Learning Project: Literacy Circles #4

Learning Project: Literacy Circles #4

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
December 7, 2017

In this last edition of my learning project posts, I will describe how I would set up my literacy circles and have them run. First, I would have a list of three or four novels that I would like my students to study. I will give students a slip of paper to write their vote... Continue Reading →
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Learning Project: Literacy Circles #3

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
December 6, 2017

In my last post about literacy circles, I discussed a few different types of literacy circles that can be used, the structured type and the book club. For each teacher, it will take quite a bit of time and planning to get literacy circles set up just the right way for your particular class. Some... Continue Reading →
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Top Ten Picture Books

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
December 6, 2017

As most of you know I do not plan to teach lower elementary grades. In fact, I hope to teach no lower grade than fourth. I just have more of a connection with this age group and I love to see their developing brains making connections for themselves and beginning to become awesome problem-solvers and... Continue Reading →
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Top Ten Books Everyone Must Read!

by @curtisaleigh

| Assignments, Syndicated
December 6, 2017

This is my second top ten list but I wouldn’t say that these books are any less enjoyable than those on the fist list. Again, it is soooo hard to choose! ten by Fabio Hofnik is licensed under CC by 2.0 I read some reviews on Roll of Thunder that were not good at all…like someone... Continue Reading →
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Top Ten Books of the Semester

by @curtisaleigh

| Assignments, Syndicated
December 5, 2017

Ok, so everybody knows that I love Harry Potter. In the words of Demi Lovato, “I’m sorry, I’m not sorry”. My top ten books of the semester may have a heavy J.K. Rowling presence and I refuse to feel any shred of guilt about that. I think the books are fun and adventurous. They take... Continue Reading →
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Its Monday! What Are You Reading? Week 16

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
December 5, 2017

This has been another rough week of not feeling well and trying to play catch up on homework and reading. Although this is our final week of IMWAYR posts and class, I truly hope to find time to continue to read from the list that I chose for my challenge and to post reviews of... Continue Reading →
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Learning Project: Literature Circles #2 Structured Versus Book Clubs

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
December 2, 2017

In the last post about literature circles, I touched on what literature circles are and what the roles are within the circle. I also included some information about how teachers can customize the roles themselves and tips about how to set up literature circles. Since that first post, I have done about four hours worth... Continue Reading →
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Mock Caldecott and Mock Newbery

by @curtisaleigh

| Assignments, Syndicated
November 30, 2017

After reading the blog post about how to conduct a Mock Caldecott trial, I feel fairly confident that I could accomplish one of these in my own classroom someday. I think one of the most important things I learned was that the rating system must be worded in a way that students can easily comprehend... Continue Reading →
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Its Monday! What Are You Reading? Week 15

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated, Weekly Reading Summary
November 30, 2017

Once again, I am several days late on my IMWAYR post. I apologize but it simply could not be avoided. I have lived for nearly 31 out of my 38 years of life with Type 1 Diabetes and sometimes I become ill and can’t do much to put it to a quick stop. So, I... Continue Reading →
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Its Monday! What Are You Reading? Week 14

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated, Weekly Reading Summary
November 21, 2017

This past week, I spent as much time reading as possible. I think altogether I read for around 7 hours. I had hoped to have finished at least four books from the Top 100 Children’s Novels list, but I was only able to finish three. First, I read From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil... Continue Reading →
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Using Skype in the Classroom

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
November 16, 2017

I have personally used Skype for several years now and have seen the evidence of progression in the quality of picture and sound as well as its other features. Most of my experience with Skype has been using it to video chat with family but I have also recently used it to work on group... Continue Reading →
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Learning Project: Literature Circles #1

by @curtisaleigh

| Assignments, Syndicated, Teaching
November 15, 2017

Circles by [email protected] is licensed by CC by 2.0 For my 20 hour learning project, I have chosen to learn all about literature circles. This is a topic that I did learn some information about in my Language Arts methods class and I will share some of that information here but I would like to... Continue Reading →
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Its Monday! What Are You Reading?? Week 13

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
November 13, 2017

This past week (reading wise, anyway) was more like four days because it took me so long the week prior to read the fourth of the Harry Potter series. I don’t currently own the fifth book in the series so at this time, I will not be reading it. I also feel like I need... Continue Reading →
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Read Alouds

by @curtisaleigh

| Assignments, Syndicated
November 9, 2017

After reading “Building Read-Along Routine in the 3rd Grade” and Katherine Sokolowski’s blog post on read alouds, I had to look back at my own education and try to remember what books we read aloud and whether they had any impact on me as a student. I can remember Huck Finn, The Canterbury Tales, and a few picture... Continue Reading →
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WWW Wednesday: Week 5

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
November 9, 2017

Currently Reading: I just started listening to The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo yesterday and hope to finish it by Sunday evening so that I can try to catch up on my reading challenge a little. So far, I am enjoying what I am hearing in this tale about a tiny mouse with ears that are... Continue Reading →
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Its Monday! What Are You Reading? Week 12

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
November 9, 2017

So, here it is Thursday evening and I am just now writing my IMWAYR blog post for this week. “Why?”, you may ask. Well, I have spent much of this week preparing to take my Praxis I test and I have good news to report…I passed! This means I can apply for the professional education... Continue Reading →
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Diversity in Literature

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
November 3, 2017

Author Brian Pinkney grew up as an African American boy in the 1960’s who loved books as well as art. In his article “Here I am”, he talks about seeing a lack of black children represented in children’s picture books as well as on the cover art of those books. He set forth on a... Continue Reading →
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WWW Wednesday: Week 4

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
October 31, 2017

Currently Reading: Yesterday evening I started to dive in to Harry Potter’s 4th year at Hogwart’s with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling. After finishing the 3rd book in the series last week, I am excited to get through this one to see if Harry’s relationship with Sirius Black grows and whether... Continue Reading →
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Its Monday! What Are You Reading? Week 10

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
October 30, 2017

Wow! Its hard to believe that this is already my tenth week of writing the posts for this meme! Unfortunately, I fell a little behind on my reading challenge this week as I had a ton of homework to get done for other classes. I hope to make up for the lost time this week... Continue Reading →
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Reading Challenge Progress

by @curtisaleigh

| Assignments, Syndicated
October 30, 2017

This past week I fell slightly behind on my blogs due to being overloaded and overwhelmed by homework for other classes so I am posting this blog several days late, so please forgive me. The reading challenge I chose was to read all 100 books on the Top 100 Children’s Novels list by the end... Continue Reading →
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WWW Wednesday: Week 3

by @curtisaleigh

| Assignments, Syndicated, Weekly Reading Summary
October 25, 2017

Currently Reading: I just began on the third book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. I am so engaged in this series that I have to stop and remind myself to take a break or to read something different in between. Finished Reading: This... Continue Reading →
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Its Monday! What Are You Reading? Week 9

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated, Weekly Reading Summary
October 22, 2017

This week I began by reading the second book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. This book, which is a continuation in the timeline of Harry Potter’s life, focuses on Harry’s second year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. Ron and Harry return to school with... Continue Reading →
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WWW Wednesday: Week 3

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
October 18, 2017

Currently Reading: Today, after finishing a children’s novel I’d been reading for several days, I began reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I have not made much progress yet but am excited to get into this book! Finished Reading: This past week I did what seemed like a ton of reading!... Continue Reading →
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Its Monday! What Are You Reading? Week 8

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
October 16, 2017

I struggled to finish my reading this week as my family was unexpectedly faced with a tragic loss, however, I just finished reading the third novel this week literally an hour ago. The first book I read was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. This book is very well-known and loved among children and... Continue Reading →
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WWW Wednesday: Week 2

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
October 11, 2017

So far I am really enjoying participating in this meme. This past week I probably spent about 6-8 hours reading and I still finished 3 books by Wednesday evening! Since I finished those three books earlier than I had planned I decided to pick up a book to begin reading for next week’s memes. So,... Continue Reading →
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Its Monday: What Are You Reading? Week 7

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
October 9, 2017

This week I began my reading challenge although I had already read a few of the books on the list that I based my challenge on prior to beginning. I have made lots of progress already and am so excited to work my way through this challenge. I finished the last of 3 books for... Continue Reading →
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WWW Wednesday: Week 1

by @curtisaleigh

| Assignments, Syndicated, Weekly Reading Summary
October 1, 2017

I spent about 5 weeks participating in the Non-fiction Picture Book Challenge and feel like I’m ready to move on to something different, so here I am. Currently Reading: I am working on defeating the Top 100 Children’s novels list and have just started reading Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. I have not read any... Continue Reading →
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Its Monday! What Are You Reading?Week 6

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated, Weekly Reading Summary
October 1, 2017

Now that I have set my personal reading goal for the rest of this semester and made a plan to reach my obviously crazy plan for reading 100 children’s novels, I am excited to begin writing some reviews of the books with which I began this challenge. Sideways Stories From Wayside School by Louis Sachar... Continue Reading →
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Reading Plan for Fall 2017

by @curtisaleigh

| Syndicated
September 27, 2017

This past 5 or 6 weeks, I have read approximately 65 books. Some of them have been picture books and elementary readers and some have been children’s novels or YA nonfiction books. I have kept a very accurate record of my reading on my Goodreads account and I just recently took on the Goodreads 2017... Continue Reading →
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Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge: Week 5

by @curtisaleigh

| Assignments, Syndicated, Weekly Reading Summary
September 25, 2017

This week, I chose books that may not be completely non-fiction but are largely based on true events or people. I felt that these books tell stories that are valuable to young readers. I especially wanted to read the work of one author, Patricia Polacco, who has written many children’s books, most of which are... Continue Reading →
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