I thought my CSLP went very well. Honestly, it went exactly as I had hoped it would. Of course there were some people off-task, as in any classroom, but the majority of the students were engaged in the activity - it really made me feel as though I was the teacher in a real classroom. The only way this lesson could be improved is by giving the full class period to do it, and obviously having the whole class read the text before the activity.
This strategy could easily be adapted for other texts when doing a close reading. Also, it could adapted to find specific elements in a text: for example, the left column lists a series of symbols present in the text, and the students must find examples of the symbol being used and write it in the middle column, then they must analyze what the symbol means in the right column. This is a great activity to get students to examine textual elements closer and/or to help start an independent assignment.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Incorporating New Literacies
Chapter 2: Learning with New Literacies
As we become more and more reliant on the internet, it only makes more and more sense to incorporate it into the classroom. "New literacies" refer to all of the different resources on the internet and its different information mediums: email, images, videos, Google, Wikipedia, tweets, blogs, etc. There are thousands of great resources that will enrich learning, and it is the modern teacher's duty to figure out how these new mediums translate to the classroom, and is also their responsibility to make sure that students are literate in these "new literacies."
Learning using new literacies not only prepares students for a life inevitably infused with the internet, but allows for many additional learning opportunities that support multiple learning styles. Chapter 2 of Content Area Reading give examples of ways teachers can use the internet for comprehensive and educational lessons. Using a blog (like this one!) is a way to make reading and writing assignments more interactive. Internet workshops give students time to explore the internet to do research, do an assignment, or explore interests. Internet inquiries give an opportunity to try learning by inquiry: students create their own question/hypothesis and do internet research to discover the answers.
I have created a list of new literacies that could be beneficial in the classroom:
As we become more and more reliant on the internet, it only makes more and more sense to incorporate it into the classroom. "New literacies" refer to all of the different resources on the internet and its different information mediums: email, images, videos, Google, Wikipedia, tweets, blogs, etc. There are thousands of great resources that will enrich learning, and it is the modern teacher's duty to figure out how these new mediums translate to the classroom, and is also their responsibility to make sure that students are literate in these "new literacies."
Learning using new literacies not only prepares students for a life inevitably infused with the internet, but allows for many additional learning opportunities that support multiple learning styles. Chapter 2 of Content Area Reading give examples of ways teachers can use the internet for comprehensive and educational lessons. Using a blog (like this one!) is a way to make reading and writing assignments more interactive. Internet workshops give students time to explore the internet to do research, do an assignment, or explore interests. Internet inquiries give an opportunity to try learning by inquiry: students create their own question/hypothesis and do internet research to discover the answers.
I have created a list of new literacies that could be beneficial in the classroom:
- Wordle: Students create a "word cloud" that helps synthesize or illustrate what a text is about.
- Google Docs: Students can work together online on a collaborative document and even chat while they are doing it. This is a great way to have students work in groups outside of the classroom because it does not require a great deal of transportation or planning.
- Twitter: Students can create a twitter account that focuses on your content area. You can have them explore what other people are tweeting about the topic and have them make their own short tweets about their thoughts or in response to others.
- BlackBoard: BlackBoard creates a space for teachers to post electronic texts, class syllabi and documents, and grades. There is also a discussion board space where the teacher can enter a prompt or discussion question, then students can reply to it or each other.
- YouTube: Have students create a video for an assignment! They will most likely enjoy the change of pace and the opportunity to freely express themselves.
- Pinterest: This can be used as almost a sort of electronic poster board. Students can share theirs with each other.
- Quizlet: Teachers or students can create online flashcards to learn concepts or vocabulary. Not only does this keep them organized, but they can also do quizzes and play "games" to help learn/remember them.
- Blogger: Think outside the box! Sure, you could have students each create a blog, but what if you as a teacher create a personal blog? Include a little about yourself, and a lot about interesting things you find or you think would be useful to the current lesson or unit. Students will enjoy your dedication and getting to know you.
Supporting Literacy and Writing in Lessons and Assessments
Chapter 5: Planning Instruction for Content Literacy and Chapter 10: Writing for Tests and Assessments
No matter what your content area is, you will need to create strong lessons. A good lesson that supports literacy will increase knowledge, literacy skills, and will help students develop skills and strategies for later in their life and academic career. Using writing as an alternate form of assessment not only teaches students writing skills, but gives an opportunity to think in a new way and allows creates a more inclusive classroom by addressing different learning styles.
Chapter 5 of Content Area Reading gives a multitude of strategies and examples for planning lessons and units that surround texts. It is important when planning a lesson or unit that uses texts to provide plenty of support to the students - that means making sure texts are scaffolded before, explored during, and analyzed after. If this sounds familiar, it is because this is the framework for B-D-A instruction, which I went in to more detail about in an earlier posting (click here for a refresher). B-D-A instruction is a comprehensive way to approach a text during a unit; it allows students to become interested in the text, be well-supported throughout the reading, and extract more knowledge overall. Along with using a B-D-A framework to make sure your lesson is well-rounded; setting clear objectives, picking excellent texts, and providing resources will greatly increase the lesson or unit is effective.
In addition to all those strategies, providing opportunities for collaborative learning will also increase success. Cooperative learning "foster[s] collaboration in a classroom context, develop[s] students' self-esteem in the process of learning, encourage[s] development of positive group relationships, and enhance[s] academic achievement" (Mraz, Vacca & Vacca, 2011, p. 152). This is important because it allows to develop social and group skills, as well as gives them the opportunity to negotiate and try out ideas in a smaller, lower risk environment. This is great in an English classroom because some of the intricacies of literature can only be discovered and fleshed out through discussion. I would like to use this as much as possible so students can develop ideas, both as a group and independently, and learn to support them.
Chapter 10 of Content-Area Writing discusses the use of writing as a mode of assessment - a topic that is essential to my language arts content area, since I really want to focus on my students' writing. When using writing as an assessment, it is important to make sure students are given clear expectations and plenty of time and support. It is helpful to use writing assessments as a "double" learning opportunity: the students learn from writing the paper (or whatever the assignment), then students self- or peer-critique the writing to discover what his or her strengths are and what he or she could do better next time - perhaps even another writing assignment reflecting on the first one. Providing plenty of encouragement and support should make students (more or less) want to write, rather than check-out because they are not confident in their writing skills. While assigning writing, teachers must ask themselves if they are valuing syntax or if what really matters is the content they touch on in their writing. Assigning more "casual" writing assignments gives students a chance to practice the act of writing and explore content without having to worry so much about little writing rules.
No matter what your content area is, you will need to create strong lessons. A good lesson that supports literacy will increase knowledge, literacy skills, and will help students develop skills and strategies for later in their life and academic career. Using writing as an alternate form of assessment not only teaches students writing skills, but gives an opportunity to think in a new way and allows creates a more inclusive classroom by addressing different learning styles.
Chapter 5 of Content Area Reading gives a multitude of strategies and examples for planning lessons and units that surround texts. It is important when planning a lesson or unit that uses texts to provide plenty of support to the students - that means making sure texts are scaffolded before, explored during, and analyzed after. If this sounds familiar, it is because this is the framework for B-D-A instruction, which I went in to more detail about in an earlier posting (click here for a refresher). B-D-A instruction is a comprehensive way to approach a text during a unit; it allows students to become interested in the text, be well-supported throughout the reading, and extract more knowledge overall. Along with using a B-D-A framework to make sure your lesson is well-rounded; setting clear objectives, picking excellent texts, and providing resources will greatly increase the lesson or unit is effective.
In addition to all those strategies, providing opportunities for collaborative learning will also increase success. Cooperative learning "foster[s] collaboration in a classroom context, develop[s] students' self-esteem in the process of learning, encourage[s] development of positive group relationships, and enhance[s] academic achievement" (Mraz, Vacca & Vacca, 2011, p. 152). This is important because it allows to develop social and group skills, as well as gives them the opportunity to negotiate and try out ideas in a smaller, lower risk environment. This is great in an English classroom because some of the intricacies of literature can only be discovered and fleshed out through discussion. I would like to use this as much as possible so students can develop ideas, both as a group and independently, and learn to support them.
Chapter 10 of Content-Area Writing discusses the use of writing as a mode of assessment - a topic that is essential to my language arts content area, since I really want to focus on my students' writing. When using writing as an assessment, it is important to make sure students are given clear expectations and plenty of time and support. It is helpful to use writing assessments as a "double" learning opportunity: the students learn from writing the paper (or whatever the assignment), then students self- or peer-critique the writing to discover what his or her strengths are and what he or she could do better next time - perhaps even another writing assignment reflecting on the first one. Providing plenty of encouragement and support should make students (more or less) want to write, rather than check-out because they are not confident in their writing skills. While assigning writing, teachers must ask themselves if they are valuing syntax or if what really matters is the content they touch on in their writing. Assigning more "casual" writing assignments gives students a chance to practice the act of writing and explore content without having to worry so much about little writing rules.
Teaching Vocabulary and Concepts
Chapter 8: Developing Vocabulary and Concepts
All teachers know the importance of vocabulary to their specific content area. What many teachers fail to realize is how much vocabulary students are expected to remember as well as the difficulty of forming connections between the term and its meaning. Chapter 8 of Content Area Reading lists a variety of comprehensive ways to increase retention and understanding of vocabulary for your content area.
Chapter 8 talks about the practice of dividing content vocabulary by order of importance. Words that are going to be used a lot and are foundational words that other vocabulary is built off of should be learned first and should have the most comprehensive practice. Without building strong vocabulary foundations, students cannot build upon them to grasp more complex concepts.
Using graphic organizers to connect concepts is a great way to help students understand relationships between vocabulary and concepts. Being able to organize concepts helps students realize hierarchies in vocabulary and gives them a visual representation of the inter-workings of a content area - something that most teachers take for granted. Scaffolding this activity is essential. In order to gain the benefits that arise out of vocabulary activities (such as comprehension and memorization), teacher must first capture the students' interest.
A good way to do this is by discovering what students already know about vocabulary and concepts. Having the students participate in word exploration, which is a write-to-learn activity that allows students to gather their thoughts about the word or concept and relate it to prior knowledge. Similar ways to activate prior knowledge is by brainstorming, listing, and categorizing. An important vocabulary skill that requires the application of prior knowledge is the strategy of defining a word based on its context. As an English teacher, this skill is especially important since students will constantly be discovering words they do not know - even more so than in content areas such as science where most difficult words are explained by the textbook or teacher. This strategy requires that students use the context and words around it to discover what a word means. This is a very important reading lifeskill as well.
Once a vocabulary word or concept is introduced and prior knowledge is explored, teachers must do more exercises to make sure a student is reinforcing their new knowledge so they can truly understand it and remember it. Reinforced knowledge allows teachers to extend the concept to build upon other concepts, using it as a scaffold to expand knowledge and increase learning. Great ways to reinforce vocabulary and scaffold concepts is by using graphic organizers. Many different kinds of graphic organizers and visual examples of them begin on page 259 of Content Area Reading.
Chapter 8 talks about the practice of dividing content vocabulary by order of importance. Words that are going to be used a lot and are foundational words that other vocabulary is built off of should be learned first and should have the most comprehensive practice. Without building strong vocabulary foundations, students cannot build upon them to grasp more complex concepts.
Using graphic organizers to connect concepts is a great way to help students understand relationships between vocabulary and concepts. Being able to organize concepts helps students realize hierarchies in vocabulary and gives them a visual representation of the inter-workings of a content area - something that most teachers take for granted. Scaffolding this activity is essential. In order to gain the benefits that arise out of vocabulary activities (such as comprehension and memorization), teacher must first capture the students' interest.
A good way to do this is by discovering what students already know about vocabulary and concepts. Having the students participate in word exploration, which is a write-to-learn activity that allows students to gather their thoughts about the word or concept and relate it to prior knowledge. Similar ways to activate prior knowledge is by brainstorming, listing, and categorizing. An important vocabulary skill that requires the application of prior knowledge is the strategy of defining a word based on its context. As an English teacher, this skill is especially important since students will constantly be discovering words they do not know - even more so than in content areas such as science where most difficult words are explained by the textbook or teacher. This strategy requires that students use the context and words around it to discover what a word means. This is a very important reading lifeskill as well.
Once a vocabulary word or concept is introduced and prior knowledge is explored, teachers must do more exercises to make sure a student is reinforcing their new knowledge so they can truly understand it and remember it. Reinforced knowledge allows teachers to extend the concept to build upon other concepts, using it as a scaffold to expand knowledge and increase learning. Great ways to reinforce vocabulary and scaffold concepts is by using graphic organizers. Many different kinds of graphic organizers and visual examples of them begin on page 259 of Content Area Reading.
Culturally Responsive Teaching: A Personal Goal for All Future Educators
Chapter 3: Culturally Responsive Teaching in Diverse Classrooms
My personal teaching passion (aside from language arts) is culturally responsive education. So many people (yes, that includes what we would consider "qualified" teachers) are ignorant of the unique challenges faced by people that do not identify with the majority's culture. It is likely that many teaching are a member of the privileged community - those privileges include being white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual, financially stable, and most importantly to this context, educated, English-speaking, and American. Being some or all of these things can make it difficult to understand the issues that arise for those that are not so privileged. Teachers (all people, really) need to be educated to understand how those privileges affect their lives and teaching, and to learn ways to think about them critically in order to overcome privilege barriers and help those that are behind them. I believe that every teacher needs to make it a significant personal priority to make sure they are using culturally relevant teaching in their classroom - this means connecting to all students and their backgrounds in the materials used, using a variety of teaching styles, and fostering a culture of inclusivity and one that celebrates diversity.
Teachers must go beyond just incorporating small units and a book or something featuring a character of a different culture now and then to completely change their curriculum so every unit can be relatable to all students. In order for this to land well in a classroom, teachers need to develop a classroom that values and celebrates diversity and all the wonderful learning opportunities it can provide. This means having students share their life, culture, and personality with the class, as well as having plenty of discussions about why each student is special and important. This has an added benefit for teachers: they are allowed a glimpse into the personal lives of their students. Teachers also need to make an effort to find out extra information about unfamiliar cultures, including more about the students' parents.
To discover and explore texts that cater to diverse and multicultural students, visit: http://www.leeandlow.com/
Assessment and expectations of students from different cultures must also be renegotiated. American education values things like individual industry, memorization, attentive listening, etc. Other cultures may not share any of those values and do not promote their children/students to behave in such a way. For example, many cultures value collaborative learning and discourage students working alone. Having students work individually all the time and assessing them on their individual work could be confusing to a student with a different culture, and may not properly assess their actual knowledge. For a teacher, this means taking the extra time to think of more inclusive ways to assess, thinking critically about multiculturalism, and being flexible and willing to change lesson plans when they are not working right.
When working with students that are learning English, or that English is not the primary language spoken at home, a teacher must negotiate the importance between language and content. For a history teacher, it may not be so important that everything written and said by an ELL student is perfect English, but that accurate knowledge of the content is expressed. If a teacher spends too much time correcting a ELL student's English, the student may become discouraged and not want to speak in class because they feel dumb. Praise content knowledge and achievement instead of criticizing less-than-perfect language. For me, as an language arts teacher, this line is much finer because my content area focuses on making sure they have a grasp on concepts as well as the language itself. I will need to ask myself before every activity what is more important, the language or the concepts. Also, I could correct students in a non-threatening way (i.e., not in front of the class) to make sure they are catching their mistakes, without deducting significant points so they get a lower score if I know they are understanding the concept.
My personal teaching passion (aside from language arts) is culturally responsive education. So many people (yes, that includes what we would consider "qualified" teachers) are ignorant of the unique challenges faced by people that do not identify with the majority's culture. It is likely that many teaching are a member of the privileged community - those privileges include being white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual, financially stable, and most importantly to this context, educated, English-speaking, and American. Being some or all of these things can make it difficult to understand the issues that arise for those that are not so privileged. Teachers (all people, really) need to be educated to understand how those privileges affect their lives and teaching, and to learn ways to think about them critically in order to overcome privilege barriers and help those that are behind them. I believe that every teacher needs to make it a significant personal priority to make sure they are using culturally relevant teaching in their classroom - this means connecting to all students and their backgrounds in the materials used, using a variety of teaching styles, and fostering a culture of inclusivity and one that celebrates diversity.
Teachers must go beyond just incorporating small units and a book or something featuring a character of a different culture now and then to completely change their curriculum so every unit can be relatable to all students. In order for this to land well in a classroom, teachers need to develop a classroom that values and celebrates diversity and all the wonderful learning opportunities it can provide. This means having students share their life, culture, and personality with the class, as well as having plenty of discussions about why each student is special and important. This has an added benefit for teachers: they are allowed a glimpse into the personal lives of their students. Teachers also need to make an effort to find out extra information about unfamiliar cultures, including more about the students' parents.
To discover and explore texts that cater to diverse and multicultural students, visit: http://www.leeandlow.com/
Assessment and expectations of students from different cultures must also be renegotiated. American education values things like individual industry, memorization, attentive listening, etc. Other cultures may not share any of those values and do not promote their children/students to behave in such a way. For example, many cultures value collaborative learning and discourage students working alone. Having students work individually all the time and assessing them on their individual work could be confusing to a student with a different culture, and may not properly assess their actual knowledge. For a teacher, this means taking the extra time to think of more inclusive ways to assess, thinking critically about multiculturalism, and being flexible and willing to change lesson plans when they are not working right.
When working with students that are learning English, or that English is not the primary language spoken at home, a teacher must negotiate the importance between language and content. For a history teacher, it may not be so important that everything written and said by an ELL student is perfect English, but that accurate knowledge of the content is expressed. If a teacher spends too much time correcting a ELL student's English, the student may become discouraged and not want to speak in class because they feel dumb. Praise content knowledge and achievement instead of criticizing less-than-perfect language. For me, as an language arts teacher, this line is much finer because my content area focuses on making sure they have a grasp on concepts as well as the language itself. I will need to ask myself before every activity what is more important, the language or the concepts. Also, I could correct students in a non-threatening way (i.e., not in front of the class) to make sure they are catching their mistakes, without deducting significant points so they get a lower score if I know they are understanding the concept.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Content Area Resource Collection: The Blues in African-American Literature
Content Area Resource Collection and Review
Danae Ross
EDUC 355
Grade: 11th and 12th grade
Content Area: Secondary Language Arts
Chapter Book: RL’s Dream – Walter Mosley (1995)
So What: RL’s Dream is important because it gives a very new perspective on the blues. In other readings, we see the blues figure as a young, black male trying to find his place in a White world, however in this book the reader sees how the life of a blues figure ends and is allowed to explore the idea of suffering/the blues in the lives of those that are not African-American. It is a great piece of literature that causes the reader to question his or her worldview and what we know about race. This novel also underscores the important concept of differentiating the blues as a condition, as artistic expression, and as an attitude or philosophical orientation.
Now What: It is important that the classroom is established as a safe space long before reading this novel. It is very intense and enthralling, and students will need a lot of support to grapple with the explicit and challenging situations. This book is best read individually with intense section-by-section class and partner discussions. The essential step to making this a successful reading is by creating an open dialogue to express all feelings and questions.
Mosley, W. (1995). RL’s Dream. New York: W.W. Norton.
Political Cartoon:
So What: These two cartoons allow students to see the complexities of what being oppressed is; in other words, they ask students “who can have the blues?” The first one shows a privileged white male who is elected to office and millions of people have to listen to his thoughts and obey his decisions – clearly not a man who can have the blues. The second one challenges our idea of who can have the blues: he is making a lot of money, but does that make him unable to experience the blues? Is there more to feeling the blues than being economically oppressed.
Enos, R. (2011). Scott Walker’s Michael Moorish blues [Cartoon]. The Cagle Post. Retrieved from http://theweek.com/section/nfcartoon/212920/scott-walkers-michael-moorish-blues
Sam Samotnaf Fantomas. (2013, Jan 2). Some musical notes: “blues cartoon2” [Cartoon]. Retrieved from http://dialectical-delinquents.com/?attachment_id=182
Picture Book: Blues Journey – Walter Dean Myers (2007)
What: This is an illustrated book of poetry that creates a timeline of the blues from the end of slavery to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, trailing the lives of individuals and their stories that inspired the blues. It not only attempts to inform on the history, but also on the culture associated with the blues.
So What: This book will allow the students to understand how the blues and its culture developed out of slavery. The poems and illustrations give students a fresh look at the blues and its intricacies and depth. They are given an inside view of what it was like living in these time periods, while developing their poetry skills and appreciation.
Now What: This would be read to student early on in the unit, either as first day introductory material or as a second day supplement. This must be taught early on because it shares important background information on the blues and its history, and will give students a taste of what is to come in terms of blues literature. This would be read out loud to the class, and perhaps after they would be given a write-to-learn activity of either a short response or creating their own poem.
Meyers, W. D. (2003). Blues Journey (C. Meyers, Illustrator). New York: Holiday House.
Film or Video: Warming by the Devil’s Fire – Charles Burnett (2003) http://www.pbs.org/theblues/
What: This is one episode in a PBS series on the blues. Warming by the Devil’s Fire follows a young boy growing up in Mississippi in the 1950s, and his exploration of blues music and culture. The main focus of the film is to highlight the dissonance between the older gospel and the younger blues cultures, all while exploring themes of race, religion, and overviewing blues figures and history.
So What: This film provides an stimulating new way to understand the blues. They will be introduced to famous blues musicians, which will allow them to become much more familiar and personal with blues singers in various texts. Along with the musicians they will meet, they will get to hear blues music and all of its characteristics – a very important part of understanding how blues literary elements are created – while still learning about blues culture and African-American history. Exploring the dissonance between the gospel and blues cultures will begin a conversation on the secularity of the blues, how gospel and blues intersect and diverge, and why there is a tension between them.
Now What: Either the full movie or clips will be shown (depending on time constraints), preferably near the beginning of the unit. During the movie, students should take notes on important details about the blues to refer back to either during a write-to-learn activity, a class discussion, or a formal essay later on. Prompts for this film should involve the exploration of differences between gospel and blues, and how they relate to spirituality and secularity.
Burnett, C. (Writer & Director). (2003). Warming by the devil’s fire [Television series episode]. In M. Bodde & A. Gibney (Producers), The Blues. Seattle, WA: Vulcan Productions.
Article: “The Blues: A Secular Spiritual” – James H. Cone
What: This academic essay is a dynamic look at all different parts of the blues and how it is a secular creation. It attempts to teach about the conditions that gave rise to the blues and synthesize a definition from that. The essay covers essential topics that help establish the blues as a complex creation: such as the blues and black suffering, the blues and sex (secularity), the blues and social protest, and the blues and hope.
So What: This essay contains some of the most profound and important ideas that help us understand all of the different facets of the blues and how it relates to African-American history and literature. It is a good opportunity to see how different blues lyrics relate to these important themes while also exploring an academic essay format.
Now What: Because this is such an important text to read in this unit, adequate time must be given. That means, assigning this and only this as reading for a night so students can focus on the various aspects. Students should take notes while reading, perhaps specific ones that the teacher has scaffold. At the minimum, a write-to-learn must be done – perhaps a response paper or a concept map. I would definitely require students to refer to Cone’s essay and use textual evidence in their own blues essay.
Cone, J. H. (1999). The blues: A secular spiritual. In S. C. Tracy (Ed.), Write me a few of your lines: A blues reader (pp. 231-251). Amherst: University of Massachusetts.
Poems: “Too Blue” – Langston Hughes and “Queen of the Blues” – Gwendolyn Brooks
What: These are two different blues poems that are created from two different blues aspects. The first one by Hughes is narrated by a man that talks about how he is so sad, that maybe he should just kill himself, then woes that his head is probably too thick anyway. The second poem, talks about a blues woman dancing with no one around to stop her because they have all either left her or perished.
So What: These poems are a shorter way to touch on significant blues themes while also exploring blues in poetry and how blues characteristics translate into poetic form. The first poem allows us to see true suffering; you want it to be over, but even that is an impossible feat for someone in your position. The second poem synthesizes the affliction of African-American women, and how they were constantly being abandoned and oppressed, and explores how the blues is used as an outlet. Both of the poems do an excellent job of capturing the main point of this unit, understanding the different dimensions of blues: the blues as a condition, as artistic expression, and as an attitude or philosophical orientation.
Now What: Because of the poems’ short length, these could easily be read out loud in class either in a group or in partners. In a partner setting, the students could read to one another, searching for different poetic elements. Either they would be allowed to discuss freely, or they could be given a few discussion questions asking them to explore major themes and connect different aspects of the poems to the other texts they have been reading.
Brooks, G. (2003). Queen of the blues. In K. Young (Ed.), Blues poems (pp. 57-60). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Hughes, L. (2003). Too blue. In K. Young (Ed.), Blues poems (p. 25). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Professional Organization: PBS: http://www.pbs.org/theblues/
What: PBS has created a rich website on the blues with dozens of different resources for exploring blues poetry; the creation of the blues and its stylistic qualities; playing the blues and its lyrics; blues and its effect on men, women, identity, oppression, folk tradition; as well as plenty of historical content.
So What: The ability to access different types of media has obvious benefits for students with different learning styles: they are able to gather information that they find the most interesting and in the format they find most beneficial.
Now What: This website could be given to students as a place to look if they would like or need more information on any of the blues topics covered in class. There could also be a class assignment where the students would need to explore some of the resources given and do a write-to-learn about a few resources they found interesting or helpful.
Web Site: Pandora (or any other internet radio site) http://www.pandora.com/music/blues/blues-
What: Websites like Pandora play music for free online. There is a multitude of stations that are available that play exclusively blues music. Google “listen to blues music online” and there will be dozens of options to choose from.
So What: It is very important that students actually listen to blues music while studying blues literature. Just because a language arts class typically does not include music or music theory, does not mean that there are not great benefits to listening to it. Hearing blues form in action will provide great insight into how different elements of form work together and how they translate into poetry and novels.
Now What: Students will be assigned to listen to the music on their free time, writing down a few songs they listened to and why they liked it or what elements of form were present in the song; or this same thing could be done in a whole class setting during class time. Also, the students could be assigned to do research on a different blues artist, then listen to an internet radio channel featuring just that artist.
Picture Book: Blues Journey – Walter Dean Myers (2007)
So What: This book will allow the students to understand how the blues and its culture developed out of slavery. The poems and illustrations give students a fresh look at the blues and its intricacies and depth. They are given an inside view of what it was like living in these time periods, while developing their poetry skills and appreciation.
Now What: This would be read to student early on in the unit, either as first day introductory material or as a second day supplement. This must be taught early on because it shares important background information on the blues and its history, and will give students a taste of what is to come in terms of blues literature. This would be read out loud to the class, and perhaps after they would be given a write-to-learn activity of either a short response or creating their own poem.
Meyers, W. D. (2003). Blues Journey (C. Meyers, Illustrator). New York: Holiday House.
Film or Video: Warming by the Devil’s Fire – Charles Burnett (2003) http://www.pbs.org/theblues/
So What: This film provides an stimulating new way to understand the blues. They will be introduced to famous blues musicians, which will allow them to become much more familiar and personal with blues singers in various texts. Along with the musicians they will meet, they will get to hear blues music and all of its characteristics – a very important part of understanding how blues literary elements are created – while still learning about blues culture and African-American history. Exploring the dissonance between the gospel and blues cultures will begin a conversation on the secularity of the blues, how gospel and blues intersect and diverge, and why there is a tension between them.
Now What: Either the full movie or clips will be shown (depending on time constraints), preferably near the beginning of the unit. During the movie, students should take notes on important details about the blues to refer back to either during a write-to-learn activity, a class discussion, or a formal essay later on. Prompts for this film should involve the exploration of differences between gospel and blues, and how they relate to spirituality and secularity.
Burnett, C. (Writer & Director). (2003). Warming by the devil’s fire [Television series episode]. In M. Bodde & A. Gibney (Producers), The Blues. Seattle, WA: Vulcan Productions.
Article: “The Blues: A Secular Spiritual” – James H. Cone
What: This academic essay is a dynamic look at all different parts of the blues and how it is a secular creation. It attempts to teach about the conditions that gave rise to the blues and synthesize a definition from that. The essay covers essential topics that help establish the blues as a complex creation: such as the blues and black suffering, the blues and sex (secularity), the blues and social protest, and the blues and hope.
So What: This essay contains some of the most profound and important ideas that help us understand all of the different facets of the blues and how it relates to African-American history and literature. It is a good opportunity to see how different blues lyrics relate to these important themes while also exploring an academic essay format.
Now What: Because this is such an important text to read in this unit, adequate time must be given. That means, assigning this and only this as reading for a night so students can focus on the various aspects. Students should take notes while reading, perhaps specific ones that the teacher has scaffold. At the minimum, a write-to-learn must be done – perhaps a response paper or a concept map. I would definitely require students to refer to Cone’s essay and use textual evidence in their own blues essay.
Cone, J. H. (1999). The blues: A secular spiritual. In S. C. Tracy (Ed.), Write me a few of your lines: A blues reader (pp. 231-251). Amherst: University of Massachusetts.
Poems: “Too Blue” – Langston Hughes and “Queen of the Blues” – Gwendolyn Brooks
What: These are two different blues poems that are created from two different blues aspects. The first one by Hughes is narrated by a man that talks about how he is so sad, that maybe he should just kill himself, then woes that his head is probably too thick anyway. The second poem, talks about a blues woman dancing with no one around to stop her because they have all either left her or perished.
So What: These poems are a shorter way to touch on significant blues themes while also exploring blues in poetry and how blues characteristics translate into poetic form. The first poem allows us to see true suffering; you want it to be over, but even that is an impossible feat for someone in your position. The second poem synthesizes the affliction of African-American women, and how they were constantly being abandoned and oppressed, and explores how the blues is used as an outlet. Both of the poems do an excellent job of capturing the main point of this unit, understanding the different dimensions of blues: the blues as a condition, as artistic expression, and as an attitude or philosophical orientation.
Now What: Because of the poems’ short length, these could easily be read out loud in class either in a group or in partners. In a partner setting, the students could read to one another, searching for different poetic elements. Either they would be allowed to discuss freely, or they could be given a few discussion questions asking them to explore major themes and connect different aspects of the poems to the other texts they have been reading.
Brooks, G. (2003). Queen of the blues. In K. Young (Ed.), Blues poems (pp. 57-60). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Hughes, L. (2003). Too blue. In K. Young (Ed.), Blues poems (p. 25). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Professional Organization: PBS: http://www.pbs.org/theblues/
So What: The ability to access different types of media has obvious benefits for students with different learning styles: they are able to gather information that they find the most interesting and in the format they find most beneficial.
Now What: This website could be given to students as a place to look if they would like or need more information on any of the blues topics covered in class. There could also be a class assignment where the students would need to explore some of the resources given and do a write-to-learn about a few resources they found interesting or helpful.
Web Site: Pandora (or any other internet radio site) http://www.pandora.com/music/blues/blues-
What: Websites like Pandora play music for free online. There is a multitude of stations that are available that play exclusively blues music. Google “listen to blues music online” and there will be dozens of options to choose from.
So What: It is very important that students actually listen to blues music while studying blues literature. Just because a language arts class typically does not include music or music theory, does not mean that there are not great benefits to listening to it. Hearing blues form in action will provide great insight into how different elements of form work together and how they translate into poetry and novels.
Now What: Students will be assigned to listen to the music on their free time, writing down a few songs they listened to and why they liked it or what elements of form were present in the song; or this same thing could be done in a whole class setting during class time. Also, the students could be assigned to do research on a different blues artist, then listen to an internet radio channel featuring just that artist.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Text Study Strategies to Promote Understanding
Texts are arguably the most important tool that we as teachers have at hand. In order for these texts to be useful in educating students, students must be able to effectively study them. Teaching students various strategies not only increases the amount of information they are receiving from your lesson, but also provides them with excellent lifelong skills that will be useful both in future classes and in life after graduating.
The most fundamental building block of understanding how to read and use a text is understanding text structure. Knowing the functions of certain text elements and how they interact with one another is key when trying to make connections between pieces of important information in the text. External text structure refers to things such as the table of contents, appendix, headings, graphs, charts, illustration, title page, etc. Literacy of these elements allows a student to easily identify information, sort it by importance, and connect it; these elements become great tools when reading, especially if the concepts are complicated. Internal text structures are not as overtly stated. Searching for text patterns, which are the "different types of logical connections among important and less important ideas in informational material,"allows students to more effectively find relationships and identify significant information (Mraz, Vacca & Vacca 320). Searching description for the major facts, putting facts or events into sequence, comparing and contrasting facts, people, or concepts, identifying cause and effect factors, and recognizing the development from problem to solution, are all important text patterns to use when reading texts.
Once a student has a grasp on text structures and how the relationships within them are significant, they can focus more on the actual facts and ideas a text presents. A good way to do this is by using graphic organizers, which are visual represenations that help students "comprehend and retain textually important information" (Mraz et al., 324). This study strategy lets students take charge of their own learning by organizing concepts by importance and relationship. These are great for visual learners in a language arts class. They allow students to break down dense texts into manageable skeletons that highlight the most important concepts. A comparison-and-contrast matrix shows similarities and difference in a text, and could be used to compare two characters in order to explore how an author uses characterization. A problem-and-solution outline and series-of-events chain both could be used to sequence events in order to explore plot structure and analyze how events work together. Semantic (cognitive) mapping is a visual "web" that connects main concepts to smaller ideas and inferences, would be a great way to overview an entire unit, e.g., connecting a series of books and their concepts during a slave narrative unit.
Two other important studying strategies are writing summaries and taking notes. Writing a summary of a text is a good way to make sure that all main points are understood. Reiterating these into one's own words creates a more personal connection between student and text, therefore promoting memory of the various concepts. Taking notes operates the same way, only notes use a more concrete structure as opposed to the free-flowing words of a summary. A few common examples of these include T-notes and Cornell notes. Different note styles can have unique benefits based on the structure of the topic that is being discussed and the personal comprehension/preference of the individual student.
Scaffolding these various strategies into your classroom has so many benefits. However, they all must be implemented carefully, providing plenty of support for students. With this help, they can gain a full understanding of how these strategies work and how to use them effectively. The extra review required to do these will promote better memory, analyzing and reiterating into one's own words will spark interest, creating a organizer of some kind allows students to easily reflect back on information in the future - all of which foster a deeper understanding, creating a more deep and meaningful learning experience.
The most fundamental building block of understanding how to read and use a text is understanding text structure. Knowing the functions of certain text elements and how they interact with one another is key when trying to make connections between pieces of important information in the text. External text structure refers to things such as the table of contents, appendix, headings, graphs, charts, illustration, title page, etc. Literacy of these elements allows a student to easily identify information, sort it by importance, and connect it; these elements become great tools when reading, especially if the concepts are complicated. Internal text structures are not as overtly stated. Searching for text patterns, which are the "different types of logical connections among important and less important ideas in informational material,"allows students to more effectively find relationships and identify significant information (Mraz, Vacca & Vacca 320). Searching description for the major facts, putting facts or events into sequence, comparing and contrasting facts, people, or concepts, identifying cause and effect factors, and recognizing the development from problem to solution, are all important text patterns to use when reading texts.
Once a student has a grasp on text structures and how the relationships within them are significant, they can focus more on the actual facts and ideas a text presents. A good way to do this is by using graphic organizers, which are visual represenations that help students "comprehend and retain textually important information" (Mraz et al., 324). This study strategy lets students take charge of their own learning by organizing concepts by importance and relationship. These are great for visual learners in a language arts class. They allow students to break down dense texts into manageable skeletons that highlight the most important concepts. A comparison-and-contrast matrix shows similarities and difference in a text, and could be used to compare two characters in order to explore how an author uses characterization. A problem-and-solution outline and series-of-events chain both could be used to sequence events in order to explore plot structure and analyze how events work together. Semantic (cognitive) mapping is a visual "web" that connects main concepts to smaller ideas and inferences, would be a great way to overview an entire unit, e.g., connecting a series of books and their concepts during a slave narrative unit.
Two other important studying strategies are writing summaries and taking notes. Writing a summary of a text is a good way to make sure that all main points are understood. Reiterating these into one's own words creates a more personal connection between student and text, therefore promoting memory of the various concepts. Taking notes operates the same way, only notes use a more concrete structure as opposed to the free-flowing words of a summary. A few common examples of these include T-notes and Cornell notes. Different note styles can have unique benefits based on the structure of the topic that is being discussed and the personal comprehension/preference of the individual student.
Scaffolding these various strategies into your classroom has so many benefits. However, they all must be implemented carefully, providing plenty of support for students. With this help, they can gain a full understanding of how these strategies work and how to use them effectively. The extra review required to do these will promote better memory, analyzing and reiterating into one's own words will spark interest, creating a organizer of some kind allows students to easily reflect back on information in the future - all of which foster a deeper understanding, creating a more deep and meaningful learning experience.
Write to Learn Reflection
Write to learn activities seek to enhance students' understanding, interest, and comprehension of the current material. The "write to learn" activity that I presented was unsent letters. Below is the handout used in my write to learn demonstration. It gives information about the benefits of using unsent letters in general, as well as instructions as it applied to my specific content area activity.
The most difficult part of preparing this activity was finding a poem that worked well. As a teacher implementing this strategy, it would be obvious which texts would work well and which would not; i.e., texts with no characters may not be the ideal, while ones with lots of characters and conflict would be much easier for students to write a response to. Luckily, I was able to find a Shakespearean poem that had two distinct characters: the author (the lover), and the recipient (the loved); and that was also short enough for them to more or less read in five minutes.
I believe the activity went well because they all seemed to enjoy the fact that they could write a letter as one of the characters. The somewhat scandalous content also helped gather interest from the class. I feel that there would be a similar response in my actual classroom of high school English students, and I think that they would be excited to get to express their point of view in a more casual way.
I also believe that the class grasped the benefits of the unsent letter, since they experienced the interest and more deep comprehension of the text that the my content area students would. I hope that my explanation of the activity, the facilitation of it, and the instructions I provided on the handout allowed them to understand how to do this activity, and how to use and modify it for their own classroom.
If I had to do this again, hopefully I would have more time. In a lesson, this activity would be done after plenty of group discussion and classroom time exploring and analyzing the text, but that was not done here. The purpose of this activity is to allow the student a fuller understanding of the emotions of characters in the text, and to explore the nuances of conflict through a personal lens - but this cannot be done without having a decent amount of time to let it marinade. Also, I would have liked to provide the students with an example that I wrote to help them connect with me and to inspire them. With more time, I would have either had them share with a partner, with the class, or turn them in for me to read. These letters provide a great opportunity for students to express their opinions, thus allowing teachers to get to know them better.
The most difficult part of preparing this activity was finding a poem that worked well. As a teacher implementing this strategy, it would be obvious which texts would work well and which would not; i.e., texts with no characters may not be the ideal, while ones with lots of characters and conflict would be much easier for students to write a response to. Luckily, I was able to find a Shakespearean poem that had two distinct characters: the author (the lover), and the recipient (the loved); and that was also short enough for them to more or less read in five minutes.
I believe the activity went well because they all seemed to enjoy the fact that they could write a letter as one of the characters. The somewhat scandalous content also helped gather interest from the class. I feel that there would be a similar response in my actual classroom of high school English students, and I think that they would be excited to get to express their point of view in a more casual way.
I also believe that the class grasped the benefits of the unsent letter, since they experienced the interest and more deep comprehension of the text that the my content area students would. I hope that my explanation of the activity, the facilitation of it, and the instructions I provided on the handout allowed them to understand how to do this activity, and how to use and modify it for their own classroom.
If I had to do this again, hopefully I would have more time. In a lesson, this activity would be done after plenty of group discussion and classroom time exploring and analyzing the text, but that was not done here. The purpose of this activity is to allow the student a fuller understanding of the emotions of characters in the text, and to explore the nuances of conflict through a personal lens - but this cannot be done without having a decent amount of time to let it marinade. Also, I would have liked to provide the students with an example that I wrote to help them connect with me and to inspire them. With more time, I would have either had them share with a partner, with the class, or turn them in for me to read. These letters provide a great opportunity for students to express their opinions, thus allowing teachers to get to know them better.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Increase Interest and Motivation
So the scenario is that you are a newly licensed teacher, eager to start teaching your very first class at your very first school. You spent hours crafting out the perfect unit, full of exciting things you want your class to experience. It will not take you long to realize that there are students that will simply not be willing to learn, no matter how enthralling you personally believe the subject to be. This raises the age-old question: how do I capture my students interest and make them care?
In attempt to answer this, you will need to examine your class. Who is it that is doing well, and who is it that does not seem engaged? Time and time again, it will be those students that are confident in their academic abilities that are motivated and trying, and those that do not have confidence that are not doing as well. This feeling of confidence is known as self-efficacy, and it directly correlates with the amount of effort a student puts into his or her work. What this means for an English teacher is that those students that are struggling with skills such as reading typically have a lower level of self-efficacy, and therefore are less motivated to read any of the material that is assigned. To combat this, teachers must take measures to increase motivation.
A good way to increase a student's motivation is to make sure that the text is relevant to his or her life, activating the student's prior knowledge. When a student feels as though he know what is going on and he can make meaningful connections to a text and himself, self-efficacy is raised, as well as his motivation. The three important ways to activating prior knowledge include arousing curiosity, generating questions, and making predictions.
Arousing curiosity "gives students the chance to consider what they already know about the material to be read" (Mraz, Vacca & Vacca, 2011, p. 173). A curious student is more likely to put effort in their work so as to satisfy their curiosity; they are self-motivated by this drive for knowledge rather than by an extrinsic reward. Using imagery to help students visualize the text, having students make story impressions, and establishing problematic perspectives for students to explore are all good ways to arouse curiosity.
Making predictions requires students to access and utilize their prior knowledge (hence why they are called "educated guesses"). A good way to facilitate prediction making is by creating an anticipation guide. If I were to create one for a novel I was going to teach, I would give the class a series of statements related to the book and have them decide whether or not they believed each one to be true/false or likely/unlikely.
Generating questions about the content not only arouses curiosity, but is a good way to activate prior knowledge; in order to ask a question, the student must first reference what they already know about the topic. Forming questions gives students an internal purpose to read, greatly increasing their motivation.
Using these strategies to activate prior knowledge is an excellent way to increase motivation and self-efficacy in your students. Once there is interest established in the student, he or she will be motivated to learn more. Arousing curiosity and having students make predictions and generate questions about a topic is how you make students care.
In attempt to answer this, you will need to examine your class. Who is it that is doing well, and who is it that does not seem engaged? Time and time again, it will be those students that are confident in their academic abilities that are motivated and trying, and those that do not have confidence that are not doing as well. This feeling of confidence is known as self-efficacy, and it directly correlates with the amount of effort a student puts into his or her work. What this means for an English teacher is that those students that are struggling with skills such as reading typically have a lower level of self-efficacy, and therefore are less motivated to read any of the material that is assigned. To combat this, teachers must take measures to increase motivation.
A good way to increase a student's motivation is to make sure that the text is relevant to his or her life, activating the student's prior knowledge. When a student feels as though he know what is going on and he can make meaningful connections to a text and himself, self-efficacy is raised, as well as his motivation. The three important ways to activating prior knowledge include arousing curiosity, generating questions, and making predictions.
Arousing curiosity "gives students the chance to consider what they already know about the material to be read" (Mraz, Vacca & Vacca, 2011, p. 173). A curious student is more likely to put effort in their work so as to satisfy their curiosity; they are self-motivated by this drive for knowledge rather than by an extrinsic reward. Using imagery to help students visualize the text, having students make story impressions, and establishing problematic perspectives for students to explore are all good ways to arouse curiosity.
Making predictions requires students to access and utilize their prior knowledge (hence why they are called "educated guesses"). A good way to facilitate prediction making is by creating an anticipation guide. If I were to create one for a novel I was going to teach, I would give the class a series of statements related to the book and have them decide whether or not they believed each one to be true/false or likely/unlikely.
Generating questions about the content not only arouses curiosity, but is a good way to activate prior knowledge; in order to ask a question, the student must first reference what they already know about the topic. Forming questions gives students an internal purpose to read, greatly increasing their motivation.
Using these strategies to activate prior knowledge is an excellent way to increase motivation and self-efficacy in your students. Once there is interest established in the student, he or she will be motivated to learn more. Arousing curiosity and having students make predictions and generate questions about a topic is how you make students care.
Friday, March 8, 2013
B-D-A Instruction in Language Arts
Planning a lesson to effectively teach your class is possibly the most important thing a teacher has to do. This particular chapter of Content Area Reading discusses the importance of B-D-A instructional framework, which is an strategy to help support literacy Before, During, and After reading. Giving students activities to do in these three strategies is a way to be sure they are supported throughout the reading process in order to get the most information out of it. As an English teacher, this is an especially important thing to think about since most learning in the field is done by reading, and without properly facilitating it, the students may not absorb the lesson at all.
Before-reading activities are meant to give background knowledge, motivate readers, and introduce them to concepts and vocabulary. If I were teaching a novel to a high school English class, I wouldn't just give them the books and have them start reading, I would first make sure that they were aware of what things we were trying to get out of the book. Watching a short video about the author's life is a good way to introduce them to whatever themes the book will be centering, and spark their interest in the novel. They will also need to know literary elements in order to grasp the main concepts.
During-reading activities are designed to make sure students are supported and not missing important parts of the text. This is especially significant when reading something as long as a novel. It would be very beneficial to have the class do these activities at certain points in the novel. Having them meet with a partner or as a class to discuss things will make sure everyone is on the right track and will also help by creating a forum to supplement ideas. For readers that are not as advanced, using a study guide is a stricter way to guide them through the reading and provides support even when you are not there to answer questions.
After-reading activities help students make connections with the book and expand on concepts and ideas. In an English classroom, one of the most important discussions happens after everyone has finished reading the book. At that point, there is a collection of knowledge that the whole group has absorbed and it needs to be sorted out and connected. Allowing the students time to do a free write will help them get some of their thoughts in order. A whole group discussion then gives students the opportunity to create a collective of knowledge and different opinions. It is essential to do activities that support different learning styles at this point, because it is the point at which all of the lesson's important aspects synthesize. This could mean having students write a reflection, make a collage, preform a skit - anything to make sure that they are grasping all of the important things before moving on to the next unit.
Trade Books to Interest and Educate Students
I did not know it until I read the chapters, but trade books are definitely the kind of texts I would like to use in my classroom. While sometimes it might be helpful to read a textbook description of an author's life or about how different literary elements work together, most learning will come from actually experiencing the elements in play inside a text.
A trade book would be an excellent way to introduce my students to a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and the like to teach a wide array of topics. If I could find a trade book that had multiple literary example pieces, I could strategically assign students to a certain one based on his or her reading skill level. Then, all of the students would be able to discuss a specific theme or element without having to struggle with just the reading aspect of it; I would be able to scaffold literacy skills while simultaneously having them learn a curriculum standard. I could use this approach to let them select a text that is suited to their interests or skill level - i.e. one student chooses a novel about the Revolutionary War, while another chooses a Shakespearean play, then they both must explore the texts looking for symbolism. It is also a great opportunity to include community-building and cooperative learning into my classroom by having students with similar interests read the same book and form a sort of book club to explore elements. I could then use things like a discussion forum such as Blackboard as a way to incorporate the technology that interests students and to allow a collaborative discussion.
The trade book approach also allows for a way to uniquely assess and support their learning. If my students are all reading different texts, I can assign them a write to learn as a way to consolidate, expand, or explore their thoughts. Because each student is reading something different, an ungraded and relatively unstructured assignment would be an excellent way to learn something about their specific text by approaching it from a fresh perspective. Write to learn is also a great way to improve writing and analytical skills (which is a big portion of my job).
Reader response is the perfect way to assess students that are all reading different texts. At the beginning of the unit (say, theme) I would tell give them background knowledge on theme, and eventually a set of texts to choose on that have very strong themes I know the students could learn a lot from. After a certain amount of time of them reading with special focus on theme, I would ask for a reading response about how theme is present in their novel. There are other interesting questions I could ask to address things like racism, culture, etc., such as "how does your theme connect to current issues of race in society?" This covers content area (literature), specific standards (theme), practices skills (analyzing and writing), critical issues (race), and is gives me and my students an opportunity to get to know them/selves (personal opinion). The combination of letting my students choose something that is important to them and asking them to write reflective pieces will allow me to connect with my students and understand their personal learning style better.
A trade book would be an excellent way to introduce my students to a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and the like to teach a wide array of topics. If I could find a trade book that had multiple literary example pieces, I could strategically assign students to a certain one based on his or her reading skill level. Then, all of the students would be able to discuss a specific theme or element without having to struggle with just the reading aspect of it; I would be able to scaffold literacy skills while simultaneously having them learn a curriculum standard. I could use this approach to let them select a text that is suited to their interests or skill level - i.e. one student chooses a novel about the Revolutionary War, while another chooses a Shakespearean play, then they both must explore the texts looking for symbolism. It is also a great opportunity to include community-building and cooperative learning into my classroom by having students with similar interests read the same book and form a sort of book club to explore elements. I could then use things like a discussion forum such as Blackboard as a way to incorporate the technology that interests students and to allow a collaborative discussion.
The trade book approach also allows for a way to uniquely assess and support their learning. If my students are all reading different texts, I can assign them a write to learn as a way to consolidate, expand, or explore their thoughts. Because each student is reading something different, an ungraded and relatively unstructured assignment would be an excellent way to learn something about their specific text by approaching it from a fresh perspective. Write to learn is also a great way to improve writing and analytical skills (which is a big portion of my job).
Reader response is the perfect way to assess students that are all reading different texts. At the beginning of the unit (say, theme) I would tell give them background knowledge on theme, and eventually a set of texts to choose on that have very strong themes I know the students could learn a lot from. After a certain amount of time of them reading with special focus on theme, I would ask for a reading response about how theme is present in their novel. There are other interesting questions I could ask to address things like racism, culture, etc., such as "how does your theme connect to current issues of race in society?" This covers content area (literature), specific standards (theme), practices skills (analyzing and writing), critical issues (race), and is gives me and my students an opportunity to get to know them/selves (personal opinion). The combination of letting my students choose something that is important to them and asking them to write reflective pieces will allow me to connect with my students and understand their personal learning style better.
What are the most comprehensive methods for assessing students in my content area?
All operations need a way to measure their output to know if they are reaching their goals, and schools are no different. The goal of a school is to make sure students are acquiring knowledge, and this presents a bit of a challenge to measure the school's success in doing this. Right now, our nation uses high-stakes testing to do this. But is this the best way?
There are many concerns with high-stakes testing: students have different learning styles that do not allow them to express their knowledge on a test like that, it restricts classroom exploration from the required curriculum and many students do poorly on tests because they are not literate to the point where they can comprehend the test.
An alternative to this high-stakes testing is through authentic assessment, which is a highly personal strategy where the teacher decides whether or not the student is meeting a certain set of standards. This is a good approach because a teacher is already adapting everything in their classroom to meet the unique needs of students, so who better to know how best to assess a student's learning?
As a future English teacher, it was important to me to know how to assess students' learning in ways other than a test; multiple choice tests and the like cannot capture the complexities of something as dense as a novel. After going through chapter four of Content Area Reading, I found a few strategies I really liked.
The first one I really liked was the portfolio assessment. Students gather work from throughout the class and present it in a portfolio to show his or her unique talents and weaknesses, the progression of skill level from the start of the term to the end, and allows them to display a wide variety of trials not just a one shot hit-or-miss like a test. This also gives them a sense of accomplishment in their work, and the teacher gets to see what they are proud of.
I also liked the checklists and interviews methods. I think it would be very helpful for a student to sit down with a teacher and conference about how their writing is going, their different strengths and weaknesses, and their learning goals. A formal self-assessment with different categories for them to reflect on is also a good way to help them self-monitor and lead them in the right direction towards what they should be achieving.
There are many concerns with high-stakes testing: students have different learning styles that do not allow them to express their knowledge on a test like that, it restricts classroom exploration from the required curriculum and many students do poorly on tests because they are not literate to the point where they can comprehend the test.
An alternative to this high-stakes testing is through authentic assessment, which is a highly personal strategy where the teacher decides whether or not the student is meeting a certain set of standards. This is a good approach because a teacher is already adapting everything in their classroom to meet the unique needs of students, so who better to know how best to assess a student's learning?
As a future English teacher, it was important to me to know how to assess students' learning in ways other than a test; multiple choice tests and the like cannot capture the complexities of something as dense as a novel. After going through chapter four of Content Area Reading, I found a few strategies I really liked.
The first one I really liked was the portfolio assessment. Students gather work from throughout the class and present it in a portfolio to show his or her unique talents and weaknesses, the progression of skill level from the start of the term to the end, and allows them to display a wide variety of trials not just a one shot hit-or-miss like a test. This also gives them a sense of accomplishment in their work, and the teacher gets to see what they are proud of.
I also liked the checklists and interviews methods. I think it would be very helpful for a student to sit down with a teacher and conference about how their writing is going, their different strengths and weaknesses, and their learning goals. A formal self-assessment with different categories for them to reflect on is also a good way to help them self-monitor and lead them in the right direction towards what they should be achieving.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Literacy is a Requirement of Literature
In our society, people are reading more than ever before, yet there is not really much of an increase in how literate we are. As an aspiring English teacher, these issues of literacy both in reading and writing hit close to home: it is my actual job description to make sure that kids are learning to be literate.
Due to the high stakes testing culture that is here is a lot of pressure placed on teachers to make their students meet standards in their content area. Luckily for myself, it is in good practice to make sure that students understand different types of texts (novel, poem, essay...) and how they are used, what their elements are, and how to read them. Once students have a grasp on these, all of the great themes and messages that are in the pages of a text are unlocked.
However, it becomes less simple when a student is not reading or writing at the standard grade level. When a student gets to a certain point in their academic career, they stop learning to read and start reading to learn. If they are not reading or writing at an appropriate level by that point, they will start to fall behind in other concepts as well: without reading at the class' level, literary elements are nearly impossible to identify, writing is weak and fragmented, and assigned novels are frustrating and meaningless.
To combat this issue, teachers need to make it a personal responsibility to alter their lesson plan, spend more time with struggling students, and especially implement elements of the Reading Next "Effective Adolescent Literacy Programs." For a detailed list (pp. 12-3) and more information on the topic, visit http://www.all4ed.org/files/ReadingNext.pdf [PDF Format].
Due to the high stakes testing culture that is here is a lot of pressure placed on teachers to make their students meet standards in their content area. Luckily for myself, it is in good practice to make sure that students understand different types of texts (novel, poem, essay...) and how they are used, what their elements are, and how to read them. Once students have a grasp on these, all of the great themes and messages that are in the pages of a text are unlocked.
However, it becomes less simple when a student is not reading or writing at the standard grade level. When a student gets to a certain point in their academic career, they stop learning to read and start reading to learn. If they are not reading or writing at an appropriate level by that point, they will start to fall behind in other concepts as well: without reading at the class' level, literary elements are nearly impossible to identify, writing is weak and fragmented, and assigned novels are frustrating and meaningless.
To combat this issue, teachers need to make it a personal responsibility to alter their lesson plan, spend more time with struggling students, and especially implement elements of the Reading Next "Effective Adolescent Literacy Programs." For a detailed list (pp. 12-3) and more information on the topic, visit http://www.all4ed.org/files/ReadingNext.pdf [PDF Format].
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