Journal Entry - Week 2

Okay...I'm a big Charlie Brown fan...and this is a fun example of what goes on in kids' minds while stressing about writing assignments...maybe not always via song--but close enough?! Just for fun...

Prompt from Sulzby & Teale:
As I observed (and assisted in) our first grade class this week, the teacher incorporated several read-aloud book activities into her teaching of more than one subject. As a prelude to a science lesson on growing wheat seeds, she read Eric Carle's picture book (a big version), Pancakes! Pancakes; the book includes how flour is made from wheat. During the read-aloud time, the teacher posed several questions to our students. Examples of questions include: how the kids could personally relate to the story, predictions, character observations. When we taught the science lesson later that day, we used the informational book on planting and were able to show kids actual photos of what wheat looks like during its different growth stages and how wheat is harvested and processed. Extension activities continued into the next day as we read another storybook called The Market. Again, the teacher elicited kids' responses to questions and then students engaged in an individual art activity creating their own grocery lists (words and/or pictures); they were also asked to guess at how much grocery items cost (math, too). They shared their activity pages via the document camera in the classroom. The teacher was supportive in verbalizing her pride in each student's work. Finally, the teacher read with students the Time for Kids story about farms (social studies). I appreciated seeing how successful the teacher was in actively engaging kids in literacy learning through a multi- or inter- disciplinary approach. I also thought the kids thoroughly enjoyed the variety of learning with the read-alouds and plenty of hands-on activities. They were also able to see (from their perspective) different uses of language in their classroom and out in the community.