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People committed to bringing their best to Education Media Literacy
The route to Oz
What do you expect!
"The only difference between being buried and being planted is the expectation" Joel Olstein
We had this week off but tomorrow it is back to work. It is quarter finals for us so the library will not be too busy which is nice. But then the week after we have so many people already signed up for the library we are going to be very, very busy!
ReplyDeleteHi Janet. I love the idea of a blog. Can we share lesson plans here? As the end of vacation and return to school approaches, I begin to feel panicky.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to do a lot with poetry for National Poetry Month. What kinds of lessons are you doing? I may be able to get my 4th grades into the computer lab in the upcoming weeks. Anyone have any brilliant suggestions for that?
I was using a poem "Where monsters can grow" http://www.rhlschool.com/read4n8.htm
ReplyDeleteI found out that true understanding of poetry doesn't occur until around the 5th grade. The younger kids took it very literally. The upper grades I gave a song by the Black Eyes Peas. The response was somewhat better but most were more interested in being cheeky!
I also used the Gigglepoetry.com website! Do you know any other poetry websites
I am still thinking about next week and getting ready for NJASK.
Oh, realized I didn't say anything about testing. My school hasn't mentioned anything to me about what I'll be doing during testing so I assume I am doing traveling lessons for three weeks. Anyone with ideas for successful traveling lessons out there?
ReplyDeleteThere's so much out there for poetry month--so many lesson plans. I downloaded a bunch and the week before vacation I played recordings of Shel Silverstein reading his own poetry. His voice is really weird, a little spooky and the students enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI've been doing something with older kids and poetry. I'm running a lunchtime book club for some of the kids in my old special ed 6th & 7th grade classes. They asked me to find a way to keep working with them so I came up with this. Poetry is good because if you miss a session, you can still come back for more. So far my best session was with Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem about the Staten Island Ferry, Recuerdo. http://www.potw.org/archive/potw6.html (Except I cut the first verse which I don't like as much as the rest.)
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have been thinking about that they say in CLI (Children's Literacy Initiative a program that my principal is very into) is that you should use works that you yourself have an organic, profound connection to because the kids recognize it and respond to it. But some of my favorite poets, maybe most of them, use a very complex syntax and difficult words. So it's hard to find a balance.
This coming week I think I'll use William Carlos Williams. I have a really beautiful picture book of his poems and I may color xerox and blow up one of the pages to make a poster. (I made my own poster for Recuerdo which I'd be happy to share.)
Learning has to be authentic. Like you said kids can spot a fake. Find something funny and quirky that you can relate to and use it. Variety is important. You never know which student will end up using it and becoming a poet or writer. Use everything, leave nothing!
ReplyDeleteI just wish I had more time to plan!
Still no word on websites or blogs that are kid friendly! Is there nothing out there in this whole land...