As I watched the video called, "Culturally Divided," I realized how important it is for us as teachers to teach our students about diversity. Everyone is different and students need to realize that it is okay to be different. I was so interested in this video because it made 3rd graders think critically about cultural diversity. All the teacher had to do was tell the students that a certain eye color was stupid and were not as good as another eye color. I thought this was a really cool experiment and when the students starting turning on each other because they thought that was what they were supposed to do, it made me think that was how the students were told to act towards black people. Their parents have probably told them some black stereotypes and the kids believed them just like they believed the teacher after she told them that another eye color was stupid. The students really got caught up in this experiment because when they showed the reunion the one girl said she went home hating the teacher for doing this to her. The students still remember how she felt back then because of how strongly she felt.
I thought at first watching the video was going to just be about students doing this kind of activity. I was suprised when she did the same thing with adults. The adults acted just like the kids. I thought this was interesting how the adults got really into this stereotype and even started to get upset.
When I am a teacher, I would like to incorporate this into my classroom but I am not sure how students today when handle it. I do think that I want to try it at least once to see how they would react. It would be really interesting to see their reactions.
In the article, they talked about The Lion King right away. I loved that movie as a kid and when he was talking about how women are discriminated against in the movie, I was thinking, "What?!" I never caught that when I watched it. I always assumed that the lionesses in the movie were helpless against Scar. I actually told my fiance about what the article said and he said that is completely wrong because that is how things are in the wild and the lionesses had no power to take Scar over because a male is normally in charge in the wild. I disagreed. This was before the first couple pages and I said that the movie is unrealistic to the wild because animals talk and sing. When I continued to read, I realized the article mentioned our disagreement in it. I laughed and told my fiance about it, to show I was right of courses!
The article talks a lot about discrimination of gender and race. The gender was talked about with the Lion King and the race part was talked about a lot more. The part that stuck out to me was that white authors were writing stories about blacks and other cultures. This was something I was used to hearing but I realized that it is kind of odd if they do not know a lot about that race. The one author illustrated a tribe wrong and this gave them bad credit. I think that unless author's have a lot of information about different race then they shouldn't write about the other culture.
Reading this article and watching the video made me realize that we are all still learning about other cultures that are not our own. There will always be someone different and there will always be discrimination. How as teachers do we help this situations be less in the classroom? I say we try to do what the teacher in the video did. Having students see how it is being a minority can help the situations in class. Then if this is taught in class, then as adults these students can teach their kids how to be with people of another race or culture.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Are graphic novels going to be replace the classics?
I think that graphic novels are well on their way to replacing the classics from what I read in "You Gotta Be the Book," and the two articles. Students seem to like them better than reading the classic books that have been read in English classes since, well, forever.
In the one article it talks about the conventions of comics and how it helps better tell a story by using different conventions. The shape of the word bubbles for one can change the mood of the words in it if it is shaped in a certain way. And the way the pictures are can tell a story of its own, which brings me to the other article.
In the other article Fisher and Frey use graphic novels to teach a class that is mostly English Language Learners reading a writing. They do this by starting off using a graphic novel with no words and having the students use the pictures to try and figure out what the message is. They are told to write a story using words about the pictures. I think was really awesome. I love that the kids were into doing this even though they were struggling readers and writers. I also liked that they used scaffolding instruction with them and by the end of the class they were able to make their own graphic novels. I would honestly love to do that with a regular class when I am a teacher but expect more from them and hope they have more critical thinking than the English Language Learners.
In the chapter in "You Gotta Be the Book," it talked about three students and how they developed their reading skills using mainly pictures and visuals. Kae was from another country and had a lot of trouble understanding the books read and class and rarely participated. By the end of the year with Mr. Wilhelm she was a much better readwe and had much better critical thinking skills because she used drawings and other visuals to help her better understand stories. Also, she loved to read comic books because they were easier for her to read and this ultimately helped her in the long run just like the students from the class with Fisher and Frey.
The two boys in Mr. Wilhelm's class, Walter and Tommy, were the kind of boys that give teachers major headaches because they never want to read or do work because they think they can't so what is the point. The boys are both LD students so they both are struggling readers and writers. The boys liked to draw pictures in their free time and during school time which got them in trouble. Mr. Wilhelm decided to use this and try to make the boys understand that if you use pictures and other visuals that you can better understand stories that way. As the year went on the boys were getting a better handle on reading and understanding what they were reading because they were making visuals while reading. They developed their reading skills and they even started becoming better critical thinkers.
After reading the chapter from the book and the two articles, I realized that reading really is using your imagination and it is extremely important to use it while reading. My new favorite quote is from chapter 5 in "You Gotta Be the Book." Will Eisner said it, who is also the author of the graphic novels that is used the class with Fisher and Frey. It reads, "We cannot know through language what we cannot imagine. The image-visual, tactile, auditory-plays a crucial role in the construction of meaning through text. Those who cannot imagine cannot read." The last line, I completely and totally agree with!!
Early childhood teacher should teach their students to imagine the story while reading it when they are teaching them to read. If this is not done, then there will always be students like Tommy and Walter. Reading can be a lot easier to students if they just try and imagine being in the story.
This is why I think that graphic novels will one day replace some classics. Most students would enjoy them more than the classics and they can try and relate to them better. Although, I do not think the classics will ever really diminish. There will always be teachers out there teaching the classics because well after all they are called classic for a reason and some can be very relatable to students as much as graphic novels.
In the one article it talks about the conventions of comics and how it helps better tell a story by using different conventions. The shape of the word bubbles for one can change the mood of the words in it if it is shaped in a certain way. And the way the pictures are can tell a story of its own, which brings me to the other article.
In the other article Fisher and Frey use graphic novels to teach a class that is mostly English Language Learners reading a writing. They do this by starting off using a graphic novel with no words and having the students use the pictures to try and figure out what the message is. They are told to write a story using words about the pictures. I think was really awesome. I love that the kids were into doing this even though they were struggling readers and writers. I also liked that they used scaffolding instruction with them and by the end of the class they were able to make their own graphic novels. I would honestly love to do that with a regular class when I am a teacher but expect more from them and hope they have more critical thinking than the English Language Learners.
In the chapter in "You Gotta Be the Book," it talked about three students and how they developed their reading skills using mainly pictures and visuals. Kae was from another country and had a lot of trouble understanding the books read and class and rarely participated. By the end of the year with Mr. Wilhelm she was a much better readwe and had much better critical thinking skills because she used drawings and other visuals to help her better understand stories. Also, she loved to read comic books because they were easier for her to read and this ultimately helped her in the long run just like the students from the class with Fisher and Frey.
The two boys in Mr. Wilhelm's class, Walter and Tommy, were the kind of boys that give teachers major headaches because they never want to read or do work because they think they can't so what is the point. The boys are both LD students so they both are struggling readers and writers. The boys liked to draw pictures in their free time and during school time which got them in trouble. Mr. Wilhelm decided to use this and try to make the boys understand that if you use pictures and other visuals that you can better understand stories that way. As the year went on the boys were getting a better handle on reading and understanding what they were reading because they were making visuals while reading. They developed their reading skills and they even started becoming better critical thinkers.
After reading the chapter from the book and the two articles, I realized that reading really is using your imagination and it is extremely important to use it while reading. My new favorite quote is from chapter 5 in "You Gotta Be the Book." Will Eisner said it, who is also the author of the graphic novels that is used the class with Fisher and Frey. It reads, "We cannot know through language what we cannot imagine. The image-visual, tactile, auditory-plays a crucial role in the construction of meaning through text. Those who cannot imagine cannot read." The last line, I completely and totally agree with!!
Early childhood teacher should teach their students to imagine the story while reading it when they are teaching them to read. If this is not done, then there will always be students like Tommy and Walter. Reading can be a lot easier to students if they just try and imagine being in the story.
This is why I think that graphic novels will one day replace some classics. Most students would enjoy them more than the classics and they can try and relate to them better. Although, I do not think the classics will ever really diminish. There will always be teachers out there teaching the classics because well after all they are called classic for a reason and some can be very relatable to students as much as graphic novels.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Blog #2 YGBB Chapters 1,2, and 3
As I was reading the three chapters for homework, all I could do was put myself right into the book and act as if I was Mr. Wilhelm, which if you read my last blog, that is what I do with all stories. That is how I hope to inspire all my kids to read because it doesnt make you think about questions that you will be asked later on what you read and you can acutally enjoy what you are reading.
In chapter one, it opened by talking about how in order to enter Mr. Wilhelm's class you had to have an entrance ticket. This would consist of a book, a high five, and saying, "I am a reader!" I thought this was an awesome way to get students enthusiastic about reading. There will always be a student like Marvin who does not like to read at all because of his previous experiences.
I learned about the bottom-up approach last semester a little bit and I think it is a terrible way to learn. When I was growing up I was taught how to read using both bottom-up approach and the top-down approach. I think this was a really good way because I got some of the necessary phoenics skills I needed and did not get bored with all the letter sounds while learning to read.
The qoute that is on page 23, really got to me. I was thinking about how if a student as an adolescent and doesnt love to read, is it our job to make them love it or at least try? I think we really should. If we show enthusiasm about reading and try our best to get students to be the same way, then we might succeed. I aslo thought that when I am a teacher and I have to mark that a student is "low level" because I am reading a classic, then I am going to try and sneek in a grapgic novel or a satire to spice up class a little but and see if the students understand those kinds of stories better.
I hope to make students think that reading is the "cool" thing to do. I was told about a video called "Gotta Keep Reading" and it is a mix if the "I Gotta Feeling" song by the Black Eyed Peas. It is an awesome video and I want to teach all my students the dance and that song so that they might think it is cooler somehow from this video. I think students will enjoy it because it has a popular song mixed up a little and it would be easy to learn the words because of that.
As I was reading chapter 2 I was thinking about students with disabilities a lot because of course that was what the chapter was about. I worked at a camp for disabled kids for a few summers and volunteered there as well and I am familiar with a lot of disabilities. I also observed teachers that have had learning disability students in there.
When I am a teacher and come across students like these in my classroom, I am sure I am going to be nervous. These students will have a little more difficulty with things in my classroom. I also hated to hear that those students that have LD in the book were people that hated reading a lot because they are not good at it. Also when the one student said that they did not like that teachers asked questions at the end and it ruined the reading. I am honestly not sure how to handle that because as teachers we will ask questions about the content of the story and on standardized tests there are readings with questions after them. The only thing I could think of to try and avoid question asking is to have the students discuss with each other rather than me.
Like, in chapter 3, the students wrote literary letters to each other and I thought this was an excellent thought because it includes writing, discussing the book, and then I could collect them and see how well the students are understanding the story. That means I have a good way to assess the students as they are reading.
I also liked the symbolic story representations. I think most of the students would enjoy doing this for a story because some students are visual learners and this could help the interpret a story better if they had it acted our more.
When I saw in chapter 3 that one of the students did not understand the story until they put themsleves into the characater's body, I knew the student was like me because that was/is the way I read.
There are so many things in this book that made me really think about how to teach these adolescents how to read. It helped me realize there will be difficult students and ones that love to read and somehow we need to compensate for them both. As teachers, we will always have challenges with students because none of them are easy at this stage because they do not think reading is cool and even if they do they will not like the book you assign in class. I hope when I am teaching, I will remember to refer back to this book in time of need to remind me of all the different teaching styles that Mr. Wilhelm did to help his students become better readers so that I cna do the same thing for my students!
In chapter one, it opened by talking about how in order to enter Mr. Wilhelm's class you had to have an entrance ticket. This would consist of a book, a high five, and saying, "I am a reader!" I thought this was an awesome way to get students enthusiastic about reading. There will always be a student like Marvin who does not like to read at all because of his previous experiences.
I learned about the bottom-up approach last semester a little bit and I think it is a terrible way to learn. When I was growing up I was taught how to read using both bottom-up approach and the top-down approach. I think this was a really good way because I got some of the necessary phoenics skills I needed and did not get bored with all the letter sounds while learning to read.
The qoute that is on page 23, really got to me. I was thinking about how if a student as an adolescent and doesnt love to read, is it our job to make them love it or at least try? I think we really should. If we show enthusiasm about reading and try our best to get students to be the same way, then we might succeed. I aslo thought that when I am a teacher and I have to mark that a student is "low level" because I am reading a classic, then I am going to try and sneek in a grapgic novel or a satire to spice up class a little but and see if the students understand those kinds of stories better.
I hope to make students think that reading is the "cool" thing to do. I was told about a video called "Gotta Keep Reading" and it is a mix if the "I Gotta Feeling" song by the Black Eyed Peas. It is an awesome video and I want to teach all my students the dance and that song so that they might think it is cooler somehow from this video. I think students will enjoy it because it has a popular song mixed up a little and it would be easy to learn the words because of that.
As I was reading chapter 2 I was thinking about students with disabilities a lot because of course that was what the chapter was about. I worked at a camp for disabled kids for a few summers and volunteered there as well and I am familiar with a lot of disabilities. I also observed teachers that have had learning disability students in there.
When I am a teacher and come across students like these in my classroom, I am sure I am going to be nervous. These students will have a little more difficulty with things in my classroom. I also hated to hear that those students that have LD in the book were people that hated reading a lot because they are not good at it. Also when the one student said that they did not like that teachers asked questions at the end and it ruined the reading. I am honestly not sure how to handle that because as teachers we will ask questions about the content of the story and on standardized tests there are readings with questions after them. The only thing I could think of to try and avoid question asking is to have the students discuss with each other rather than me.
Like, in chapter 3, the students wrote literary letters to each other and I thought this was an excellent thought because it includes writing, discussing the book, and then I could collect them and see how well the students are understanding the story. That means I have a good way to assess the students as they are reading.
I also liked the symbolic story representations. I think most of the students would enjoy doing this for a story because some students are visual learners and this could help the interpret a story better if they had it acted our more.
When I saw in chapter 3 that one of the students did not understand the story until they put themsleves into the characater's body, I knew the student was like me because that was/is the way I read.
There are so many things in this book that made me really think about how to teach these adolescents how to read. It helped me realize there will be difficult students and ones that love to read and somehow we need to compensate for them both. As teachers, we will always have challenges with students because none of them are easy at this stage because they do not think reading is cool and even if they do they will not like the book you assign in class. I hope when I am teaching, I will remember to refer back to this book in time of need to remind me of all the different teaching styles that Mr. Wilhelm did to help his students become better readers so that I cna do the same thing for my students!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Introducing....me =)
My name is Gabrielle Paravati. I am 20 years old and have always loved to read. I would always have a book with me when I went somewhere. The thing that I loved about books is that I could live another life while reading them. My life was pretty dull growing up so I would read books and live in imaginary worlds instead because books have a lot more excitement. At first, I began to read for school, but because my elementary school had a wonderful librarian, I read on my own pretty fast. I was reading really well by 1st grade and got into chapter books maybe around 2nd or 3rd grade. My libraran would read parts of stories to us and then I would want to read that book or one by the same author. When I was in middle school I loved to read Harry Potter books. I can still remember bringing one of those books everyday to school just in case there was time for free reading. I also loved to read Judy Bloom books like Blubber. I think I was always drawn to books with a love story mostly. I love when I can live the life of someone in love when I am reading. When I am a bad mood and I read a book like that, my mood is lifted pretty fast because I feel like I am in love too. =) When I was in middle school and highschool, I remember reading books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Boy's Life, Animal Farm, The Diary of Anne Frank, Number the Stars, The Illiad, and The Odyssey. I liked most of these books because my teachers did a lot of activities with them. I would consider myself a motivated reader because I don't read just for school, I like to read on my own time as well. When I become a teacher, I hope to instill the same love of reading that I have onto my students. I hope to do great activities with books so that the students enjoyed reading for school as much as I did. I think that reading is one of the most important things that students can do. It helps them develop an imagination and also learn life lessons because most books have those in them as well. Also it helps develop students vocabulary. Reading is basically awesome and I think everyone should be doing it in their free time. =)
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