Happy almost May everyone!!
I wanted to focus this blog on the benefits of rhyme & repetition in the early childhood classroom, as well as to try inspire you to create an interactive wiki for your students.
Who better to celebrate the art of rhyme & repetition than the stories of Robert Munsch. There are many reasons I enjoy using Robert Munsch's stories
in the classroom. My students love them, the rhyme & repetition is clever, and I haven't read his book without at least 5 or more giggles from my sweet audience of listeners.......the joy of reading at its best! When I was teaching first grade, we read his books daily. I can recite most
of them without opening the cover. Through my experiences, I found reluctant readers could read the chants in his books very easily. The rhythm in his stories provided great reading support for emerging readers. His stories also provided many opportunities
for choral readings in the classroom. To learn more about the benefits of choral readings, click here: Benefits
of Choral Reading
Robert Munsch has a great website that supports his books & offers
the chance for students to click & hear him read the stories he has created. It is a very user friendly site for even the youngest students. In my opinion, there is nothing better than
to hear an author read his own works. Here is the link: Robert
Munsch Interactive Website It is the best author site I have found in
recent years. He also includes students' writing samples and questions. He is an author who values our students' voices, which is very important to me.
I would like to share
with you my wiki page inspired by Robert Munsch's dedication to literacy. I created an author fan club for my students
with bi-weekly & monthly assignments to encourage computer literacy
opportunities at home and to promote the home/school connection. Within my wiki, parents will find a reading tip of the
day & a book selection of the day. They can
click on the link & print the reading tips too. Students will find follow-up activities from our class readings and links to post their thoughts and opinions. Our first wiki author study focuses on the author Robert Munsch's story Purple,
Green, and Yellow. It is a story about a little girl named Brigid. She really loves markers, but when she draws on herself with super-permanent ink, she knows that spells trouble. The illustrations make the text jump off the page. My students love to try and pronounce the funny words throughout this story, as Brigid has a big problem to solve. Munsch shares this about his story, " When he thinks about it, his daughter Tyya went through a long stage of coloring herself with magic markers and face paints." This inspired his story Purple, Green, and Yellow.
I hope you will take a few minutes to explore my wiki page. I am a novice, so I am hoping my first attempt is a great one. Also, I am hoping this will inspire you to create an interactive wiki in your classroom too. Here is my wiki link: Munsch to Talk About Wiki You will find our author video there this week.
(A little brag here: I hope you have time to scroll to the bottom of the home page to hear my little girl's podcast detailing the Purple, Green, and Yellow class assignment.)
Lastly, here is an article supporting the uses of wikis in the classroom. When deciding on who, what, & why to have a wiki, I found this resource to be very valuable.
50 ways to use wikis in the classroom
Your blog this week is a wealth of information. I can honestly say I have never dabbled in creating a wiki, but the benefits are astounding (By the way your wiki looks great!). I am currently working on a lesson that deals with an article on teen curfews, and I wanted an interactive way to allow my students to tell me their opinions. I think the readers guide wiki would allow the students to tell me the part of the article that they agreed with and the part of the article that they felt was unfair. I really like this resource. In addition, I could not agree more about hearing authors read their works. I especially like to hear poets read their own works because you get to hear the emphasis and tone on certain words that can help one understand what the author was thinking when he or she wrote the poem. Great job, Beth or Elizabeth (I do not know which one you go by)!
ReplyDeleteBeth, What an awesome wiki you created. I had the best time looking through the wonderful aspects it! I especially liked the video you added of your precious little girl reading the book selection! What a fluent reader she is! I am so inspired by the idea of using a wiki in the way that you highlighted! I have never created one myself...but I will definitely be looking into the possibilities for next year! I have already jotted down several ideas that came to me when I was looking at your post. I love being able to bridge the home/school connection and the use of a wiki could be just the thing that parents today would also enjoy! The link "5o Ways to use a Wiki in the Classroom" hooked me in for sure! Thanks for sharing this with me!
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