Media Presentation

I did a presentation to use in my Kindergarten Writer's Workshop class.  The first lesson is on Small Moments and kids sometimes have trouble understanding what a 'small moment' is.  I provided an explanation and since I had a bunch of kids at my house, I videoed them giving an example of their small moment.  (I would probably take out the TP Rollers!:-) I hope the videos work...they are hilarious!

http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/36528781

Personal Glossary

RED 534

Summer, 2014 Botzakis

Personal Glossary

The source of most of my definitions came from A New Literacies Sampler by Lankshear and Knobel.

 1. Anime-

a style of animation originating in Japan that is characterized by stark colorful graphics depicting vibrant characters in action-filled plots often with fantastic or futuristic themes

2. Affinity Space-

According to Gee (2004), "An affinity space is a place or set of places where people affiliate with others based primarily on shared activities, interests, and goals, not shared race, class culture, ethnicity, or gender" (p. 67).

3. Blogging-

a Web site on which someone writes about personal opinions, activities, and experiences.

4. Emote-

Expression of emotion, action, or gesture (p.127)

5.“Etho Stuff”

Lankshear and Knobel refer to new digital environments as “techno stuff” and the way in which we use and engage with them, “ethos stuff.” Source:  Teaching Writing in a Digital Age at http://twinada.wordpress.com/

6. e-readers-

a handheld device on which electronic versions of books, newspapers, magazines, etc., can be read.

7. Fan Fiction-

fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, movie, etc.

8. Fecundity-

The rate at which an idea or pattern is copied or spread.  One of Dawkin’s characteristics of a successful meme.  The more quickly a meme spreads, the more likely it is to capture robust and sustained attention and be replicated and distributed.  (Pg. 202 Ch. 9)

9. Glocalized-

Blends local and global communication and interaction such as social networks (p. 190)

10. Hybrid Texts-

Texts that are comprised of combinations of various media and narrative genres (p.188)

11. Intertextuality-

Texts made from other texts (p.153)

12. Memes-

an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.

a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc. that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users. (p. 199)

13. New literacies-

refers to new forms of literacy made possible by digital technology developments, although new literacies do not necessarily have to involve use of digital technologies to be recognized as such.

14. Manga Producing-

Manga is a Japanese word referring both to comics and cartooning. "Manga" as a term used outside Japan refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan.

15. Online Writing-

A text created with (and usually intended for viewing on) a computer, smartphone, or similar digital device

16. Podcasting-

a digital audio or video file or recording, usually part of a themed series, that can be downloaded from a website to a media player or computer.

17. Primary Discourses-

Our primary Discourse is how we learn to do and be (including speaking and expressing) within our family (or face to face intimate) group during our early life.

18. Secondary Discourses-

Our secondary Discourses (and we each have many of these, although they differ from person to person) are those we arerecruited to through participation in outside groups and institutions, such as schools, clubs, workplaces, churches, political organizations, and so on.

19. Vodcasting-

the creation and provision of video files for download to a computer, MP3 player, etc.

20. Zine-

a small magazine that is written by people who are not professional writers and that usually has stories about a particular subject. a noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject matter. (Source: merriam-webster.com)

Text Set- Weather

                  Weather Text Set
I chose a weather text set because it's interesting to kids and and fun to learn about.  Most of the books are for 4th or 5th grade but I have done some of the hands-on experiments with a kindergarten class before. Hope you enjoy!

Books

The Best Book of Weather

by Simon Adams 

 Where do clouds come from? Why does the wind blow? Why is snow cold? Walk outside with a child and it will be clear right away that kids want to know all about weather. With an unbeatable combination of age-appropriate writing, solid information, and an affordable and portable format, The Best Book of Weather makes even the biggest weather mystery understandable. Covering subjects from the power of the sun to the changing seasons, climate, and even dramatic events like hurricanes, this is the perfect companion for strolling and observing with young weather bugs.

Weather: Whipping Up a Storm!

By Simon Basher

Welcome to the wild world of weather, Basher style! Meet Hurricane, a violent blusterer; Atmosphere, a many-layered character who keeps the planet cozy; hard-nut Hail and sneezy Sleet; Drought, the dusty fellow who makes life hard for animals, plants and people; and mischievous El Niño, who messes around with ocean currents to chaotic effect. With plenty of detail on the forces that make weather work, this approach is so effective that readers will forever think about these characters every time they hear a weather report or step outside.

GLE: 5

Weather

By Seymore Simon

GLE: 5.8

This book explores many aspects of weather, its natural changes, and the effects of people on the weather.

Weather

By Brian Cosgrove

GLE: 7.1

Including an array of color photographs, this book explains how people study and predict the weather and discusses the appearance and causes of different types of weather.

Experiments with Weather

(A True Book)

By Salvatore Tocci

Through experiments, readers learn about air pressure, humidity, and the effect of heat and cold on air through experiments in this series book.

GLE: 4.5

Videos

A Look at the Water Cycle

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/water-cycle.htm

Storms – Tornadoes: http://www.exploringnature.org/db/detail.php?dbID=112&detID=2647

This collection contains a selection of content from National Geographic Education about weather.

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/topics/weather/?ar_a=1

Ever wonder why weather changes? Check out this video and find out why!

http://www.discovery.com/video-topics/other/extreme-weather.htm

Dan Satterfield, a meteorologist, really LOVES weather and this page is his way of sharing the wonders of weather and all of it with you! A wonderful resource.

http://www.wildwildweather.com/

Science Experiments You Can Do at Home:

BUILD YOUR OWN PERSONAL FOG TORNADO!

http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/tabletop_fog_tornado.php

Make Lightening

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/experiments-make-lightning.htm

It’s all about static electricity. Lightning happens when the negative charges, which are called electrons, in the bottom of the cloud or in this experiment your finger are attracted to the positive charges, which are called protons, in the ground or in this experiment the aluminum pie pan. The resulting spark is like a mini lightning bolt.

How To Grow a Borax Crystal Snowflake

http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/boraxsnowflake.htm

How to Make a Thunderstorm:

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/experiments-make-thunderstorm.htm

The blue and cold water sinks while the red and warm water rises. This happens because of convection. The blue water represents the cold air mass and the red water represents the warm, unstable air mass. A thunderstorm is caused by unstable air and convection plays an important part. A body of warm air is forced to rise by an approaching cold front therefore thunderstorm’s form.

Other Websites

This is not a Drill! Take Tornadoes Serious! Learn about safety and disaster plans!

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-safety-tornado.htm

Scijinks

http://scijinks.nasa.gov/

This interactive site from NASA and NOAA teaches middle school kids about the weather. Includes classroom activities that can be adapted for grades 4-8, some of which may also be of interest to grades 9-12.

Check it Out!!! Awesome Weather Photos

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-photos.htm

Here are some cool weather pictures from people all across the country who love weather. You can submit your own weather photos here!

Fun Facts about Wild and Wacky Weather

https://sites.google.com/site/wildandwackyweather/games/interesting-facts

Interactive Weather Maker

http://www.scholastic.com/kids/weather

What would it be like to be a real weather person - not just someone who reports the weather, but someone who can actually control it? Well here's your chance. Using our Interactive Weather Maker, you'll be able to turn a sunny day into a windy day. Or create a rainy day. And if you create the correct conditions, you can make a blizzard - complete with a whiteout!

Reflection #10 Memes

                                                        A meme for teachers

A meme is used to explain the way cultural information spreads, could be a symbol or social idea.  Most are for humor and shock-value and grabs people’s attention. It is often in the form of image, video, or piece of text and is copied, usually with slight variations. The first one I think of is the Dancing Babies video years ago and then you saw it on the Ally McBeal show, commercials, and later with the dancing hamsters.

     What I took away from this chapter is we need to rethink how we approach critical literacy in the classroom.  We operate on a level of analyzing the text only.  This is not enough.  We need to take into account the social practices and ideas.  We need to give our students important strategies for identifying memes and evaluate the effects they can have on our decision-making and interactions. 

     I wish this chapter dealt more with how to use memes effectively in your classroom.  That interests me more.  I looked at how one teacher used memes to add humor in her classroom by using them for her class rules.  I can see how using the ‘right’ memes in middle school could grab students’ attention and put a smile on their face.  

Reflection #9 e-Readers

  I chose this picture because this lady is not about to let go of her love for traditional books.  She doesn't want the identity of the 'book club' to change with these new literacies.  She is set in her ways and she's going to "dig her heels in," as we say in the south.   

I wanted to read about the pros and cons of using e-reader verses using traditional books.  I read a several different articles and they pretty much all said the same.  The article I will discuss came from:
www.nbcnews.com/.../pros-cons-e-readers-vs-textbooks/

 Basically, the cost and the usability compared to textbooks may not be the best choice.  In 2011, a study done by Alex Thayer gave students at the University of Washington a Kindle DX loaded with books.  Because of the usability issues, fewer than 40% had stopped using them in the fall. He says the e-readers didn’t allow for “cognitive mapping” which helps you remember where you saw the information in the first place.  Many students switched to a tablet or iPad because it’s more like a computer.

Another concern was textbook availability. Sometimes certain books can’t be downloaded and many of the ‘free’ books are lower quality. 

I think there should be a balance of using the e-readers in your class or at home.  I think there is something to be said about the need for back and forth communication as kids are reading or listening to you read.  We have all read about how read alouds help with fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.  I read somewhere that there was a study that showed too much exposure to e-readers can delay language, it tends to be a more solitaire experience and comprehension skills are lower.

Personally, if it were a textbook, I would rather have it in my hand so I can highlight, underline, and take notes.  I like going back to my notes.  It’s a reading strategy.  Many kids I tutored this year told me that they didn’t like taking the ThinkLink reading part on the computer because they couldn’t use the strategy of underlining, taking notes, etc.  Something to think about.

Reflection #8 KLCh 7 Blogging

Just a funny cartoon that made me laugh.

     This chapter discussed blogging as one of ICTs and how it identities can be “produced”  and “blurred” when blogging.  Blogging is an online journal that you can regularly update brief postings without having to feel “constrained by the writing games you have to play as academics,” as Guy stated.  Guy and Mortensen say that blogging is appealing because they can write ‘outside of the boundaries’ and not worry about all the editorial changes, spelling, and grammar.  I think that’s what holds many of us back in writing…worrying about grammatical errors, punctuation, spelling, etc. 

     The chapter discussed how blogging could produce identity.  Julia states that, “In writing about myself, I am somehow writing myself. I am the subject and the object of the work.”  She will sometimes do stuff so she can blog about it.  It influences her life,  not just a recording of it.  She becomes DrJoolz and it made me think how many people do the same thing, as they are blogging. 

     Identities can also become blurred as texts intertwine and merge.  Boundaries between bloggers can blur from affinity space to real space, as in the case with Julia.  She posted her cake photographs and linked to other academic bloggers.  They met and allowed the boundaries between bloggers to blur with personal life.

     Blogging has been a big part of many of our college classes.  I don’t know how I could integrate blogging into my kindergarten classroom. I can see how it can, and has, helped me professionally by collaborating, sharing, discussing, debating like topics on teaching. 

Text Set #3 Food Chain

                                                        Food Chain

I chose food chains as a text set and focused mainly on owls.  I have always had a fascination with owls and I enjoy teaching about owls and the food chain to kids.  They love the Owl Puke book and will definitely not forget what a food chain is after dissecting an owl pellet!  This text set is geared for lower grades but could be used in middle school as well.  Middle schoolers still like a good read aloud with a picture book, even if they act like they don't!  I plan on using this text set with my kindergarten kids in summer school.  Hope you enjoy!
                                           Books
 

Owl Puke, the Book 

                                                               by Jane Hammerslough 

Ages 8-12

Kids love science-especially when it's hands-on-and kids love yucky stuff.  The Owl Puke Book tells of the food chain, animal anatomy, life in the forest; of a bird that could read the bottom line of an eye chart from one mile away; and of a fierce hunter that swallows its prey headfirst and digests everything but the bones, which it spits back up in a pellet. As for the story the pellet tells, kids need only a toothpick to find out. 

                                      WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

Quirky, Squirmy Poems from the Animal World

by Katherine B. Hauth, illustrated by David Clark

Age Range: 8 & up

"Finding food / is not a joke. / Living things must eat / or croak." This clever collection of 29 poems presents 'who eats what' in a graphic, irreverant, but ultimately educational tone that kids love!  Each poem is paired with comical ink and watercolor illustrations. This is amust-have book for teaching food chains for kids!

                                                Pond Circle

by Betsy Franco, illustrated by Stefano Vitale  On a summer night by a small pond, all seems still. But a closer look reveals a world of activity—mayflies dart, beetles dive, frogs spring, skunks shuffle, and owls swoop. As a young girl watches, the circle of life unfolds. Young readers will be inspired to journey into their own backyards and discover the wonder of the living, breathing world around them.

                                          Videos
 I used this site when we did a study on food chains.  This is a wonderful site that explains the owl food chain, owl pellets, how they form, and a virtual owl pellet dissection.
http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/flash/v4/index.htm

Here's a terrific video explaining barn owl pellets.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/231583605812166546/


This is a great site for teachers.  It gives interesting owl facts for kids including their diet, their behaviors, and what makes them unique animals.  It also has a cool, short video to watch.
http://animalstime.com/owl-facts-for-kids-owl-habitat-diet/


                                     Writing

                                           pinterest.com/pin/430304939369639268/
                             I thought this was a great graphic organizer for writing about owls.

A great way to organize your thoughts.

                                          pinterest.com/pin/430304939369639260/

                                                 Other Activities

What better way to help kids remember the food chain than dissecting actual owl pellets! I did this when I taught 5th grade and the students talked about it for weeks.    After they glued the bones on cardboard and they figured out what animal it was, I had them name it and write a story about it.

A very cool place to visit on a field trip or schools can pay to have them come to you. (Located in Chattanooga, Tennessee)  Students will explore food chains, learn about habitats and adaptations, and even have an encounter with a living invertebrate.

Starfall- Tech Review #4

http://www.starfall.com/    

    I looked at Starfall.com. It would be perfect for Kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, and ESL.   It provides stories, games, videos, and songs on specific skills your student may have trouble with. I took a look at vowel digraph oa as an example.  The student would hear a story called, Soap Boat, play games with vowel digraph and then listen to a song or video about it.   It has plays, fiction/nonfiction stories, comics, folk tales, and Greek myths.

      I think it would be great to use because it reinforces skills and you could individualize for your students. It recently added a Pre-K Curriculum to their program.    The only drawback I saw was it doesn’t offer a wide selection of books.  I can see how kids would get bored after a few months because its limited number of books.  This site would be a great source for beginning kindergarteners to use at home.  We always have kids that don’t know their letters at the beginning of the school year.  Day 4 in the Lucy Calkin’s  Writer’s Workshop Program they are suppose to be stretching words and sounding out words.  The kids that don’t know their letters and many of their sounds are 3-5 months behind the others that do know them.  I definitely will pass this free site on to parents for their child to practice letters and sounds at home.   The printable Drops in a Bucket look like a great resource also.  

Reflection #7- KL Ch 7

I chose this cartoon because I thought it was funny.  With all the new literacies and technology that's now available to teachers and kids, textbooks are becoming outdated.  Kids are now learning by each other through fanfiction and other sites.

     As I was reading this chapter I was thinking about some of the 'pop culture' during my day.  There were movies and books that were the craze and many didn't end the way I wanted or I wanted a different twist to the story.  I think it would have been cool to have had Fanfiction back then...writing about something that was interesting to us.  Jenkins states in this chapter that "some of the best writing instruction takes place outside the classroom."  Tiana and Jandalf are 2 girls that balance each other and strengthen each others' weakpoints.  They have a passion for writing and work collaboratively creating fanfiction that portrays their "real selves" while fashioning their characters to new and emerging identities of themselves.  The girls didn't just write narratives, they were engaged with all other literacy practices, such as:  role-playing, out of character discussions, character journals, artwork, plotting of story line, etc.
      I thought it was interesting that Tiana had drawn on her childhood pain to develop her character.  Her writing was a way to confront painful experiences and heal.  I think writing can be a way to heal at any age and you don't have to be the best writer.  It reminds me of a kindergarten boy in my class that had a traumatic experience of getting his face burnt.  He spoke very little and didn't smile much at all.  One day we were writing informational stories about polar habitats and out of the blue he asked if he could write about getting burnt.  He was ready to talk about it and so that's what he wrote about all week.  He even wanted to share it with  the class.  So, writing can be very powerful, even to a 5 year old.

Technology Review #3

Writer's Workshop-Conferencing

     I teach Writer's Workshop for K-2 at our school using the Lucy Calkin's program.  We have been trained in this program over the summer and also received training throughout the year.  This was the first year implementing it and as I was thinking about a web resource for my own content area I thought I could benefit finding a site that could help me with conferencing with my students.  I feel that is an area that I am weak in and I found some great sites that offered just conferencing tips with students.  I listed several sites that I found that were beneficial and hope you will too!

This site shows Lucy Calkins conferencing with a child on revision.  It helps seeing her in action with a child. The first thing Lucy says is, "What are you working on today?  What are you doing with your revision?"  She puts the the child in charge of their learning.  The little girl left out parts of her story, something all my kindergarten students will do.  She simply teaches her how she needs to do a 'Does this make sense?' test before moving on to the next page.  Something so simple, but needs to be taught.
http://www.teachertube.com/video/186708


This site gives advice for conferencing k-5 and gives common questions teachers ask about conferencing.  It also has a video for both roving and individual conferences.  The video is kind of boring but has some good information.
http://writestepswriting.com/Blog/tabid/241/EntryId/6/3-Secrets-to-Great-Conferences-with-Young-Writers.aspx


I love this site!  This kindergarten teachers also uses Lucy Calkin's Writer's Workshop.  She discusses sharing, folders, mentor texts, conferencing, publishing and more.  She also has 9 units for kindergarten writing.
http://writingfix.com/workshop/jodieb.htm

I didn't really like some of the anchor charts that Lucy provided.  I think Pinterest is an excellent source teachers can use to find teaching ideas. I found these and will be using these this fall.  I think anchor charts are a good writing tool for kids to refer back to.

                                 http://www.pinterest.com/pin/430304939368952484/

                                     http://www.pinterest.com/pin/430304939368952511/

                                   http://www.pinterest.com/pin/430304939368952400/

Reflection #6 Fanfic

I chose this image because Harry Potter and Hunger Games are pop culture topics kids write about on Fanfiction.

     I had never heard of Fanfiction until this class.  It basically is an online site where school-age fans use to engage with pop culture of their interest based on a movie, book, television show, etc.  The chapter points out that kids are able to use digital literacy skills to discover, discuss, solve writing and reading related problems while developing social networks and affiliate with other fans.  Race, class, gender, ability, educational level is almost eliminated.  Their “ascribed” identities (their role /label they typically have in a classroom or community) becomes an “achieved” identity.

       The study of Nanako was interesting.  She was a 16-year-old girl that had only spoke English for 2 ½ years before she started posting anime-based stories on Fanfiction.  She basically created her own learning environment that met her needs and enabled her to achieve an online identity and be a successful writer.  Her readers appreciated her multilingual nature of her writing.   What made a “good fan” did not hinge solely on grammatical conventions.  Instead it was the appreciation for the text and engaging storylines. The writing is collaborative.

     I thought the “focused critique” type of review is one all teachers could benefit from using with their students when conferencing on their writing.  It includes “sweetness” (positive praise on specifics), specific suggestions, and conclusion.

      What I’ve been reading about Fanfiction is that most Fanfiction websites have a rating and the rating could be misleading.  I wonder what kind of language is used, how graphic is the violence, is there adult situations?  I’ve also read it’s not as polished as a published novel and you have to keep that in mind.  I had my reservations about it until I read an article from the International Reading Association titled “Adolescent Writing in Online Fanfiction Spaces.”   The authors discuss all the benefits of Fanfiction.net, Figment.com., and Wattpad.com  

     What I took away from this chapter was that teachers are not the only teachers.  Kids can be teachers as well.  Reading the suggestions and comments between Nanako and her fans demonstrates that.  Also, we need to teach our kids to make meaning through an “array of texts” not just conventional print documents.

     

    

Text Set #2 -Fireflies

                                                  Fireflies Text Set
                                             Or as we call it in Tennessee... Lightning Bugs      
     I chose another text set that I plan on using this summer with my kindergarten kids in summer school. There's just something magical and exciting about seeing the first lightening bug of the summer!  I remember catching lightening bugs as a kid and my students love learning about these insects. I plan on reading  some fiction and non-fiction books while integrating informational writing.
     So start saving your plastic sprite bottles and be sure to end your firefly study with the last craft! Kids eyes will light up when you turn off the lights in your classroom.

                                                                      

                                    Books

Leo the Lightning Bug

• by
 
• Eric Drachman, 
• James Muscarello (Illustrator)
 

Ages 5-7

Leo the Lightning Bug Kids will identify with Leo and grasp the importance of believing in themselves as they follow Leo's adventure to make his own light. 

Lightning Bug Thunder 

by Katie Burke (Author), Sheila McGraw 

Ages: 4-7

Three little girls with a lightning bug in a jar make magic when their town suffers from a long dry spell.

The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle

Ages:5-7

One night a lonely firefly goes off in search of friends. He follows every flicker of light he sees, only to find the lights are only lanterns, owls' eyes, or headlights — not companions. Young students will relate to the lonely firefly's search for friends like himself and will rejoice when he finds his niche, a whole group of fireflies literally blinking all over the page.After reading this book, I would like to do some informational writing on fireflies.   I thought this was a good way to make a story map of the book and discuss labeling.

       

                                          http://www.pinterest.com/pin/101542166571155094/

 

                                           Various anchor charts to 

           help with informational writing  

                   

                                                                         

Fireflies in the Night

by Judy Hawes 

Ages: 5-7

                                                       

A clearly written text [tells of a young girl who] learns some interesting facts about fireflies from her grandfather. Alexander uses richly hued pastels for her illustrations of the young girl, her grandparents' farm, and the creatures of a summer night.

                                  Videos
                                                             Synchronized Fireflies in Elkmont

This is something I really want to do next year with my kids!  

Each year, in early June, these fireflies synchronize their flashing lights as part of their mating ritual.  Elkmont is one of the only places in the United States to see the synchronous fireflies making it an incredibly special event that very few people get to witness!  This site provides information on how to get to Elkmont during the event along with photos and synchronous fireflies videos.  Students love watching these videos.  

http://www.gatlinburgtnguide.com/events/synchronous-fireflies-elkmont-great-smoky-mountains/

                           Other Activities

Kids love bandaids....I thought this was cute and they could do a writing topic underneath.
http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/07/not-just-for-booboos.html

Kids love glow sticks too!  We actually made these at my daughter's 5th birthday party.  She wanted an insect birthday party and that's what she got.  Kids thought it was magic and parents said they slept with them!  I also made these with my 1st graders after our insect unit.  

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/160863017915185949/