Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

My all time favorite children's book is Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs. I loved how the main events of the story took place as a bedtime story. I also loved how the illustrations were so detailed and matched the story exactly. I recently taught a lesson to Kindergarteners through my preschool curriculum class and it brought the book back to life for me. It was so amazing to see my students listen to the book being read and take the book and create what ever they wished would fall from the sky if it decided to rain a special rain.

Is writing worth reading?

I believe there are lots of things that make writing worth reading. Writing is a way for people to express all the different aspects of their persona. Communication is also a key concept of writing that I feel makes it worth reading. Writing as well as reading go hand in hand with our very existence. It is hard for me to even imagine a world without reading or writing.

Sticks and Stones....

I definitely remember the saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" from my childhood. I think that to children this statement might help them to begin to conceptualize that there are various opinions to all types of situations. As an adult, I do not agree with this statement however. I think that words have immeasurable value and power. Words are strong and seem to be one of the main things that people always remember. Words put meaning to everything, and the statement that "words will never hurt me" is completely invalid in my opinion. When someone hears negative words spoken towards them or about them I think it sticks with them and has just as much power as physical abuse. I think that "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can sometimes hurt me."

Hooked on Phonics Worked for Me!

I learned to read using both phonics and by memorization of sight words. In my experience, I used phonics when my parents worked with me outside of school on my reading. My parents used phonics because that was how they were taught to read as well as my brother that is six years older than me. I found this approach helped to to learn to read at a faster pace and higher level than my peers. At school; however, I was taught using sight words and required to memorize words not paying much attention to letter sounds and blends.When I am in schools now I see that the trend has changed since I was a student. I see students sounding out words and "teaching themselves" a variety of words. For example, in my Teaching Fellow internship placement I work with kindergarteners that are able to sound out words and are encouraged to use inventive spelling. It has been my experience that children may be more successful with this strategy rather than memorization, but that is just my opinion. I feel that as an aspiring kindergarten teacher, I have been given the precious gift of teaching children to read, and that by far is one of my favorite areas that I will teach students.