Notebook Know-How
- What are your overall impressions of the book? So far, the book is really interesting. I found a lot of really great ideas to use in my future classroom.
- What is the purpose of a Writer’s Notebook? The purpose of the writer’s notebook is to get students writing. Students are encouraged to write about events, what they see, and whatever else comes to mind. The author does a great job at getting her fourth grader’s interested in writing.
- What might be your goals as a teacher of writing? I will definitly use a writer’s notebook. A notebook is so much better than a writing prompt and it’s ongoing. Students can constantly add thoughts, ideas, and experiences.
- Launching the Notebook? I think the way the author started out using the notebook is really cool. She didn’t just throw it on her students’ desks and say “Here write this.” She waited until the all had something to write about.
- Organization of the Notebook? I like the way organization of the notebooks as well. The author lets the students organize it the way they want therefore, they know where it’s at when they need it.
Hot Blogging
This article gave many new ideas to use in my future classroom. I think a blog is a great way for students to connect and stay in touch. I think they would also really enjoy seeing their work on the net and showing it off. Also, a blog is a great way to keep parents in the loop. Parents can also add comments and communicate with the teacher via the blog. When posting work on their blogs, students will also have to edit their work. 
This give them a chance to re-read their work and correct it and also add and take away ideas. I think technology in the classroom and at home is important but, I also think that kids should have a chance to be a kid. In my opinion, children spend a lot of time in front of computers, tv, and video games. The blog should be something short and sweet.
Brown Angels
I thought this book was easy to read and the pictures were very interesting to look at. I liked looking at the pictures while reading each poem, I think old pictures are interesting. I also thought the poems went right along with the pictures. My favorite poem in this book was Jeannie Had a Giggle. That poem made me think about being young and “getting the giggles” and not being able to stop, I thought it was a cute poem.
Love That Dog
I think this book is a great example for shy children who don’t want their work posted or for children who think they “can’t.” I think the way Ms Stretchberry inspires Jack to write is awesome. She gives those of us who are pre-service teachers hope. I love how the author gradually shows Jack getting better at his writing and love for writing also becomes stronger when he gets a dog. I thought the poem about his dog was really cute although it was kind of hard to follow. I like the poems that are in different shapes. The shapes make the poems more interesting and more appealing to children. Ms Stretchberry introduces “Love That Boy” by Walter Dean Myers to the class and Jack falls in love with it. Jack relates to this poem in that his dad says “Hey there son” and he also related to his dog as well.
all the small poems and fourteen more
I thought this book was ok. I’m not much for poetry. One book of poetry that I do like is Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Side Walk Ends.” All the small poems and fourteen more reminds me of that book because it had pictures to go with every piece of work. I think if I had to pick a favorite poem it would be “mud” because it reminded me of my childhood when my friends and I would play outside. I used to get in a lot of trouble for playing outside and getting muddy. I think using this book in my classroom would also give my students thoughts and ideas for writing just as Jack found things to write about when Ms Stretchberry presented the class with poems.
Pirates in Historical Fiction and Nonfiction: A Twin Text Unit of Study
I thought this article was interesting. I liked the idea of combining fiction and nonfiction. I think the book: The Journal of Jake Carpenter would be a very interesting book to read for students and adults. This article was very helpful in understanding how to begin a pirate lesson and it also included books that I think students would enjoy.
Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas: Classroom Activities for a unit on pirates
I thought this article was interesting too. I like the different ways of recording information. It’s easy to understand and sounds fun. I think students would enjoy making a “wanted” poster. This activity would give the children a chance to learn about several pirates, have fun, and show their creativity.
Internest Workshop and Blog Publishing: Meeting Student (and Teacher) learning Needs to Achieve Best Practice in the 21st Century Social Studies Classroom
I think technology is important and teachers should coporate it in their lessons. Technology can make learning interesting and fun. I think students would enjoy seeing their work posted on a blog and they would also have fun looking at their classmates’ work. Using a blog would be a great way to share class work with parents. Student also should use technology like the internet for research. Teachers do need to model the appropriate way to research a given topic. I have been a classroom where the teacher gave students information in folders about a certain event in history and they read the articles and found what they thought was important but also highlighted useless information at the same time. The teacher didn’t show the students how to find good information.
