Mr. D'Amato - My Education Blog

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 ha...

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...

 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...

Dr. Mcverry did a great job today of scaffolding the lesson plan to make it attainable for all of the campers and students who were on Zoom today. In order to make it attainable for all of the students he first shared his screen which is always beneficial when working with computer programs. This counts as the visual aid part of the scaffolding. Prior to doing the video editing, he provided a chart to the students where they can put their quote. The students had to come up with a 6-word quote and then create a short video. Dr. McVerry provided the image and asked them to write a quote on the google drive. Once all of the students did that g. He then showed the students how to do the video editing work that they needed to complete before sending them out to do it on their own. Guiding the students through the steps and not assigning it all at once it makes it a lot less overwhelming. It also makes sure that the students are understanding each individual step before moving onto the next ...

 Today during Tech4Teens I learned a lot from Dr. Mcverry that will benefit me in the future classroom. Sometimes in class, we will be teaching the students about things that they may already understand; therefore it is important to listen to what they have to say. Listening to their feedback or ideas can actually make your classroom better as the student will feel more comfortable. Also, just because you are the teacher, this does not mean that you will be the best at everything. It also does not mean that the students you are teaching do not have very important information that you can learn from them.  Once again, Dr. McVerry came into Tech4Teens with a lot of energy and was trying to get the student excited to start doing today's lesson. Since Tech4Teens is a drop-in camp and free, it is important to make sure that the students want to come back. This may not be a challenge that I will face in the classroom, but attempting to make the classroom as fun and useful as possibl...