OWP06

Book Review #4

A Fresh Approach to Teaching Punctuation

By Janet Angelillo

Review by Amber Mitchell

I had mixed feelings about this book. On one hand the ideas were very useful, but on the other had going by the title I thought I would be learning something new and yet the ideas are all things that I have heard before, and have used in some form or another. The book focuses on using everyday activities to see how punctuation is being used. Such as when you read a book aloud to the class point out what function the punctuation is serving. Does it cause a change in voice, a pause, is the author excited? Possibly focusing on one author that uses a lot, or a wide variety of punctuation. Incorporating mini units that pull apart each form of punctuation on how it can be or is used in different ways. As well as doing dictation activities that allow the whole class and individual students to practice correcting punctuation. The more that students are exposed to punctuation the easier it is for them to use, and recognized how it works best. This book is definitely not an ah ha book however it does have good ideas just not ideas that I have not already been exposed to.

Oregon Writing Project

Oregon Writing Project
By Amber Mitchell

        Writing is and has always been a personal struggle for me, which reflects in my discomfort of teaching writing and is why I signed up for this class. I knew it was going to be difficult from the time that I got the list of assignments in the mail. I had the best of intentions to get started on my paper right away so that I could be prepared for the first day, but this was much more difficult than I thought. Every time that I sat down to write my first paper I got a sick feeling in my stomach. I had an idea of what I wanted to say, and I sat down many times to get those ideas on paper but somehow I could never get them from my head to the paper. Due to this painful thought extraction process I ended up completing the assignment the night before it was due just like most of my papers in college. The only time I could write was when I was pressured by time. This feeling of worry was only emphasized by the first day of class when I realized that I would be expected to do “quick writes” on a daily basis, and present a writing lesson to a group of my peers. It was one thing to teach writing to students, painful, but to have to teach to my peers, very painful!
        This feeling of discomfort left me in the first couple of days due to the structure and environment of the classroom. Nat and Karen have worked hard to create an environment that is conducive to all learners. The classroom became a safe place to learn and explore, to share with others, and to grow on a personal level as a writer. Even when I gave my presentation, something that I was very nervous about, I was calmed by the way that my peers reacted. I was given positive feedback, and ideas of how to expand or to incorporate my lesson in other activities.
        I have slowly started to let go of my previous feeling about writing, even poetry, due to exposure to so much rich text, ideas, strategies and teaching styles in this class. Poetry is the main piece of writing that I have difficulty with. When I was a student I thought poetry had to rhyme, and I couldn’t come up with anything that sounded of any quality as well as rhymed, therefore I refused to write it. This concept was so difficult for me personally that I was apprehensive to introduce it to my students in fear of coming across questions that I myself still had. I definitely didn’t want to write poetry; therefore I was not going to plan for it. Now having seen so many good examples of what poetry really is, I not only enjoy writing poetry, I can’t wait to incorporate it into my writing units next year. I think it will be a great tool for some of my most reluctant writers who will enjoy the fact that poetry is usually shorter, and can be as simple as making a personalized list.
        Through the group discussions and presentations, I have come to realize that I have the right to be a poor writer. The most important and hardest part is to get my thoughts on the page and then go back and make sense of them. As I grew more and more comfortable I was able to come up with quality ideas faster and expand on them with different strategies learned through class.
        Even though writing has always been difficult for me, and definitely not something that I would voluntarily do during my summer, I knew I needed to better myself as a writer in order to become a better writing teacher. Writing will always be something that I need to work hard on but due to this class I now have an overflowing bag of tools to help me with my growth. In this course we used computers, created blogs, worked in whole and small groups, read our work aloud, listened to each other’s writing, and presented to our peers. All of these things have helped me on both a personal and professional level with my writing. I am eager to get back to my classroom and start creating units through what I have learned this summer. Through the process and experience of the class I have built a confidence in my ability to write, which has changed my view of writing from a major task to an enjoyable tool of expression.

Web Review

Websites That I Have Found Useful
By Amber Mitchell

Reproducible Worksheets:
www.edhelper.com

I use this site to create worksheets for anything that I am doing. I can go to the spelling link, click on the grade level I need, and type in my spelling words for the week. It will then pop up with a variety of spelling worksheets that range from puzzles, word practice, and definition activities. This can be done with any subject, grade, and ability level. I will often use this site when I am in need of a homework sheet. This site is for all ages and ability levels; you can access some of the materials for free, but to be able to access all of the materials for a twenty-dollar annual fee.

General/All Subjects:
http://www.sitesforteachers.com/

The reason I like this website so much is because it ranks each site by its popularity. No matter what you are looking for, reading, math, writing, organizers, worksheets, anything, you just click on the link and it will bring up a list of websites that are ranked in popularity among teachers.

DJ Inkers
http://www.djinkers.com/

This site is a cute site in general, but what I like best about it is their teacher link. On the teacher resource link they have classroom decorations, die cuts, and other decorations. What I used in my classroom that the students loved were their writing templates. These templates can be used for journaling, book making, or just something cute for students to write their stories on. Believe it or not just giving a student a decorative paper is often a motivator.

Book Review #3

The 9 Rights of Every Writer
A Guide for Teachers
By Vicki Spandel

Reviewed by Amber Mitchell

1. The Right to Be Reflective
2. The Right to Choose a Personally Important Topic
3. The Right to Go "Off Topic"
4. The Right to Personalize Writing Process
5. The Right to Write Badly
6. The Right to See Others Write
7. The Right to Be Assessed Well
8. The Right to Go Beyond Formula
9. The Right to Find Your Own Voice

These nine rights are conditions that every writer needs to blossom in a safe writing environment. This book really teaches you to throw out the strict and ridged views of a writing curriculum, and open up to what each student need to be a successful writer.

One of the unique things, and one of my favorite things about this book is that Vicki Spandel asked nine different published writers to talk about one of each of the nine rights. They shared their feelings, discussed their own experiences, offered advice, and spoke as teachers. It really gives you a good feeling to hear about their own experiences and to take their ideas and shape them into activities that you can use in the classroom.

When I was reading this book I started out thinking about my students as writers but then I started thinking about myself as a writer and how these nine rights are helpful for me as well. By using these ideas I am able to better myself as a writer, and through that my students will benefit.

This book was very easy to read, inspiring, and applicable. I not only recommend it to others, I am planning on buying for a tool in my classroom.

Book Review #2

About the Authors
Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers
By Katie Wood Ray with Lisa B. Cleaveland

Reviewed by Amber Mitchell

This program focuses on young students and empowering them with the skills that they need to become a writer; making students in charge of their writing with discussion, examples, and reinforcing skills with literature. I felt that as a whole if this program was delivered in its entirety, it would be very overwhelming to the students. I definitely came away with some great ideas, but I also questioned that way some things were organized especially because these lesson are meant for first graders and other young writers.

Beneficial Mini Lessons:
* Selecting two to three pages out of the book to give examples of writing that relate to the subject matter. Using examples from writers that students are familiar with, and picture books with rich text and illustrations.
* When writing non-fiction books take real pictures and print them out for students to use in their books.
* Punctuation Lesson: Use examples out of student’s picture books, and familiar author’s pieces, stopping the class when you see great punctuation.
* Use a student’s piece for discussion in a mini lesson. It gives the student a feeling of importance and involvement as well as gives each child peer feedback and reinforcement.
* Use common mistakes that students made in their writing and then have them explain to the group the process they went through to correct or revise it.
* Discussion with students on how they know a piece is finished.
o Is it too fast, too slow?
o Do you feel like it was cut off?
o Where things left out?
o Too much information?
o When you close a book you should feel a sense of completion, you might even let out a sigh.

These were all small pieces of the mini lessons that were used. If they were pulled out of the lengthy lesson to be shortened or more specific they could easily hold the attention of young writers.

The First Snow

The First Snow
By Amber Mitchell

        I had been getting up every half hour, any time I rolled over, needed a drink, using any excuse to get up. Stumbling out of bed walking slowly to the bay window and saying a quiet prayer before peering through the curtains revealing what I hoped would be a snow covered ground. The weatherman in his evening broadcast made the mistake of letting me, a six year old, in on the fifty percent chance of snow that night. However each time I went through this routine filled with hope and anticipation my dreams were dashed by the uncovered green grass that seemed to be taunting me each time the curtains parted. Not even one flake had fallen. Around two in the morning my routine came to an end as it became too late for my body to stay awake. When I woke up I was horrified to find out that I had failed, how could it snow if I wasn’t awake to see it? Now not only would I not get to play in the first and possibly only snow of the year, I would have to go to school again. How often do they want me to do this? I just need one snow day a year, is that too much to ask?
        As I grumpily made my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth my mom gave me her usual cheery morning greeting and just couldn’t figure out why I was in such a bad mood. Before I could explain she grabbed my hand and took me to that same bay window that I had visited so many times the night before. Still smiling, she told me to open the curtains and to change my grumpy little attitude. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I peered through the window, not only had it snowed, it had snowed enough to cancel school, make snow angels, and build a snowman!
    I couldn’t help but change my attitude, my prayers were answered and I didn’t even have to be up to see it happen. My brother and I couldn’t get our snow gear on fast enough. We knew that our day was going to be full of fun things to do; we just needed to decide what to do first. We have the best neighborhood for snow. Not only is our neighborhood full of good friends from school, but it also has two perfect hills made just for sledding. I was going to get to go outside with every other kid in the neighborhood, play hard all day, getting soaking wet and freezing without even caring.
        The day was filled with snow angels, snowman building contests, snowball fights, fort building, sledding, and anything else that you can do with snow. My brother and I made it through the whole day without fighting. We didn’t have time to stop and think about meeting our daily fight quota. Between activities we would go inside to dry out and warm up a little bit in front of the fire drinking fresh hot coco made for us with love by our mom. She would bring us fresh socks and send us on our way. The day seemed to fly by as the sun slowly made its descent changing into the night’s sky. My mom practically had to drag us inside to get us fed and ready for bed.
        As we ate dinner, we watched the evening news and were sad to hear that it would be sunny and forty the next day, conditions that would not support the snow that still lingered. I was a little disappointed however all I needed was that one perfect snow day to get me through the year. As I drifted off to sleep reenacting the day’s events in my mind, I knew that I would have great stories to tell at school the next day, and memories that would last until next year’s first snow.   

Personal Goals

       
       

                                                         Personal Goals
                                                      By Amber Mitchell

        We could hear the muffled sounds of the announcer but we couldn’t make out what he was saying. With hundreds of people standing around waiting for the signal of the race to begin you could barely hear the person standing next to you. We knew however that we would be able to hear the only sound that mattered, the crisp crack of the starting gun cutting through the cloud covered sky. This would be my first attempt at a race, a landmark considering four months ago I wasn’t even working out. My goal this year was to take part in the four and a half mile Butte to Butte race, and cross the line with at least a fifteen-minute mile average.
    The sound of the starting gun rang out at 8:21am, and my aunt and I stepped over the starting line at 8:23am. We were off. A mistake that we now realize and will note for next year was that we should have had our toes on that starting line so that we didn’t have to deal with the wall of walkers now in front of us that were moving at a slower pace. This only added an element of interest as we worked our way through the puzzle of the crowd trying not to loose each other.
    As we progress along the walker’s course we came to the intersection where the runners join our path. It was amazing to see the diversity of the group. At the front of the pack was a young boy who had already been running for two miles and not only was he up front with the adults, he was passing all of the walkers who had just begun their trek. This gave me hope of a future goal of being on the other side of the road competing with the runners.
    All of this is still amazing to me to think that such a short time ago this sort of event wasn’t even on my radar. I began working out just over three months ago when I turned twenty-four. Something opened my eyes. I realized that I needed to make a life change, and I had decided to do that by drastically changing my diet and exercise routines. I’m still not sure what sparked me to do this, probably the feeling of being another year older and the combination of several years of failed new years resolutions. Whatever the event, I had made up my mind, now was the time for change.
    When I make up my mind on something, I whole-heartedly commit, so I went out that very day and joined a weight loss program, bought work out clothes, and figured out how to shop for groceries. I had done each of these things before in a way, but never had I combined them and set a goal that I made known to the people that were closest to me. I needed to commit myself as much as possible and that meant that I would need a good support system. My dad who works out all the time, my aunt who often goes with him, and my mom who always has something positive and encouraging to say would be the people that would get me through this life changing commitment. I knew that they would keep me on track, pick me up when I fall, and slow me down when I over do it.
    I found that the hardest thing for me was learning how to balance everything. What foods do I need to buy at the grocery store, how do you cook those foods, what portions do you serve them in, and what exercise best balanced that out? It took a couple of weeks of adjustment but all of these things started flowing together and became part of my daily routine. I was once told that research shows that twenty-one days straight of anything becomes habitual and it is then no longer a stretch for you. I don’t know if this is valid research but it seems to be true to my situation. I am now eating a balanced adequately portioned diet that I make for myself, and I am hiking four and a half to six miles everyday with ease and enjoyment.
    While I am only partway through my goal that I set for myself on my birthday, I already feel like I have accomplished what I set out to do. I am happier and healthier than I have ever been, and I feel that I can now commit myself further to other aspects of my life. Crossing the finish line of the Butte to Butte with an average of a fourteen-minute mile, bettering my goal by a minute a mile, was just one of my personal goals that I have been able to achieve this year. The feeling of accomplishment as I crossed that finish line gave me confidence for new goals to be set and achieved. Who knows, maybe next year will be the time to be on the other side of the road with the runners, or maybe a ten-minute mile with the walkers.

Picture Books

Picture Books: an annotated bibliography with activities for teaching writing with the 6+1 Trait Writing model

Reviewed by Amber Mitchell

I was excited to see this book on the list of books to review because I have had the opportunity to use it in my instruction this past year. What was very helpful to me was how it broke down each of the 6+1 writing traits (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation) and gave specific examples on how to use picture books with all levels of students to teach each trait. The students that I work with have learning disabilities and one of their biggest difficulties is coming up with ideas and getting started. By presenting the lesson with a literature book, and activity, it gives the students and example and ideas that help them get started on their own pieces. Also, multiple examples are given so that each lesson can be modified and adapted for ease of use with all grade and ability levels. It promotes integration of reading into writing as well as hands on activities that are beneficial for multisensory instruction. Multisensory instruction helps students become more interested in reading by introducing other types of instruction that are easer or motivating for them. I definitely recommend this book as a special educator to use with students that need adaptations and modifications but also for whole group instruction because it is so easy to modify and use with many different forms of instruction.

Our Days in Dublin

                                                        Our Days in Dublin

                                                         By Amber Mitchell

        As tears ran down my face I felt extreme frustration over the stupid busy signal, and how badly I wanted to be home. I was on vacation with my best friend Kelsey and her parents Duke and Susie. Of all the planning that we had done for this trip, we hadn’t planned on tears. As any vacationer knows things don’t always go as planned. It just so happens that things really didn’t go as planned on our vacation to Ireland in September of 2001.
        Kelsey and I had been planning and researching for this trip for months. It would be my first time out of the country, my first plane ride, and my first major vacation without my family. I would be going with my best friend and her parents. They had chosen to vacation in Ireland, and I would be going with them. I was so excited; I had always wanted to see Dublin, Ireland’s capital.
        On the plane ride over to Ireland Kelsey and I went over the final details of our trip. We would start out in Shannon, rent a car, and drive around the southern portion of the country stopping in various cities along the way. The only place we had thoroughly planned out was Dublin. We left four days at the end of our trip just for the city.
        As the plane landed everything seemed to be going as planned. Our car was ready for us, and we quickly found our first bed and breakfast. This pattern continued as we journeyed around the beautiful country. We stayed in Blarney and kissed the legendary stone, we stopped in Killarney, Cork, Waterford to tour their crystal factory, and many other little cities along the way.
        We arrived in Dublin a day early and found the perfect bed and breakfast just outside the city. We took the night to rest up for the most anticipated part of our vacation. As we lay in our beds we could see the lights of the city through our bedroom windows. We slept well with anticipating thoughts of the events of the next few days in our dreams.
        Our first day in the city had finally arrived, we of course had a checklist of all the places we wanted to go, but as we got farther into the city our plans quickly changed. We decided that our time would be best spent on a tour bus that could take us to all of the key places that you must see when you visit Dublin. We visited Trinity College, the Irish White House, the most photographed door in the world, the Guinness Factory, which everyone should visit if they are ever in Ireland, and we finished our first day at the Dublin Zoo.
        At the zoo we went hungrily to their restaurant. As we were standing in line, we heard the news on the radio that would change the rest of our trip. We heard that the United States was under attack. Two planes had flown into the World Trade Center, and one into the Pentagon. It took some convincing to decide if what we were hearing was true. The feelings that ran through me were unexplainable. I am sure that every American can remember the feeling as they were watching their television, and listened to the news. Our lives would forever be changed. I could only think of how I was going to get home to my family.
        Fear ran through me as I immediately found a pay phone and started to try to contact my parents. The only problem was everybody in the world seemed to be on the phone, and international phone lines were jammed. I stood at a pay phone for hours trying to get through to my family; this is where the busy signal and the tears came in. As I continued to try and get a hold of my family I stayed glued to the news and all the information that was coming through about the airways, international travel, and the possibility of war. After several hours I was able to contact my family and gather my thoughts and plans for how to get home.
        We felt that with the airways, and international travel being closed, that it was important for us to stay near to the airport, in case the airways reopened and we could get a new flight home. That night, our first and only night in Dublin we repacked our bags and changed our course back to Shannon. Things continued to go wrong as we realized that Kelsey’s passport had expired that very day. In order for her to get back to the U.S. we had to make a special trip to the embassy and get her an emergency passport home.
        At the embassy we were met with swarms of reporters that were relentless with their interviews. They put us on the news, the radio, and in the papers. The embassy workers told us that we should lay low until we could get a flight home. They told us not to talk to people if we didn’t have to, and to not wear clothing that would point us out as Americans. Needless to say, we were very stressed. All I could think of was my family that I could hardly get a hold of.
        We took that advice as we waited two extra days passed our original departure date to get home. We were the first international flight out of the country. As I left Ireland I was feeling mixed emotions about leaving my dream vacation to get back to my family. I looked down at my beautiful home town through the planes window and felt extreme comfort knowing that I would soon be back home with my family. When we landed everyone on the plane clapped and cheered. It is normal to be excited about getting back into your routine after a vacation, sleeping in your own bed, seeing your family and pets, but this time it was different. I have never been so excited to see an airport, any airport would have been fine, but I was at my home airport where my parents were waiting for me. This trip was memorable for more than just what happened at the end, but because of that unexpected change of events I will never forget the details of this vacation.