Book Review: Seedfolks- by Paul Fleischman

I recently read a book called Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. It is a story about a diverse neighborhood who transforms a vacant lot, that was filled with garbage, to a garden. Each chapter of this book was told from a different person to expose us to different perspectives and in the end, the story comes together.

This book's theme is heavily based around community and there are many different ways to include this in your classroom. One idea is to create a "quilt" where each square is a different character. You could even have the students create their own chapter of the story. It can be based on themselves, a fictional character, or an extension on a previous character in the book.

Seedfolks Quilt:
To do this, pre-cut out squares of paper and have the students represent their character they were assigned. Each one should have their name, a quote, and some image that represents their character. Then when everyone is finished, you can put it together on the wall.

Chapter Extension:
The students can pick a character from the story, make up a new character, or use themselves to create a "new chapter" to the book.

I really enjoyed this book and I hope you will check it out! It is a very easy read and the chapters are very short.

Working On My First Student Literacy Profile (SLP)

I have been super busy the past few weeks. One of the projects I've been working on for one of my courses is a Student Literacy Profile (SLP). I have been in the classroom working with a bright young boy in second grade who, for the purpose of privacy, we will call Christy. I feel that I have learned a lot about him in the past few weeks with my few visits.

A Student Literacy Profile (SLP) is used to find out more about the student's literacy skills. We are using the Basic Reading Inventory book by Jerry L. Johns to create our SLP.

So far I have learned a lot about Christy. I conducted a Personal Interest Survey and Reading and Writing Attitude surveys. I found out a lot about his family and I learn more every visit. I have also conducted a BRI Word List and Oral Reading Passages, both narrative and expository.

Last Friday when I visited to work on my fluency assessments, the teacher was celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday, March the second! It was a lot of fun and brought up great memories! The teacher even wore a "Cat in the Hat" costume! It seemed like everyone had a great day!