Breaking Down Words to Build Meaning: Morphology, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension in the Urban Classroom
I think that this article is very beneficial for teachers. I don’t specifically remember using morphology to understand meanings of words, but I think that it is a great way of thinking and I think that it would be extremely beneficial. Vocabulary is very much related to comprehension but I think that way too often teachers assign vocabulary words simply for students to memorize. Memorizing words and spelling will not help the students understand an unfamiliar word when reading outside of given material. Students need to learn how to decode and figure out meanings of words on their own, without using teachers and parents as a crutch and backup plan for if they do not automatically recognize or know a word. By figuring out on their own, they are broadening their vocabulary, as well as their vocabulary. By using morphology, students will be able to do this.
Add a comment March 2, 2010
Peter and the Starcatchers
I have to say that so far I am very pleasantly suprised with this book! Before I started reading it, I wasn’t so sure that I would enjoy it, but it was actually hard for me to stop at page 95. I started off by reading the back of the book and found out that this is a prequel to Peter Pan, which automatically drew me in because I love Disney’s Peter Pan! I love the great discriptions of all of the characters, as well the ships. I really felt as though I was there with them, especially the night that Peter went in search of food but ended up finding something way more intense! I was scared for him! I can’t imagine seeing a rat, let alone a floating one. I think that Molly is so sweet in looking out for Peter several times throughout these first few chapters. I am so excited to find out what will come next! : )
Character Sketcher 1
You are invited to learn more about Peter. Please take notes on how Peter acts and looks.
To begin, reread the following passages, determine “descriptive words” that capture Peter’s personality and explain why the words describe Peter.
Reread page 18 and the first two paragraphs on page 19. Which words describe Peter? intuitive, observant, selfish
He acts observant because he notices everything about the ship, the people on the ship, and the items brought onto the ship.
Focus on page 19 paragraphs one and two.
Reread page 22 paragraph two. Which words describe Peter? selfish, determined
He acts selfish because he pushes his friend away when he’s trying to escape by himself.
Reread page 24 paragraph one. Which words describe Peter? scared, grateful
He acts grateful because he knows that if it hadn’t been for the girl warning him, he would’ve been the one to get snared by the whip.
Character Sketcher 2
You are invited to learn more about Molly. Please take notes on how Molly acts and looks.
To begin, think about “descriptive words” that capture Molly’s personality and try to find passages in Chapter 3 that show how Molly is acting. Think about why or how those words describe Molly in the passages. Remember these will be implied traits. Use the traits below to help you.
Choose 3 of the following traits and find passages in Chapter 3 that demonstrate Molly acting:
| brave | confident | clever | assertive |
| witty | imaginative | melancholy | surprised |
On page 22 paragraphs 4 and 5 Molly acts assertive because/when she is warning Peter not to try to escape from the ship. She gives him a look of warning and directs his attention to a huge man with a whip. Had she not done this, Peter would’ve tried to escape but would’ve gotten snared with the whip by this man.
On page 24 paragraphs 2 and 3 Molly acts confident because/when she walks up to Peter (even when her governess is telling her not to) and begins talking to Peter.
On page 29 paragraph 3 Molly acts surprised because/when she finds out that Peter is an orphan. It seems that she knows something that is going to happen to him that she isn’t allowed to say.
Character Sketcher 3
Your job as Character Sketcher is to identify a character’s actions (traits) and explain or prove these traits, identify the character’s goal (which is what the character wants to do or accomplish), identify the problem and solution in the reading, and complete an artistic impression of the character.
You need to be aware that the character traits you will choose will be implied character traits. In other words, they are not directly stated in the passage. You will want to use descriptive words for your character traits. You do NOT want to use words like good, bad, nice, and mean. Be sure to use your “Descriptive Character Traits” page for help.
Sometimes the solution to your character’s problem will not be in the section of the book that you are reading. In this case, you will need to come up with a possible solution for you character’s problem.
When you begin artistically representing your character, try to use any physical descriptions from the text to help you. Your “artistic impression” of the character will probably be on a separate piece of paper. The next page gives you an example of how your paper may look with the character information.
You will be learning about Black Stache. Think about the following traits as you read Chapter 4-The Sea Devil:
| boastful | defiant | disgruntled |
| ruthless | conceited | determined |
Implied Character Traits (3)
1. (Trait) Conceited p. 33 par. 3 and 4
(Explanation or proof of trait) He seems conceited because he mocks the Never Land, but sees the Wasp and says it is worthy of competition, but then laughs at the idea that his ship can be outrun by the Wasp.
2. (Trait) Ruthless p.35 par. 7
(Explanation or proof of trait) He seems ruthless because he has a prisoner aboard his ship who has said that the greatest treasure is on the Wasp. Black Stache threatens this prisoner with wearing his ears on a necklace if the treasure is not there.
3. (Trait) Disgruntled p. 33 par.1
(Explanation or proof of trait) This entire paragraph is describing what Black Stache looks like. From the description we know that he is a dirty looking man who does not appear to take care of himself in the least bit, giving him the trait of being disgruntle.
Character’s Goal: Black Stache’s goal is to Catch the Wasp, get the treasure from it, and sink it.
Problem: Black Stache’s problem is That he needs to catch the Wasp first of all, and once he does, he must get this great treasure that he is looking for.
Solution or Possible Solution: He needs to get close to the Wasp, and then let “the ladies” up to finish closing in on them.
Add a comment March 2, 2010
DEDs
| From the Book: Pirate Diary | What it means to me |
| p. 11 “I’ll make sure your belly is never empty if you learn me my letters.” | I think that this was really sweet of Abraham to want to help Jake out and make sure he is fed. I also think it is sweet that he wants Jake to help him learn his alphabet. This could be the start to a great friendship! |
| p. 17 “Knowing he risked the same punishment if he disobeyed, the poor seaman was forced to whip until his friend’s blood sprayed upon the deck. I turned away, but saw those behind me flinch each time the whip came down.” | I can’t even imagine having to do this to one of my friends! If I were in the situation, I honestly don’t know what I would do. |
| p. 19 “Stop! Spare the lad, Dan, for God’s sake.”…”If this boy is not to pay for his stupidity, they YOU shall-and doubly so.” | By Will taking Jake’s punishment on himself, and getting sent off to sea, this shows the ULTIMATE love in my eyes. Will put Jake before himself because Jake’s life was more important to him than his own. |
| p. 32 “Though we do not have a physician aboard there was no shortage of cures suggested.” | This reminds me of my grandmother. No matter what is wrong with me, she always has a home-remedy to fix it, and it actually always works! Sometimes homemade medicines are the best way : ) |
| From the Book: What if you Met a Pirate? | What it means to me |
| p. 2 “You know what pirates look like because you’ve seen them in movies and books, right?” | Exactly! Before reading this book, the only image of a pirate I had was from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, or other pirate movies, but after reading this, I realize now that portrayal is not all accurate. |
| p. 20 “The real trick was to take a prize without getting a lot of people killed-your own pirates or the sailors on the prize.” | This passage really surprised me because I guess I always imagined pirates being savages, and killing anyone who got in the way of them getting their treasure. It is cool though that they really try not to kill. |
| p. 22 “Plunder, the stuff pirates stole, was not all silver and gold. Pirates took-or smuggled-anything they could find and anything that would sell.” | I never really thought about pirates stealing anything other than treasure, but I guess anything they could grab they could get money for. |
| p. 26 Blackbeard “When he attacked a ship, he threaded burning slow-fuse through his beard and hair to look even scarier.” | I think this is really funny that he did this to make himself look scarier (as if he needed that?!). I would never think to do something like this! |
Add a comment February 23, 2010
Double Entry Diaries
I think that DED’s are a fantastic way for students to pull out information from a book that stands out to them in some way and express why it does. Their passage that they choose can remind them of something, be funny to them, suprise them, bring about a question for them, etc. (the possibilities are endless!) On the right side of the DED, they write the passage from the book, and on the left hand side, they write why they picked that particular passage. I think that this will help them remember things, as well as pay more attention while reading, knowing they are looking for specific things that stand out to them. I just really think that students will really benefit from keeping a DED when reading books and it is most definately something that I will use in my classroom one day!
Add a comment February 23, 2010
Pirate Diary and What if you Met a Pirate
In reading these two books, I actually learned a lot! I guess the only real image of a pirate that I had was exactly what “What if you Met a Pirate” talked about. I invision a three cornered hat, gold earing, rings on all fingers, etc. While reading, I discovered that pirates actually usually wore a bandana, and they rarely wore rings on the ship, it was only while on land because the rings had potential of getting caught on something on the ship and ripping their fingers off! Gross! Also, in movies the pirate attacks are usually brutal, killing many people aboard the ship, when in actuality, it was better to get what you wanted without killing anyone. The best way to do this was a suprise attack, and in the case that this didn’t work, the next best way was to terrify sailors who had the treasure you wanted. In the Pirate Diary, they develop an Oath that everyone on board agreed upon and signed. Some of these rules include: “If any man shall steal anything in the company worth more than a piece of eight, he shall be marooned or shot,” ”A man that strikes another shall receive Moses’ law (39 lashes) on his bare back,” and “The Captain shall have one full share and a half in all prizes; the carpenter, boatswain, and gunner shall have one and a quarter. All others shall havfe one share.” These rules are taken very seriously, because they are made together and not signed unless everyone agrees upon them, so breaking them results in being cruelly punished. I think that these two books would be GREAT for students! Not only are they enjoyable, but they give us the REAL ways of pirates, not Hollywood’s version. I think that by knowing the truth about pirates, students will have a better understanding of how they acted, what they did, etc.
1 comment February 17, 2010
IPoem
I am Blackbeard
I am a dreaded encounter
I wonder if anyone is spying
I hear fighting and yelling
I see swords slinging
I want me treasure!
I am Blackbeard
I pretend I have all the treasure of the sea
I feel the wind in my hair
I touch my long braided beard
I worry about my crew stealing me treasure
I cry over nothing, for I am brave
I am Blackbeard
I understand the ocean
I say “Walk the Plank”
I dream of gold, and more gold
I try to capture ships
I hope to never lose authority
I am the One and ONLY Blackbeard
Add a comment February 16, 2010
Integrating Instructional-Level Social Studies Trade Books for Struggling Readers in Upper Elementary Grades
This article is so important for future teachers, as well as current teachers to read. I think that way too often, children are made to read books and materials that are above their reading level. Not only silently, but in front of the class as well. This is so unhealthy for struggling readers for many reasons. First of all, if a struggling reader is forced to read aloud in front of classmates, but has difficulty and needs help from the teacher and/or classmates, the child’s self-esteem is going to deteriorate quickly. Secondly, if a child is having to read something above their level, and then turn around and write about it, or test on it, they are doomed to failure. As teachers, it is so important that we never let it get this far. The idea of Trade Books is absolutely brilliant! Not only can Trade Books accomodate a variety of reading levels, but they can also provide a more in-depth coverage of topics that a textbook alone can’t. This article also provides a table with a list of books that relate to social studies topics, and the grade level for each of the books. So many students are getting so far behind because teachers are neglecting to work with them in finding material that they not only can read, but that will also be enjoyable for them and encourge them to read even outside of school.
Add a comment February 16, 2010
Shared Reading
This article is a great reference for teachers who are implementing reading into their classroom. There are so many ways to do this such as choral reading, echo reading, silent reading, etc. The most important thing that I think for teachers is to make reading fun! This is imperative in engaging your students. This article also says that shared reading positively affects student achievment. I think that shared reading will boost children’s self-esteem in reading and give them motivation to want to read more because it will help them comprehend texts. In comparing the different Blackbeard websites, I understand the importance of having students reference several different pages in order to get different information to compare and decide which information is true, and most repetitive. In actally doing the activities, it has given me a better understanding of the material and how to implement it in a classroom.
Add a comment February 11, 2010
The Not-So-Jolly Roger
I think that this book is so cute! I really enjoyed reading it and finding out about Joe, Sam, and Fred’s adventure and encounter with Blackbeard. I think that this is a book that most, if not all children would really enjoy. The language in it would really intrigue them and keep them interested and wanting to read more. Also, the facts that they learn about in reading it such as what Blackbeard’s real name is will be very beneficial, even though the book is more along the lines of a fictional. Not only to go along with the pirate unit, but I think that this book will get kids interested in the whole “The Time Warp Trio” series for their leisure reading.
Add a comment February 11, 2010
