Education 580 Childrens Literature Artifact Description

Artifact Description
The artifact I chose for Education 580 is my Childrens Literature book log project.
My rationale for choosing this project it allows me to share many resources with
other staff regarding the topic of differences. Early elementary grades are a time
when students are curious and begin to ask questions about why a classmate may
go to a special reading class, or why they may get extra help within their own
classroom. I chose each of these books carefully because I want to make a
difference in the lives of my students. It is aligned to the following teaching
standards, which will be described in further detail below.
Professional Growth and Development
I have been teaching special education for 17 years at almost every grade level. I
taught middle school for 8 years, high school for 3 years and elementary for 6. I
gained the following knowledge from taking this course:
1.) Different reading strategies to use with students, such as Read/Write/Talk
and Inquiry Circles. For example, we watched two videos produced by
Heinemann and demonstrated by Stephanie Harvey. The first was one called,
Read/Write/Talk. A group of students were reading and discussing whether
or not they could survive for a week without TV. Ms. Harvey then modeled
her thinking using a document camera so the students could visually see
what she was doing.
I learned from watching this video how engaging the Read/Write/Talk strategy
was for students. They really enjoyed interacting and with each other, and
their comprehension of the material was so much deeper when they were
allowed to share what they read with each other. The strategy emphasizes
that its more important to focus on what the student thinks is important vs.
what the teacher thinks is important, that reading is a highly social act, and
that students can also use it for text book reading to bring material alive.
Another strategy we learned was called inquiry circles. In this strategy,
students look at a variety of books, magazines, etc. to fuel their curiosity on a
topic. They look at on-line resources, artifacts, even toys, and choose one to
investigate. Stephanie Harvey modeled her thinking using icons like ? for
questions we have, L for new learning and ! for exciting information. Then
students got together in small groups of 3-4 to share out what they learned.
2.) As part of this course, I learned how important it is to help students activate
their background knowledge more effectively. Our instructor introduced us to
a series called, Teaching Tolerance which I then ordered for my classroom.

Using videos, even from a website like Youtube helps students have a visual
model of something in their minds eye before they read. For example, my
students recently read an article about an activity called, Double Dutch.
Since it is not popular in our area, most of the students were unfamiliar with
what it was. We watched a short clip of the 2014 championship and they
were hooked. They even asked if I could buy them jump ropes.
3.) I learned how to demonstrate tracking my thinking using post it notes. This is
something that I really enjoyed learning about. It puts emphasis on
remembering what is important to the student, rather than putting the
emphasis on what is important to the teacher, and helps students go deeper
in their comprehension. I loved learning about different apps that can do
post its digitally.
4. The importance of independent reading time. The book we read for class,
Readicide, really made an impact on me. Before reading this book, I had
really been of the mindset that it was my job as the teacher to fill the whole
reading intervention time with skills and strategies, and worse, to only use
books that I had chosen. After reading this book, I realized how very
important it is to allow students to have a choice, even at a very young age. I
have seen this play out again and again in my classroom, as I have given
more control over to my students. They read longer, with more excitement,
and I can still emphasize the skills and strategies that are needed using the
books that they love.
5. Lists of books having to do with certain topics. Just like giving my students a
choice in what they read, I really liked having the choice to come up with a
book log that was personal for me. I have always been passionate about
teaching others (in particular children) about disabilities. I believe it is so
important to teach them early, so they develop a positive attitude towards
others who might do things a little differently from them. Having the time to
read books and choose ones that I loved and get to share with others was a
joy. I am excited to share this list with colleagues as well, so they can use
them in their own classroom.
6. Characteristics of Exemplary Classrooms-this was a handout given by my
instructor in which we had to self-reflect on what we did well, and what we
need to improve. Through this activity, I learned that while I am good at
encouraging supportive and productive talk in my classroom, I need to
encourage students to be more personal and allow them more thinking time.
I learned that in the area of curriculum, I am good at having multiple sources,
I need to do a better job of communicating the relevance of a particular skill
to my students, and how that ties into the common core standards.
I learned that in the area of organization, I am good at personalized
instruction (knowing a students interests, strengths, and needs), and that I

use small group instruction more than whole group instruction. However, I
also learned that I need to hand over the responsibility for learning to my
students through choice, goal setting and collaborative independence.

Impact on PK-12 Student Learner for the artifact

The impact on student learning as a result of doing this artifact, are as follows:
a. students will learn about different kinds of disabilities
b. students will develop empathy and appreciation for students who have
disabilities
c. students will be able to articulate why it is important not to bully others
After creating this book log, I actually taught an inclusion unit by combining the
book log I created for this class with the inclusion project from my 605 class. The
result was a week-long unit in which students experienced personally what it was
like to have a disability through simulations, and also how it affected students who
actually have them. It was powerful and gratifying for me to witness the changes in
students attitudes. At the end of the week, I asked each student who participated
to fill out a questionnaire on how it impacted them. Here are some of their answers
to one of the questions, What did you learn from doing this unit?
Not to make fun of people with disabilities,
(Chase)
Dont make fun of people that are different than you,
(Alem)
That you should never bully someone with a disability,
(Audrey)
Do not pick on kids,
(Alex)
Not to bully anybody,
(Braison)
To stand up for people that are being bullied,
(Joseph)
To stop teasing my brother and cousins,
(Sean)
Not to feel sorry for people who have disabilities,
(Anonymous)
That it is NOT ok to make fun of somebody if they have a disability, (Addison)
It is hard to drive a wheelchair!
(Jimmy)
I learned that you shouldnt see people from the outside,
(Morgan)
It gave me greater insight about what its like to have dyslexia,
(Mr.
H.)
Impact on PK-12 Student Learner for the course
Taking this course helped me re-examine why my philosophy towards reading is so
important. I was especially intrigued by the book Readicide we were assigned
during our course. In it, the book describes how mindsets impact our vision and
how we teach.

For example, I used to be of the belief that I should be the one to choose what
students read, that they should only be reading leveled books, and that all of our
time during intervention should be spent working on skill based standards with a
specific amount of time for word work, a specific amount of time for reading, and a
specific amount of time for comprehension. While I still think all of that is
important, what I didnt realize is that I was killing my students love of reading!
The impact on the student learner from this course is that now I give students the
choice to read what they want and teach skills more naturally through their errors.
For example, I have one student who absolutely LOVES I Spy books, because he is
so good at finding small objects. Before taking this course, I would have tried to
steer him clear of those books, thinking they were way above his level. Now I
realize that giving him something he loves only increases his motivation to stick
with it, shows him the reason for knowing rules like silent e when he comes to an
unknown word, and increase his stamina for reading in general. The impact of this
in the long run is that it will increase his reading level because he will read more.
Understanding and Application of Standards:
Standard 3: Teachers understand that children learn differently.
My book log supports standard 3 in the following ways: 3K.2 and 3S.6 knows about
areas of exceptionality, including disabilities and creates a learning community in
which individual differences are respected. As I mentioned above, I have been a
special education teacher for 17 years, and the whole book log is designed around
teaching others about disabilities in a positive way so that my students feel
respected.
Standard 6: Teachers communicate well.
My book log supports standard 6 in the following ways. For example, in standard
6.K4 and 6.S5: using effective communication, one of the Youtube videos I found
was called, No Arms, No Legs, No Worries, by Nick Vujicic. He is an Australian
man born without limbs. His story is about how he can do anything anyone else can
do, and he just wants to be included. I loved how his story fit perfectly with the
book, Can I Play Too? by Mo Willems.
Standard 6.S3: the teacher knows how to ask questions and stimulate discussions
probe for learner understandingpromote risk taking
When making this artifact, I really tried to be thoughtful about the questions I asked
of students during discussion. Here are some of the examples from one of the
books I chose called, The Invisible Boy:
Meaning Maker questions:

a. How did Brian show that he wanted to be a good friend? What did he do? (p.
18 draws a picture for Justin to make him feel included)
b. How does Justin make Brian feel included towards the end of the story?
c. Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation with kids talking about
something fun (like the birthday party) in front of you and you werent
invited? How did it make you feel?
d. How many kids did it take to make Brian feel less invisible?
e. What can we do to make other kids feel less invisible?
Standard 10: Teachers are connected with other teachers and the community.
My book log supports Standard 10 in the following ways:
Standard 10.S2 and 10.D1 Makes links with the learners other environments by
consulting with teachers of other classes and activities within the school and
values and appreciates the importance of all aspects of a childs experience. This
book log is designed to be used as part of a week-long unit in which I go into other
teachers classrooms and teach about disability awareness and bullying, but it can
also be used by the teachers themselves as a resource if they want to do their own
teaching.
Bibliography: (books used in artifact are cited there)
Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It. Kelly
Gallagher: ISBN: 9781571107800
Inquiry Circles in Elementary Classrooms (DVD): New Strategies for Comprehension
and Collaboration. Kelly Gallagher: ISBN: 9781571107800
Harvey, Stephanie. Read, Write, and Talk (DVD): A Practice to Enhance
Comprehension. Heinemann, 2006.
Allington, Richard, and P. Johnston. Learning to Read: Lessons from Exemplary
First-grade Classrooms. Choice Reviews Online. 39.05 (2002).