Week 12- Assignment #1

Week 12 Assignment #1

There is  a new type of storytelling that has surfaced: digital storytelling.  To engage readers more into the story- elements of sound, video, and photo images are added.  The articles provided some great ideas to integrate technology into literacy instruction. There are some great electronic publishing software tools available. These include: computer and word processing software, photo-editing programs like iPhoto, Picasa. and Picaboo, drawing programs like KidPix, TuxPaint, and ArtRage, and the use of digital cameras and a printer.  Prior to constructing digital stories, students should be given an opportunity to write their ideas on paper. Ideas can also be sparked through writing prompts. Scholastic has great online writing activities.  To differentiate instruction with students who have difficulty seeing, hearing, or fine motor skills, Mac OS X has VoiceOver which reads everything aloud.  Both Mac and PC computers can increase the font size so print is easier to read.

                When self-reflecting on lesson planning, teachers should consider the following guided questions:

·         How will I teach with technology?

·         What technology centers will I have this week?

·         How will I manage the centers?

·         What will my students write about this week?

·         How will my students illustrate their stories?

·         What stage of writing are my students at this week?

In order to better manage technology, teachers should think about some classroom management options such as: whole group instruction, computer buddies, volunteers, computer center, and computer lab. Stories can be created using multimedia format: hardware (video camera), microphone to record, and software (iMovie, MovieMaker, GarageBand, and Audacity).  To assess authentic student learning, assessments are important.  Rubrics can be created on scholastic.com. Rubistar has some ready-made rubrics, and rubrics are available for creating a movie or podcast.  Cooperative student group projects can be challenging to assess.  However, using online writing tools can allow students to simultaneously contribute to the same document.  GoogleDocs and Wikis accomplish this.  Digital books can be created across the curriculum areas: writing, reading, math, art, science, social studies, and physical education.

                I would definitely like to incorporate technology tools such as ComicLife, iPhoto, Kidspiration and KidPix into my instruction.

 

                                                                        Lesson Plan

Candidate’s Name: Renee Bacchus

Grade Level: K-5

Title of the lesson: Generating Questions

Length of the lesson: 30-60 minutes depending on the length of the text

 

Central focus Active readers ask questions before, during and after reading text.

Prerequisites Experience using Kidspiration Prior knowledge of asking questions Classroom setting includes ELL students.

Common Core State Standards ELA Reading Standards Foundational Skills K-5: 1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. 3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. 4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

Support literacy development through language (academic language)   Question the author’s purpose Monitor comprehension by asking and answering questions Demonstrate written questions through Kidspiration software Vocabulary General academic terms: author’s viewpoint, explain, record, construct Content specific: generate, active readers Sentence Level Sentence structure, transitions/connectives, complex verb tenses Discourse Text structure, message, conversation

Learning objective   Will ask and record questions during the reading process and determine how the questions were answered.

Formal and informal assessment: Confirm students are asking authentic questions before, during, and after reading. Confirm codes are appropriate to the questions and text read. Confirm that the students’ thinking/reasoning shared in the “Writing View” portion of the activity makes sense and is accurate.

Instructional procedure Open Generating Questions from Kidspiration Activities>Starter>Reading and Writing Explain that active readers ask questions before, during, and after reading.  When readers ask questions, they monitor their comprehension and set a purpose for reading. Share that during this lesson students will ask and record questions, search for answers for the questions, and determine how the questions were answered. Model completing the activity using a preselected text (that’s great for asking questions before, during, and after reading).  Record questions in the yellow symbols. (An completed exemplar can be shown to the students). After reading the text selection, determine how the questions were answered. If the question was answered using information within the text, code the question line with a T.  If answered by making an inference or drawing a conclusion, code it “I”.  Discuss as a class why the given code was assigned to the question.  It’s possible that some questions may not be able to be coded.  Explain that readers’ questions may not be answered. After modeling the lesson, the teacher may chose to provide students with text at their independent reading levels and have them complete the activity independently or provide more guided practice.   Theory/research: Technology is used to enhance and develop writing.   Accommodations and modifications: ELLs/struggling readers: Visual and technology, paraphrasing, and prompting.  Allow more opportunities to use oral language.

Instructional resources and materials: Technology- Kidspiration software, computers, pre-selected text, pencils and writing journals.

Reflection I think my instruction supported learning for the whole class and the students who needed great support or challenge.  The prompts and paraphrasing served as instructional support.

 

Week 11 Assignment 3- Lesson Plan

View my Lesson Plan at the following link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iAIPpIteZXTq9oPjeeC4oHgY8vS_s2OdB1JOVSqv6eQ/edit?usp=sharing

Week 11 Assignment #3

The article, How to Teach Expository Text Structure to Facilitate Reading Comprehension focuses on how important it is to train students on text structure knowledge.  This in turn will improve reading achievement overall.  Also, focusing more on text features will help readers to locate and organize information in the text, connect to background knowledge, and finally store it in long term memory.  The main expository text structures are: description, sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, and problem/solution.  According to Tompkins (1998), the text structures should be taught in a certain manner: 1) Introduce the organizational pattern 2) Give students opportunities to work on text, and 3)Have students write paragraphs using each text structure pattern.  It is imperative for readers to use signal words and phrases as a clue to recognize the structure of the text.

Week 11 Assignments 1 and 2

Assignment #1

What do good readers do?

Good readers think aloud during reading

·        Make connections to own experiences- use prior knowledge

·        Ask questions about the text

·        Preview the text

·        Look at text structure

·        Use multiple strategies to coordinate the text

·        Decoding using context clues

What can teachers do to develop comprehension?

·        Build students’ vocabulary

·        Engage students in discussion and writing about the text

·        Build background knowledge for students

·        Ensure authenticity

·        Ask open-ended questions

·        Model and think-aloud

·        Coach strategies in small groups

·        Give time for independent reading comprehension practice

 What can teachers do to help struggling readers?

·        Giving more intense instruction

·        Monitor comprehension

·        Reread the text

·        Focus and preview the text features

 

Assignment #2

 Which ideas from the video struck you as most relevant to your teaching of comprehension?

 

 What new instructional practices will you implement in your classroom?

 How will you use the ideas presented in this video to improve the comprehension of your struggling readers (students you are observing)?

 

The idea of thinking  aloud during the reading for students gives them a clearer picture about what type of thinking should be taking place. It is also a great idea to explicitly teach comprehension strategies to a small group. However, the challenge arises with time management.  The new instructional practices I’ll implement in my classroom are think-aloud, and coaching students to ask questions about the text that was read. Coaching students to use these two strategies independently can empower students as readers.  In order to improve the comprehension of my struggling readers, I will teach more explicitly to them by scaffolding instruction.  Paying more attention to text structure has been proven to help my past struggling readers.  They tend to monitor comprehension more carefully. 

ELL Project Lesson Plan

Candidate’s Name: Renee Bacchus

Grade Level: 2

Title of the lesson: Summarizing a Text               

Length of the lesson: 45 minutes

 

Central focus Write about a complex text by using evidence to support thoughts.   Sequencing and summarizing (Grades 1-2)

Knowledge of Students to inform teaching ·         Alphabetic Principle, main idea, and retelling

Common Core State Standards ELA S.L.2.2- Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.    W.2.3-Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

Support literacy development through language (academic language)   Summarize the reading passage Determine the most important ideas Retell and then write the sequence of events Vocabulary General academic terms: categorize, retell, and summarize Content specific: proper, behavior, trainer, punished, manners Sentence Level Sentence structure, transitions/connectives, past tense verb tense Discourse Text structure, message, conversation, discussion with reading partners. Retell and use sequence words to write.

Learning objectives   Will respond to a text by retelling. Will respond to the text by summarizing in sequence the most important ideas.

Formal and informal assessment: collaborative, text-based discussions are observed. Listen for transitional words while students retell the story. Look for accuracy in the summarization and sequence of the writing piece.

Instructional procedure 1)    We did a shared reading on the story, “A Horse Lesson in Good Manners”. 2)    Student orally retold the story in sequence 3)    Student task was to write a summary about the most important parts of the story in sequence. 4)    Give instructional support by rereading the story if necessary. 5)     Determine what parts were important enough to underline them.  This was done to support her as to what she should write in her summary. 6)    Write the most important parts of the story (summarize). 7)    Students share their summary with a partner.   Theory/research: Oral language to develop writing development.   Accommodations and modifications: ELLs/struggling readers: Rereading, paraphrasing, and prompting.  Allow more opportunities to use oral language.

Instructional resources and materials: use starfall.com to bring a story to life, hilighters, the reading passage “A Horse Lesson in Good Manners”, and writing journals.

Reflection I think my instruction supported learning for the whole class. However, finding a shorter passage to start off with might have been more helpful. The prompts and paraphrasing served as instructional support. Using a graphic organizer would have been helpful in organizing student ideas. These changes would improve student learning. According to Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, students have different ways of learning.  Constructing a visible thinking map would be helpful for visual learners.

 

Dr. Hui-Yin Hsu Spring 2014

Week 10- Assignment #4

The Lesson Plan can be viewed at the following address:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uN78T43G9O_NYz-3ACLjdCs_5ovch19VPt1ftwXFib0/edit?usp=sharing

Week 10- Assignments 1-3

Assignment #1

Discuss the components of an effective writing program and why they are important. 

 

The three components discussed are personal connections, writing conventions, and inventions.  Personal connections are important because it is important to bring the lives of the students into the classroom.  It is imperative for them to personally connect. One type of writing that fosters this is personal narratives. It is also important to give them a choice in regards to the literature they write about or connect to such as ‘kid-culture’ text.  The next component is writing conventions- especially at the discourse/text level.  Teachers need to make sure that conventions are addressed to each individual’s needs rather than to only to the whole class.  It becomes more meaningful for each student when approached this way.  It is advised not to work on more than two conventions at a time- so as to not overwhelm the students.  The last component is inventions.  There is room for students’ original ideas and choice.  Experimenting  with formats give students a chance to invent.

 

How might you rearrange your schedule to create more time for students to write in general and, in particular, for students to write about their personal experiences? 

Giving students more choices during quick-write time or even during “in-between” time can create more time for students to write in general and about personal experiences.  Although it wasn’t officially writing time during class, the students were given the freedom to work on their personal narratives whenever they chose.

 How can you create ways for students to make personal connections in different subject areas through writing? 

We can create ways for students to make personal connections while encountering literacy through the content areas such as social studies and science.

 How can student work help you decide which conventions to teach? 

When a teacher individually conferences with a student about the writing pieces, he/she can collect data that will determine which conventions the students have the most difficulty with.

 When can you promote student inventions and experimentation with different formats in writing?

When students are given a choice, they are able to experiment with different writing formats.  These formats include accordion books, as well as shape books.

Assignment #2

What factors support student growth in writing? 
Giving students different opportunities to write, support student growth in writing. Writing to children, with children, and by children promotes growth.

 How does a personalized response encourage students in writing?

Students who are discouraged and don’t feel confident during writing need personalized response to encourage them.  The students’ development improves.  When teachers react to the message of the writing piece, they acknowledge students as writers with ideas that need to be expressed.

  What changes might you consider based on Professor Ruiz's comments and the classroom examples? 

I might consider giving my students more opportunities to write in response to different text types they encounter. Different text such as personal narratives, biographies, kid culture text, etc.

Consider the opportunities you provide for student discussion before writing.

How could you increase those opportunities? What kinds of writing exercises lend themselves to discussion? 

The more they talk, the more students express themselves. I think opinion and persuasive writing lend themselves to discussion.  When students can make a personal connection to a topic or text, then there is more opportunity for them to express opinions orally.  This can then transfer to writing opportunities as well.

 How can you provide models of writing for your students? 

Reading great books serve as good models. Students can compare their writing with an author’s ideas.  A good writing program works hand in hand with a good reading program.  Shared writing from the teacher, as well as teacher writing models like the morning message- provide authentic models of writing for students.

 How can you enhance the use of oral language to promote students' writing skills?

Improves the level of their performance.  Collaborative text-talks can foster and promote students’ writing skills.  Students can reflect and interact with each other based on text and then transfer those thoughts through writing.

 Assignment #3

What are the benefits of the assessment strategies Professor Ruiz proposes? 
There are some benefits of the assessment strategies Professor Ruiz proposes.  Weaknesses and strengths of the writing skills of each student can be established through assessment.  By using this data, goals can then be established.  Students help to construct a portfolio of their “ongoing work”.  Teachers can discover through assessment- what subject matter students are more comfortable with. 

 What benefits and challenges do portfolios present? 

There are both benefits and challenges with using portfolios.  When constructing portfolios, student work is analyzed by both the student and the teacher.  Students’ reflections are valued and included.  They are involved in the collection and analysis of the work samples.  Student progress can be easily seen over the course of a school year.  Challenges might include the time allocation to construct and maintain portfolios.  I noticed that each student had a typed up section of all the skills that the student needs to work on to improve.  I’m concerned about time constraints to produce all of this.

 Describe your experience with more formal assessments such as the monthly writing assessment Professor Ruiz describes.

There have been writing assessments that demonstrate the students’ understanding of the content area subjects such as social studies and science.  I’ve experienced administering these assessments previously and realize how important reading and writing in the content areas is for literacy development.  The assessments I see the most are extended and constructed responses after reading an informational, narrative or persuasive writing piece. Therefore students need as much exposure and practice with these forms as possible.  

 What are the challenges of incorporating formal assessments into your curriculum? How might you address them? 

As Professor Ruiz stated, formal assessments can be a means of preparation for “high-stakes assessment”.  The challenges of incorporating formal assessments into my curriculum could be as I previously stated: time constraints or even inadequate staff.  Staff is needed to not only administer these assessments but also evaluate them.  This must all be done without disrupting the flow of the curriculum.  I would address this by possibly participating in collaborative inquiry with a fellow teacher as a means of support.