Writer's Workshops and Literature Circles.

When I was in elementary school, I do not remember participating in writer's workshops or in literature circles. I remember doing the Accelerated Reader program and keeping a journal. We had to go home every night and write something in our journal. Sometimes we would have a prompt and at other times, we could have a free write.

However, I do remember the literature circle I participated in in EDU 255. I really enjoyed doing the literature circle because I really liked being able to switch roles each week and report back with something new from the story. The literature circle allowed me to better understand the book because I could hear other people's viewpoints and if I didn't understand something, most likely one of my group members did and could explain it to me. I loved doing the project with my group at the end of the literature circle because I liked hearing about all of the other books that the groups had and I also liked telling others about the book I read.

I think that literature circles are a very good element to add to the classroom. It allows students to work in groups and it also helps them become more tolerant of others. Literature circles are extremely fun, and for a student who doesn't really like to read, literature circles help make reading more interesting.

Dr. Seuss

I want to be either a kindergarten or first grade teacher when I graduate. Therefore, I think using any of the Dr. Seuss books in my classroom would be a great idea. These books would help with teaching the alphabet and spelling. Dr. Seuss uses every letter in the alphabet in his books. This would be a great way to get students to identify the letters and to work on the letter sounds. Dr. Seuss is also wonderfully illustrated which would keep the students interested and paying attention to the lesson we are using the book for. After reading the story to the class, I could ask questions about the setting and about different things that happened in the book. This could also help with reading comprehension in my classroom. Dr. Seuss books are fun, interesting, and children usually love the rhymes and made up words in the stories. His books would be a great way for students to learn the alphabet. I could have the students each pick a Dr. Seuss book and look through it and identify at least one word with each letter of the alphabet in it. So essentially the students would pick out 26 words in their book. Each word they pick focusing on a different letter in the alphabet. If there is a letter they simply cannot find in their book, they could look on with a friend or skip it and we could talk about it in class.

Blogging: Yes or No?

I have never blogged before this class. I would never have started a blog on my own without having been told to do it for a class. I enjoy blogging for the most part because it gives me a chance to give my opinions and thoughts on different topics. One thing I don't like about blogging is I forget that I have blogs to do sometimes because I have never had to blog before. So far, I have liked all the topics for our blogs in this class. However, I need reminders to help me remember to blog.