Thursday, May 7, 2009
Final Project Article Review
The article I chose to review has to do with, as the title implies, teaching children about learning disabilities through children’s literature. According to the article there are so many books available that portray characters with disabilities, and it is our duty as educators to make these texts available for students in the classroom. The article primarily focuses on first selecting quality literature and then promoting the understanding and acceptance that these texts bring into the classroom. In order to select quality literature the author of the article outlines key points to consider when approaching any text. These points include the features of literature, which are theme, characterization, setting, plot, point of view, and literary style. She also points out that quality literature is not only defined by text, but also illustrations. Most importantly she outlines, “How children’s literature that portrays learning disabilities can be used to promote awareness, understanding, and acceptance of individuals with learning disabilities” (Parter, Dyches, Johnstun 15). Not only does she outline how to select these texts, but how we can use them to promote the overall understanding of disabilities for young students everywhere.
Final Project Book Review 4
Book Review 4: The Peanut-Free Café by Gloria Koster
Koster, Gloria. The Peanut-Free Cafe. Morton Grove, Illinois: Albert
Whitman & Company, 2006. Print.
About one in twenty children suffer from a food allergy, and eggs, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, wheat, and soy cause most food allergies. In The Peanut-Free Café by Gloria Koster she illustrates how important it is that children with food allergies be understood, “everyone must understand that children with a food allergy can do everything that other children can do, except eat the food to which they are allergic”. In the story Grant, who is allergic to peanuts, is a new student to Nutley Elementary where peanut butter is a coveted food item. Simon, his newly found friend, is peanut butters’ biggest fan, but when he realizes the gravity of Grant’s allergy he must decide what to do when a Peanut-Free Café is established at his school. Simon struggles with giving up peanut butter and eating with his friend Grant. The illustrations in this story are humorous and time-telling fun for any young reader. Koster educates more than just children about food allergies, but also educators on what roles they must play in the understanding and preparation that coincides with providing a safe and happy environment for all students.
Koster, Gloria. The Peanut-Free Cafe. Morton Grove, Illinois: Albert
Whitman & Company, 2006. Print.
About one in twenty children suffer from a food allergy, and eggs, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, wheat, and soy cause most food allergies. In The Peanut-Free Café by Gloria Koster she illustrates how important it is that children with food allergies be understood, “everyone must understand that children with a food allergy can do everything that other children can do, except eat the food to which they are allergic”. In the story Grant, who is allergic to peanuts, is a new student to Nutley Elementary where peanut butter is a coveted food item. Simon, his newly found friend, is peanut butters’ biggest fan, but when he realizes the gravity of Grant’s allergy he must decide what to do when a Peanut-Free Café is established at his school. Simon struggles with giving up peanut butter and eating with his friend Grant. The illustrations in this story are humorous and time-telling fun for any young reader. Koster educates more than just children about food allergies, but also educators on what roles they must play in the understanding and preparation that coincides with providing a safe and happy environment for all students.
Final Project Book Review 3
Book Review 3: Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry by Bebe Moore Campbell
Campbell, Bebe Moore. Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry. New York:
Puffin Books, 2003. Print.
Mental illness doesn’t just affect the individual; it affects everyone connected with that individual including his or her family. In Bebe Moore Campbell’s Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry, we as the reader get an inside look at how mental illness affects those we love. The story goes through one day in the life of Annie, a child whose mother suffers from depression. From the moment Annie wakes up and her mother asks, “who wants hot, golden circles?” (Campbell 1) to the moment she returns home from school and her mother says, “STOP ALL THAT SCREAMING…GET IN THIS HOUSE NOW” the reader is given a taste of how depression feels for everyone involved (Campbell 13). The book gives an amazing portrayal of families suffering from depression and how they battle it as one unit. On days like the one mentioned above, Annie knows what she must do; call her grandmother, eat a treat from her special snacks, and most importantly think happy thoughts. The reader is given an inside look at how individuals deal with depression and most importantly how they understand it. The message throughout the story is not just that people suffer from depression, but that those who do never stop loving their family whether some days are good or some days are bad.
Campbell, Bebe Moore. Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry. New York:
Puffin Books, 2003. Print.
Mental illness doesn’t just affect the individual; it affects everyone connected with that individual including his or her family. In Bebe Moore Campbell’s Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry, we as the reader get an inside look at how mental illness affects those we love. The story goes through one day in the life of Annie, a child whose mother suffers from depression. From the moment Annie wakes up and her mother asks, “who wants hot, golden circles?” (Campbell 1) to the moment she returns home from school and her mother says, “STOP ALL THAT SCREAMING…GET IN THIS HOUSE NOW” the reader is given a taste of how depression feels for everyone involved (Campbell 13). The book gives an amazing portrayal of families suffering from depression and how they battle it as one unit. On days like the one mentioned above, Annie knows what she must do; call her grandmother, eat a treat from her special snacks, and most importantly think happy thoughts. The reader is given an inside look at how individuals deal with depression and most importantly how they understand it. The message throughout the story is not just that people suffer from depression, but that those who do never stop loving their family whether some days are good or some days are bad.
Final Project Book Review 2
Book Review 2: Thank you, Mr Falker by Patricia Polacco
Polacco, Patricia. Thank you, Mr. Falker. New York: Philomel Books, 1998.
Print.
Reading is a profound concentration in education, especially in the early grades. Many books students read do not touch on the struggle of reading that many students can relate to, except Patricia Polacco’s Thank you Mr. Falker. Trisha is a new and struggling learner to her California school ready to hand in the towel. She has struggled reading in her past school, battled the ranting and bullying of her classmates, and is plain sick and tired of being different. Trisha cannot help but struggle with what many children her age face, not only reading, but also the blurred line between what is said and what is done. Coming from loving grandparents telling her “to be different is the miracle of life” and then being bullied for being different, Trisha begins to hate school (Polacco 8). It is not until Trisha meets Mr. Falker and he works one-on-one with her that she begins to realize she is not dumb, and can and will learn to read. This story of a child with dyslexia isn’t just about a girl who can’t see letters or numbers the way others do, it is about a child who sees the world differently and invites the reader into it. As the reader we get to see what it’s like to have dyslexia, how people with dyslexia learn to read, and how dyslexic kids might need extra help.
Polacco, Patricia. Thank you, Mr. Falker. New York: Philomel Books, 1998.
Print.
Reading is a profound concentration in education, especially in the early grades. Many books students read do not touch on the struggle of reading that many students can relate to, except Patricia Polacco’s Thank you Mr. Falker. Trisha is a new and struggling learner to her California school ready to hand in the towel. She has struggled reading in her past school, battled the ranting and bullying of her classmates, and is plain sick and tired of being different. Trisha cannot help but struggle with what many children her age face, not only reading, but also the blurred line between what is said and what is done. Coming from loving grandparents telling her “to be different is the miracle of life” and then being bullied for being different, Trisha begins to hate school (Polacco 8). It is not until Trisha meets Mr. Falker and he works one-on-one with her that she begins to realize she is not dumb, and can and will learn to read. This story of a child with dyslexia isn’t just about a girl who can’t see letters or numbers the way others do, it is about a child who sees the world differently and invites the reader into it. As the reader we get to see what it’s like to have dyslexia, how people with dyslexia learn to read, and how dyslexic kids might need extra help.
Final Project Book Review 1
Book Review 1: Kathy’s Hats: A Story of Hope by Trudy Krisher
Krisher, Trudy. Kathy's Hats: A Story of Hope. Morton Grove, Illinois:
Albert Whitman & Company, Print.
Trudy Krisher tips her hats to young cancer patients everywhere in her heartwarming story of a child battling the daily struggles of a cancer patient; the pain from chemotherapy, losing hair, missing school, being different from her peers. Kathy’s Hats: A Story of Hope gives an interesting portrayal of cancer and the young character that has it. Kathy’s story begins with the first hat she receives, a ribbon her mother placed atop her head after she was born to the first hat she wears after losing her hair due to chemotherapy treatments. Kathy not only battles with how much cancer has changed her physically, but also emotionally. She begins to reevaluate what she likes most, hats. It isn’t until her mother introduces the most important hat of all, a thinking cap. “My mother says that the most important thing about a person is the way she thinks about things” (Krisher 19). This book is a beautiful portrayal of adolescence and the many challenges youngsters must face and ultimately overcome.
Krisher, Trudy. Kathy's Hats: A Story of Hope. Morton Grove, Illinois:
Albert Whitman & Company, Print.
Trudy Krisher tips her hats to young cancer patients everywhere in her heartwarming story of a child battling the daily struggles of a cancer patient; the pain from chemotherapy, losing hair, missing school, being different from her peers. Kathy’s Hats: A Story of Hope gives an interesting portrayal of cancer and the young character that has it. Kathy’s story begins with the first hat she receives, a ribbon her mother placed atop her head after she was born to the first hat she wears after losing her hair due to chemotherapy treatments. Kathy not only battles with how much cancer has changed her physically, but also emotionally. She begins to reevaluate what she likes most, hats. It isn’t until her mother introduces the most important hat of all, a thinking cap. “My mother says that the most important thing about a person is the way she thinks about things” (Krisher 19). This book is a beautiful portrayal of adolescence and the many challenges youngsters must face and ultimately overcome.
Final Project Introduction
As I write this paper, I think to myself “I’ve got one left in me” as a graduating senior of MSU. More importantly I consider the true depth of knowledge I’ve gained from this class and this assignment as I embark on my career as an educator.
For my TE448 project, I decided to focus on individuals with disabilities in quality literature. As a future educator, whether teaching all students or teaching students with disabilities, I want to have an open voice for all children in my classroom. I want a diverse range of literature in my classroom for a diverse population of students. Above all, I want inclusion for all students present in my classroom. In doing so my students will be able to learn about individuals like them self and not like themselves in the same sense. As this course has taught me throughout the semester it is important for children to learn from literature and to be given that opportunity to learn. Students need rich, quality literature from an insider or outsider point of view in order to be able to relate to characters in the text or learn from them.
For my TE448 project, I decided to focus on individuals with disabilities in quality literature. As a future educator, whether teaching all students or teaching students with disabilities, I want to have an open voice for all children in my classroom. I want a diverse range of literature in my classroom for a diverse population of students. Above all, I want inclusion for all students present in my classroom. In doing so my students will be able to learn about individuals like them self and not like themselves in the same sense. As this course has taught me throughout the semester it is important for children to learn from literature and to be given that opportunity to learn. Students need rich, quality literature from an insider or outsider point of view in order to be able to relate to characters in the text or learn from them.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Kevjumba
So today I was fooling around on youtube when I found this cool video by this kid named Kevjumba. I was looking up graduation videos (I'm getting a little sentimental) and I ran into one of his blogs. He has created a series of videos about his life, sometimes talking about serious issues and others just having fun. In one he flies a paper air plane off the Golden Gate Brigde and in another he is talking about issues of race. In this particular video, he is talking about how he is upset how his childhood hero cartoon-character who is Asian is going to be played by a white caucasian actor. It's really funny and interesting. I like how he has created these blogs, they've become so popular he has made a site where when people watch his video so many times he will get paid and then send the money to a charity of viewers choice-pretty cool eh!?! Well, I think this video is hilarious, at least Kevjumba is! Check em out!
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