meet and discuss what and how we will prepare for the class we are scheduled for.Tibbett’s teaching Reflection – reflect on how things went, what you’d change, “WORK AVENTITIOUS.”Genre & Literary Elements – you signed up for these at the first day of class and picked out a book.  Read up on it and be prepared to present in class on your scheduled day.  The Jeopardy game relates to this.Book Sell – a two minute book presentation of a book that is a MUST READ.Land of Enchantment Book Award – must read at lease 3 books from this list and remember to vote for your favorite out to the three you’ve read.  You can obtain the list on the site listed to the left of this blog.Children’s Literature Web Resource – this is for your reference, so prepare it pertaining to your needs.

 

Any other questions, Frances said to contact her via email or phone.

 

NEXT WEEK:       Monday, March 3rd

TIBBETT’S

12:40pm

Monday, 17 March 2008 - 10:55 AM MDT

Name: "Monday 3.3.08"

Monday, 17 March 2008 - 9:41 PM MDT

Name: nancy1coleman
Home Page: http://nancy1coleman.tripod.com

Hello all.  Today we met at Tibbetts agian to work with Penny Smith's Sixlets.  Agian it was a lot of fun to work with them and get the hands on experience.  Also we did a super fun skit during our class time.  I believe this was a part of the midterm.  Each of us got a chance to come out of our shells and be a part of a play.  Sorry i missed most of them I had to leave class a little early.  I hope everyone had as much fun with it as I did. Have a wonderful spring break and we will see you all soon.

Tuesday, 1 April 2008 - 4:24 PM MDT

Name: sarahbriggs
Home Page: http://sarahbriggs.tripod.com

Hello! Today we started off at Tibbetts  with the students continuing with our poems or "Woodsong". I feel, and I think everyone else is, feeling better connected with the students and what they are doing in the classroom.

Frances went into taking responsibility and acting professional while at the schools, I think this was a great reminder to us all.

We were able to talk in our groups that we have at Tibbetts to recollect what happen and what we would like to happen next Monday.

Chelsea and Mary presented their genres of Informational and Folklore! They were both great, interesting and I learned so much more from their talks. Thank you both! Barbara also talked about a few books she brought that she really enjoyed. Tied in nicely with the presentations and the talk of genres.

We watched a quick video that Frances has been dieing to show us about Literature Circles. The video gave a better insight to what Literature Circles are, and how every person can benefit from being in one.

The last thing we went into is book talks. With several books laid out on our desks we picked a couple books and talked a little about the book and it's genre(we will continue this next week).

It was a great week and we will see everyone next week!

Thursday, 10 April 2008 - 10:57 AM MDT

Name: "Chelsea Tanner"
Home Page: http://mintjuleproo.tripod.com/

We began our Monday’s the usual way by going to Tibbets. Each group went into their readings of Woodsong in Penny Smiths class and in Beth McDaniel’s they continued with their poetry explorations.

 

We then met at the Farmington Public Library. We began this session by having a lengthy discussion about literature circles. We discussed what we thought of last week’s video. The primary focus of this talk went into the importance of making the best of the time available with the children. It was discussed that as teachers, we need to sustain the story, use intrigue and peek the children’s curiosity often. We discussed how the kids are going to start reading without us during their reading time during class. We all agreed this would be beneficial so we wouldn’t have to rush the ending of the book. Having more time to discuss the entire book at length will be a great way to wrap up this year’s Literature Circles.

 

Next we had some great genre presentations. Christine went first with presenting us great information on the genre: Science Fiction. She went on to explain how it is different from fantasy and gave us some tips on how not to confuse the two genres.

 

Next Nikki went on to present her genre: Fantasy. It was a great coincidence that her genre coincides with Christine’s. She did a great job of giving specific examples of what books fall into this genre.

 

Our class voted for the 2008 Land of Enchantment Book Award. It will be interesting to see the results!

 

Unfortunately we didn’t get to the library tour but I am happy we will be returning to the library next week to pick up where we left off. See you then!

Monday, 21 April 2008 - 12:36 PM MDT

Name: "April 14"

We finally had our library tour hosted by Barbara Meachum. Although it was the abbreviated tour, it was informational and will help us during our future visits to the library. Above all, ask someone when in doubt. Reference librarians are there to help you.

 On April 28, we will return to the FPL and Sheeresa will talk to us specifically about Youth Services and their available resources. Flo will talk to us afterwards about her favorite children's books and answer questions we may have.

Sean came to share Fredrick's Graphic Novels Genre presentation. We took time to plan for our upcoming Tibbetts literature circles and poetry lessons.

Author Katy Beaty will join us on April 21 at Andrea Kristina's  to talk about John's Shelf project and the life of a writer and author.

Remember to add to your webpages: Monthly children's literature web resources, Weekly reflections, Booklist, author & illustrator bios, Tibbetts reflections. April 28 is the due date for the Illustrator & Author Bios.

Thank you, Frances

Monday, 28 April 2008 - 12:01 PM MDT

Name: "21 April 2008"

We began our class with our practiticum visit to Tibbetts working with Beth McDaniels and Penny Smith's classrooms. I will bring the video tape so students can begin to video tape the work they are doing in poetry & literature circles. Thank you to Kathy Beatty who met us at Andrea Kristina's for a talk about John's Shelf Project and the life of a writer. Her honesty about the way she approaches her craft, insight about the editing process and the publishing industry were informational. The SCWBI website is linked on our Course blog.

Sharing the writing process reminds me that as teachers we are writers in deed. The act and art of writing is in how we approach writing for self-expressive and communication forauthentic purposes and not just for meanigless assignments. We need to be writing with our students, sharing our thoughs, our drafts and revisions, and thoughts about writing with our students as well as other colleagues.

This kind of approach to writing will increase reading and writing scores I assure you. Thank you, Scribe Frances

Tuesday, 29 April 2008 - 1:09 PM MDT

Name: "Fredrick Palmer"

4-28-08

Today our different groups met at tibbetts. My group (McDaniels-Hill) continued to work on poetry with the kids. We continued the theme of the poetry slam and had our kids break into groups and perform some poems. I think that they enjoyed it. I don't know what the other half of us did, so if someone wants to post thatinfo we would all appreciate it.

After we were done at Tibbetts we headed over to the library and got a tour of the children's section and cool baggies stuffed with goodies and info for us. We learned more about the database and how to look up books and info that can help us. I think that the live homework helper is pretty cool. That can be a great resource for kids who do not get support at home from their parents.

After the tour, we met in the southwest room and Sarah gave an informative presentation on her genre "Anime and Manga". Some of the highlights of her presentation were that the books are read backwards, printed in B&W only, were the fastest growing segment of books in 2005 and like graphic novels, can include a huge variety of themes, genres and are very stylized.

After Sarah's presentation we had a quick pop quiz on our genre spotting ability and then we concluded.

Just as a reminder- Web pages need to be ready to present on the 5th and we will play some jeopardy afterwards. See y'all next time. 

Monday, 5 May 2008 - 8:14 PM MDT

Name: "ANNA"

Today was the last class for our quick semester.  Today we finished up our work with the sixth graders at Tibbetts.  We then met at class and ate pizza and presented our last few genres.  Then we all did our book sell's and took a quick look at eachothers pages.  We also had a brief round of Jeopardy and ended a fun class.