Wednesday, September 8, 2010

What is a Reading Community?

Dear Readers,

As an avid reader, I often find myself finishing a great book or an interesting article, and desperately wanting to share my thoughts with someone. When I lived in New York City, I was lucky enough to have a group of friends who shared a passion for reading, so we formed a book club. While I am not in the same city as my book club anymore, I still reach out to my friends and family in Nashville, to discuss my wonderings and opinions about literature.

As a classroom of learners, we have created a community geared toward having a teachable spirit, so we may grow to become people of knowledge, wisdom, and ultimately character. One way we do this is by reading and forming ideas and connections that begin to shape us. In order to support this work, this blog will serve as a way to discuss various things when we are not in the class. Essentially, the blog will become a virtual classroom.

For example, I might post about a response about Thank You, Mr. Falker by explaining my connection to the character, Trish. I might say how much I relate to her overcoming an obstacle with the help of a teacher and how motivated I was to find out the author was the one who overcame her learning hurdle and became a published author. You will have the same chance to post your reactions, but also, to respond to what someone else might say. In this way, our posts become a conversation when we are away from the classroom.

As we begin this online blogging adventure, I challenge you to bring your working minds to the keyboard and let me know your thoughts and feelings about literature. We have so much to discover ...


So, join the community! Come on in, pull up to a computer, let me know your thoughts about literature and our blogging opportunity. Read my post and reply back to me.

36 comments:

LS said...

I believe the blog will be a wonderful opportunity for our class to communicate in a unique way. Literature is an important part of my life because I enjoy getting lost in a story and having friends recommend books to me. Also, I love talking about the books I have read. I am interested in learning more about the blog and how we will use it in class.

BT said...

This blog is a great idea! It helps us communicate to each other, while expanding our thinking and literature ideas. I LOVE books, so it is fun to get to actually talk about them on the computer. This is a new experience for me.
If any of you can, please comment on the blog about a book you liked and why you liked it.

MH said...

I think this blog will be fun! I am looking forward to be able to communicate with my classmates! As for reading, I like doing that. Usually when I'm done with my reading homework, I want to read more!

GS said...

LS,

I think this blog you made is going to be a blast!I think your article is very descriptive.LS you are an awesome teacher to think of this.I can go on and on of how great a teacher tou are(and blogspoter).I love getting lost in books,too.I recommand Anna is still there by Ida Vos if you like World Word 2.

HC said...

Dear Mrs.Sikes, I think having a blog is going to be a better way to do homework. Reading is my favorite subject! Reading is a good way to visualize and I like to reccomend books to friends! Thank you Mrs. Sikes for this great opportunity! Your student, Haley!

wcc said...

When people think of literature they think of poems and nursery rhymes. But really it is a lot more than that. If it wasn’t for literature the world would be total chaos. I think that blogging is amazing because you can express your feelings about literature.

KS said...

I think a blog is a great way to express your feeling about what literature is about! You can find out what others think about literature! I also think a blog is a virtual adventure to have an experience of a life time!
Literature is a way of reading with expression and getting lost in a book, it is a better way of reading and expressing your self!
A blog is a wonderful place
a place of communication
a place of power
a place of understanding
a place where we can decide on our own
I really like this idea it is a great one. :)

GS said...

I think this website is a creative idea to think of.I LOVE to read I love it more than anything!I think everybody will like this blog because everybody can communicate to each other and get to know each other better.You can also read books other people recomend.Here are some books I recomend to anybody out there reading this comment:Hide and Seek and Anna is Still There.You would like those books if you like history.I LOVE the blog!!

JS said...

I think blogging will be a good way to express our feelings about literature and comet on books we like. I can't wait till we get deep in blogging and literature at home and at school. P.S. Hey BT i'm reading this awesome book called " When You Reach Me " . If you haven't read it you can check it out at the oakhill library or MS, Sikes'es library.

ES said...

Hi, everyone I am so excited about posting comments on our classroom blog. I love to read it is so much fun, and I love to get lost in my book. I think the blog will be a great way to share our thoughts about literature. Right now I am reading the Percy Jackson series. If you are too I would love to talk about the books with you. I can’t wait to see what people post about.
-Ellie

HS said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
HS said...

It think our blogging is a great opportunity to get to know what type of books our friends and dislike. Literature is great because you can learn things and be a better reader. Then you can recommend the book to a friend.

EGT said...

I love to blog about books,movies,and many more things. But one of the things I love blogging about is books. There are so many things to tell about the book you are reading. One books that I recommend is "Ginger Pye". It is a great book if you like dog's and mysterious stories. If I were you I would already have the book in my hand.

MS said...

Hi! I am so excited about learning more about literature and blogging! I think it is a great opportunity to get to express our feelings about everything! I LOVE to read,and if you like fantasy books you should definnetly read the Inkhart series by Cornelia Funke!

KS said...

Hi everyone,
Ellie asked if anyone had read the Percy Jackson series.
They are my favorite books!!!! I recommend these to anyone who likes fantasy. Ellie, I think you will really like the books, but it takes a while to get into the first book but still it is a really interesting book!
I am really excited to do the blog, it will give us a chance to get to know each other in a new WAY!
-Katie Stark

KP said...

I think the blog will be a great
way to connect and become a
community in and out of school.
I love getting lot in literature
and writing literature.

HJF said...

I love the blog and think that it will be very helpful to some students and friends. I also think as a reader that it will be great expierience to be able to write our ideas for the blog and be able to read what other people have to say about the blog and be able to learn more literature at this site.

Halle Jewell

CS said...

I think this blog is a great oppretunity for everyone to tell about the books they are reading and search websites easily. The world would be a total disaster if there wasn't literature.

ALB said...

I think the blog is going to be great. Every time we come on here we will get to learn more about each other and learn more about you. Also If we need help we can go play a game and learn a lot. I'm so excited about literature because I love reading! Literature is going to be awesome because if we didn't have grammar nobody would be able to understand any thing or any one. Thank you Mrs. Sikes for teaching us about literature.

Love,
Anna Lynne

OO said...

I think that our blogging opportunity is a great idea because we get to communicate with you and everyone else. We also get to learn more about blogging online. I love the fact that we will get to learn more about literture because I love to read and write. I am so exited for a whole new year at Oak Hill.

Otto Olafsson

BW said...

I thing blogging is a good idea because it will be a way to interact with our friends if we are sick or over the holidays.I like books because it gives me a thing to think about.See you on Monday!

PB said...

I think the blog is a great way to learn about different people. literature is a gift and to learn how to read and to write. I love books I love to read different books different genres. my favorite book is which ever one I am reading. Bye see you onmonday

JL said...

I think blogging is a great idea because i love to talk to my friends in class but i can't. I am also exited to blog over the holidays. see you on Monday

bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SD said...

I think the blog idea is a great way to comunicate. Literature is great and i love reading! Readers, a great book to read is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer`s Stone! See you later!

LA said...

HI, I think that the blog is a great idea for the grade!
The blog is a great idea because we can all get to know each other better and, I also think that it is a good idea because you can learn more about literature, and tell other people about good books. Everyone, you need to read The Tale of Despueaux, It is one of the best books I have ever read. I think that the blog is also great because without grammar we could not understand what people are trying to say to us.

AC said...

I love the blog. I think this will be a great way to communicate with each other about the books that we read and like. I look forward to reading other people's posts.

WP said...

I think the blogging is a great idea to do homework, comments and to post comments about books, and getting to know people. I love literature and getting lost in my books.

ZB said...

I think the blog is going to be a wonderful way to communicate with one another about books. I really like the idea about having a blog. I like the ability to post my ideas about just right books. This is going to be fun. See you all at school in the morning. Zach B.

cb said...

the blog is a great way to talk at home. you have inspired me to read more and like writing more. I have learned a lot about literature, grammer , and reading. I can't wait until we learn more! your student,
Cole Barker

PF said...

I think blogging is a great idea. It's a new way to share thoughts about literiture and to interact with our friends. We'll also get to learn about blogging so in the future, when everyones gratuated from oak hill, we can still communicate in a unique way. I love reading, especially just right books. One of my favorites is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. See you on Monday!

RF said...

I think blogging is fun because I like the Internet. Reading is fun because I learn more. The books that I read are The Dangerous Book for Boys, Secrets of Droon, and Amber Brown.

MS said...

I know a few people talked about the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter series,well I think you should definitly read them! They take a little while to get into, but after you read more of it you'll love them!

ll said...

I thought the blog was so amazing. I love literature because i love reading books and learning about them.
A few weeks ago we read Thankyou Mr. Faulker it was great. Sorry have to go



from,
levi

JL said...

Whenever I don't understand something when I am reading I read it over again until I get it right. One of the things I sometimes do to 'fix it up " is read the whole sentence over again. See you guy tomorrow!

ES said...

When I read and I start to not understand it I reread, sound out the words, and visualize what is happening in the book. I know when a book is getting to hard when I stop knowing the words and I don't know the characters or what is happening. These are my answers and thoughts about the Fix-it strategies.

LL said...

Fudge-a-mania

fudge-a-mania is about a boy named peter and his anoyying brother fudge and his whole family like mom,dad,tootsie and uncle feather/ pet bird. But one day they think it would be nice to take a trip to Maine until peter found out he was neibors with the Tubmans


Cincearly,
Levi