Charlotte's Web

I have started reading Charlotte's web for one of my outside readings and it has been great. I remember reading it as a child and not really being interested in it untill I saw the movie. Years later and reading it again it has been a whole new experience. It has abled me to see some of the underlying meaning within the different characters and what other lessons the story portrays. It is really neat how you can go back and read books especially children's books and get something new out of it everytime. I think everyone has been able to relate to Wilbur at one point in their life; feeleing lonely and insecure with yourself. This is a great story about friendship and how believing in yourself can take you so far. Also about having dreams and allowing yourself to fight for them and take action. This story is a great read and very enteratining and I definitely recommend that everyone read it again as an adult.

Mary Engelbreit

Ever since I can remember I have always loved Mary Engelbreit. One of the first books I ever owned was The Snow Princess. It has been once of my favorite books since than. I always buy the Mary Engelbreit calendars because I absolutely love her artwork. Mary Engelbreit grew up in St. Louis and had her very own art studio at age 11. She has estimated that she has done more than 4,000 illustrations from the start of her career and all are based from her own life experiences. I have always felt that I could relate to her artwork and he quotes have always been very uplifting and inspiring. She has her own line of greeting cards in which we all love. Engelbreit does amazing work and I hope to expand my collection of all her pictures and children's books.

Literary Elements Activity

As a teacher, when teaching about literature it is very important to discuss the literary elements. Once a child can pick out the elements that make up the story, it really tests their comprehension skills. The literary elements are the characters, the setting, plot/conflict, theme and conclusion. For a first grade class, a good example of a book you could use is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
Character- The Caterpillar
Setting- Outside... trees
Plot/Conflict- The caterpillar is very hungry and trying to find food to eat...
Theme- The life cycle of a butterfly
Conclusion- The little caterpillar changes into a beautiful butterfly

This a great book to start off with because the kids love it. It is simple and the story line is very familiar with children. Also there are a variety of ways you could teach the literary elements with this story.

Comparison of the Ellas

After discussing Ella Enchanted in class and reading the book it interested me to watch the movie as well. I thought it would be neat to compare the Ellas and see how the movie depicted the story. As I started watching the movie, I was really disappointed. I had surprisingly really liked the book, but not so much the movie. The movie, was very different from the story in a variety of ways. In one way, the movie had a very modern aspect on it and it took away from the actual story line. Ella in the movie, was not as witty and independent as she was in the book. Also, I did not like how she and the prince met in the movie. The movie came off to me really cheesy and even if I had not read the book, I probably still would not have liked the movie.

Ella Enchanted

Through all of the Cinderella versions we have talked about in class, I think Ella Enchanted is one of my favorites. Besides the original version of Cinderella, this has been one of the ones I have been more interested in. I think I like it because it seems like a more modernized version and Ella seems easy to relate to. The fairy Godmother figure has really stuck out to me because she does not fall into that typical role. It is interesting because it is Ella's cook and Ella did not even know that she was a fairy. It is very unfortunate, that she is not able to really help Ella that much. I know when I was reading the story I would get frustrated because I would just want her to be able to use her powers to break Ella's curse. I really like the type of character Ella is refletced as; independent, strong-willed, stubborn and somewhat rebellious. I like how even though she is forced to be obedient, she always has different thoughts of what she would rather do.

Sarah, Plain and Tall

It is really neat to read a book you read as a child because you find new meaning in it, that you never had found before. I have been reading Sarah, Plain, and Tall, and I remember that was one of the first actual chapter books I read as a child. I remember when I read it before, I did not really like it and I thought it was very boring. As I read it now, I like how it is very descriptive and it is a great book to teach setting. This family lives out in the plains, so it describes in detail just their surroundings and the animals that they see and the colors etc. It is a great story of how a family comes together and what holds them all into place. I feel that this would be a great book for children who have lost a parent or group up in a single parent home because they could really relate. After reading it, it made me really want to use this book in teaching.

A Rhyming Lesson

As a future elementary teacher you are always keeping in mind ideas of how to teach certain lessons. After taking many reading courses, it has taught me how children's books can be such a great asset in the classroom and are capable of teaching children so many things. Tonight I was looking through some of my children's books and I came across Miss Spider's Tea Party. As I was reading I noticed it had counting in it, rhyming, mentioned a variety of different insects and a great theme on friendship. It got me thinking of the different ways I could use this book to teach a variety of different lessons. I really liked the idea of using it to teach rhyming. I thought as a teacher I could read the book out loud to the children and then once we were finished we could go back through and point out all the words that rhymed. This book is particular a fun book because it has very vibrant pictures that are very intriging. Once the children could point out the words that rhymed you than could discuss other words that rhyme. As an extra activity that would be really fun, you could have the children add to the story by coming up with their own insect and rhyme to go along with it.