I also like the idea of having students write stories and then to paste the story on different pages to allow the students to illustrate is a great idea.  Many students don’t realize how well they can write until they do an activity like this.  They then realize that they can be authors and illustrators and create their own books.

I don’t know.

From the information that I read in the book about a Multi-Genre text, this is essentially the same thing.  We were required to research all parts of the subjects life and then include them in an album that would look like a scrapbook that they would have kept.  I really enjoyed this project and I remember researching Mark Twain to the point that I could recall most of the information many years later.

I think this is a great idea for students to research a topic of their interest.  It is a great way to learn about text of different genres while incorporating research on a topic of the students choosing.  I hope to be able to include this in my classroom in the future.

Drops dripping off leaves.

Splashing down into the mud.

Rain in the meadow.

The Penguin

They live down south in the arctic,
in the land of ice and snow.
Spending time in colonies,
the cold is all they know.

To them thier wings are useless,
they will never fly.
Crooning their necks upward,
toward the bright blue sky.

Diving into the ocean,
for a daily snack.
Eating a tasty fish,
and then diving back.

Their lives are spent together,
in the same small pair.
The mother lays the egg,
and the father is there to care.

He protects it with his body,
keeping it warm, day and night.
Against the cold arctic air,
and predators with all his might.

Atop his webbed feet it stays,
Until the mother comes back.
And then it is the fathers turn,
to go to the sea for a snack.

The penguin is a funny bird,
that spends it’s life in the cold.
We should all learn about them,
Everyone, Young and Old.

I love how he changed throughout the book from hating poetry to embracing reading and writing poetry.  Jack was so excited about the visiting author and afterwards his willingness to write only grew.  I never expected what happened to Sky.  I was shocked but thought that by using poetry it helped him to cope with his pain.

I can see myself using this book in the future to show my students that everyone can write poetry and with the help of classic poetry they can too be authors.

My life outside of school and work consists of hanging out with family and friends and taking pictures.  I am dubbed “the permanent photographer” of my group of friends.  No one ever brings cameras anymore because they know I will have one.  Whether I am surrounded by a group of my friends or in a field on a hill completely alone with nothing but the sound of grass whipping around, moving like waves on the sea I am taking pictures.  If I didn’t know that after a long day, I could escape to a place and take pictures I would go crazy.  So much of my life can be seen through the lens of a camera.  As the years have passed the subjects of the pictures have changed and my view of the world has changed but my love for the art has never faltered.