Reading Diary Week 11: Nursery Rhymes Unit

Nursery Rhymes  unit

Tales: I love rhymes and really liked reading this story. Why would someone steal children just to drop them in the woods? I think I've heard the "There was a Crooked Man" rhyme before. The Simple Simon reminds me of the J Wellington Wimpy cartoon. Hahaha, the "Three Wise Men of Gotham" makes me laugh. Mother Goose rode on a goose? An egg of pure gold? Is this the Jack and the Beanstalk story? The note for the antisemitism is so true! Is the "Little Jack Horner" story the same as "Little Miss Muffet"? 

Proverbs: I don't understand the "If Wishes Were Horses". Hmmm. The hours of sleep riddle was intriguing. My friend posted the poem about the wind and fishing on facebook the other day. I think "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise is in the Farmer's Almanac. I have heard many of these phrases before. I had no idea where they came from. 

Nursery Rhymes: Songs, Part 1: I’m going to begin writing pieces of stories I think I can include in my storytelling post this week. I am going to attempt to rhyme. Met an old man clothed in leather, asked me “how do you do” over and over. My father died, left me six horses. I sold my horses and bought me a cow. Sold my cow and bought me a calf. Sold my calf bought me a cat, sold my cate bought me a mouse who carried fire in his tail and burned down my whole house. Little Bo Peep. This version of London bridge is different than the one I heard growing up.

Nursery Rhymes: Songs, Part 2: I looked up what a carrion crow is and looks like, they’re pretty. Three Blind Mice is exactly how I learned it in my childhood. I love that rhyme. “Cold and raw the north wind doth blow, bleak in a morning early; all the hills are covered with snow, and winter’s now come fairly”.

Riddles: I hate riddles. Most of the time, I can’t understand them, even if I know what the answer is. I do understand the egg riddle, though. It is both a riddle and has beautiful imagery. Humpty Dumpty is in this section. I like the teeth and gums riddle, it is interesting. I haven’t heard it before.

Paradoxes: The man of Thessaly was funny.

Charms and Lullabies: Peter Piper. I loved the Matthew, Mark, Luke and John poem. I wrote it down so I can say it before I go to bed. The Hushy baby poem is so incredibly cute. I love it. Hush-a-bye baby. There is another poem called rock-a-bye baby that I could use for my storytelling post.

Games: Jack be nimble. Thumbkin reminds me of Rumpelstiltskin for some reason. I had no idea that Hickory Dickory dock was a rhyme to choose who is “it” in tag or hide and seek. This Little Piggy. “Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross, to see and old lady upon a white horse; rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes, and so she makes music wherever she goes”. Use How Many Miles to Babylon in storytelling. I wonder what the story of the blackbirds named Jack and Jill has to do with the regular story of Jack and Jill.

Jingles: The dame who lost her shoe…. Loses her shoe too much. Awe, I love the hey diddle diddle rhyme. Little Tommy Lin sounds like a psychopath. I like the word play with the humble-bee.

Love and Matrimony: This section has so many of the rhymes I know from childhood. “There was a little boy and a little girl” can be used for storytelling, as well. Were walking out one Sunday…. Tomorrow will be Monday.

Natural History, Part 1: “In February, when green leaves begin to spring, little lambs do skip like fairies, birds do couple, build, and sing”.

Natural History, Part 2: Baa Baa Black Sheep.

Accumulative Stories I love accumulative stories. I had no idea what they were called, though. All of these were so interesting. If I was that skilled, I would write one for my storytelling post.

Relics: Oh my gosh! I didn’t know the origin of “What Are Little Boys Made Of?” until now! That is so great. I remember hearing this when I was growing up. Boys and girls used it to tease one another. I could use this in my story-telling post. Rain Rain Go Away was also in this section, but I had no idea it had a third line.

Week 10 Reading Diary: American Indian Fairy Tales Unit

American Indian Fairy Tales Unit

Iagoo, The Story-Teller

I love hearing stories about when there was magic in the world. I like that Iagoo was so good with kids, making them necklaces, and bow and arrows. Is this setting the story up so that Iagoo tells all the other stories in this unit? That would be really cool!
Iagoo, the Story-Teller 

Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind

The mean old man “North Wind” reminds me of Ice King off Adventure Time. I wonder why he wanted the entire earth covered in ice and snow. Land of the Sunflower sounds like such a pleasant place. I love sunflowers. I find it curious that the author portrays the North Wind in such a negative light. I love the imagery used in this story. The fishing described by South Wind reminds me of ice fishing in Alaska. I can’t believe his friends just left him there if they thought he would die!
Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind 

Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind (Cont.)

Wait, Shin-ge-bis is a mortal and he believes North Wind to be a mortal? Shin-ge-bis is smart to realize that he can’t stand the cold, but that North Wind can’t stand the heat. It’s interesting that the story discusses how people found out that snow is an insulator. Shin-ge-bis is so sassy.
Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind (Cont.) 

The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds

This story sounds terrifying. A hill growing so rapidly like magic and carrying children up into the clouds? I can’t imagine a time when all animals got along, but would love it! This story uses so much imagery! I have to agree with the disapproval of keeping animals in cages and behind fences. I think they need to be free to roam where they wish. After all, it was their land first. I love that in this story all of the animals and the people get along and are able to live in peace and harmony. I think it’s funny that the beaver taught the kids how to swim.
The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds 

The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds (Cont.)

I can’t imagine how terrified the children’s parents must have been. I didn’t know coyotes could track. I mean, I know they hunt, but tracking is different. This story reminds me of the story about how Devil’s Tower was formed. How all of the animals joined together is so similar to how humans join together in a time of crisis (like Oklahomans after the Moore tornado). This ends in another “don’t judge a book by its cover” moral. The kids were asleep for over a month?
The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds (Cont.)

Essay Week 9: My Ideas About Education

Traditionally, schools were created to ensure that citizens of the United States were better educated and become productive members of society. I think we should go back to this model instead of the business model we currently use. I believe that we should learn basics for how to survive on our own. I remember classes like personal finance and single survival in high school, and I think those are a great idea. I also believe we should maintain basic math and English skills, as well. Although I don’t believe in a liberal education, I do believe that some aspects of it can be beneficial. For example, I think that requirements for math, English, and science should be honored. They enable people to develop basic skills to help them in the future and to better understand our world. I believe that students work better when they are working on subjects that they find interesting. I also think that standardized tests are not a viable option anymore. Students should receive grades based on knowledge they gained that should be measured through another means, like presentations or projects where they can show the knowledge they gained in their own creative ways. I really love Laura Gibbs’s experience in her fourth grade open classroom. I think this would be a brilliant idea to implement in a larger scale to see how this would affect learning. I especially agree when Laura says, “…We have replaced curiosity and passion with grading”. I know that when I was in school, I had to focus mainly on grades and don’t recall much from what I was supposed to learn because of this. Now, in college, I am constantly doing homework and unable to do extra reading about things that interest me because they have me taking classes that I don’t care for and have no true interest in, that require hours of my time to complete for a grade that seems irrelevant. If I were to teach, I would grade based on projects and presentations rather than test grades and quiz scores. There may occasionally be a quiz, but I would mainly want to ensure that my kids retain the information they learn and are able to apply that to something in their real life. I think this would cut down on anxiety over grades and encourage creativity.

This is not what I want my children and future generations to look forward to:

 Hours of sitting and listening to lectures about subjects they are not interested in. Not retaining any knowledge and learning skills that are not necessary for them and, most of the time, will not help them in their life. 

Picture: Google Images

Week 9 Reading Diary

Eskimo Folk Tales Unit

The Coming of Men, a Long, Long While Ago

I can’t imagine living in complete darkness all the time. I wonder if the fact that fire used to burn has anything to do with “firewater”. The scenes described in this story are terrifying. The earth being so overcrowded, no one dying, getting so old you are unable to walk, see, or lie down. I thought it was a nice touch that everyone who dies becomes a star in the heavens.

The Coming of Men

Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak

This story was kind of interesting, but also pretty boring. I don’t think I would need to read this one again because I didn’t gain anything from it.

The man who escaped from the Tupilak

The Woman who had a Bear as a Foster-son

I don’t know how its possible for a frozen bear to come to life, but it is a heartwarming story. I’m glad th woman decided to save the bear. I loved that the bear became accustomed to playing with human children and was loved by the townspeople. The ending of the story was so sad. It really reminded me of the movie Fox and the Hound by Disney where the mother is forced to let go of the animal she loves and force him into the wild.

The Woman who had a Bear as a Foster-Son

Qalagánguasê, Who Passed to the Land of Ghosts

Why did everyone in his life die? And how do people die from eating sea weed? He was paralyzed from the waist down? It would be incredibly difficult to see the ghosts of your dead family. I wonder why they only come out when he is alone. Why would the people he lived with treat him so poorly? I think it is sad that his family turned him into a ghost, but good that he was able to be happy again.

The Boy who Passed to the Land of Ghosts

Isigâligârssik

Why did the wizard take his wife away? This story is so odd.

The Tiny Man

The Insects that Wooed a Wifeless Man

He oversleeps much like I do. Noseless people? I feel like this man molested the girls in the town. I wonder what the fire man gave to him to help him wake up.

The Insects that Wooed a Wifeless Man

Reading Diary Week 8: Review

I noticed that in the instructions it says to just focus on your favorites and not get tied down in note taking. However, I find it most useful to write down key points in all of the stories rather than just my favorites and record my reactions to each one. The main strategy I use for writing my diary posts is, a stated in the last sentence, take note of the main points of the stories and be sure to note if something intrigues me. I typically use the same strategy every time. If I find that my post has become really long, I will go through and delete story notes that are short or uninteresting. I have had the extreme of really short and really long posts, it just depends on the unit. If a story reminds me of another story I have heard, seen, or read, I will include that in my note-taking. Sometimes I just refer vaguely to a story rather than by title. I also tend to take notes while I read. I find this method most effective because I have a really terrible memory and will forget details and things I thought were interesting even directly after I read. I think my diary posts are most useful when I write the storytelling post each week. I like to go back and read my notes so that I can remember which story I liked the most and see if I can imagine a spin to the story that I could write about. I think the most useful thing about my reading posts is that I include links to each individual story, so when I decide on one for storytelling, I can follow along while I write to include certain aspects of the story. Overall, I am not keeping up with the reading very well so far. I have had a really difficult time because once you get behind, you are basically screwed, which I don’t like. I don’t remember much of the reading. As I said before, I have a terrible memory. So, I can remember general details and even specific twists in the story, but I can never remember names, titles, or even which unit the story is in. I don’t have any strategies to make this any better. So, I will keep writing detailed notes in my reading diaries.