Final Reflection...

I am in awe of how fast time has gone by in this class!!! I have learned so many valuable skills and tools to take to my future classroom. One main thing that resonates with me is the mere significance of having books with varying topics available to students. I always knew books were an important literary tool, but now I can see how they can be used to address topics such as war, as with our paired texts, or possibly invite significant discussion and viewpoints as with The Giver. I am so glad that there is a class that focuses primarily on reading children's literature. If we are to be prepared as teachers, we will need to know what is out there and available to students. I think it is a valuable thing to be aware of what kids are reading to be able to stay as current and relevant as possible with them. I have developed a new appreciation for children's literature and believe that I have acquired skills to analyze children's books as well. Anything from observing the dust jacket of a book to analyzing the quality of a well-written book -these are just a few of the many useful skills I will take away from this class. I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and will intentionally implement these strategies in my future classroom.

Amelia and Eleanor Go For A Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan-Author Study

Amelia and Eleanor Go For A Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan
I feel that this book has a unique sparkle to it. This book is based on a true story that includes Amelia Earhart visiting Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House for an elegant dinner. These two women were good friends and enjoyed visiting each other immensely. After Amelia mesmerized everyone at the dinner table with her flying experiences; Eleanor begged for more stories from the cockpit. Amelia gets the idea to fly to Baltimore and back to show Eleanor just what she experienced while in the plane. They leave their dinner and escape to the local airport and take a quick flight. Eleanor was elated to see the city lights twinkling in the moonlight from the sky. And just as they were returning to the White House from their night flight, Eleanor had the idea to show Amelia a significant aspect of her life-driving a car. It obviously doesn't seem like a big deal to us nowadays, but in 1933 it was considered unsafe and questionable for women to drive. So, needless to say the two women were on another travel adventure. They were back in time for dessert, though! I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to others. I liked how the author compared the two women and how she painted a picture of a fun friendship between the two. It is so neat to read a (mostly) true story about two very important women in history! Also a bonus in the back is a real photograph of Amelia and Eleanor in the airplane during their night flight

Falling Down the Page-Edited by Georgia Heard-Poetry

Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems Edited by Georgia Heard
I think this is a great book of poems presented in a unique way. The reader doesn't hold the book in the traditional way. It has to be held like a pad of paper and appears to look like the words are going/falling down the page. There are a few that are read like in the traditional manner of a book. But I think the mere fact that the reader has to hold the book in a different way can give the reader an enjoyable new sense of reading. Most of the poems are about school or school related events and they are all written in different ways. Some rhyme, some are very short, and many poems are written in what Georgia Heard calls "list poems." List poems are simple lists of words with a twist at the beginning or end to more complicated and detailed descriptive lists. The emphasis on lists comes from everyday life experience. Many people make lists, even kids do! Lists of what they want to do on summer vacation, lists of friends, list of favorite movies, etc. These poems are set up in a list format that is familiar to many people. I think this is a great book to have and to show students unique ways to craft a piece of writing!

A Box of Friends by Pam Munoz Ryan-Author Study

A Box of Friends by Pam Munoz Ryan
I found myself being drawn to this story as I read it. For some reason I could see myself in the main character in the story. This book is about a girl who moves to a new house by the beach with her parents and grandma. The girl feels nothing that surrounds her-the beach, the seagulls, her room, etc.- is familiar and is alos very sad that she does not have any friends here yet. Her grandma talks about keeping a box of friends to go to when she needs cheering up or wants to remember certain things. The grandma shows the girl everything that she keeps in her box that reminds her of her friends and good memories. The girl latches on to that idea of making a box of friends and realizes that she has a lot of memoralbilia she could actually add to it. In the end, the little girl ends up getting invited to a birthday party of a girl down the street. She was very worried about not knowing anyone or no one talking to her, but she also noticed that the invitation said she could bring a friend. Of course, she chose her grandma to accompany her to the party! I thoroughly enjoyed this book because the the box of friends sounds like something I have done before. I may not have moved to a new place where I didn't know anyone, but I definitely created a memory box before and loved opening them up and remembering great times with friends. It could be notes, a picture, a craft, or a toy. I loved how it was unique to me and my friends and how something so little could evoke so many smiles. I definitely would love to have this book!!

The Llama Who Had No Pajama by Mary Ann Hoberman-Poetry

The Llama Who Had No Pajama by Mary Ann Hoberman
This is a fun book to just page through if the reader is not in the mood to read a whole book. The reader can just read a couple poems if he or she wants to. There are poems for just about any topic. Poems for seasons, animals, insects, siblings, birthdays, and things in between. The majority of these poems rhyme, which makes it fun to read them out loud to another person. Some of these poems are funny and some are more lyrical. I did find one poem slightly interesting. It was titled Anthropoids and it is about these animals in the zoo and how they're related to people and how we share the same features. I am not trying to be nit-picky or be difficult, but I could see some people definitely not agreeing with this poem. But overall, I think the book is great and is a fun read.

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You by Mary Ann Hoberman-Poetry

Read to Me, I'll Read to You by Mary Ann Hoberman

I really enjoyed reading this book! I think it would have been more fun if I was reading it with a child though. This is a book about reading and it works really well when you read it with a partner. It is written in such a way that one person reads one line, and then the other reader takes his turn reading the “response” part. It can totally be read independently, but I think kids would love the “back and forth” aspect of the book. It has a lot of rhyming words and the illustrations are very fun to look at. There are cats reading books about mice, raccoons reading a newspaper, and big scary dogs sitting with cats and reading book. I also like how each part of the poem/story is printed in different colors. One person could say they are reading the purple part and the other reader could say they are reading the red part and when they come to the blue parts, they can read them at the same time. I think this would be a great book to have and encourages reading together as a social experience!!

The Bug in Teacher's Coffee and other School Poems by Kalli Dakos

The Bug in Teacher's Coffee and other school poems by Kalli Dakos
This is a short and fun introduction book to poetry. The poems in this book all relate to something with school and would probably be humorous to kids as well. There are poems where the point of view is taken from a pencil, goldfish, or ants. The poems are short so a student can read a couple at a time or the whole book in one sitting. The book also includes some of the poems that are shaped what they are talking about (like the apple poem we talked about in class). All in all a fun book!