Mr. D'Amato - My Education Blog

 The book that I am reviewing for the realistic fiction module is called "¡Fiesta!" by  Ginger Foglesong Guy. There are many reasons that I chose this book, but one of the main reasons was because it is bilingual which can be a very important aspect in elementary schools. It is common to have English Learners within your elementary classroom and to help them learn English it could be useful to have bilingual books. This type of book also exposes all of the students to different types of culture and languages that they may not be familiar with. The book has two different sets of text on each page, one is in English and the other is in Spanish. Therefore, no student is at a disadvantage and since the students are young this could benefit them in the near future when they are learning another language. This book does a great job of being interactive with the audience which will help keep all of the students engaged with the book while the teacher is reading. It also incorporates

Why is it important to include many cultures in realistic fiction? Good realistic fiction books provide the opportunity for all students to be able to connect with the text; many cultures have different societal norms that are expected or acted upon. By allowing students to connect with the text, then they will feel that their culture is represented properly within the text. By involving many other cultures in realistic fiction you are allowing for students to also learn about different cultures that they may not be familiar with. When you familiarize students with different cultures then it will make it more normal and comfortable for everyone when they recognize the differences in real life. This also helps students appreciate the differences in cultures and will help them understand why one person may have a certain point of view in comparison to someone else from a different culture. In order for realistic fiction to be a genre for all people then it must include all different type

Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney was a great biography to read and would work well for most elementary-aged students. This book combines the use of pictures on every single page while also providing the students with great information about Duke Ellington's musical career. The book attempts to connect with the audience by starting off with his childhood and what he liked to do. This will help engage the students and hopefully inspire them to be great like Duke Ellington. It also talks about Duke Ellington and how his parents wanted him to do certain things that he did not want to do; almost every child deals with this at some point so it should be relatable to the students. I believe that all of the students in the classroom even if they do not want to become musicians would enjoy this book because of the message that it is sending. There is also a magical feeling to the story; Andrea Pinkey wrote it in positive terms and is eager to share the positive outcomes even after sha

      First, they use a picture of MLK when they are introducing what the read-aloud is going to be about; this helps put a face to the story for anyone listening. When they brought up what he noticed when he was younger they put up a picture/animation of him and his mother. Then the video switches to a picture of what the read-aloud is actually saying; this way the person watching the video can briefly read along.       Throughout the video, they switch between pictures of what is going on and pictures of the text. This is basically an interactive picture book that encourages both reading along and taking advantage of the use of pictures to better understand the story.      In some scenes, they combine the pictures and the text to go along with each other. This gives a choice to the audience, they can either read along or just listen and look at the pictures. This is traditionally how picture books are interpreted when being read live.      The switching between pictures and text is v

 The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires is a great book for young elementary students who still have a lot of creativity when it comes to picture books. The book is great for younger students because it breaks down how to complete a task which will help the students understand the topic of organization and doing things in order. The book uses humor to keep the students engaged but it also uses suspense about what this "magnificent thing" is going to be. The book is also great for younger elementary students because of the vocabulary that it uses; it talks a lot about shapes, tools, and different steps that are necessary to create something. This book would definitely capture the interest of younger elementary students who will be intrigued to figure out what she is making while laughing at the silly mistakes. I believe the students will find many parts of the book relatable when the little girl having trouble with her project. The book has a happy ending which is good fo

Why is having exposure to diverse picture books important for young children? It is important to make sure that starting at a young age children begin to be exposed to diversity among humans. It is also important for ALL children to be able to see themselves within the books. For example, the white little boy or the black little girl should be able to relate to the books almost equally. This doesn't mean that every book should be based around one race but it means that it should be diverse throughout the year to make sure that everyone is comfortable and can relate to something. You also want the children's books to reflect the reality of the world that they live in; the world is a very diverse place and the children need to be exposed to that truth.  How can picture books help students learn English? Picture books are an excellent way for English Learning students to learn new words and practice their vocabulary. Picture books allow for the correlation of words to other words

    In many ways having  students write or read poetry can actually help them improve their imagination. From the Linaberger reading, we see how being able to read your poetry out loud and receive feedback will actually improve your confidence. This is great because when you are more confident about your writing then you will take more risks to create better material. Also, the Linaberger article, it mentions that students "had gained true inspiration from the reading of Blake's poems and the ensuing discussion." (Linabegrer, 2004) It is common for almost anyone to want to write a great poem after reading a poem that inspires them, as a teacher you can use this to your advantage. To address important issues in society, as a teacher, you can control the topics about which your students will write about. This can be beneficial to the students because oftentimes free-handed poetry can be harder.      In the Duthie article, they mention that students "should have read re

Dreams My dreams are fire  They spread recklessly  My thoughts make me tired Positive, Negative,  essentially  My brain creates the fire  My body bears the consequences  I keep reaching higher  I run through all of the fences  I wake up relieved  I wake up sad  I often feel deceived  But it's not that bad Because dreams are an escape It is something we all desire  I go through my days  Waiting until I am tired Dreams spread with fire  Dream only when tired  Dream dream dream Dreams are what I desire  Derrick D’Amato  (Recording of Poem) 

 The Grasshopper and The Ants which is an Aesop's Fables Series is great for elementary students because of the message that it promotes and vocabulary focus that is implemented into the book. The best way to teach vocabulary is to give the word context so that the definition makes more sense to the student. This book is also accompanied by a video which contains different images throughout the book, this can be beneficial to younger elementary students who are still interested in pictures books. This will capture the students much more easily, it is also nice because the teacher does not have to read it and can focus on pointing out things throughout the book by simply pausing it.  The book starts off with a grasshopper noticing  bunch of ants who are carrying seeds through the field. The grasshopper then asked the ants where they were going with the seeds; one of the ants replied and said that they were taking the ants to their nest. The ant told the grasshopper that it should st

 I believe that "The Lion and the Mouse" from Aesop's Fables Series is a great book for a variety of reasons and can easily be implemented into a young elementary classroom. The first reason that I believe it can be easily implemented is that it is based around key vocabulary words that are important for students to learn about. This specific book is accompanied by a video reading that is great for all types of learners especially students who are younger and enjoy pictures books still. The book teachers an important life lesson and points out important vocabulary that the students should be learning. When a vocabulary word is said, it pops up in large letters on the video screen. The students can use context clues to figure out what the word means or the teacher can pause the video and discuss the word.  The book starts off with a lion asleep in the shade, a mouse sees him and decides to run over the lion which wakes him up. The lion catches the mouse which makes the mou

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 - many factors that are considered barriers to achievement in African American Males. - this could be related to the disproportionate punishment that certain students face in comparison to others - external factors play a huge role... stuff that students may not be able to control.  - structural racism, community, parents, socioeconomic status.  - Soolutions? Teachers need to be involved.  - select appropriate reading material that people can relate to and has positive outcomes.  -modify the curriculum when necessary for your students. this will lead to better discussions.  - use text that matters for the students.  - enabling text - authentic discussions are a must - address the domains of your students.  - acknlowdge the development of the students.  - serve as soft role models.  - relevant reading will increase the amount of attention span. 

With my group today we decided to read If A Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks" by Faith Ringgold. During our discussion, we talked about how this book is very well written and it also has some good pictures to keep the students entertained. One point that was brought up is how this can be used to teach literature and history to the students at once. This is an essential practice when you are an elementary teacher, it also is great when you can teach students two things at once. One other thing that we talked about is how the story when it to good details about the era it is talking about; therefore this would be more suitable for older students such as 2nd-4th grade. We believe that this book is also excellent to read to your students because the information is accurate, precise, and very relevant for an elementary student to learn about. This book is on the longer side, it takes about 20 minutes to read which is perfect for a read-a-loud within the classroom whenever you ha

*Possible spoiler for a picture book* We discussed this book as a group and came to the following agreement. This book is excellent for a picture book and leads to good discussions. Some of the topics that can be discussed include diversity, creativity, curiosity, and point of view. As a group, we were intrigued by the picture book but also wish there were some words at some points to make the point more clear. The words may add more discussion topics but creativity is also good. The discussion with my group was very good, we all had different points of view on the book which lead to a diverse discussion. My group mentioned that it showed the good and the bad or more of the opposite sometimes. I missed this theme but in the end, I agreed with them. Sometimes picture books depend on your point of view so it was helpful to discuss with others.  For the first book review, I will be writing about "Another" which was created by Christian Robinson and falls under the genre of a pic

 "Education Leadership" by Alfred Tatum took a very important point of view when discussing the "poor performance and achievement deficits of African American males" (Tatum). It is not always the fault of the person but sometimes it is the fault of the system. Within that system falls communities, teachers, administrators, and just overall structures. I believe it is very important to discuss the external factors that play a huge roll in every child's life; this includes but is not limited to socioeconomic status and role models. I believe that having the proper readings that a student in a certain position can relate to can be extremely effective. Taking their background and environment into consideration is a must; this plays a major role in most schools. Through the text we can engage the students in important discussions about the reality in which they live; they can start to question things rather than just accepting philosophies they have been taught. The

 I thought that the article did a great job of breaking down "Teaching Literary Analysis". It often seems easy to do but it is very different to teach. The author did a great job of prescribing specific vocabulary and the necessary steps to teach. In order to make it smooth, you should have the students pick a topic with the main literary elements that he posted. Then you want to make sure that the students are questioning and answer a thesis; also answer the general "why" question. Then after you come up with an answer, make sure you are able to provide textual evidence as proof . He listed 4 important vocab terms which are "identify, categorize, highlight, and label". This is very effective and I found it very helpful when breaking down the text (also the answer to the why ). Analyze the evidence that they have and what it is pushing . This will lead you to the final step of concussion. I believe that this article did a great job of explaining how to tea

 - Students need to be able to understand the text before they start critically analyzing it  - encourages passion when you can analyze a text (goals motives etc)  - Figure out the characters, themes, devices used, where it is taking place, and what is the goal of the author  - Thesis statement and answer the "Why" question.  - In order to answer this question, you must use textual evidence -     It can be put under 4 overarching ideas (Identity, categorize, highlight, and label.)                                    - Identify - themes- repetitions- patterns                                   - Categorize- elements- tone - style                                   - highlight - characterization - setting - foreshadowing                                    - Label - character types - symbols - metaphors  - Evidence should be under quotes, summaries, and paraphrasing.  - come to a conclusion 

 " In many ways storytellers are alchemists. What is storytelling?" In order to be a great storyteller then you need to be able to take a story and make it interesting. This is similar to how the alchemist was trying to turn regular metal into gold; this was because gold was worth more. If you can take a story that may be boring but tell it in a way that creates excitement / more worth then you can be considered an alchemist. The art of storytelling is hard, two people can tell the same story but the way it is told can elicit certain emotions that make the story way more interesting. The storyteller also understands the type of emotions that the audience is "here" for. Do they want to laugh, cry, or question the scene?