Final Class Reflection

I have to say that I have really enjoyed Children's Lit Class. I am so glad I had the opportunity to take part in making a blog. It has been fun to blog every week and read my classmates blogs as well. I am glad I did not have to physically turn in book reflections ever week.I liked how some weeks we had requirements for the types of books that we were supposed to read and other weeks we had a choice. It is so neat that I will be able to use my blog as a resource for my future classroom. My favorite project in the class was the glog. I like learning about new technology because I know that it is going to play a huge role in my future classroom. I think that the author/illustrator glogs would be a good way to introduce a new unit to my students. The books that were chose as required text for the class were also very good. I enjoyed reading every one of them. I liked how we had in depth discussions about each book as small groups during class time along with large group discussions. Most importantly, throughout the semester I have learned a lot about children literature. I now have a much better knowledge about the types of literature that is available to students and I am very excited to put into play what I have learned from this class. Overall, I have really enjoyed this class and I am glad I had the opportunity to take it!

Love That Dog By Sharon Creech

When I first began reading this book I was not sure if I was going to enjoy it because it is unlike any book that I have ever read. After the first few pages I began loving the main character, Jack. I was able to paint a picture of Jack in my head. I know there are many students out there that feel exactly the same that Jack does about poetry. I also like the teacher in the book. Both of the characters personalities came through strong in this book which really made the book fun to read. I loved how the book was written all in poem stanzas. I liked it because it was the first book that I have read that is written that way. I also like that it was written that way because it helped the book flow very well. At first I thought the book was going to be hard to follow since it was all written in stanzas, but it actually just made for a faster read. I do not know if all copies of the book are written in navy blue print, but I know that mine was. I have never seen a chapter book that is written in any color other than black, so I thought that aspect of the book really stood out. My favorite part of the book is at the end when the poems that are discussed throughout the story are actually shown. I was a little leery about this book at first but after the first few pages I really loved it. I started reading the book and didn't put it down until I was completely finished. This is definitely a book that I would recommend to people of any age. It is also definitely a book that I want to have in my classroom.

Winter Friends By: Mary Quattlebaum

This was a fun picture poem book to read. The books is broken up into different poems, but in a way it is like a story is being told with all of the poems. The pictures are really neat and they made me really feel like I was in the middle of winter when I was reading the book. My favorite picture in this book is the very last page. It is night time and the snow is falling. There are two like kids looking out the window at the snow falling. The poem on this page reads
Listen!
The wind
is
whispering
a thousand
tiny
promise.
I love this. The picture and the poem are beautiful.
I like how the poems are placed in different spots on each page. For example, there is one poem this about sledding and the words are place at a downward diagnole like a sled. This was a really fun book to read. I think i would really enjoy reading this book to my class as a read aloud.

Scranimals By: Jack Prelutysky

I did not really like this book. The poems used big words and were really in depth. I do not think that children would like to listen to poems that have so many big words. For example in a a poem consisting of 8 lines the words parrotters, cormorants and prattling are all used. Those are all words that are difficult for the target audience. The pictures in this book are kind of bland. There is not much going on in any of them. The colors are also very dull. The crab colors did not make me excited to read the book or want to to continue reading. This is not a book that I would read again. It is not a book that I would suggest for my students to read.

A City Is By: Norman Rosten

This is a pretty simple, but at times complex picture poem book that explains what a city is. I like how all aspects of a city are explained. Another neat thing is that the pictures take up the whole page, so there is no white space. I say that the book is simple because many of the pictures have people in them, but the people's faces are very plain. The pictures are at the same time complex because there is a lot going on in each picture. There are also some complex words in each poem. This book is intended for 4-8 year old. The book does not rhyme which I think is a good thing. Children of this age often think that all poems have to rhyme, or at least I did when I was younger, so I am glad this book does not rhyme. This was a cute book and a good way to view the highlights of a city.

Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme By: Jack Prelutsky

This poem picture book is very cool. The book is separated into different categories such as dogs, birthdays, bugs, and etc. On each page there are a variety of poems about each subject. Along with all of the poems is a picture. All of the pictures are very colorful. On each page there is also help writing a poem of your own. The author has given the read a poem to start with and than some ideas on how to finish the poem. I have never seen a picture poem book where the author helps the reader learn how to write their own poem. It is a really neat idea. Another really cool thing about this book is that the poems that are in the book are all from many different authors. It was neat to see the different writing styles from a variety of writers.

Exploding Gravy By: X.J. Kennedy

This is a really neat picture poem book. It is full of funny poems that have great pictures to go along with each poem. This book is different because all of the pictures are in black and white. I think that if the pictures would have been in color then it would have helped paint a better pictures of what the poem was trying to say. But on the other hand I like how I can paint a picture in my head with my own colors. All of the poems are very funny and entertaining, but here is one of my favorite ones:
Alarm

Mother come quick!
Robert looks sick!
He opened the shoe polish, took a big lick!

His face is all weird!
He's grown a brown beard!
All four walls, the floor, and the ceiling are smeared!

Come look and see!
Don't you wish he
Was never a trouble to people, like me?