Professional Learning Portfolio

Theory to Practice Questions

EDUC 5413
Abigail Hallett

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 #5
Chapter 2 #1
Chapter 3 #6
Chapter 4 #6 & #7
Chapter 5 #3
Chapter 6 #5
Chapter 7 #4
Chapter 11 #2 & #5

1. Chapter 1, Question 5
Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss, 1955. This text was written to convey the message
that a persons a person no matter how small. Although this famous childrens book has
been popularly been used to stand up against abortion, the author was writing towards the
message of equality. The story goes through different animals and different groups of
people at different hierarchies in the society. The story touches on bullying and unfair
behavior as well as favoritism and finally ends on the note of doing things fairly. This
extremely humorous piece of literature was written post World War 2 with a Japanese
friend of the authors in mind as a dedication. Although the topic of war in a young class
may be unfamiliar, the topic of fairness, is a daily issue. I think this text would be a
perfect way to introduce the classroom to their new group of friends and let them know
that although we all may come from completely different backgrounds, and have parents
with different life skills or different cultures, we are all equal, and no matter our
differences, we all deserve the same equal treatment. My focus is on elementary system
but I do believe this would be a great leeway into the very serious topic of war with the
older grades. I think before students learn the severity of our history we should focus on
the regret, and sadness that the wars have caused throughout the world. Many students
may not realize that post war, many soldiers have changed their initial beliefs and know
more about different cultures than they ever thought possible at that time period.
*The Other Side Jacqueline Woodside (Caley)
*Charlottes Web EB White (Adam)
*The Breadwinner Debra Ellis (Kathleen)
*Can I Play Too Mode Williams (Shauna)
*The Magic Finger Roald Dahl (Anne)

The five titles listed above are the titles that we discussed in our group during class,
when we talked about the theory to practice that we focused on. I kept these as a
reference to look back on in case I ever wanted some interested reads for students to look
into when thinking about a message that a book may be trying to display.

2. Chapter 2, Question 1

In grade one my son struggled in school, and in particular with language arts. This led to
many meetings with his grade one teacher, Mrs. Waugh. Together as parent/teacher team
we met monthly (or biweekly, depending on his progress) in order to get him comfortable
and confident in his language abilities. During my time in Mrs. Waughs grade one
classroom I noted many different uses of language throughout the classroom. The
students desks were arranged in groups of four, giving those opportunities to work with
their peers on activities, there were designated areas for computers, audio stories, a
library, and many centers for the students to play and express themselves. What I really
enjoyed about Mrs. Waughs classroom was her display of words, wow words, site words,
months, days, colors, numbers, all of these displays of words, along with a special set of
techniques for the students to use while practicing their reading, really helped my son. He
used these techniques in the classroom and these walls of words and we realized this may
be something he could benefit from at home as well. Her classroom I believe, was set up
almost perfectly for the struggling reader/writer, we were blessed to have her as a grade
one teacher or my son may have fallen behind. I will use many of her techniques in my
own classroom someday.

3. Chapter 3, Question 6

Working as an Educational Assistant I had the opportunity to be involved in a lovely

grade 2 classroom at Nashwaaksis Memorial School, as I was working I will keep the
teachers name private, for this purpose I will call her Mrs. Frizzle. Mrs. Frizzle organized
the classroom in 5 categories to work on their daily 5, (read to self, read to someone,
listen to reading, word work and work on writing). She kept 4 students out of these
groups to work with specifically with her on their guided reading. Mrs. Frizzle let the 4
students do their daily 5 all together at her table. She started with guided reading and
focused on some reading strategies as she read through the books the students had
chosen. I noticed as Mrs. Frizzle read she kept the students completely engaged with her
and let them be involved guessing which words would come next and using their reading
techniques posted throughout the classroom such as stretchy snake, beady eyes, and
chunky monkey.

4. Chapter 4, Question 6

On Google Docs
Abigail
My pictures are of me on my first horse Prince who was a draft cross breed. My family
is very stereotypically country. We lived on the outskirts of Fredericton, where will all
bought our own pieces of land, and still call home today. My second picture is of myself
and my two brothers, I believe we were headed to church, but who knows? Mom must of
hand fun with these outfits. :) Many of my childhood pictures are simply my brothers and
I, all not wanting to smile or sit still for the camera, while of course being dressed in
something ridiculous. Growing up we spent most of our time outdoors, we had a lot of
land and free time to do get up to no good!

Renee
This first picture is my brother and I when we were little, getting our picture taken in the
back of some guys van. I remember thinking this is a very strange place to get our
picture taken, but my mom was with us so I knew it was alright. The second picture is all
my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins on my father's side of the family. We had a big family
reunion many years ago and thats when this picture was taken. I am the one in the front
with the very pouty face.

Anna

The first picture is of myself and my 2 brothers eating carrots on our living room floor.
My parents always allowed us to get a fruit or vegetable as a treat after we had been
good in the grocery store shopping, I usually got a banana and my older brother a
cucumber. Maybe this is the reason I eat my vegetables today! The second photo is of me
sticking my tongue out looking up at the camera. My dad had the camera and was
looking out of our sliding door as sidled up to him. He told me to smile and I stuck my
tongue up and he snapped this picture. I dont think he was pleased with the result, but I
remember him laughing about it anyway. Looking back I was probably a lot more
trouble than I care to admit, but my parents will never say so.

The pictures worked well as a catalyst opening up a conversation that may not of been brought
up otherwise. The pictures acted as a leeway into a conversation about our childhoods, and
common things we did that we may have had in common with each other or may have been a
completely new idea. In this situation it was interesting because it really allowed us to get to
know each other on a deeper level, when in the beginning of the program we may not of ever
spoken about each others families or childhoods. I really enjoyed this theory to practice
question and got to know my peers a little deeper through it. I think this would be a great
introduction lesson in any classroom to take the time to get to know each other on a personal
level.

5. Chapter 4, Question 7

Im not in contact with many upper level elementary or middle school so I used two
students from grade two to create an interesting question list for different adults in the
school. The questions they came up with were as follows:
- Do you have a dog? A cat? Any other pets?
- Are you married? Boyfriend? Girlfriend?
- Do you have kids?
- Is this your dream job?
- Do you play video games? Which ones?
- Do you eat fruit roll ups?
- Do you boss people around at home?
- What color did your hair used to be?

*Their main answer for this was, I do not ask them questions. They were very inquisitive as to
why I wanted to know all of this.

I do see what is missing in this question, and I really think the idea of teaching students about
interviews would be a great way to engage students with literacy and personal interests. The
students that I discussed about interviews were not sure the difference between open/closed
ended questions and maybe not ready to understand that, but will work on it with them for the
future. The majority of their questions they thought were very silly and were interested in asking
questions more for the reaction of the people they would be interviewing than the actual
response itself. This could be because it was a pretend situation or because they actually had
no interest in interviewing anyone at their school. Possibly if it was someone in a role they were
interested in they would take the interview process more seriously and be genuinely curious
about the answers they may be getting.

6. Chapter 5, Question 1

During reading the students seem to really focus on their reading strategies, they make
sure they are using them all, almost like a mental checklist. During writing the students
use the notebooks that are half lined/half blank (yellow hilroys). They use these
notebooks in particular because they start by drawing a picture in the blank area. They
use their picture to build their stories off of. The students draw something and then write
a few sentences under. The teacher reads through the sentences with the students not so
much to check for grammar but to make sure the student is using the reading strategies
and the spelling strategies that they have discussed in class. The students are very excited
to show their work and generally enjoy this other than the few students who seem to be
very disengaged and not confident in their writing. The teacher encourages these students
(who happen to be boys who struggle with the reading/writing process) and offers them
more one on one help. They make a lot of progress throughout the year with extra
practice, help and lots of patience.

This question I focused on a grade 2 level and would have been observing in the
beginning of the year, so students would be fresh out of their summer break and just
getting back into their reading/school routines. The strategies I was referring to are
things like eagle eyes (scanning the page, the words, the pictures), stretchy snake
(stretching out words to sound out letters), chunky monkey (chunking parts of words
together to hear different sound combinations), tryin lion (trying a word that makes
sense), flippy dolphin (flipping the vowel sound), and skippy frog (skipping the word,
reading the sentence, and hopping back to it).

7. Chapter 6, Question 5

For my author study unit I would most definitely choose Robert Munsch. I find his books
very engaging for children, and a joy to read as well. His books are also very accessible
and offer a variety of subject areas to allow for different interests within the classroom.
His website offers great resources to allow for students to listen to his very enthusiastic
reading and a few other interactive options. Students are also welcomed to write letters to
Munsch on his website, as well as view other classes that have taken the time to focus on
his books and writing. I think focusing on Munsch would showcase the importance of
voice, enthusiasm and detail within students writing. This would also be a great time for
students who may be struggling to find books they cannot read, as Munsch books are full
of words to practice reading strategies with, as they may not be common words we find
around the classroom or home. Another bonus to Munsch books would be adding the
creative arts to our literacy program by allowing students to act our or creatively display
some of their favorite Munsch stories. I will definitely focus on this in my classroom
someday. (Robert Munsch came to my elementary school when I was there, and the
students were absolutely thrilled by him!)

8. Chapter 7, Question 4

During my practicum placement in a grade one class, we wrote letters to our loved ones.
We did not write to other schools but I assumed you might allow this to count as well.
We wrote letters to our loved ones as a part of writers workshop. We were promoting
detail, punctuation and capitalization to the students. The students really enjoyed writing
letters, it was a great way to get the students engaged in their writing as well as
enthusiastic to showcase their letters afterwords to not only their classmates but their
future recipients as well. It was nice to see the friendly things students had to say to their
parents, siblings and friends, especially those students who may not always love writers
workshop. Every student seemed to be engaged. One student in particular had struggled
my entire practicum with any pencil/paper learning time we had, he had a hard home life
going on and was always very tired at school. He decided to write his letter to his
grandfather who he had been staying with at the time, and the sweet things this normally
rebellious little boy wanted to write were very touching. Helping him write something
that he was actually interested in writing was very rewarding and watching his
enthusiasm as he later tucked it into his book bag for that evening was perfect. These are
the things that make me want to stay in elementary forever! Watching a student
accomplish something that they feel proud of, and confident in themselves for completing
is extremely rewarding.

9. Chapter 11, Question 2

For my resource based unit I would like to focus on the timeless picture book Where The
Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, 1963. This fun picture book won the Caldecott Medal in
1964, and has been rated a #1 picture book over and over again by many different reviews.
The unit would focus the picture book which is about a childs imagination running wild, into
the world of monsters. I think this is a great choice for a K-2 level, leaning more towards
grade 2 because it would allow the children to use their imaginations and creativity to really
get involved with the literature.
-To introduce the unit on Monsters, I would have a fun day of stations, at our stations we
would listen to different monster books, do monster colorings, do monster word searches,
play some monster word games, etc. I think stations are a good intro to a subject, where
students have the chance to explore and try each different idea. It is also a great way to tie in
literacy practice as well, while still having a lot of fun.
-During our unit we would begin by reading the selected picture book.
-From here we would discuss the beginning, middle and end of the book. Showing the
children how the book may start in the real world, it goes into Maxs imagination, and then
back into the real world again.
-We would discuss new words, or wow words, and add them to our collection of words we
would like to keep in our brains.
-We would discuss the different feelings throughout the book, and the different languages of
Max, his mother, the monsters, and how the author changes for each of these characters.
-We would have our classroom library display focused on Monster themed books (The
teacher from the black lagoon has a lot, or softer books like the Mama do you love me books,
and many more so the children had lots of different monster resources during this unit.) Our
library would include other versions we may find of the book, other books by Maurice
Sendak, any informational books we may find about monsters (funny books), and the digital
versions as well.
-We would have the Where The Wild Things Are Ap, set up on our classroom Ipads.
-We would have listening stations around the room, and listen to the way different people
doing a read aloud would read the book, some readers may accentuate different words or
voices than others. We would also practice reading to our friends and hear how each of us
interprets different sentences.
-We would practice illustrating our own monsters, we then might try making monsters, and
from here we would write about our monsters, really focusing on detail. (Instead of writing
my monster has 4 eyes, we would try to write detailed sentences like my monster has 4 huge
bulging green eyes that stare at you all the time.)
-We would practice reading to our friends, and reading to ourselves during some station
times. We would try to read some of the other monster books in our library and choose our
favorites and least favorites.
-We would take the time to watch the other versions of Where The Wild Things Are on you
tube, and check to see what the differences are.
-We would try to act out a monster scene from any book we liked best from our monster unit,
and we would try to use our new found wow words while acting.
-To end our monster unit we may watch the movie, and have a pajama day, for fun!
-I would assume this unit would go on for about 2 weeks. In order to fit in the activities and
have time for the students to really express themselves in all areas they would like to.

10. Chapter 11, Question 5

Writing technique mini lesson

Grade: 1
Subject: Literacy
Time: 30 Minutes
Focus: Capitalization
Engagement
Introduce the lesson by reading the book The Case of the Incapacitated Capitals by
Robin Pulver.
Exploration
After reading the book, discuss capitalization with students. Remind students of different
places and times we use capitals (dates, names, places, the letter I, the beginning of a
sentence, etc)
Elaboration
MINTS Video
M- months of the year, I- for the letter I when we are talking about ourselves, N- for
names, T- for titles, and S- for the starts of sentences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScEzddqgbfk
After watching the MINTS video, make a MINTS chart on the whiteboard or smartboard,
have students give examples for each letter. Talk about why they chose their examples
and which letter they fit under in the MINTS scheme.
Extension
Capitals Rap Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfdqJIUzBNQ
Have students stand up and DANCE to the Rap song. A good body break in a literacy
lesson may be needed for some students.
From here have an example writing piece ready on the smart board, including no capital
letters, have students work collaboratively as a class to correct the writing piece and put
capitals in their proper spots.
this weekend i took my dog louie for a walk. louie loved the wonderful weather we are
having in february and could not wait to jump in all of the puddles he could find in
cardigan.
Evaluation
Give students a list of words and a few sentences to correct on their own.
Watch to see what students are understand as well as what areas we may need more work
on during mini lessons.
january
abigail
fredericton

baseball
jesse
new brunswick
alligator
i love my grandfather wendell
jenny is so excited for july to come
christmas is my favorite holiday of all