Rachel Birkey

EDU 245

Story Boost

January 25, 2017

Today I meet with my reading buddies. For my first block of time I am with Sanyla. We read The

Pigeon finds a Hot Dog by Mo Williems. I brought a pigeon stuffed animal for her to interact

with, but she didnt really touch the pigeon. As I read she pointed out her sight words I and

a. After the story, she told me that the pigeon had a hot dog and shared it. I had to probe her

with some questions to get her to go in depth because she really only mumbled. I asked her how

it began and she would quote things I read such as Does it taste like chicken? Afterwards she

chose to look at Flora and her Flamingo this book does not have text instead I invited her to tell

me the story on the beginning pages she was a bit puzzled, and said The flamingo puts one foot

up and she puts one foot up As a class walked by she paused to tell me about her family and

friends. I tried to keep her on topic by turning the page or pointing. She liked it when they

danced ballet and asked to have a book like it the next time.

I then met with Jaxon and Ericah, they both hugged me a lot. Ericah took charge by picking up

the pigeon, to which I calmed Jaxon down by saying he could hold it later. When the duckling

asked Does it taste like chicken Ericah and Jaxon began to talk about the taste of hotdogs, it

was a bit hard for me to move on because they continued to chat. At the end I asked Jaxon and

Ericah about the story. Ericah stated the little bird, I mean big bird found a hot dog and the little

bird wanted it so the big bird shared with the little bird. Jaxon would begin about the Pigeon

and then Ericah would cut in. I asked them if they thought the duckling had had a hot dog before

and they said no and continued to explain. Both were eager to read the other books I brought
as back ups so we continued to Knuffle Bunny, and My Friend Rabbit. (Jaxon especially

interacted with My Friend Rabbit by saying the names of each animal used and what he thought

would happen, such as sound effects while the plane crashed.)

February 1, 2017

Today Shanyla seemed to be pretty distracted, part of the reason was of course because first

grade walks to lunch while we are in the hall way and several of the first graders are cousins or

friends. I began by reading an Elephant and Piggie book (her pick out of 5 choices) and we

laughed and read. She did not have much to say because she just was distracted and started

picking up another book while I tried to initiate conversation. Since she was so distracted I

allowed her to take part of the lead. We looked though the book Flora and her Penguin while

Shanyla told me the story. Most of what she told me was: it looks like she is putting on shoes, or

it looks like she threw a fish. Every now and then she would look at me and say she looks sad

to which I would reply with She looks like she is sorry doesnt she?

With Ericah and Jaxon, Jaxon chose to read We are in a Book. As I read, Jaxon kept stating how

many times will he say banana. They both wanted to read it again but as I started to open the

book they decided it was Ericahs turn. Plus, they were both extremely curious about Knuffle

Bunny Too. As I read, we paused to look at the pictures, they pointed out that the other girl

looked mean, and once Trixie woke her dad, Jaxon explained that her bunny didnt have a

thing on its head. At the end, Jaxon went through the process of explaining what happened at

school, and then stated his favorite part was when the girls hugged, Ericah turned to the page,

and pointed to the girls faces and said it was her favorite part. Something I noticed is that after I

read Ericah like to handle the book. She goes through the book again looking at pictures and as

we talk she will point things out. She asks to hold the previous book even when I began another.
Since we had time Jaxon wanted to read Beekle the Unimaginary Friend, so we read that book.

Meanwhile Ericah would go from looking at Knuffle Bunny Too, to the one I was reading.

Afterwards, Jaxon and I searched for the different imaginary friends, but as we came to an end

Ericah picked up the book and looked through it again. I am curious to see if she does this for the

rest of the year.

February 8, 2017

As I began with Sanyla she was excited to tell me all about her braids (they were Ana

and Elsa braids from Frozen) When I placed out all of the books she was really excited to read

the Elephant and Piggie book, I must go. As I read, she giggled and talked about how she would

have to go to lunch later. When I asked her what happened she stated that at first he was sad but

then he was happy because they went for a picnic. Her second choice was the book Harold and

the Purple Crayon one of the teachers walked by us and said it was a great book which made

Sanyla extra happy. As I read Sanyla, pointed out that trees are green and apples are red. She also

said the dragon was not scary at one point she flipped ahead and pointed to the page with the

city. She said that Harold was looking for his window. When I turned to the page where Harold

drew his window around the moon she pointed and said the moon. Right when I finished before

even asking/ discussing Saynla already picked up another book that I laid out; The Three Pigs.

Saynla does not really want to engage while I tried to probe between books she only asked me

if we had time for another. I am glad she craves more reading. As we read though the last book

Saynal was distracted by the first graders and talked about eating lunch. I ended our session by

talking about how she would eat lunch just like Piggie and Gerald.

Before I greeted Erica and Jaxon I had all my books laid out on the yoga mat. Jaxon dove

for I Must Go by Mo Willems. When I reached the point of saying why multiple times Jaxon
laughed and asked how many times must I say that. He also began to predict what I would say

and said Go on Monday, Go next week instead of Go tomorrow. Both him and Ericah also

mentioned wanting to eat lunch. They were excited to see such a big picnic. Ericah and Jaxon

fought on who could pick the next. I let Jaxon begin with picking the Three Pigs, which he

guessed would be just like the story he already knew. When he saw the wolf and the first few

page he got excited and said there is the wolf, and the straw, wood, and brick. He also added that

the wolf could not blow down the brick. I noticed both him and Ericah seemed a bit confused

when the pigs stepped out of the story, but when I pointed it out they also agreed. They even

liked pointing out the different types of pictures in the story. Ericah did not want to wait for her

pick. She choose the West African tale of Why Mosquitos Buzz in our Ears. Throughout the story

Jaxon kept stating that it was the monkeys fault. Despite the chain of events in the story. Even

afterwards I had trouble helping him to see why it was the mosquitos fault for the death of the

baby owlet. Both Ericah and Jaxon were able to predict that when a mosquito buzzes in your ear

you slap it.

February 15, 2017

Today Sanyla was sick, therefore I only got to work with Ericah and Jaxon. The two

talked a bunch about life. When I pulled out the 6 book options Jaxon saw the Clifford book and

got excited. I suggested that we start with Elephant and Piggie as usual since they both starts

pointing out each book they wanted to read. Today we read Watch me throw this Ball. Jaxon was

very determined to tell Piggie that her ball was thrown behind her. I had to probe the two to see

what happened. Ericah began to say that when he was little he couldnt but now that he is big he

can umm throw it. I started to ask what they thought Piggies secret was. They both were

puzzled I went back and read one of the pages where Piggie said I had fun Both Jaxon and
Ericah seemed to have an epiphany, they realized that the main point was that throwing a ball

should be fun like Piggie said and not hard work. That is the real reason Gerald threw the ball

backwards. Next I read Olivia, Ericahs choice. They loved to look at the scene where she

changed her clothes. When Olivia built a sand castle at the beach both Jaxon and Ericahs eyes

were wandering. I pointed to the picture of the skyscraper and instantly Jaxon said DANGGG

and Ericah repeated. While she was at the museum Jaxon made a prediction that Olivia was

thinking about ballerinas, and they both thought that the Jaxon Polluck painting was done by a

kid. I later told them he wasnt. I then asked them to tell me what happened. They struggled a

bit- but once we got to Oliva getting dressed, Jaxon said she went to the beach, and ballerina.

Ericah started looking at another book. I let Ericah look at Flora and the Peacocks and Jaxon

looked at Harold and the Purple crayon. I told them it was their turn to use the pictures to tell a

story. I loved listening to Jaxon tell the story of Harold, he noticed the different drawings, made

predictions of what they were (a camel- which Jaxon can draw, or a city). Jaxon was able to

follow the narrative. Ericah played with the pictures and showed me the dance. She also pointed

out that Flora was sad. On the last page Ericah shouted dang and Jaxon looked over while she

folded and unfolded the large picture of flora and the Peacocks.

February 22, 2017

Since Sanyla was sick last week I brought Flora and the Peacock again so that she would get a

chance to read the story. I had Sanyla tell me the story, I found it interesting how she had a

different perspective from what Erica had the previous week. Sanyla talked about Flora being sad

and the peacocks being jealous or surprised so they fought. We continued with Elephant and

Piggie. Afterwards Shanyla chose to read Olivia forms a Band. Unfortuantly a class walked
through the hallway at this time and sanyla was distracted so it was hard to build dialog

afterwards.

With Jaxon and Erica we began with Elephant and Piggie, at this point one teacher was dealing

with a student who had a melt down in the hallway and was screaming. Both Erica and Jaxon

were extremely distracted. Jaxon got to choose so he picked the book Those Shoes. While I was

reading Jaxon realized that the main character would give his shoes to his friend who didnt have

any. Afterwards we had a short but quality conversation about giving to others, even if you do

not have much. We also talked about being a good friend and reviewed some of the illustrations

to look at different facial expressions so that we could talked about how we thought the

characters felt.

March 1, 2017

Today I decided to bring in a special surprise, I brought a wild thing puppet to go along

with my reading of Where the Wild Things are. I started off talking about the storm the previous

night and then how I had a visitor. Sanyla loved to point out whenever she saw the puppets

character in the illustrations She also liked to make the puppet swing and dance as I read.

Afterwards she stated that she wouldnt want to go with where the Wild Things are, and she

thought the monster in the sea was really cool. We then read Mo Willams A Big Guy took my

Ball. Right as I ended she held up the book Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in five chapters and a

prologue, by Sendak. As we went through the story and Pierre continued to say I dont care,

Sanyla began to say the words with me. She really enjoyed the story, and would begin to predict

what would happen based on the small illustrations with each new chapter page. At the end she

shared that she thought it was important to answer questions.

With Jaxon and Erica I also read Where the Wild Things are first. Ericah started just pointing at

random characters and Jaxon seem to understand that they were not correct because he especially

pointed out the illustration with our character. We then read Piggie and Gerald, but Ericah began

to try to dose off. I tried to get Ericah to wake up but she was quiet stubborn. I allowed Jaxon to

pick the next book and he chose the Clifford book which I brought. We read that and then it was

time for both to go to class. Ericah continued to lean on me not wanting to leave but to sleep

instead.

March 15, 2017

It has been a week since I have read to my reading buddies. Today Sanyla and I reread A big Guy

Took my Ball by Mo Willams. She wanted to read it first like always and I told her she could help

me. On the first page she sort of echo read with me, and she remembered a lot from when we

read two weeks ago. The next book she chose was How I caught a Dinosaur. She turned each of

the pages for me. At one point a kid had a break down in the hallway and she paid attention to

them. But I pointed to the picture as I read and she continued to follow. She laughed a lot when

the dinosaur ran through the sprinkler, and pointed at the illistrations of all of the people looking

at him. Afterwards I asked Sanyla what she would do with a Dino, and she said she wanted one.

She also mentioned that it would like to eat hamburgers, hot dogs (refrencing the story), pizza

(inference), and a carrot (an illustration she pointed to on our next book Joseph had a Little

Overcoat). We then went into reading the book. I loved that Sanyla began to say with me and it

got old and worn on the last few pages. Then after we finished I asked her what she thought

about making something from nothing. She pointed to the letters on the title J-O-S-E-L,M,N,O-

P H. and said that it was nothing like the button and looked up at me. So I told her how proud I

was that she is getting better in reading.

My time with Jaxon and Ericah ran short because the rest of the class headed to do an activity

with Miss. Walkers class. First we read and laughed at the book Things that are the Most in the

world each of them laughed at the silliness and when they got to the picture of the baby flea they

were enthralled while I explained what a flea was. They thought the spaghetti page was down

right weird, but they enjoyed the book. At the end we came up with the oldest thing in the world:

a dinosaurs grandpa/ grandma. Last we read Joseph had a little overcoat. Erica just wanted to

flip through the pages on her own. I took it an put it on my lap so that Jaxon could see it. Then

Ericah went to pout on the edge of my yoga mat. Jaxon was confused, so I said that it wasnt fair

that Ericah was flipping through pages because he couldnt see, and I needed to read the story. I

read the first page and then stated that I wanted to wait because Erica could turn the pages since

it was her book. She ended up coming back snuggling up to me and enjoying the book.

Sometimes I had them predict what object he might make next. When we were done they went to

Miss Walkers class.

March 29, 2017

Today I had a conversation with Sanyla about what she worked on in class. She described her

sight words and then we talked about her becoming a better reader and she told me all of the

times she reads throughout the day- morning and then read-to-self in the afternoon. The first

book she picked was Curious George goes to the Chocolate Factory. She told me before we

started she has that book at home and her favorite chocolate was the one with the swirl. I could

tell she enjoyed the story as she would look at me with excitement. I asked her if she ever wanted

to go to a chocolate factory and she nodded her head. We also talked about how full curious

George was. She then handed me the Elephant and Piggie book I am invited to a Party! She

laghed at each of the outfits and pointed out that they looked funny with swim clothes over their
fancy clothes. As I was reading, Sanyla occasionally would flip through Ada Twist Scientist. SO

at the end we read that book. I think Sanyla enjoyed it, but I quickly realized I looked over the

rich and complex vocabulary when I picked the book out. At the end I pointed out to Sanyla that

both curious George and Ada were curious. I asked Sanyla to tell me about a time she was

curious and she talked about losing an iPhone and then finding it.

Erica and Jaxon were very excited to tell me about spring break, at first Erica used the

future tense, so I was a bit confused, but I believe over break she went to a hotel with her cousins

and went swimming. Twice she showed me diving off of a diving board. I tried to settle them

down as she made crazy faces while handing me Elephant and Piggie. On the first page Ericah

pointed out the word to and began to repeat what I said. When I got to the page where Gerald

and Piggie dance singing: Party I had Jaxon talk for Gerald (giving him the hint, party) and

then Erica talked for piggie but she said Gerald I corrected them and then pointed to the word,

therefore every time we came to it Jaxon and Erica would switch off saying Party. Jaxon

picked out Curious George next. They got a bit crazy when seeing all of the chocolates and

began saying which was their favorite. As I read, Erica realized she had her first loose tooth

She decided to tell everyone who walked down the hallway. Jaxon still liked the story, and I told

her to wait until the end of the story to tell Mrs. Reeves. So she kept wiggling and announcing as

we completed the story. Jaxon noticed Curious George holding his stomach on the last page and

acted out by holding his stomach and saying ugh I am so full, I am going to barf I then said

can you imagine how many chocolates he got to eat? And Erica shouted 700! At this point

we ended for the day and I spent some time reading journals in Mrs. Reeves class.

April 12, 2017

Today both Sanayla and Jaxon were sick. So the I only had Erica read to. Ericah chose to read

Leonardo the Terrible Monster first. She connected this book to when we read where the wild

hings are and asked me if I brought the puppet. She laughed and like pointing to the pictures. At

the end we talked about how it is important to be a good friend and that Erica liked the ending

best. She also stated that he didnt make a very good monster because he is weird. I brought the

book Journey along in my pile. Erica picked it up and I told her that it was a book she would

have to read to me by telling me what was happening in the pictures. Erica often would point and

say she did this and this, We named the girl Olivia. At one part Olivia had to rescue a bird. The

first time Ericah saw it she called the bird a seahorse (it did look like an outline because of the

long tail feathers. As the girl ran up to save the seahorse Erica added some dialog: And they

yelled stop: STOP and then she took it. She then realized it was a picture of a bird. And

struggled by saying And then the bird got out I mean then the seahorse got out! or called it a

seahorse-bird. Erica brought her own perspective to the text and learned to read the story

created by pictures. For our last book we read Today I will Fly! As I began to read Ericah would

echo everything I said. She laughed at piggie, and she also got up and walked around so I

brought her back to the mat by pointing out Gerald. Ericah wanted to read again so I told her she

could be piggie. Ericah still echoed me, and she recognized many words like You, Thank you, I,

and will. She also knew about fly because of the previous reading so when piggie said Fly fly,

fly, fly, fly, fly, fly, fly, fly I just tapped each word as Erica said them (just as I did when I read

the book). Ericah wanted to look at more of my books so I let her look at Alexander and the

Wind up Mouse, and promised to bring more books the next time. I love seeing how much each

of my buddies are growing in both their reading and writing.

April 19, 2017

 Once again Jaxon and Sanyla were sick. I only had Ericah to read to. She was very

excited when she noticed that I brough knuffle bunny and the book Knuffle Bunny Free. She said

that she remembered the one that we read before and the bunny with the bow. As I read Ericah

awed, and pointed out where she saw Knuffle bunny. I also asked her what she thought Oma,

and Opa meant and she quickly replied grandma and grandpa. When knuffle bunny was

missing I paused while reading and Ericah suddenly made the connection that Knuffle bunny

was not in the pictures and left on the plane. As Trixie dreamed of the places I pointed to some

of the pictures and said where the location was. Ericah also shouted out when she saw knuffle

bunny in the plane seat and awed when Trixie gave her bunny away and at the very end of the

story. I asked Ericah about the story and she replied with: She went on a trip but lost knuffle

bunny, and then when she found it she want it anymore so she gave it and then she grew and

became a big, normal person and gets knuffle bunny again!