In our book talks so far, we've discussed a number of strategies to improve literacy in each of our content areas. Some of us are already using or have tried a few strategies. Before our next session with Bruce (Feb. 10), you should try at least one of the teaching strategies described in our reading. In a blog entry, tell which strategy you chose, how you felt it worked, the positives/negatives of that strategy for your particular class, the impact on student learning, etc. Read other blog entries to see what others are doing!
The questions the group came up with for Chapters 4 and 5:
Vocabulary:
*How do we maintain kids' curiosity and motivation to want learn new words?
*When a student is substantially behind in his/her vocabulary, how or where do you start and how do we develop a differentiated vocabulary curriculum?
*How do we get students not to define a word by using the word (i.e. corresponding angles correspond with other angles)?
*How do we hone vocabulary to essentials? There are so many words that are so important in each content area.
Read Alouds and Shared Reading:
*Who has had success? Why was it successful?
*How much is too much?
*Is it beneficial to read aloud to kids in their teen years, or should they be reading all on their own? We read a lot to elementary students, both fiction and non-fiction. Should we be doing more of that in junior and senior high school?
*How do we make sure that students learn to communicate face-to-face when so many are often texting or facing a computer screen?
Feel free to blog about these questions, too, and any other ideas that sparked your interest.
As we read A Christmas Carol (shared reading), we put vocab words on the board in squares with titles like "stingy", "clothes", "food", "ghost", "generous", "jobs", and "games." As we read we put up new words in Dickens story that fell under those categories. As I am posting this right now, my 8th graders are in partners creating study sheets to take home (by looking at the board and thinking, then creating the guide) using whatever software they want - some using Inspiration, others Keynote, others in Word doc, to define together what they don't know, print off the graphically organized word wall and take home to study. Stop in and look at my board for a visual if you want. I liked this way of doing vocabulary, and they liked running to the board to add words when they popped up in our shared reading.
ReplyDeleteEnglish is a tricky subject. I try to make it as creative and enjoyable because otherwise I might just not understand it. Take a look at this flashcard link: english flashcards
ReplyDeleteI used a strategy called "Extended Definitions" and asked the Senior Music History students to pull words about which they were unsure from their text (we chunked a 15 pg. section of our current chapter). In all fairness, since it is billed as a college level class, the book has some very wordy passages and is written to accommodate college sophomores.
ReplyDeleteAt first, the students were hesitant to call out words and professed to know most of them. I listed 20-25 words that I thought might be difficult and asked them to join in and add more. As they began to call out words, I was amazed at how our list grew with the confidence that no one would make fun of them. Also interesting was the delineation as to which ones were words they "knew" but could not define and those they could not pronounce...but vaguely remembered.
We put the words in three categories 1-known concept/unfamiliar in print; 2-vague concept/unknown word; and 3-unknown; and proceeded to further sift those that pertained especially to the history of music.
We then divided the list among the 12 students and set out to define the words as follows:
1. associations 2. elaborations 3. textbook, dictionary definition 4. elaboration:counter example and 5. personal definition.
We then posted these to our class wiki page and continue to add to it as we find words that are difficult.
The most amazing element of this process is the assumption I have made as to what words, associations, and definitions I believe the students should know. Since I do not have any of them in an academic setting until this class, it is always interesting to find where they "fit" with their reading skills. I take it as a personal challenge to help them solidify skills with which they can navigate college reading in a short few months. (It makes me weak.... I think THEY will be fine.)
I used the strategy titled QAR, on page 116. I would like to center this blog on the Author and You- Script and Text.
ReplyDelete"The Unique You" is a chapter taught in class. The objectives for the students are to identify the factors that influence individual differences, describe the impact of physical and emotional changes during adolescence, and explain the importance of a positive self-concept,as well as how to build one.
I turn the tables on the students by having them give advice to someone else. They need to use the information and strategies discussed in class and personal experiences to help this person. They are writers for a magazine that includes an advice section call Potions for Emotions. Adolescence are seeking advice on being teased, bullied, low self-esteem, low self-confidence, loneliness etc. Each student will get a different question. The students are asked to give advice using knowledge acquired from class. Each read their question and advice. We discussed each of them and suggestions for improvement (constructive criticism), if needed, were given.
The papers I received were very thought provoking and impressive. I have to say that I was very surprised at the great advice that was given. This lesson is "a keeper." Just for the record, I do discuss with my students that they do not always have to have the answers for people seeking advice. Sometimes, a good listener is all they may need.
Rick Meisner-2-8-10 (Chapter 6)
ReplyDeleteI chose to discuss the value of chapter 6 which is entitled "Why Ask?" Questioning Strategies in the Classroom (P. 105, Fisher and Frey).
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom, a University of Chicago educational psychologist, developed several handbooks regarding the various domains of learning, i.e., psycho motor, affective, and cognitive. His theory made educators realize that how questions are asked can increase a student's critical thinking skills. I remember my undergraduate professor at Upper Iowa University making the analogy of a 3 year old kid asking "why" to almost everything. This curiosity that drives some adults crazy often goes away with over time with adolescent learners. The idea that a three year-old child may be teaching us a valuable lesson is often overlooked. Is it really important o know that FDR was the 32nd President (knowledge) or to know how his New Deal programs affected the lives of Americans past and present (Evaluation)? Bloom's Taxonomy of instructional objectives are listed on page 105. I chose this topic because most of us develop our own lessons, review questions, discussion questions, worksheets, and tests. As we do this, we keep in mind how to raise our student's critical thinking skills above the knowledge and comprehension levels. When I write my own lessons and tests, i try to include a mixture of questions that will allow students to master the cold, hard facts, but yet, get them to make connections with those facts. The knowledge and comprehension questions should lead up to higher level thinking. I believe, this is where student research and primary source document data evaluation allow students to reach that optimum. I also feel this is the goal of the Iowa core curriculum! In testing, I find that short answer items and essay questions best get students to write and think analytically. Often students develop ideas and questions that nobody else does. You can even use good structured T/F questions to achieve higher order thinking skills. Certain multiple choice questions questions can also develop high evaluative and thought-provoking results. FYI, on page 106, the book suggests that nearly 70% of questions are asked at the knowledge and comprehension levels. This may not be a bad thing, as this helps students on tests like the ITED's. However, most students are college bound and should have prior knowledge and skills in developing higher order thinking skills.
H Houzenga
ReplyDeleteReferring to chapter 6:
With my 9th graders in English, I decided to do a little bit of questioning the author and reciprocal teaching (pages 107 and 121) so that the students were able to retain more information based on their research and communication with peers pertaining to the content. The poetry unit needed a little spicing up anyway, ha!
1. four poets were presented to the class (cummings, Frost, Dickenson, Whitman)
2. students asked to pair up, choose a poet and poem to discuss.
3. asked to research biography information, time period and major events that may have led to the poet's words and site 6 sources, discussing this information and the poem's meaning.
4. bring back a week later and teach about the poet and the poem to the class.
students took notes and it was funny how each of the groups, even if they were studying the same poet, came up with different information to share and we ended up learning more.
As we went on to discuss Shakespeare as a major poet, students were asked to pair up again with someone else, choose a sonnet, armed with a dictionary, asked to loosely interpret what the meaning was behind the words in his iambic pentameter and then, with computer, research why Shakespeare is still, after many hundreds of years, still considered important to be studied. They came back and taught the class, and we went on to discuss the sonnets and Sonnet 18 in particular, and the human condition behind his works.
another idea of reciprocal teaching:
8th grade Art History Playing cards
1. students paired in groups of 4
2. asked to design for a playing card company
3. each group to research 8 decades of art history
4. design cards based on artists present in each decade
5. research a certain country involved with playing card history and business (China, Swiss, English, French, German)
6. research a type of card game and teach it to the class
Students become in charge of their own learning, while being led in a direction. It's a beautiful thing. I took some video as they were working. They didn't realize that the world was so vastly impacted by art!
Slim Shady AKA Lufus Leftfoot
ReplyDeleteThe female lab mouse (Fritz) ate Quits, the male. Much like Ms. Tabaris who we read about, EC HS Scientists got a lot of mileage out of determining the motives of that crazy face eating rodent.
When I go out of my way to illicit good answers I have to first decide what is important for the whole group, and what is important for the top tier and the others. You know?
It's hard to adjust my questioning to fit a framework. Questions flow like water while studying science and so students are pressured to form 'good' ones on their own. They know what a lousy one is when the hear/read it.
Avoiding bias is a trick that many haven't mastered. It's like being tactful.
My own goal from having skimmed the sixth chapter are to slow down and ponder when a student asks a question. I think that to do so would model good listening and since some questions have gravity that will give me the six seconds that it will take to ponder.
"Somebody make my day and tell me what that word means. We've met the word before"
This quote sounds like it would work well. Or maybe a "let me see if I've got this right" would put them in the driver seat.
About Graphic Organizers,
So little of the chapter was laid out as a graphic, I decided to only look at the pictures. Not to bore ya'll, I'll only go into how cool "The Macromolecules of Life" was. The kid who wrote this now has a more complete knowledge of the itty-bitties that make up life than I do. for real
I don't demand that level of delving, but once a semester because it goes into the psycho-memorizer mode that we are all capable of, but only used for stuff that is super important (phone numbers, faces, song lyrics, etc). We're all doing it all the time and consciously develop schema to help activate short and long term memory. I dig the idea of how organizin' thoughts can be done with a whole room instead of a piece of paper. Sometimes we write on the windows with dry erase markers because the students seem to register that differently than if it is written on white paper. You didn't have to read all this to get the point. Thanks. ARG
I predominately use Q&R to help the resource room students complete assignments, and study for tests and quizzes. The questions are easier for me to come up with because I follow what the general education teachers' questions are. The thing that I do differently is to help think of the question in a different way if the student is having trouble with the information. Getting a new perspective on another's question sometimes helps with better understanding. Other times, just being asked the question again at a later time helps with overall retention. The more times certain things are covered, the more retention there is.
ReplyDeleteComment to Laura's blog. I too sometimes am surprised by the words students ask the meaning of when they are not afraid to ask. Most of the students in the resource room would not be afraid to ask what a word means. A senior recently asked me what "sympathy" was when reading it in an article. It would be nice if all students asked about every word they did not know, but I'm know I didn't at that age either. It is a little worrisome though when a very basic word is inquired about. Hopefully, they will pick a dictionary, or google a definition if they need to.
ReplyDeleteComment to Laurel's blog. I think it is important to have students come up with their own study guide. I use study guides a lot in the resource room, but I usually write the study guide and then have the students read them and fill them out. They would have a hard time coming up with a study guide format that would help them study. I think a lot of kids have trouble coming up with study strategies. They really need to practice writing study guides that work for them, and know their own "best way" to understand the essential elements the instructor wants them to master.
ReplyDeleteI use a lot of question-answer with German. Sometimes I probably need to ask even more, as repetition is always the key for learning foreign language. Another technique I connected with from the reading is categorizing vocabulary. German 2 has an assignment to create a floor plan, labeling the rooms and the items in each room, which I feel is a way of categorizing according to what belongs in which room. They will then need to tell us in simple language some basics of their plan.
ReplyDeleteI used a shared reading with consumer math. The article was about life in Sub-Saharan Africa and the task of living on $500 a year. The comment sheet which students filled out contained some good thoughts about this difficult lifestyle. I though the students did well. One negative was being too brief/short in commenting. The questions expected a paragraph and we listed one sentence or one phrase. Perhaps this will improve as I attempt to do this more often.
ReplyDeleteJust in time for the inservice this afternoon...
ReplyDeleteIn English I try to use questioning strategies and graphic organizers with both reading and writing. At the beginning of the year in English 10, I spend time introducing students to QAR as a way to support and enhance reading comprehension. I find that developing this question-answer relationship moves students from the knowledge level of "right there” questions to the synthesis level of “author and you” questions, and then students can do some evaluative questioning with “on your own" questions. Then by English 12 for each reading assignment students develop a précis. This writing assignment consists of a summary, vocabulary analysis, identification of rhetorical strategies, questions asking for clarification, questions about the author’s style, and questions applying the theme or concept of the reading to contemporary society. This type of assignment then serves as a springboard for classroom discussion.