Learning Log 1

I remember that when I was little that I loved reading and books, in fact my favorite subject from kindergarten through middle school was English.  However, when I started high school, English became my least favorite subject.  Everything from what we read to what we wrote was very structured, so structured that I felt confined.  For reading, there was no choice in what we were reading; to this day, I cannot stand The Lord of the Flies.  For writing, there was no freedom; the teacher selected what we were to write about.  This caused me tremendous difficulty when it came to creative writing, essays, and poetry.  For the first time ever, I hated going to English class.  I was not engaged in my learning, and I do not think that my teachers at the time were really interested in getting me engaged.  I lost interest in reading altogether.  When I transferred high schools at the beginning of my junior year, I became interested in English again.  The English department at my new high school was set up in such a way that the students had choices in the area of study for each quarter.  We were able to choose a particular genre, mythology, creative writing, and Shakespeare.  When my teacher assigned an essay, he let us make a choice of topic in what we were writing.  I loved having that choice as I felt responsible for my learning.  I had the same English teacher for most of my junior and all of my senior year, and he was my favorite English teacher.  He was great; he encouraged me to think, to try.  I became an avid reader again, and I discovered authors that are still favorites of mine today, which is due in part to the choices that I was permitted to have in my English class.

I can definitely relate to Donalyn Miller when she talked about everybody in school reading the same books and doing the same activities whether they were interested in the book or not.  I really like the idea of teaching the reading and writing workshops to students and permitting them to have a choice in books that interest them.  Through this method students can explore new books and share books that they have come to love.  We, as teachers, can share our enthusiasm for reading and books by letting them explore the world of literature, and we can focus our teaching on comprehension strategies and literacy elements, which will aid our students in developing their literacy skills.  Teachers can also create literature circles that will encourage more reading and sharing from students.
An important idea that needs to be employed in the classroom is to design our classroom libraries so that there are books for each student's interests.  Students can complete a reading interest inventory, which will help teachers to know what their students are interested in.  Another option that can be used is to permit students to visit the library regularly, and teachers need to encourage parents and other family members to take their children to the local public library and buy books for their children.

Flygirl

By Sherri L. Smith
Scholastic, Inc.
2008
275 pages
Reading Level:  7-8, 9-12
Historical Fiction

Ida Mae Jones grew up on her family farm in Louisiana.  She has a passion for flying that was instilled in her by her father, who was a crop duster.  She wants desperately to become a pilot, but that is no easy feat for a woman, especially a black woman in the South, so she makes plans to go north to earn her pilot's license.  However, before she earns enough money for that, World War II breaks out.  Her brother drops out of medical school and enlists in the army.  Ida Mae is worried for him, and she wants to help in the war effort as much as she can because she believes that this will help her brother in some way.  That way eventually comes in the form of WASP, Women Airforce Service Pilots.  Ida Mae sees this as her chance to help and uses her light skin color to her advantage in gaining acceptance into WASP by passing herself off as a white girl.  She has to deny her family and friends in order to maintain her assumed identity.  

My rating on this book is excellent.  The themes in Flygirl are gender and racial discrimination, friendship, family, and self.  Because of these themes and the historical content, there many things in this book that can be used for teaching such as segregation in communities and in the military.      

A Greyhound of a Girl

By Roddy Doyle

Marion Lloyd Books
2012
168 pages
Reading Level:  4-6
Modern Fantasy

A Greyhound of a Girl is about coming to terms with death, dying, and leaving behind the ones we love.  Mary is a twelve year old girl living in Ireland whose granny is dying.  Mary and her mother drive to the hospital to see granny everyday after Mary comes home from school. One day, on Mary's walk home from the bus stop, she encounters a young woman dressed in old-fashioned clothes, who is not touched by the rain and appears to shimmer at times.  The woman knows Mary's name, which scares her, as Mary cannot remember ever meeting the young woman before.  She seems to know all about Mary and her family and asks Mary to deliver a message to her granny.  Mary eventually tells her mother about the strange woman, and then her mother meets the woman.  Mary embarks on a journey with her mother, grandmother, and the young woman and learns more about her family.   

My rating on this book is excellent, and it has become one of my favorite reads.  The story is intriguing and humorous, yet it is filled with heart-touching moments as the characters deal with the death loved ones.  In teaching, this book could be used to talk about fear, death, and the grieving process.  Since the story takes place in another country, it can also be used to introduce students to another culture.

Introduction

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Introduction

I am married, and I have three children.  I went back to school in 2010 and am currently working on degrees in elementary and special education.  My first choice for teaching is in special education; however, I would also like to teach third or fourth grade.  One of my favorite pastimes is reading from historical fiction to fantasy to biographies.  It is my hope that when I am teaching that I can pass on my love of books to my students.

Reading level system

• Pre-K
• K-3
• 4-6
• 7-8
• 9-12

 Rating system

• Excellent-The book will be popular and draw most of the intended audience.
• Good-The book will draw a large portion of the intended audience.
• Okay-The book will draw a small portion of the intended audience.
• Poor-The book will not draw any of the intended audience.