Chicken Little-Traditional Literature Picture Book Reflection

Emberley, R. (2009). Chicken little. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press.

This is such a cute book.  This book is a traditional literature picture book in which tells a story.  Since this is a picture book it has cute colorful pictures to go along with it. 

For example, there is one picture in the story where the chicken looks like it's feathers are just flying in the air.  The pcitures of the chicken is shaped using multiple shapes, which can be brought out when reading to the younger kids. 

Summary: A little chicken who is hit in the head by an acron and he is convinced the sky is falling. A brilliant collaboration brings us a bold and colorful retelling of the classic tale, as crazy-eyed Chicken and all his panicked friends run away from the sky and laugh together because they believe the sky is falling. Some vocabulary that could be introduced are some of the sound words used; such as, Bonk-to help signify the sound of the acorn hitting the chicken on the head.  Another term which could be brought in is Onomatopoeia-which is a figurative language describing sound words.

Activities: Teachers could incorporate art by doing a collages of odd shapes with her younger students.  Students could complete a figurative language activity on onomatopoeia and pick out all the onomatopoeias within the text.  In writing students could describe what lesson was learned in the story and how this made them rethink things.  Children could also have a discussion of the "friends" names in the story and determine if they are nick names...and if they wanted a nick name what would it be and why. 

Gregor the Overlander:Fantasy Chapter Book Reflection

Collins, S. (2003). Gregor the overlander. New York, NY: Scholastic.

        This book is a really good book. This is a modern fantasy- refers to the body of literature in which the events, the settings, or characters are outside the realm of possibility.  It falls into the Quest Stories-adventure stories with a seach motif, which is a section of Modern Fantasy.  This is a story many of my students would truly enjoy.  I actually bought the series last year at the end of the year for my classroom library.  

Summary:
        It is about an 11-year-old boy who stays at home while the rest of the kids are at a camp, which he at first is pretty upset about. Gregor is alone with his crazy old grandmother who doesn’t even hear very well, and his little sister, Boots. He goes to do the laundry one day, and finds a chute that leads to the Underworld. He then falls down with his little sister and he arrives in the Underworld. He is picked up by a giant cockroach which takes him to a massive arena. Gregor and Boots are taken to a castle and given Underlander clothes. They attempt to escape through the Waterway, but they are attacked by two massive, talking rats. When Gregor and Boots are about to be eaten, 4 bats and their riders appear to rescue Gregor and Boots. When they get back to the castle, Vikus decides that Gregor truly is the warrior of the prophecy. Vikus then takes Gregor, Boots, Henry, and Luxa on a quest, but first they must find the other members. They set off to find the people/creatures needed. First they go to the crawlers. They take two crawlers, Temp and Tick. They then go to the spinners to get two spinners. The Queen of Spiders refuses and holds them as prisoners. They eventually break out, thanks to Luxa, and escape to the Dead Land. There, Vikus can take them no further, so he brings a rat named Ripred to guide them to the rat's home. There, Henry reveals himself to be a spy and summons an army of rats and the rat king to kill Gregor. Gregor realizes that the rats will try to kill him, no matter the danger, so he jumps off the edge of a cliff, and sure enough, the rats follow him. As Gregor falls, Henrys' bat catches him instead of Henry, so Gregor is saved but Henry is not. The team goes back to Regalia, and Ripred gathers a political party of rats to help him ascend to the throne. Gregor, Boots, and their father return home to the Overland.

Geography Activity: Scholastic.com

Map the Underland

Challenge students to map the fantasy world of the Underland, starting with Gregor’s fall through the grate and ending with his return to New York City. They should include the major parts of the Underland including Regalia, the lands of the crawlers, spinner, and gnawers; and the portals between the Underland and the Overland.

Book Talk:The Little Old Lady Who was Not Afraid of Anything

Williams, L. (1986). The littel old lady who was not afraid of anything. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Even though you may be a brave person and not scared of anything, have you ever experienced a scary moment in your life?

That is exactly what happened to this little old lady one autumn night while walking through the woods.  There were scary noises that continuously got louder, and she started to become extremely frightened.  Although what were those noises?  Did she she have something to fear?  Her adventure through the woods lead her to other beliefs.  Read The Little Old Lady Who was Not Afraid of Anything, to discover what those noises were and why they were occuring, and how she handled the issue.  I hope you enjoy.

 

Who Came Down That Road?

Lyon, G. E. (1992). Who came down that road?. New York, NY: Barton Press Inc

This is a story of curiosity about peoople who have past.  It tells about a mother and her young son and their journey down a path.  The son is full of questions about the people that have traveled down the path before them.  His mother assures him that "folks"  have been traveling that same road for thousands of years.  Not only did his distant ancestors travel the path, but Indians and woolly mammoths as well.  This story teaches about the past and good vocabulary, which is underlined, which students need to know.  The illustrations are also very vivd water colors and brings to life the people, and animals that traveled the path long ago.  This book defnitely displays historical events.

Introduction of Self

My name is Beth Gordon and this is one of my last classes at University of the Cumberlands.  I graduate in August.  I am a 5th grade teacher at Audubon in Daviess County.  I teach reading and writing.  This is my 6th year teaching.  I have taught 3rd grade and was also a Discovery Teacher, in which I taught the Arts Content for K-5th grades.  I really enjoy teaching and it is my passion.  When I am not in the classroom I enjoy spending time with my daughter and boyfriend, boating, shopping, camping, and anything outdoors.  I am excited about this course and anxious to see how the Blog Spot works, since I have never done this before, yet truly enjoy technology.