Author Profile

Jon Scieszka's The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales retells, twists and bends the fairy tales we all thought we knew by. This hilarious book plays on well-known themes like, the ugly duckling grows up to be an ugly duck, and the princess who kisses the frog doesn't get a prince she gets a big slimy smackeroo! The Stinky Cheese Man changes not only the tradition of the fairy tale but pokes fun at the physical partsof a book. The sly narrator, Jack, bashes the title page, the table of contents, and even the endpaper by shuffling, scoffing them up. The characters slide in and out of tales similar to the chracters in the movie Shrek. Cinderella helps Rumpelstiltskin, and the Giant at the top of the beanstalk eats the Little Red Hen. There are no lessons to be learned or morals to take from the story, just silly smart aleck humor.

Author Profile

Steve Jenkins is a Caldecott award winning children's authorhis book Down, Down, Down displays a top-to-bottom look at the ocean, from birds and waves to underwater vents. Half the earth's surface is covered by water more than a mile deep, but most of this watery world is a mystery to us. It is a fact that more people have stood on the surface of the moon than have visited the deepest spot in the ocean. Steve Jenkins takes you along the book travels down, down, down, from the surface to the bottom of the sea. Along the way you can see the marine life that inhabits the ocean, jellyfish that flash like a neon signs, creatures with teeth as big as their bodies and even a squid as long as a bus, which fights to the death with a sperm whale, the largest predator on earth. This book is great for science lessons and animal acticities, the artwork is excellent and keeps the reader wanting more.

Chapter 2

There is no doubt in my mind that children should be introduced to other cultures at an early age the question is not when but how? I personally belive that literature is a powerful tool that can be used to inform and create tolerance for all the cultures of the world. In our society we devote one month of the year to other cultures whether it be black history or hispanic heritage month. The fact of the matter is one month a year does not scratch the surface of the culture and how it shapes and influences those peoples lives, in order to creat tolerance and love for other cultures we must immerse the classroom with books, pictures, music, and first hand experience from our peers and their cultures. I love the emphasis the chpater puts on the culture of school which is completely different in the U.S. than in other parts of the world, for example german students participate in trade schools, the most popular being in the automtive industry. BMW allows students to train and take classes in business and math and learn how to use their school skills and apply them to the company and it's product. In our school system we use letter grades and awards to determine achievement, but those would mean nothing in countries where the purpose of school is to get a job to help provide food and shelter for your struggling family. The chapter reminded me of a survey I saw on t.v. where German and Middle Eastern students were asked who the president of the united states was and they correctly answered. On the other hand U.S. students couldn't name the president of any of the opposite countries, if we continue to shelter our students from exposure to other cultures we will keep fueling this ignorant cycle. Teachers must set aside instructional time for social studies, but teach nothing about people and their cultures, instead they read the same old children's history stories and the children miss out on learning about other people's culture and what makes each of us unique and important. I also felt that learning about our own culture that we have at home is important so that students understand that everyone has a different home life, maybe they live with both parents, or only mom or grandma. Teachers should also be aware of this home culture to better connect and reach their students.

Chapter 1

The most motivating part of chapter 1 in my opinion, was the idea of the "invisible children", and how we as educators are responsible for making sure that every student is afforded the opportunity to learn to read for enjoyment and academic purposes. Reading is essential to every aspect of education and knowledge in general, if our students can't read then they will struggle in social studies, math, history and so on because reading is the foundation for our curriculum. I found it very disturbing that a teacher would be so negative towards students who are having trouble learning and quickly write them off as lost causes. I know that every student will have their difficulties at some point in their schooling and a teacher should be right beside them to help them not discourage them. I also like how the chapter emphasized that the goal of an effective reading teacher isn't just to teach kids to read, but to teach them to want to read. As a teacher we have to show the students that reading can be fun and enhance their creativity and thinking skills. I think that an effective reading classroom should be filed with books, not just textbooks or basal readers, but books that children can read for enjoyment. In elementary our class library was filled with books but they were out of date and I couldn't find anything I wanted to read. I think as teachers we should talk to the students and find out what they are interested in so that they can read for enjoyment and create a love for reading.