Warms the English teacher in me....

N has to do a reading response journal entry 4 times a week, whereby she reads for 10 minutes and then writes the date, title of book, author and pages read (if a chapter book).  Two of those 4 weekly entries must be an extension.....a personal connection to the book, an opinion of a favorite or least favorite character, whether she learned a lesson from the story, etc.

It is such a thrill for me to discuss her reading with her and guide her as she writes her entries for a number of reasons.  First, it is just amazing and thrilling to listen to her read to me.  She is especially good at reading Junie B. Jones books because she puts a lot of pizazz into it---she sounds exactly as I imagine Junie B. would.  Secondly, I get a peek into her thought processes and personality by the questions she asks or the ideas she has about what she read.  Thirdly, I get a thrill like I did when I was in the classroom of helping a learner make a connection to her reading.

Tonight she read Chapter 1 from her Usborne The Wizard of Oz book.  She asked what we would do if a tornado came and took our house to the desert or somewhere else really far away.

She brought up what she learned at school to do during severe weather---cover her head, put her chest on her knees in a crouched position.  And we talked about what we do at home when there is severe weather.

She wrote:
Dorthy went under the bed insted of going to the celler because there was a cyclone.  I wold go in the basement.

On Nov 2, N read from Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valemtime.  We have read this book twice now, but N pointed out to me that it is spelled ValentiMe on the cover, not ValentiNe.  I had never noticed this before.  That day she wrote:
Im not like Junie B because I dont sit in the timeout chair and I dont yeell.  


I am such a nerd for many, many reasons but especially because I get such a kick out of helping my kid do her homework.