Reading Diary Week 13: Andersen

Princess and the Pea: A prince went to find a princess but could not tell if they were real. One showed up at his place one day and he tested her.

Emperor’s New Suit: two swindlers come up with a plan to fool the whole town. They pretend to make the emperor a suit but do not actually make one. They said it was invisible. The emperor walked around in the suit but it was nothing so he was naked.

The Brave Tin Soldier: Reminds me of toy story. The soldier is in love with a ballerina but falls out the window. He is then put on a boat and send down the gutter.

 The Brave Tin Soldier(cont.): He makes it back home after a crazy journey but then is put in the stove and starts to melt. The ballerina ends up with him in the stove and they both get melted down.

The Wicked Prince: The wicked prince went against god to try to conquer him but god was stronger than him.

The Little Match Seller: This is a sad story about a girl that is freezing and using matches to warm herself. As the matches were lit she saw different things and at last she saw her dead grandma and asked her to take her away with her. 

About the Writing Week 15

* What did you like best about the writing for this class? What would you like to see more of?

I really liked how creative I could be with my writing. I could write about anything I wanted from the Unit I read and I really liked that. 

* Did you choose the Storybook or the Portfolio? Are you happy with your choice? What information should I emphasize to next semester's students when they make that choice?

I chose the Storybook. Emphasize that this choice allows them to be as creative as they want about whatever stories they want to tell. This choice is very rewarding when you look back at the end and see all the work you put into the storybook has made a one of a kind piece.

  

* Do you have suggestions for the commenting process: suggestions about commenting on blog posts? suggestions about comments on Storybooks/Portfolios?

I liked the blog post commenting. The new blogger set up is great. I did have a problem when it came to commenting on Portfolios. Since I was doing the storybook, I did not know what the portfolio should really include. This made my commenting a little more challenging. I did read over the portfolio information a little bit but not enough to get a good grasp on what it entitled. 

* What kinds of comments did you find most useful as you working on your Storybook/Portfolio?

The comments that you give are great! The encouraging comments helped me feel confident in my writing and the critiques really helped get most of the bugs out of my story.

* Do you think this class helped you to improve your writing? 

This class and Epics of India greatly improved my writing.

* What kind of writing do you see yourself doing in your future career? Will writing be important in that career?

 I will be doing more Technical Writing and that will be very important.

* As you look back on your writing this semester, what advice do you have for students who will be getting started next semester?

Be as creative as you want. The best stories that I have read this year stemmed from a little part of a story and they made almost the whole story up themselves.

About the Reading Week 15

What did you like best about the readings for this class? Are there any general suggestions you would make about how the readings are set up?

I think the best part about the readings is that we have a choice of what we want to read each week. I like how the readings are set up but maybe you can list which are the harder and easier units to read based on the feedback you have received this year. This might help students make their choice each week. 

* Did you find some new reading diary strategies that you used in the second half of the semester?

I did not find a new reading diary strategy. All I did is I changed how much I was writing at the end of each story.

* What did you think of the overall balance between reading - writing - commenting in the class assignments?

 I thought the set up that you have is great. Mondays were sometimes a struggle to get the reading in but I got the reading done every week. 

* Do you think I should offer a reading assignment extra credit option? 

 I know last year you offered a early bird extra credit for the students working ahead. Basically if you finished the reading and the assignments before Monday of that week you got bonus but I did not see that this year. 

* As you look back from the end of the semester, what advice do you have for students who will be getting started next semester?

Main thing is start early and get at least a week ahead. You never know what will happen and that extra week of work that you did early will really help you later.

* adding more notes to the units (let me know what kinds of notes are most useful)

I think notes at the end each story would be helpful. I know that is a lot of work but sometimes I would get to the end of the story and be confused and have to go back to try to figure it out. 

* writing Introductions to each unit (right now, there is just the one-paragraph introduction to each one; I could write a more substantial introduction for each one)

The introductions were very useful but I agree some of them could use some more information in them.

* adding more images to the units (are the images important for you when you are doing the reading?

I love the images. Like I tell everyone when I am looking at their storybooks, the images are what set the correct image in the readers head the more you have the better the image will be for the reader.

  

* adding new units to choose from  (do you have any suggestions? some cultures/topics you were missing?)

I liked the cross over between the Epics of India class and this one. So maybe add more stories from that class. 

* creating "anthology" units on different themes across cultures: ghost stories, love stories, hero stories — with the stories drawn from different units to create new units (what kinds of themes would interest you?)

I really like the fairy tales, heroes, and prankster stories.

Essay Week 12: Alice in Wonderland

This week I read the Alice in Wonderland unit. Many people know about Alice in Wonderland from Disney, that is where I know it from. Reading Alice in Wonderland is a lot different than just watching the movie. There are little things that come up that you do not catch in the movie. This Alice in Wonderland unit is written by Lewis Carroll.  This is what Disney based their Alice in Wonderland off of. This unit was great. I would say that it is tied with Cupid and Psyche in my top units that I have read this semester. There was not a single story that I did not like. My only disappointment was the gap between Down the Rabbit Hole and Advice from a Caterpillar. The gap is that Alice is trying to get into a garden at the end of Down the Rabbit Hole but at the beginning she is not in the garden but instead somewhere else where she meets a caterpillar. At the end of Advice from a Caterpillar Alice makes her way to the garden we think she is headed to at the end of Down a Rabbit Hole. I was a bit confused and had actually thought that Alice had made it to the garden at the beginning of Advice from a Caterpillar and had written it in my notes that way. Then at the end of Advice from a Caterpillar we find out that she had not been in the garden and that she was about to enter the garden. That was my only problem with this unit. Maybe a not at the beginning of Advice from a Caterpillar saying that she had not yet made it to the garden would be good. I really enjoyed the Mad Tea Party stories. Even though what the characters mean is kind of hard to keep up with I thought this was quite an interesting part of the story.  

 

Myself as the Mad Hatter, My girlfriend as Alice, and a random Queen of Hearts.

Halloween 2014

Storytelling Week 12: The Hatter

There was once this man, he was kind of crazy or maybe you could call him mad. He loves his hats but actually they are not his hats at all. He just makes them and keeps them to eventually sell. He is known as the Hatter but many call him the Mad Hatter. I do not think you should label anyone for their craziness so I will call him the Hatter. If you did not know, when Alice went to see the Hatter, he and his companions were stuck at tea. They had been having their tea party for many days but could not seem to stop. Alice asked him why and he mentioned that he had upset Time. He was good friends with Time but when the Hatter had to sing for the Queen she accused him of killing time and now the poor Hatter is stuck at 6 o’clock. Too bad Alice never got to see the Hatter and Time interact. They were the best of friends. They spent almost all hours of the day together. One day the Hatter had to make hundreds of hats for the people of Wonderland so that they could attend the Queen’s hat party. If he did not finish the hats the queen would surely take off his head. He was freaking out and rambling about why is a raven like a writing desk. Time came to him and told the Hatter to calm down and tell him why he was acting mad. The Hatter told him about all the hats he had to make and that there was just not enough time to get all the hats made. Time chuckled at the Hatter. This confused the Hatter and caused him to go crazier. All of the sudden all time seemed to stop around the Hatter. The Hatter even thought he had gone crazy. He looked at time and asked him what he had done. Time told him he paused the time at 9:00 am so that he would be able to make all of the hats. The Hatter thanked Time over and over and promised to repay him however Time wanted. Time told the Hatter that e could repay him by never messing up time and if he did he would stick the Hatter at tea time for many months. The Hatter agreed to those terms and also added in a hat for Time that had clocks all over. Since the Hatter was killing time at the queen’s concert, he is now stuck at tea time until Time feels like releasing him.  

 

Author's Note: This story is from the Alice in Wonderland unit. I thought this would be a great unit to read since I went as the Mad Hatter for Halloween as you can see in the picture. This story comes from the Mad Tea Party stories. The Hatter tells about how he and time used to be good friends until he was killing time while singing at the concert. I took that and added all the back story to their friendship. 

Bibliography: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. 

Web Source: UN-Textbook

 (Myself dressed as the Mad Hatter)

Reading Diary Week 12: Alice in Wonderland

Down the Rabbit Hole: Alice saw the white rabbit and fallowed it. She fell down the rabbit hole for what seemed like forever. 

Down the Rabbit Hole (cont.): Alice made it to the bottom of the hole. She found a key to a tiny door. Then she found a drink that said drink me so she drank it. 

Down the Rabbit Hole (end): Alice shrunk from drinking the drink but forgot the key for the door. She ate all of the cake and it made her a giant. Then it skips to she is in the garden and meets a caterpillar. 

Advice from a Caterpillar:  Alice doesn’t know who she is because all this has confused her. The caterpillar starts to help her. 

Advice from a Caterpillar (cont.): The caterpillar helped her but told her one side of the mushroom made her grow and the other made her shrink. He did not tell her which side did which and he left. Alice took a piece from each side. She ate one side and it made her shrink so she quickly ate the other. 

Advice from a Caterpillar(end):  She grew super tall. After a conflict with a pigeon she got herself to her normal size. She then saw a tiny house and had to go meet the people that lived there. So she shrunk herself down to 9 inches.

Pig and Pepper: She made it to the house. She went to the door but the doorman was outside. So she let herself in and there was a lot of pepper in the air. She saw the Cheshire cat and the pig cook. Also she talked to the duchess. 

Pig and Pepper (cont.):  The cook was throwing things around like crazy. Then Alice got thrown the baby which was like a pig.

Pig and Pepper (end): She left with the baby that turned into a pig. She set it free. Then the Cheshire cat appeared in the tree. She talked with it and it sent her on her way to the March Hare and disappeared.

A Mad Tea Party: She showed up at the Hare’s house and he was having a tea party with the Hatter and the Dormouse. The tea party is pretty crazy!

A Mad Tea Party (cont.): Alice learns about time and how it is always 6 o’clock for the Hatter and Hare. Things are still crazy. The Dormouse starts a story. 

A Mad Tea Party (end): She got mad and left the tea party and found a tree with a door on it. She went in and was back in the room with the table.

The Queen's Croquet-Ground: Alice met the queen and was asked to play Croquet.

The Queen's Croquet-Ground (cont.): Alice struggled with Croquet because the Queens set was crazy. It was a flamingo for the club and a hedgehog for a ball. The Cheshire cat showed up and Alice wanted to talk to him. 

The Queen's Croquet-Ground (end): The king got mad at the cat and the queen said off with his head. They couldn’t figure out how to chop off the head of the cat since it was just a head floating. They the cat disappeared. 

Who Stole the Tarts: Knave of Hearts is on trial for stealing tarts. The first witness is the hatter. 

Who Stole the Tarts (Cont.): The hatter was scared and could barely speak. Next the cook didn’t answer very well either.  Alice was called as a witness.

Alice’s Evidence: Alice knew nothing and but a letter was found that wasn’t signed by anyone.

Alice’s Evidence (cont.): Alice had been growing and the bigger she got the bolder she became. She kept telling the king and queen they were wrong. In the end Alice woke up in her sisters lap back in the real world.