C4T #2

Primary Preoccupation

For my second C4T assignment, I was asked to comment on Kathy Cassidy's blog Primary Preoccupation. The first post I commented on was called, "Is There an App for That? Word Work Edition". In this post, Kathy Cassidy shares some useful apps that she uses in her classroom. She says teachers should find apps that focus on a specific area in a subject. Some of the apps she shares are Draw Free, Magic Ink, Skywrite, and Word Wizard. These apps are obviously for spelling.

My response is the following:

Hello Mrs. Cassidy,

My name is Elizabeth Mims and I am a student at the University of South Alabama, which is in Mobile, Alabama. I find your post to be very helpful. I am so excited to become an educator and make use of iPads and other forms of technology in my classroom. I have an iPad and I find myself looking through apps trying to find useful ones for educational purposes. The apps you have displayed for spelling seem to be fun and helpful. I agree that we need to remember to ask the question, “what do we want the app to do?” We have to make sure the app fits the level the students are at and what we want it to do. I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future!

Elizabeth Mims

The second of Mrs. Cassidy's posts I commented on was called, "Making the Cafe Make Sense for Primary Students." In this post, Mrs. Cassidy shares an idea she discovered about how to help her students with literacy by having an individualized reading program. She created a bulletin board called, "Learning to Read" and it included the four reading strategies: comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expand vocabulary. However, she discovered that her students were not understanding this vocabulary. She changed the wording to: right words, explain what you read, able to read smoothly, and discover new words. She credits Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, authors of "The Daily Five" and "The Cafe Book" for the idea. Teachers can modify this idea to fit their own students and curriculum.

My response:

Hello Mrs. Kathy,

Thank you for sharing this wonderful idea! I especially like the changes you made to your board. I plan to save this idea for when I have my own classroom. I also might like to introduce my students to the more difficult vocabulary in time. Again, Thanks for the idea and I plan to buy the two books you mentioned. They will come in handy.

Elizabeth Mims