PORTFOLIO

By: Julia Wilson

Journals
Journal #1: Setting Personal Goals August 23, 2017
In this course, I intend to learn about more authors and have a wider range of knowledge when it comes to
children’s literature. I feel as though I have just started to scratch the surface when it comes to children’s
books and am excited to learn more. I also intend to learn how to know when and how to pick the right book
to read to a class for a certain subject or topic that I would want to get across the class. I plan on reaching
these goals by actively listening in class and really taking the assignments and Library thing seriously. The
support I will need is from the cohort and how we are all learning together and coming to an understanding
at the same time about children’s literature. The learning experiences that will be new for me are Library
thing and the home experiences. Those I have no prior experience with and am a little nervous for. We could
probably all support each other by talking about how each of our experiences went and what we could do to
help if someone is struggling or what not.
Journal #4: Response for The Danger of a Single-Story September 13, 2017
This video was very inspiring because as an American, I had only thought that Africa was composed of very
poor villages that do not have any food, clothes, or water and listened to tribal music. I have felt like there is
so much to a continent that I have no idea about and that is so sad with the education that is free in our
country. Her talk really made me think about how I generalize a place so much because of their stereotype. I
do not know much about African culture and it is because so many organizations get so much money from
showing poor Africa and saying how much money Africa needs. I just learned a few weeks ago from Diana
that Africa is a continent and NOT a country. There are numerous countries within Africa and they are all
labeled as poor and rural because of this stereotype that was given.
Journal #8: Author Study Reflection October 4, 2017
Today, we presented our author study to the class. My group and I chose David Shannon for our author to
study because we decided that he was one of the most memorable authors that we remembered as a kid.
This experience was very fun because we got to see what other authors our peers picked and how they made
their presentations. My favorite part of this project was going to the library and getting the books to show for
our presentation. I went to the pima and UA main library to find enough books. While I was getting books, I
stumbled across a few that I had not known about yet. This has been my favorite project that I have ever
done and the one that I am most proud of just because it is in the career path that I am choosing and
something that I am very passionate about.
Journal #13: Mini-Conference Reflection November 2, 2017
Coming into the mini-conference, I had no idea there was going to be the elementary education students.
We got to see their text sets and how they broke borders which I thought was an interesting theme that they
chose as a class. There were so many different branches that each group went off of and I really liked seeing
everyone’s interpretation of breaking borders. My favorite group was the group that broke fairytale
stereotypes. I love the modernization of fairytales and how there can be different ways of telling a story.
After the presentations, we got to hear from Chris Gall about his life and how he got into writing and
illustrating. I have never heard from an author or illustrator so this was really exciting. I loved hearing about
how he draws and the process of writing and going through the editors.

Journal Reflection

We wrote a journal entry every week throughout this semester and I personally think that it helped

with connecting what we were doing in our class and how it will be beneficial one day. It was a good habit it
to journal about what we did in class each week and looking back, it helps me remember what we did

exactly throughout the semester and which activities I did and did not like. I think that there was a lot of

positives to come out of this journal and was a fun assignment that I got to do every week. My favorite part

was getting to see the elementary education students and their text sets and then hear from author and

illustrator, Chris Gall. I had never met an author or an illustrator before and it was so interesting to hear the

process of getting a book published is like. I also really liked putting a face to a book that we have read

before in class. After this event, I wrote my thoughts down into the journal which you can see on the previous

page.
Library Thing
 Library Thing Reflection

A big assignment that we had throughout this semester was library thing. Library thing is an online

database that we used to keep track of all of the books that we read throughout this semester. I ended this

semester with 80 books and it was a very fun assignment because I love children’s books and especially

finding new ones that would be great in my classroom one day. I also love rereading books that were so

important during my childhood because it brings back really good memories. Every day during class, Bob

would read us a book to start off the class and then one to end the class. This helped a lot with the

completion of library thing because he brought in so many books throughout the entire semester and many

were ones that I had not read before. There are so many books, authors, and illustrators that I have been

introduced to just because of this course. I know that when I have my own classroom one day, I will be able

to use each and every book that we have read in this course.
 Library

Experiences
 Library Experiences Reflection

Throughout the semester, we were asked to visit different libraries, obtain a library card, and check

books out to bring to class. I really liked these assignments because I love going to the library. I love looking

at children’s books and getting ideas for what I will want in my classroom one day. My favorite library to go

to was Pima. I had never had a library card before so when I first went into the library, I was unsure what to

do. The man who was working there that day was very friendly and made it easy to obtain the card. I then

went into the children’s section to find three new books that I could bring to class the next day. I also went

back to the Pima library to find books for author study and text set. This was a great resource that I was

introduced to this semester that I can use even into my classroom. We were assigned to go to the main

library on campus as well. I have been a student at this University for over two years and I did not know that

there were children’s books in the main library. I am very grateful that Bob told us about this. Then, we were

told about online resources that we could use to check for author or illustrator information.
Story Telling
Julia Wilson

Bob Wortman

TLS 481

2 October 2017

Mini Storytelling Inquiry

Currently I am a nanny for a family that has five children all under the age of ten. This

past weekend while I was watching, I took the ten-year-old, named Jack, out to eat at Culver’s.

While we were there, the football game was on the television by where we were sitting and we

started talking about the different sports that he likes, the players, and what he wants to play

when he grows up. I then began talking about the different sporting events that I have been to

with my friends and family.

We were at Culver’s and the storytelling was a spur of the moment activity that I decided

to have taken place there because it was where our conversation was going and I wanted to win

cool points with a ten-year-old. He told me that he wants to visit a sporting event soon,

especially now since he has heard about my experiences, but other than that he did not tell me a

story because he does not have an experience at a professional sporting event. However, he did

tell me about the Arizona football games he goes to with his Grandpa.

He told me one story about going to a University of Arizona football game with one of

his brothers and Grandpa. They live in Oro Valley so it takes about thirty minutes to get to the

stadium. This game that they were going to started at 7:30 pm, but they decided to go extra early

so that they could go tailgating on the mall. They got to the University around four and they

hung out on the mall with their grandpa and some of the grandpa’s friends. He told me that his

Grandpa grew up in Tucson and attended the University of Arizona. So, the two boys, the
grandpa, and the grandpa’s friends all hung out on the mall and played games and ate burgers

and then they all went to the game together. He told me that this was one of his favorite

memories of his life so far, and it was very special to him because that game was one of the only

games Arizona won that season.

I grew up with three older siblings, two of which were brothers, and my parents who are

huge sports fans. I have always been surrounded by sports fans with sports always on the

television and going to sporting events. This past spring break, I went home and went to a

Laker’s basketball game with one of my good friends. Her brother works for their social media

advertising and could get us on the court while the players were warming up. I have a picture on

my phone of me and my friend on the court with players shooting baskets in the background. As

I was telling him this story I showed him the picture and he thought it was the coolest thing ever

because he knew that players in the background. Also, this was the game when one of the more

well-known players got into a fight and got kicked out of the game. I told Jack this and that this

was interesting because he remembers that fight because he was watching that game at home on

his television.

After I told him this story, we continued to watch the football game and I started asking

him questions about what state each football team is from. I thought this was funny because he

thought that Seattle was in New York. Since we were already on the topic of football games, I

also told him that I had been to four professional football games. Two of which were in San

Diego and two were in Cincinnati. He thought this was very cool since we were already

watching a football game.

I decided to tell this story because it was what we were talking about and wanted to see

his reaction to me attending numerous professional athletic games. I did not need to keep him
engaged too much because he already thought my story was interesting. Many boys love sports

regardless of age and he had not been to a professional sports game yet. He told me that he plans

on going to a Golden State basketball game with his dad this upcoming season. I told him that

basketball games are very fun and he has a lot to look forward to.

Overall, I thought this experience was very fun because he was engaged the entire time I

was telling my story. He is a bit older, 5th grade, so he has a higher attention span and could sit

still while listening to me. My story only took about 5-10 minutes so he did not need to pay

attention for that long anyways. I thought it was successful because of how excited he was when

he knew the players in the background of my pictures and that I had also been to a professional

football game. I was surprised about how much he liked my story. I knew that he would think it

was interesting to a certain extent but he was very engaged and loved it. That is how I decided to

evaluate myself. There were no other people with us so there is no other way to tell how I did.

For this experience, I probably would have tried to go into more detail. Maybe explain

what I did at the events and what I wore. I would keep everything else the same because I just

explained that I went to the event and I would go into deeper detail about what went on there.

The most detail I went into was the fight that happened. This experience helped me realize that

any activity I partake in can be used as a story time for my classroom.

Julia Wilson

Bob Wortman

TLS 481

27 September 2017

Read Aloud Inquiry #1

During the time when children are supposed to be reading through a few books to decide

which book they would like to take home for the day, a little boy in the classroom that I am

doing my practicum in asked me to read him Anno’s Counting Book. I did not choose which

book to read, I took the first opportunity given to me that a child asked me to read to them. I just

met this child today, but I believe he is in preschool and I believe to be 4 years old. I also believe

he was Hispanic.

We sat in the reading corner which is a section of the room is has adult sized couches and

three children sized couches. We sat on one of the small, child sized couch and the child sat next

to me. We sat against the wall but the other couches were against the bookshelf that bounded the

reading corner and the circle time carpet. There are numerous bookshelves around the classroom

that the children always have access to and they can choose any one of them to take home for the

day.

I had never looked through this book before, so I did not know what to expect when

reading it to him, but in the beginning, I asked him what he noticed in the first couple of pages.

Then, when we started getting up into the higher numbers like four and five, he would start

counting the buildings, people, plants, etc. An example of dialogue between us would be when I

first turned the page and we were both skimming it I would ask, “How many buildings are on

this page?” and he would count, “one, two, three, four!” if we were on page four. He was very
engaged in each page and this book took us about ten minutes because it went up to number

twelve I believe. He loved counting each building, tree, plant, animal, and child represented on

each page. It was very fun to see him engaged because there were no words so I was not exactly

sure how it would be to keep him wanting to continue with the book. We did have a discussion

on the very last page because everything was almost completely white and at the top of the page

were eight reindeer, but no Santa. I asked him, “What is that in the sky?” He replied, “Reindeer!”

I asked him why there would be reindeer in the sky and he said, “Because it is Christmas!” He

also noticed the Christmas tree in the middle of the town.

So, this book does not have any words, it is solely counting. This book was interesting

because throughout the book, the seasons changed and a new town was being formed. As the

seasons were changing, new additions to the town kept popping up, also to add to the counting

factor. I did not utilize a specific strategy for introducing the text, I simply read the title and

started flipping through the pages. As I read, I made sure the page was always visible. HE sat

next to me so there was never the issue that he could not see because the focus was on him being

able to see the book. With my voice, I was quiet and tried my best to ask open-ended questions

but there were a few close-ended questions that I asked. After we finished the book, his dad was

there to pick him up so we were not able to discuss the book but he did decide that that was the

book he wanted to take home for the day.

Overall, it was a fun experience. I have read books to children before through the

observation hours and other volunteer hours but this was new because I had so much more

information to think about because of all these new courses that I am taking now. I overall think

that it was a success because this book was a counting book and he could count and seemed to be

having fun with it. The main connection I saw with the chapter ten reading was exposing
children to the different types of illustrations and styles of books. There are the main general

picture books that have a cute fiction story but this one was purely based on counting.

I do not think that I would change anything about this experience. Probably the only thing

is having more of a discussion while reading the book. That is a very important key and I do

understand that with the picture fiction books when they can get a little long and you need to

keep them engaged by asking questions and making sure that they are following along. This one

I was not concerned with because each page was the same, except the town grew a little bit by

each page and the seasons changed.

Julia Wilson

Bob Wortman

TLS 481

13 November 2017

Read Aloud Inquiry #2

For the second read aloud, I chose to read the book Penguins Love Colors by Sarah

Aspinall to my placement class. This book is about a group of six little penguins wanting to

make a surprise for Mama Penguin. There was a substitute teacher that day instead of my mentor

teacher and she had asked me if I would like to read a story to the class today. She asked me

before any students came so I looked through my mentor teacher’s classroom library and pick

out a book. I chose Penguins Love Colors because as I was looking through it, it seemed to be

the most engaging and would help the children talk about colors while reading a fun story. I

introduced this book to the class by asking the students to tell me what their favorite colors were.

I had them all shout out at the same time so that everyone felt the opportunity to share. Then, I

started reading the book. In the middle of the book, there are six pages where they go through

each color in the rainbow. This was a good opportunity for the children to share their knowledge

of what each color was. It was also good for asking the children which color will come next.

Me and the children sat on the carpet and I sat in front of them and they all sat in front of

me. The children in my placement classroom are 3, 4, and 5 year olds. There were about 12

children that I was reading aloud to. The substitute teacher and the teacher aide both sat among

the children. The children in my placement classroom are very energetic and love to get involved

during story time. The response to the questions I was asking were great. There are a few
students in my placement that are very loud and talkative and love the sound of their own voice.

Every child said either their favorite color or the color that was displayed on the page at the time.

Overall, I thought the read aloud was successful because the story was very fun and the

children were very engaged throughout the entire story. The responses were, for the most part,

what I expected however, I did not plan for the children who were very outspoken and loved

interrupting me throughout the story. I used the reaction from the students as a guide of how I

did personally. I felt that through the engagement and getting through the story was a sign that I

did an okay job reading the story aloud.

I made many connections to TLS 481 through reading aloud to the children in my

placement. The biggest connection I made was reading the story ahead of time. That is a very

crucial part to reading aloud to students and should be done every single time. Another

connection I made was marking or remembering the specific questions you want to ask during

the story to help the children remember what the story is about and to help them make

connections throughout the story. The difference from TLS 481 is how different it is to read to a

child than it is to read to adults. When looking back at my first read aloud, the biggest difference

is that I did not have a chance to read the story before I read it to a child in my placement. This

was a great experience because it helped me understand the concept of reading to children. I

really saw the importance of reading beforehand and asking questions throughout the story.
Julia Wilson

Bob Wortman

TLS 481

29 November 2017

Family Story Interaction

My case study child’s name is Robert and is very into all things dinosaurs. He can name a

large number of dinosaurs and can tell me many facts about them. My mentor teacher supplies

books, fiction and non-fiction, about dinosaurs that he likes me to read to him. For my final

home engagement this semester, I decided to bring in two more books about dinosaurs that my

mentor teacher did not have. In his home, Robert has two huge books, one all about living

animals today, and one about dinosaurs. The two books I decided to bring were “Digging up

Dinosaurs” by Aliki, non-fiction, and “Gus, the Dinosaur Bus” by Julia Liu, fiction.

When I got to their house, Robert was there with his mother and cousin. We went into the

dining room to read the stories. Robert, his mother, and his cousin participated in the story

interaction and they are of Latino heritage. When we first sat down I set the books in front of

Robert and explained to him, his mother, and cousin that I wanted to share these books with him

due to his wonderful interest of dinosaurs that he shows every day in class. His mother was very

excited about the books I chose because they were new ones that Robert has not read before. His

mother browsed and skimmed the book a little bit before but I asked if she wanted to read the

first one, to which she said yes to. We read “Digging up Dinosaurs” first and this one was very

interesting because it was about what paleontologists do now with fossils and it explains all

about how they now know everything they do about dinosaurs. Robert loved this book as his

mother was reading it and she enjoyed reading it to him because of his loving interest toward
dinosaurs. Robert is a very smart kid and loves to talk so he would stop you when you were

reading to point out something interesting about the illustrations on the page and share his

knowledge of the subject. During the story, his mother would stop to make comments to Robert

if he did not say something before her. We then decided that I would read “Gus, the Dinosaur

Bus” to Robert and his cousin. I decided on this book because it was a silly and unrealistic book

that I thought he would enjoy and maybe give him some ideas for his next potential playtime

with his dinosaurs. Throughout this book he laughed a lot, I think that he really enjoyed the

content and the illustrations. I asked him questions such as, “Would you like to ride a dinosaur to

school?” to which he yelled, “Yeah!” I did not bring any artifacts; however, I did use the giant

box of plastic dinosaurs that Robert has and after we read both of the stories we played with

those and he created a storyline and world to play with his dinosaurs.

During the interaction, I tried to engage Robert and his cousin as much as possible by

asking questions and making sure that they were enjoying the story and getting out as much as

they possibly could. I was mainly there to keep the interaction going and making sure that

dinosaurs were generally the main point of topic at all times to try and make the connections that

needed to happen, happen. I was trying to have Robert ‘lead’ because I wanted to make sure he

was having fun and not feel like this was something that he felt forced to do. I really went off of

what he was saying and would ask him questions that he wanted to answer. And with the

artifacts, I know that they were a hit because they were already his toy and I felt like using his

own plastic dinosaurs would be a great addition to this interaction because it really tied into what

our main focus was.

Overall, I felt that this interaction went as well as it possibly could. Everyone had a great

time and it helped me connect with Robert on a deeper level than just the classroom which has
made playing with him inside the classroom that much more fun. I think his mom enjoyed the

experience too because she was able to be involved and help out by reading the story and she

also got to see Robert talk about something he is passionate about. The way I criticized myself

was if Robert was having a good time, if he was engaged, and if the mom was having a good

time as well. Those were the three most important things to me and I wanted to make sure those

were good at all times because I felt if there was fun and connections at the same time, then I

was doing something right. I was surprised at how well it went. With my two previous home

engagements, I was nervous, but it was more getting to know the family and what their funds of

knowledge were. With this last home engagement, it was using their funds of knowledge and

Roberts interests to get him to participate in this activity and have him enjoy himself.

For this interaction, I would bring more books, maybe 3-4 because it went pretty quickly

about 15-20 minutes with the reading of the books and then the rest of the time we were talking

and playing with the plastic dinosaurs. I felt as though there needed to be just one or two more

books to really help tie in and finish off the interaction. I do think that using his own toy to help

tie in this project together was a good idea because I did not have to go out of my way to buy

something for him to use and he already loves his dinosaurs so I was not going to give him

something that he may or may not like. This experience helped me so much because I was able

to learn about a child in my placement classroom and get to know him on a deeper level and I

wish I was able to do it with every child in my placement because I would then be able to know

the students in my classroom that much better. I connected this to TLS 481 because I read

through each book before the interaction took place and asked questions throughout and was

very aware to take my time throughout the reading to let Robert look at his, make a comment,

and then make a connection.

 Story Telling Reflection

Throughout the semester, we had numerous storytelling, read aloud, and a family story interaction.

The storytelling was fun because I got to tell someone a life story and got to hear one from them. It was

interesting to talk to a child on a deeper level and hear what their life is like. The read aloud was my favorite

part because I love reading to children. They get so engaged in the story and love to input their opinion

throughout the reading. We only wrote about two times in which we read aloud to children, but in my

placement, I was given more opportunities to gain experience in reading aloud. For the family story

interaction, this took in place in the home of my case study child and his family. I read my case study child,

Robert, two books about dinosaurs. He absolutely loves everything and anything dinosaur related and it is

all he talks about in the classroom and at home. These experiences have helped me so much with my ability

to read to children and to understand what they want to be read to.

Text Set
 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 of 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
o By: B.B. Wolf and 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

o By: B.B. Wolf and 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.
Julia Wilson

Bob Wortman

TLS 481

29 November 2017

Text Set Reflection

For my text set, my group and I decided on the theme ‘manners’. We decided on this

theme because it is very prevalent to introduce during the early childhood years. The way we

split up the work was Hannah would do the poster board, I would look for the books, Gabi would

find the artifacts, and we would all work on the handout. It was a great solution and made a big

project seem small when we all worked together. First, we looked for age appropriate books

about manners that would be good in a text set. We found a good majority of books in the WOW

library that we would be able to use in our text set. After we found the books we started working

on the handout which includes some facts about manners and the annotated bibliography of each

book we found. Then, we decided on which artifacts we should bring in to help connect the

books to the audience.

Overall, I think this project is very beneficial because it helped us create our own text set

which we will need to do when we have our own classroom and students. This project helped us

think creatively and use outside resources to create a project that can be useful for early

childhood students. The teamwork we used was great because we had communication and were

on the page throughout the entirety of the project and I really enjoyed thinking about which

books to select and how to present our set.