Favorite Poems in the Classroom!

When asked to tell about a favorite poem and how you can incorporate it into the classroom, my mind drew a blank. So I went to the internet to look at poems for children. There are so many different poems on the web for children. The most exciting and interesting poem I found was:

My Chicken's On the Internet

My chicken's on the Internet.

She surfs the web all day.

I've tried to stop her browsing

but, so far, there's just no way.

She jumps up on the mouse

and then she flaps around like mad

to click on every hyperlink

and every pop-up ad.

She plays all sorts of chicken games.

She messages her folks.

She watches chicken videos

and forwards chicken jokes.

She writes a blog for chickens

and she uploads chicken pics.

She visits chicken chat rooms

where she clucks about her chicks.

I wou;dn't mind so much

except my keyboard's now a wreck.

She hasn't learned to type yet;

she can only hunt and peck.

--Kenn Nesbitt

http://www.poetry4kids.com/poem-473.html

I think this poem could be a great way to introduce the internet and all you can do on the web through poetry. It can also give students a chance to create their own poetry about anything they choose.

"Chalk Talk"

I thought the "Chalk talk" was a great learning experience. I found it to be fun, engaging, and challenging. I think that the chalk talk is something that I will use in my future classroom. However, I will make modifications for the younger children. I also think that you could use a "chalk talk" in a adult group as well. I think the most important thing I realized from doing the chalk talk was that not everyone can talk but everyone can communicate. I think that talk is a form of communication. However, some people may not be able to speak but they can write, listen, sign, etc. I think that this activity has pros and cons. I think that some of the positives of this activity are allowing shy children to write their thoughts, allowing people to use a different form to communicate, and freedom of expression. I think that some negatives may include, not knowing someones tone, time, and confusion. Although I found it to be a challenge, because at some points I wanted to just speak, I feel that it would not be a challenge after a few times and that it would not be a challenge for those who cannot speak. I think that many Americans take talking for granted. In conclusion I think that this would be a great accommodation that a teacher could make in the classroom.

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Peer Conferencing

During the last week of class we did a few peer conferencing. I found this to be a very helpful way to get feed back from others about my work. I think that conferencing with peers could also be very helpful in the classroom. However, I do feel that there are some pros and cons to conferencing. First, students may feel overwhelmed with peers looking at their work. They may even feel a little self conscious of their work. However, they may learn things from their peers. Students may also find other small mistakes easily from the practice. It is important for students to be able to receive and give criticism. I think peer conferencing is a good way for students to become involved in each others work and can help then with reading, writing, and social skills as well as improving their work.