Comments for Kids in October

As I had done for the month of October, I have compiled the works and comments left during the Comments for Kids assignment in EDM310.  Here I have paraphrased the articles left by children, but also the comments I had left for them.

Comment 2.1

Clare and the USHRS Blog

Clare is part of a collaborative classroom made up of students from all over the world.  The student body is comprised solely of students who may never even come into contact with each other, but are required to collaborate on all assigned work through the use of multimedia devices.  I really enjoyed her interest piece, From the Mouth of Babes, which explored the thought of what exactly "Liberty" means to individuals.  Clare and her co-writer described with vivid literary devices how they approached the individuals they asked about liberty.  The most important group she said she had asked was a second grade group from her hometown.  She said they gave the most honest answers full of child-like ambiguity, with no regard for political finesse.  

In my comments I applauded her on a well written piece and that it was a nice change of pace from reading a younger field of works.  Also, I posed a question to her asking if she would mind if I asked my field experience class the same questions she approached her audience with.  She kindly obliged, but the instructor was not too keen on a collaboration from my end and thought it best to stick with her own gathered materials.

Comment 2.2

In the second post I was assigned during October, a young lady named Chloe had written and recorded a wonderful story.  Chloe is in year four at North Petherton Primary School in the UK.  She read her story about two siblings who went on an adventure while being chased by an old man.  On their adventure Chloe uses vivid detail to describe the surroundings of our main characters.  Throughout the story Chloe also uses key literary devices like personification and allusions to give the reader a very good grasp of the nature of the story.  In the end the main characters find themselves safe in the arms of their older sister, and the nasty old man finds himself behind bars.  If you would like to her Chloe tell her story Click Here!

 I was very surprised at the imagery Chloe was able to use in her story at such a young age.  My comment on her post reflected such amazement.  I commended her on the beauty that I could see through her descriptive words such as: Poppy and Harry's aesthetic features, the purple flowers in the woods, and the gruesome characteristics of the farmer who chased them.  It was an exceptional use of vocabulary, and I would have been proud of any student who used language to that degree.  I ended my comment with praise for her concluding the story with the incarceration of the bad farmer. 

Comment 2.3

Josh was the third student I was assigned for the month of October.  His class was assigned to create a blog post pertaining to the reading they were currently doing in class, The Outsiders.  Josh chose to create a character analysis on Ponyboy.  It was spot on!  He mentioned the relationship Ponyboy had with the main character, and why exactly they had become friends.  Also, he mentioned the past conflicts Ponyboy had with other characters in the book that shaped him as a dynamic character.  Many quotes supported Josh's analysis of the character, which he included on his blog.  It was one of the better blogs I had read since starting this project in August.

I actually let Josh know that I had enjoyed his blog more than most of my other assigned students.  I commented that his exemplary use of critical analysis skills were key in the analysis of The Outsiders and the character of Ponyboy.  Lastly, his use of quotes were exactly what was needed to show a reader how dynamic the character truly is.

Comment 2.4

Eyes on Ireland

During the month of October both Dr. Vitulli and Sontoli were far away in a country many would call Ireland.  Here they were participating in a convention on using visual arts in the classroom.  They created a special blog to account for the day to day activities they would be doing while at the convention.  Included in this blog was an introduction to each Dr., and a small rundown of how their first couple of days would hopefully progress.  I also used the comments left previously to conclude that they would be giving their presentation from the University of Alabama the day that I posted. 

I congratulated them on making it across the pond and told them how excited and proud I was to be part of the University they were representing.  In their post I also saw that they were able to see some of Kevin Abousch's visual art.  He is a famous artist from Ireland who takes many photographs for celebrities, and his most famous work can be seen in the airport they had arrived at in Ireland.  I have seen his work many times before, as many of you have and didn't realize it.  

Comment 2.5

My final student assigned this month was Aspen, and she is attending Mr. Boylen's class in Iowa.  Aspen wrote a story about a trip she went on with her family when she was a younger girl.  The story tells us that her mother planned to surprise her cousin who lives in Colorado.  To do this she needed Aspen to keep it a secret.  So, her mother woke her up very early in the morning and they family got on the train and headed toward CO.  When they arrived the cousin's boyfriend picked them up and took them to where her cousin worked.  Another part of the plan was to send Aspen to the register with something and check-out; Aspen executed this perfectly.  After the cousin realized her family was visiting they became tourists and visited everything there was to see around their cousin's house.  At the end of the visit the family was very emotional, and Aspen said that she couldn't wait to see her cousin again during the holidays.

I commented hesitantly on her post.  I wrote about some of the same places I had visited when I went to Colorado.  Although, she had several grammatical issues, as well as spelling mistakes; I really enjoyed reading her story about visiting her cousin.  She had a real connection with her cousin, and this was abundantly apparent throughout the text.  Lastly, her extended vocabulary and use of tough literary devices aided breaking up the monotony of reading a longer post.  She did a superb job.