Reading Interest Survey

This year I am teaching fourth grade resource. While I am out of my comfort zone and not as familiar with the literature available for my grade level, I enjoyed researching and honing in on some of my personal favorites.

I couldn’t decide which reading interest survey to use. Since it is so early in the school year, I still do not know many of my students very well. However, luckily for me, I do have a few who I worked with when they were in 2^nd grade. Now they are in 4^th grade. I decided to use a student who is my lowest level reader. According to the Scholastic Guided Reading Program we use, he is reading on a level I for non-fiction text. While we are not "allowed" to test their levels on fiction, I can assume it'll be slightly higher. This particular student tends to day dream most of his days away. He does not read very well, or often. I have observed him sitting there during the DEAR time just flipping the pages of the book. In addition, I have noticed he picks books that may be above his reading level. Initially, I want to stop him and help him select a book more appropriate but I want to continue observing to see if he makes any changes himself first.

A little fun fact, he has a twin brother. Their mother asked for them to be separated in 2^nd grade and ultimately decided that getting two different homework assignments each night for each boy was too difficult for her. Mom does not speak any English. I can totally understand why it would be easier that they be in the same class. I find it ironic how the one twin who is not resource, does not offer to help his struggling brother. Anyways, I gave this student, let’s call him Bob two of the reading interest surveys. You can find his responses below. Interestingly enough, he indicated that reading is not hard for him. He also indicated that he felt sometimes he was a great reader.

 

I also gave him the interest inventory that he had to rate the genres of books. He seemed to enjoy this one and I loved how he picked biographies/autobiographies as his favorite! I asked him who he would love to read about and he told me Barack Obama! Well, his wish is my command.

 

These are the books I selected for my student based off of the reading interest surveys and our conversations.

     

Edwards, R., Harrison, N., & O'Brien, J. (2009).  Who is Barack Obama? New York: Penguin Young Readers Group.

I selected this book about Barack Obama since he expressed interest in reading about him. There are 112 pages in this book and has a lexile level of 740. While I thought the lexile level might be a little too high for him, I am curious to see how he does with something he is interested in reading. There are pictures in this book and it received good reviews!

 

President Obama: A day in the life of America's leader. (2009). New York: Time for Kids        Books.

I selected this book, more so because it is not a book. While it has a lot of pages it is actually a magazine. My hope with this selection is introducing magazines to him as he indicated he does not read magazines in his survey.

  

Grabenstein, C. (2014). Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library. Random House Children's Books.

I selected this book because I actually attended a meet and greet on campus with Chris Grabenstein. He was clever, witty and super fun! He had such a passion for getting middle school males to read! I personally read this book to my first graders last year and they loved it! I feel like my reluctant reader may really enjoy this book! On a side note, as you can see from his survey, he picked humor as his 2^nd favorite genre of book.

Clements, A. (1996). Frindle. New York: Simon & Schuster.

I picked Frindle because it is very popular amongst middle school readers. The whole concept of frindle is great and really makes readers laugh during reading. I think my student will be hesitant at first but ultimately enjoy this book and want to read others.

     

Sachar, L., & Schick, J. (1990). Wayside School is falling down. New York: Avon Books.

I selected Wayside School is falling down because I remember reading this book as a young reader. I feel by telling my student this was a book I read and loved, he might be interested to see why I enjoyed it when I was his age. I am constantly asked what kind of food I like, shows I watch etc. This may be the perfect opportunity to get on the same level!

At the end of him completing his surveys and me asking additional questions, I explained that I would be selecting some books for him to read and he seemed very interested. I am looking forward to giving him each one to see how he does and what he thinks. 

Reference Books

Clements, A. (1996). Frindle. New York: Simon & Schuster. 

Edwards, R., Harrison, N., & O'Brien, J. (2009). Who is Barack Obama? New York: Penguin Young 

          Readers Group. 

Grabenstein, C. (2014). Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library. Random House Children's Books. 

President Obama: A day in the life of America's leader. (2009). New York: Time for Kids Books. 

Sachar, L., & Schick, J. (1990). Wayside School is falling down. New York: Avon Books.

 

Chapter 1

“QUALITY”

The word quality stood out to me immediately while reading this chapter. According to Lynch-Brown, Short & Tomlinson (2014), “quality in writing and illustration has to do with originality and importance of ideas, imaginative use of language and image, and beauty of literacy and artistic style that enable a work to remain fresh, interesting, and meaningful for many years” (p.5). This made me think back to when I was in high school and was given my summer reading lists each year. Classics were on that list such as How To Kill a Mockingbird, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Adventures of Huckleberry Fin and so forth. These classics were put on the required reading list for a reason. They were good quality books that set us up to learn various components of a piece of literature. While many may argue or complain about these lists not being fun or interesting to read, these same people are bragging about the “Grey” series. They talk about these books because somewhere inside you were curious about what the book was about. While I did read all three for fun, I got nothing educational out of it. Well, if you read the books, you may know what I got out of it, LOL. The point is, people will read fun and informal books because they peek interest and are enjoyable. We should read for both learning and pleasure. As a teacher, when I find that student’s are struggling or are reluctant readers, I try to encourage them to read books that are of interest to them. While I know many of these books will do nothing educationally for them, it will show them that not all reading is “boring.” We must get reluctant readers reading and to me, this method works. As they start to read more, you can introduce a book that has more value to it.

 

“LITERATURE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM…”

I like this phrase because teaching cross curricular is very important. We shouldn’t limit ourselves when teaching to that specific subject. Good teachers can utilize materials across multiple subject areas. “When using literature across the curriculum, teachers and students are not confined to a dry pedantic textbook as the sole resource" (Lynch-Brown et al., p.5). By using literature in such as way you are also working closely with other teachers in those respective subject areas. This promotes a cohesive environment for student learning. In addition, it allows students to make deeper connections to the text. I know personally, in my school, our administration wants to see this often!

“SO WHY ARE LITERATURE AND READING AT RISK IN OUR SOCIETY” (Lynch-Brown et al., 2014, p.10)

Do you know why literature and reading are at risk in our society? Personally, I do not know the exact reasons why it’s at risk in our society, but I do know there are many factors, not just one. I had to read Readicide in another class and it was truly an eye opener. If you haven’t read that book, do yourself a favor and pick it up. While the text claims that one must be a reader to further help engage children and so forth. One of the things Readicide talks about is how schools are literally killing reading. The demands they are placing on your students are making it inevitable for them to enjoy reading. Let’s face it, Lynch-Brown et al. state “the NEA’s 2007 report found a correlation between the decline in reading and increased participation in a variety of electronic media, including the Internet, video games, and portable digital devices” (p. 10) We know this to be true. We live in an ever changing society and even in our schools, they want more use of technology and electronic devices. By promoting the technology in our schools, will this continue to put literature and reading at risk in our society?

Lynch-Brown, C., Short, K., & Tomlinson, C. (2014). Essentials of children's literature. Upper   
     Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Intro

Hello everyone!

My name is Amanda. I am a twenty something year old fulfilling goals before I turn 30! 

I was born in NYC and raised in North Bergen. I went to school here in North Bergen and teach here as well. I have been teaching in North Bergen since May of 2013. I started teaching Resource in grades 1 and 2. After that I was given a classroom, in the first grade. This year they have switched me back to Resource and it looks like I will be working with the 4th graders. 

I completed my undergrad at NJCU in Special Education/Elementary Education and Geoscience. I have just a few classes left of my Master's in Reading, here at NJCU as well. Once, I have finished, I have not decided if I am going to pursue a reading specialist position right away. Thus far, I have gained such extensive knowledge of reading and strategies to help struggling students first hand in the classroom. I would like to continue working closely with students in the teacher role before venturing off onto the next journey. It is also very likely that I will go back for a second Masters in Special Education. Prior to teaching, I worked for an adult day care specializing in adults with special needs. I helped create a program called "Independent Living Program" which is a program that specializes in helping adults with various disabilities to be able to live independently in the community. We have partnered with the United Way and have placed adults in their homes built specifically for this population. It was an incredible experience to be a part of! 

Throughout this course I hope to gain further knowledge of children's literature and how certain books can be utilized for specific goals. In addition, I hope to gain insight as how to pick just the right books for struggling students. 

I reside in North Bergen with my husband! We got married on November 11, 2014. We are quickly approaching our 1 year anniversary already! Man, time flies! Married life is amazing and I get very upset when people make comments that I shouldn't have gotten married, or tell engaged couples not to get married! To each their own! I love cooking and would prefer to cook over eating out any night. However, my husband feels that I shouldn't have to cook every night and would rather go out to dinner or order in! LOL. I have a 3 year old lab/pit bull mix named Diesel who lives with my mom just two blocks away. Unfortunately, my landlord does not allow dogs, otherwise my mom and I would have joint custody lol. 

I like to spend as much time outdoors as possible. I love the beach, random drives, and spending time with my family. As much as I love the outdoors camping is not for me! My husband and I also love to travel. Our most recent trip was in July where we spent 2 weeks island hopping in Greece. I should also mention we were in Greece during the rise of their economic crisis and had just left Athens when they began rioting! It was the most amazing and incredible experience. Despite the economic crisis and rioting, as travelers, we felt no backlash from the locals. We were treated wonderfully and had no clue of the turmoil around us unless we watched the news, or received phone calls from panicked family! In October, My brother and I are taking my mom to Aruba for her birthday for a long weekend. Hubby is sitting this one out. :) 

I included a few pictures of Greece for you to enjoy! :)

 

Amazing views of Santorini

 We visited Santo wines and learned all about how they make their famous wine! YUMMY

Our first Greek meal when we arrived in Athens!

Famous Santorini Sunset! Pictures do not even do it justice.

Myknonos! We had to walk along the cliff on this narrow path to get to the beach! Made for great pictures. This cove is also home to a lot of MEGA yachts! 

Swimming in the hot springs.

Catamaran tour lent itself to amazing pictures from the water :)

Just swimming in the Aegean Sea with the fishes!

This past year, a group of teachers and I participated in the Mudderella event in Englishtown. We had a blast! I brought our team mascot along, Roberta. She was quite the hit! People kept asking for pictures of her. We plan to do this run each year incorporating more and more teachers in our school and district! 

I live for football season. I am a huge Dallas Cowboys fan, I know! LOL But I watch them religiously and Sundays can get pretty intense in my home!