BENCHMARK TLS 481

WORTMAN
Gabi Cohen
 Responding as a Reader

After taking TLS 481, I have explored and learned about so many different books that I

can incorporate into my future classroom. Not only did I explore many picture books, but I

learned about so many different genres of books and other types of books. I explored over 80

books that were either picture, chapter, alphabet/counting, bilingual, international and

multicultural. I explored pop up books and about how to group books together based on

themes, when we did the text set project. I also learned through the author illustration, about

the styles and different types of books of a specific author. I learned how to do successful read

aloud’s and was able to incorporate this into my Kindergarten classroom at TCS and during my

home engagement #3. In addition to these things, I learned through the library experiences,

about all the different resources available to me during my time at the University of Arizona. I

learned a lot about myself through this class regarding literature and reading and was able to

become more knowledgeable about literacy and how to successfully engage before, during and

after a read aloud.

Journal Reflections:

In the beginning of the semester, my goal was to read many different books and

discover which books cater to which age levels and which books I would like to incorporate into

my future classroom. I can achieve these goals by doing each reading log and library things

assignment. I will use the support of my teachers and classmates to achieve my goals. (August

28). My experiences in the WOW Library were another thing I reflected on this semester. I
enjoyed going into the WOW and exploring all the books that were offered to us. I love how

there were many books from other countries that were available to us. I learned that Hitler

wrote children’s books and burned “Ferdinand” so the children could not read it (August 29).

Another reflection I wrote about was regarding the book, Where the Mountain Meets the

Moon. I enjoyed this book because you could see the characters grow throughout the book.

This book is about a young girl named Minli who lives with her parents. At night, her father tells

her old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the old man of the moon. She goes off on a journey to

the old man to ask how she can change her family’s fortune. This was one of the 12 chapter

books in my library things (August 30). Another journal reflection I chose to put in my

benchmark was the day we discussed the read aloud. In class today, we discussed our read

aloud assignment that we will be doing with our case study family. I just got assigned my family

today who I am very excited about. We read an article giving us tips for when we do the

assignment such as read the book prior, choose books based on the family’s funds of

knowledge and I look forward to learning about my case study family so I can choose a book

that is fitting to my child and his family. We also focused a lot on how to hold the book when

reading to a class as well as the importance of eye contact. I think it is also very important to

introduce the book prior to the read aloud, then to debrief with the class after which was

another topic discussed in class today based on a handout we got (October 23). After looking

back at this journal reflection and have completed my family interaction with a book, I realize

how important that class discussion was in preparing me for the read aloud with my case study

family. I also very much enjoyed the Chris Gall presentation as well as the field trip to the Kid’s
Center which are other topics of my journal articles that I will be handing in with my final

journal reflection journal.

Knowledge of Children’s Literature and Stories

Library Things URL: https://www.librarything.com/catalog/Gabrielle.Cohen

For my library things, I have uploaded my last reading record chart/log of my Library Things

books and then for my last few books I have added them to the Library Things website. I found

this assignment to be very useful going into student teaching. I now have a big repertoire of

books that I can incorporate into my classroom and going into student teaching. This assignment

prepared me for my text set in organizing a group of books based on a common theme as well as

knowing which books are developmentally appropriate for each age level. Many of the books

that I used in my library things are books we read or were read to in class which is something I

enjoyed doing at the beginning and end of every class. Seeing how Bob read to our class was

something valuable in my education that I can take away from when I start teaching. I learned

about the importance of different voices, eye contact, how to appropriately hold the book so

everyone can see, and much more. I think the library things was the main focus of this class in

getting us to read a wide variety of books and this was one of my favorite classes this semester

because I was able to learn about so many different books and I felt like it was a good use of my

time.
 Reference Sources

Doing the 4 library experiences was something I found very useful in this class. I was

able to learn about 5 different resources available to us either on campus or close to campus.

The first library we visited was the WOW library which is what I used the most this semester as

it is so conveniently in the College of Education building. Our first library experience, which was

the second resource we learned about was visiting the children’s literature collection at the UA

Main Library. I had never gone to the UA library to pick up a book before this semester and I

was amazed at how many different books were available for us to use. This was a very useful

tool for the library things assignment as I could just go each week and swap books out. In my

library experience 1 I explored 2 picture books, both of which I incorporated into my library

things. For the second library experience, I visited the Pima County Public Library and was again

amazed at how many books were available for us to check out. I found 3 books there and

incorporated them into my library things making it easy to get 80 books in. I also placed a book

on hold there which was The Giving Tree. For my library experience 3, I explored the Literature

Resource Center on UA’s library website. I selected one of my favorite authors Eric Carle and

learned a lot about him through this experience. For the 4th and final library experience, I

explored another UA website where I researched an author and I chose for this, Judy Blume

who I discovered earned many awards.

 Literature and Storytelling Engagements with Children
Storytelling Mini Inquiry:

One of my good friends Miranda is a nanny for a family here in Tucson whom she was

with all summer and stayed here for. I asked her if I could come with her over the weekend when

she went to babysit, to tell the kids a story from my childhood. It was a nice home with one girl

and one boy. I did not use any props or artifacts as I did not have anything here with me that

represented my family history and if I was home in Chicago and sharing a story with one of the

families I babysit or a cousin, I would have probably incorporated those into my storytelling. The

setting did support me in completing this story experience because I felt like I was in the

classroom talking to them as if they were my students and they were engaged as if I were their

teacher in the classroom. I thought the setting was a comfortable place to be telling a story of my

family history and it was a welcoming environment. The setting where I told the story was in the

basement of the home. The children were sitting on the couch excited to listen and I was standing

in front of them.

The girl was 5 and the boy was 6 which was nice that they were close in age so they took

in the story similarly. No other children participated and the parents of the children were not

home when I told it but my friend Miranda was there when I told it. Miranda knows a little bit

about my family so she could chime in occasionally throughout the story. The children were

eager to listen, a little antsy to play with toys since it was their free time with Miranda but

overall, they stayed seated and listened to me tell my story. After I told my story, I invited the

children to tell a story of their own but they were a little shy and did not want to share which I

told them was completely understandable especially since I am a stranger to them. From personal

experience of working with young children, I think if I were to ask a young child that I know
well to then share a personal story, they would have used their imagination and made up a story

for me.

I decided to tell a story of a silly game that my dad used to play with my brother, sister

and I while my mom videotaped us. My dad would take a big blanket, wrap all three of us in it,

and drag us around the couch while we laughed and giggled. I chose this story to tell because it is

a fond memory I have of playing with my family and being silly and shows how close my family

and I are. I got excited as I told the story to get the kids excited and to feel as if they were there. I

used my body to act out how we played our family game and I used my voice in an excited and

high pitched voice to show how much I love this family memory. The one prop I did use that was

at my disposal was a blanket from the couch they were sitting on. I closed the interaction by

telling the children that they should try this game with Miranda when she babysits for them and

they loved the idea.

My overall sense of this experience is that I enjoyed going to a warm family friendly

environment and sharing a memory I have from my childhood. I do feel that this event was

successful and I am glad that I did it. I used my friend to evaluate myself and see how I did and

she said I did a nice job of acting out and telling the story. I surprised myself when I got so into

this story that I did not think I would get into. For me, I love reflecting on my life and

remembering memories from my childhood so this was a nice experience.

If I were to change anything about this experience, it would be to share my story with a

cousin or child that I know a little better so I could see the difference in their reaction and in their

response. I would do it in a similar setting in a home during babysitting hours when the kids

were away from their parents so I could have their full attention. This experience makes me want
to incorporate stories into my classroom and allow the children to share their family stories or for

example share a “highlight of the weekend with their family” to the class during circle time.

Read Aloud Mini Inquiry #1:

Last Friday was the first day I went into my assigned school, Tucson Community School

to meet my mentor and the class. There were 10 children, all of which were boys which I found

interesting, and they immediately greeted me with warm hugs and told me their names and how

excited they were to have me in their classroom this year. About an hour or so into the class, she

invited the students to explore the books in their little library. I asked my mentor, Sandy if I

could read a book to one of them for an assignment and of course she allowed it. I decided to

read the book, The Giving Tree, as it was one of my favorite books growing up. I was the only

one in my cohort assigned to a kindergarten classroom which I am very excited about, so the boy

I read to was 5 years old and English is his first language. I believe all the students in this class

speak English as their first language. I decided to sit on the ground with the child to make him

feel more comfortable since it was my first day working with him. The room was set up with

three little tables in the center with chairs, a library in the back of the room where the students

can check out books, art drawings all over the classroom walls, and in the corner by the door to

go outside was a cage with mice which are their class pets. There was also a big chair that the

teacher sat on with a rug right in front of it for the children to sit on. I do not think there is a

specific place in the classroom for them to read, I think they can read wherever they want to

which I like as it allows options. There were plenty of books available for the children which I

liked as well. The child was eager before, during and after I read to him. I think this was because

I was new to him and he understands that I will be someone working with him throughout the

year so he was excited to see how I read aloud compared to his teacher. One thing I remember
him saying while I was reading was, “How did you learn to be such a good reader?” I loved this

comment because little does he know that what he is learning right now will help him grow into

the reader that I am today. I said back to him, “I learned the same way you are going to. I started

in Kindergarten and I read more and more every year after that until I got to chapter books and

eventually I was able to read all on my own.” He looked at me like I was a god or something at

how well I was reading which I found funny and adorable. He also asked me why there was not

any color in the book and I told him that that was a very good question but that not every book

has color in it. When I introduced the text, I told him that this was a book that my parents read to

me as a child and I think that was another reason that got him so excited. I asked him to point

things out in the book as I was reading and for him to explain to me what was happening at some

points. He followed along beautifully and was able to answer every question I threw at him.

My overall sense of this experience is that it was very enjoyable and successful. I

evaluated myself at the end by seeing how he enjoyed the book and how well he understood it

based on the way I read it and overall, I think I did a good job of reading slow enough, asking

him questions, and having him engage in the story with the way he asked and answered

questions. If I were to change anything about this experience it would be to maybe have the child

tell me what a few words were because I was impressed with how many words these

kindergarteners knew and some of them even know how to read. I would do everything else the

same as it was very successful and both the child and I enjoyed our ten minutes together reading

a great and classic book. If the child was younger I would have obviously chosen an easier read

with more colorful pictures and less words on each page. If the child was from a different

cultural background I probably would have chosen a book from their culture so they could relate

and point things out in the book that were familiar to them. This experience made me realize how
important it is to read to children every single day especially in this grade as well as them

exploring books on their own.

Read Aloud Mini Inquiry #2:

For my second read aloud, I decided to choose a Halloween book since it was during the

end of October and there were many to choose from around the classroom. My mentor teacher,

Sandy loves to get festive for each holiday and had a wide range of books for the children to

explore and for her to read in a basket. The book I decided to choose when I was planning my

read aloud was, The Littlest Pumpkin by R.A. Herman which was published in 2001. This book

is about children throughout the day coming and going, picking out a pumpkin to carve for

Halloween. When Bartlett’s Farm Stand closes, only the Littlest Pumpkin remains. Finally, a

group of mice scurry around the stand and make the Littlest Pumpkin’s dream come true in the

most unexpected way on Halloween night. I selected this book by looking through the basket of

Halloween books, Sandy telling me before class that it was a great one for Kindergarten, and that

she had not read it to the class yet. I planned to introduce the book to the students as a Halloween

book that I had never read as a child and it was something I was looking forward to experiencing

with them. I thought of some questions to ask the students before reading the book about what

they were dressing up as for Halloween or what their plans were. While skimming the book

beforehand, I thought of a few questions that I could ask them during the book to get an idea of

how well they were understanding the book.

The setting was me sitting in Sandy’s teaching chair and the students sitting on the rug in

what Sandy calls their “personal space” which I find works beautifully with a class of 10 boys.

My class is a Kindergarten class so every student is at least 5 or 6. They all must have turned 5

by the end of September. Sandy sat for the beginning of the read aloud and then did some things
to set up for the next activity around the classroom. The students were excited for me to read a

book to the class and they were very active participators during the story. They were eager to

move to a new location after I was done reading the story as they had been sitting right before

the read aloud. How I prepared for my read aloud was just how it happened. They were excited

to tell me what they were going to dress up as and who they were going trick or treating with.

One of my students Caden, who is my case study child, lives right near Sandy and said, “Miss

Gabi I am going to Mrs. Bantlin’s house this year to trick or treat because she lives near me!”

Sandy chimed in and said she was excited for him to come. After I finished the book, I asked the

students how they would have felt if they were the Littlest Pumpkin that did not get chosen for a

while and they said they would feel sad and lonely.

My overall sense of the experience was that it was a very successful experience and gave

me confidence going into student teaching. What happened was just how I had planned it

beforehand. I evaluated myself based on how engaged the class was and how well they

responded to the questions and to the story. I think they got a good sense of how the pumpkin felt

by being the last one to get picked and they could express that to me well. I surprised myself

with how nice of a pace I read and how many different voices I used. I was impressed and

surprised with how engaged they were. Sometimes when Sandy reads to them, they get distracted

and then she helps them refocus their attention but I think since I was a new reader in the

classroom, they were eager to hear how I read compared to Sandy.

A connection I made was with the different voices I used based on the different

characters in the book and I learned this from Bob reading books to us in class as well as

learning to read every book beforehand so you have time to think about these things. I would do

everything the same if I were to do this again. I would also allow for questions at the end of the
book next time. I think the first read aloud prepared me to read a book to the whole class and was

a good first step before this assignment. This experience has given me the confidence and skills

to carry this out and read aloud in my future classroom.

Family Story Interaction:

For my third home visit with the Castillo family, I decided to choose a pop-up dinosaur

book that we had explored this week in class because my case study child loves dinosaurs. Along

with the pop-up dinosaur book, I brought in a toy dinosaur that I bought for Caden to keep (not

that he does not have enough), but it was from the dollar store and I thought it was more special

if I came and did not leave with everything I came with. Caden comes from a loving and warm

family and his parents love buying him all things dinosaur. I concluded that a pop-up book was

more fun and engaging to use for this experience rather than just a regular picture book. This is

something that not only the child might find amusing, but the parents too. The artifact invited the

family to tell stories because when I showed Caden the dinosaur, his mom, Katie told me a story

of the first dinosaur she ever bought him. This artifact also got Caden excited about the pop-up

book that I told them I brought with me to share with them.

The Castillo family lives in a beautiful neighborhood in the foothills. All three of my

family home engagements have been in the kitchen/living room area. Each time I have been

greeted at the front door by Caden and his family. I have been given a tour of each of the

children’s rooms, their play area, and their backyard with a pool. For this engagement Katie,

Caden and I were sitting at the kitchen table and Cameron was running around while the dad,

Chad was watching her. They frequently came into the kitchen to explore the book and artifact

with us, but since Cameron is so young her attention span is small. Everyone in the family was

born in Arizona and they all speak English. I showed them what I brought and told them that I
would love to read them a book. Caden and his family loved the pop-up book and the moment

Caden realized it was a book on dinosaurs, he got very excited and eager to hear it. Throughout

my read aloud, Katie pointed things out to Caden and said “Wow Caden, how cool is that? It’s

coming out of the book!” I have never seen Caden so excited about something before. I tried to

get the whole family to listen but I totally understood that Chad had to watch Cameron and it was

hard to keep her in one place. Chad heard most of the story and explored the book at the end, but

Katie and Caden sat the whole time and really enjoyed this read aloud experience and pop-up

book. I asked Caden how he liked the book at the end and he told me it was his new favorite

dinosaur book and asked mom to buy it. The only story that was shared was the story of when

Katie bought Caden his first dinosaur toy. A story that was shared to me on the first home visit in

October, was that Caden was dressing up as a dinosaur for Halloween and I even got to see his

costume.

My overall sense of this experience was that it was very successful. I adore this family

and they have even asked me to babysit them next semester. I enjoyed these family engagements,

this one in particular, because I was given the opportunity to choose a book and an artifact that

my case study child would enjoy and I can tell he did. Going into this, I expected it to be

successful since the first 2 home engagements were and nothing about this experience surprised

me. I evaluated myself on how well the family enjoyed the book and the artifact so overall I

think it was a success.

In reflecting on this experience, I would do everything the same. This experience made

me think about how important choosing books are when thinking about who your audience is

and how special it can be when you choose a book based on your audience’s interest. This made

me connected to the family because they could tell how well I’ve gotten to know Caden
throughout the semester based on what I brought with me and how much he enjoyed it. This

experience has shown me the importance of read aloud’s and choosing books based on your

audience’s interests and funds of knowledge.

Social and Cultural Issues in Children’s Literature

Text Set Project:

MANNERS
What are Manners?
Manners refer to the kind and polite way of doing things. When we use manners,
we show people respect and treat them the way we’d like to be treated.

Ways to Practice Good Manners

 Community Participation
o If people around (friends, family, school) practice good manners and
hear manners being recited they will follow.
 Positive Language
o Make learning manners fun, positive encouraging language is
motivating.
 Role-Play
o Practice and show examples situations like opening doors, shaking
hands and saying please and thank you.
 Childs Input
o Involve child in various ways. If a child sees someone using bad
manners and points the action out. Ask them what they would do
differently!
Recommended Books for Children
 Hands Are Not for Hitting
o By: Martine Agassi
o Published: 2000
o Age Group: 2-4 year olds
o A board book showing what our hands can do in a positive way.
o It shows a young group of diverse children showing what their hands
can and cannot do.
 A Child’s Book of Manners
o By: Ruth Shannon Odor
o Published: 1980
o Age Group: 3-6 year olds
o This book explains how children should follow the rules and have
good manners.
o This book connects to our theme because it is a good book to
introduce to children to get them to understand manners.

 Excuse Me
o By: Lisa Kopelke
o Published: 2003
o Age Group: 3-6 year olds
o This book is about a frog who likes to burp but all his friends think
it’s gross. When he finds a town where everyone likes to burp, he
realizes that his friends were right about it being gross.
o This book connects to our theme because it is a fun and silly way for
children to learn about bad manners that they shouldn't do.
 Tissue Please
o By: Lisa Kopelke
o Published: 2004
o Age Group: 3-6 year olds
o Frog and his friend have the sniffles and to make matters worse, they
use their arms to wipe off their noses! Frog discovered a tissue and it
turns around his day.
o This book teaches children that they shouldn’t use their arms or hands
to wipe away their noses as that is an easy way to spread germs. It
teaches children the importance of tissues.

 Mind Your Manners B. B. Wolf

o By: Judy Sierra
o Published: 2007
o Age Group: 3-6 year olds
o This book is about a wolf who gets invited to a tea party and his friend
the crocodile, reminds him not to sip your tea and never slurp and if
you burp say “Excuse me.”
 o This funny read aloud is a perfect reminder for children who are still
learning their manners.

 Tell the Truth B.B. Wolf

o By: Judy Sierra
o Published: 2010
o Age Group: 3-6 year olds
o This book is about a wolf who gets caught in his own lie and begs his friends
for forgiveness.
o This book teaches children about the importance of telling the truth and to
never lie.

 This is Just to Say

o By: Joyce Sidman and Pamela Zagarenski
o Published: 2014
o Age Group: 3-6 year olds
o Poems of apology and forgiveness. A teacher asks her 6th grade class to
write poems of apology for any of their wrong doings. Other classmates start
writing poems back.
o This book teaches children about kindness and the importance of apologies
when you have made a mistake or hurt someone's feelings.
 Do Unto Otters
o By: Laurie Keller
o Published: 2009
o Age Group: 3-6 year olds
o Mr. Rabbits new neighbors are otters but he doesn’t know anything
about otters. Mr. Owl advises him to treat otters just like you would
want them to treat you.
o This book shows how to be a good friend and how to treat everyone
equally and how you would like to be treated.

 Please Say Please!

o By: Margery Cuyler and Will Hillenbrand
o Published: 2004
o Age Group: 3-6 year olds
o At a party hosted by Penguin, his friends don’t act appropriately when
they are being served food. They learn where their napkin goes (not
on your head) and to not tell a joke when you have food in your
mouth.
o This teaches children about proper table manners and how to act in
situations you didn’t expect.

 That’s Good! That’s Bad!

o By: Margaret Cuyler and David Crow
o Published: 1993
o Age Group: 3-5
 o This book teaches children about manners through a boy’s adventures
and misadventures.
o This relates to the theme of manners because it is teaching children
what is good and what is bad.

Artifacts
 For our first artifact, we have a tissue box to show how using a tissue
when you are sick is polite and that we shouldn’t use our sleeves. This
relates to the book Tissue Please.

 For our second artifact we have a napkin, a fork, and a knife to show
the appropriate uses of each item at the dinner table. This relates to the
book Please Say Please.

 For our third and final artifact, we have a “Reuse, Reduce, Recycle”
sign to show how teaching children to not throw everything away, but
rather to recycle is better for the environment.

Text Set Reflection

For this assignment, I worked with Hannah and Julia and we chose the theme of manners.

I think we all worked very well together in splitting up the amount of work. We all worked on

the handout together, Julia and I gathered the books, Hannah made the poster and invitation and

then I brought the materials in. We chose this theme because there are so many books that teach

children about manners and it is such an important lesson for children to learn about. There are

so many different manners for children to learn about through literacy from using a tissue to

knowing when to say sorry when you have done something wrong or have hurt someone’s

feelings. We found 10 books on manners and I am excited to share these books with the class.

One book we found talks about using a tissue instead of your arm. Another book talks about
proper table manners and knowing how to use each item on the table. For example, one of the

books showed a character learning how to use a napkin in a humorous way by having the

character learn to put it on his lap rather than on his head. One book talks about how to treat

people and another book talks about the importance of telling the truth. I think we found a nice

array of books to put on display for our Text Set project and that these 10 books cover many

different manners that are all important for children to learn about. I enjoyed this assignment and

was introduced to a lot of new books that I would love to incorporate into my future classroom.