Strategy 1 – Interactive Notebook
Strategy 1 – Interactive Notebook
Your Name: Rachel Denning
Name of Strategy: Interactive Notebook
Source (Where did this come from?): Reading Strategies
Link to the Strategy: http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/interactivenotebook.htm
Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:
This lesson can be used before, during, or after reading. Each student has a spiral notebook and each pair of pages is designated for different purposes. The right side of the page is for the students to take notes on lessons, lectures, readings, class discussions, etc. The left side of the page is used solely for the student’s individual interaction with the information on the right side of the page. This is not directed by the teacher, but the student can write any reflection, connection, or reaction that they want.
Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.
11th Grade English:
Competency Goal 1.03
- making connections between works, self and related topics.
- analyzing and evaluating the connections or relationships between and among ideas, concepts, characters and/or experiences.
Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?
This strategy helps the student to process what they have heard, read, and discussed in class. Everyone retains information in different ways and this allows the students to think about what is significant to them and to then write it out so they can use it in the future. This prevents the student from numbly taking notes; they have to think and consider information.
Strategies – General Response
The provided resources were full of great information that would be helpful in any classroom. One of my favorite sites was the study guides and strategies website. http://www.studygs.net/ Even in college, I struggle with managing my time and organizing by tasks; this site gives advice on how to do this. There are test taking tips as well as study tips and ways to remain organized. This site could be a great reference for teachers to suggest to students, but teachers could also pull a lot of the information and present it in class. This way the teacher is making sure students are developing their skills. The reading room site provided articles with helpful strategies for teachers to use.http://http://www.weac.org/news_and_publications/columns/reading_room/index.aspx There was a great lesson on how to work on vocabulary and break it down so that students learn the meaning of a specific word. As always ReadWriteThink provided great lessons and reading strategies that are current and extremely useful. http://www.readwritethink.org/ I did find that a few sites on our homepage had deleted or out of date links on them; however, I was able to work around them to find excellent sources.
Material 7 – Dream Speech
Your name: Rachel Denning
Name of Site: Educator’s Reference Desk
Link to Resources:
http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Language_Arts/Literature/LIT0004.html
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=599f0513ff3356f0c0f6
Source (Author–if available): Mary Barton
Identify the teaching topic of the materials–be specific. Identify the population of the students (grade, course):
This lesson is designed for 11th grade English students and focuses on Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The lesson has several aspects to it including a study of the actual speech and the language he uses within it such as figures of speech. Students will develop an understanding of the historical background, they will understand the speech and its purpose, and they will write their own speech about their dream to be given in front of the whole class.
Give a brief description of how the materials would be used:
I would first give a power point presentation on the civil rights movement; this will provide necessary background for the students. Next the class will view King’s speech through teachertube.com. A copy of the actual speech will then be given out and the class will discuss what stood out to them, what they thought was significant, etc. A previous lesson will have given the students a general understanding of figures of speech, but by examining King’s speech they will be able to see actual examples of these figures of speech. The class will discuss these elements and their significance in small groups and then as a whole class. Following the class discussion, students will be given time to write in their journals a summary of King’s speech and the purpose behind it. Next the class will be challenged to think about their own dreams. These dreams can be for themselves, but an emphasis will be placed on what dreams they have for the world and for society. Students will write their own speeches and then present them to the class. It will be important to think about their presentation of the speech and to do so in a way that conveys emotion and the student’s perspective effectively.
Identify other material that you could use with this material to augment instruction, especially for EC students:
Handouts with the discussion questions will be helpful for those students who need time to process their thoughts before answering in class. This lesson could be expanded to a media presentation of the student’s speeches; this allows students to not only read, talk, and write in order to increase their knowledge, but it also allows them to create.
Explain why you would use this material with your students. How will the material help your students learn the topic?
I really like this lesson because it has purpose and it encourages individual thought by the students to truly think about the way they view themselves and the world. We need to constantly be learning from history and this lesson allows that happen within the context of an English classroom.
Material 6 – Discovering Voice
Your name: Rachel Denning
Name of Site: Web English Teacher
Link to Resources: http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=345
Source (Author–if available): (not provided)
Identify the teaching topic of the materials–be specific. Identify the population of the students (grade, course):
For this lesson students will read the poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. They will take part in activities in order to understand what the speaker reveals about himself through the narrative details he includes, implies, or omits. Students will be asked to write their own narrative in which they expand on the hints and questions raised by the narrator. This lesson can be used for any middle or high school English classroom, but I am intending it for 11th grade English students. This lesson is meant to be an exercise to help students develop their own voice in their writing.
Give a brief description of how the materials would be used:
The poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost will be read aloud in class. This will be followed by a class discussion about the emotional and psychological effects of the imagery in the poem. The class will then discuss and summarize the events of the poem and will discuss the following questions:
What are the speaker’s motives for taking the actions that he does? Does the speaker move on by the end of the poem? Do we know? What effect do the darkness and cold and snow seem to have on him? What is the role of his “little horse” in the poem–what perspective does the speaker attribute to his horse? What features of this poem encourage us to make inferences?
The class will use a worksheet to help them organize their thoughts about the motives of the speaker in the poem. Again the focus of this lesson is to understand the speaker of the poem based on the details he includes, implies, or omits. Next students will write in their journals a narrative in which they expand upon the hints and the questions raised by the speaker in the narrative. To help students get started they should:
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- imagine the circumstances that have brought the speaker to this place in the wood
- speculate on what it is that compels him to stop on so cold and dark a night
- speculate on the nature of the promises the speaker has made
- or write about the speaker’s relationship to the person whose woods these are.
Once students have written their narratives, they will be shared with the class.
Identify other material that you could use with this material to augment instruction, especially for EC students:
Background information on Frost could be helpful in giving students a better understanding of the author and the motivations behind his writings. Worksheets are provided to go along with the activity to help the students process their thoughts. Small group discussion could be helpful for many students and a handout of the discussion question could be of assistance as well.
Explain why you would use this material with your students. How will the material help your students learn the topic?
This lesson is a fun way to teach students the importance of details in their writing as well as how to formulate their own voice in their writings. This can be used as an introduction to poetry and can help students learn how to break apart poems and discover their meaning. It can also be used as an aid in writing effective persuasive essays. I like this lesson because it is a chance for students to be creative and to use their imaginations. I do not think that once students reach high school they should be cut off from creative writing.
Material 5 – The Crucible
Your name: Rachel Denning
Name of Site: Discovery Education
Link to Resources: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/salemwitchtrials/
Source (Author–if available): Lara Maupin
Identify the teaching topic of the materials–be specific. Identify the population of the students (grade, course):
By reading “The Crucible”, students will develop an understanding of the Salem Witch Trials and will learn the parallels to the activities of Senator Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s. Students will then conduct research projects in order to further their knowledge of McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials. This lesson is for 11th grade English students.
Give a brief description of how the materials would be used:
Before reading “The Crucible”, the teacher will present background information on the author Arthur Miller so that students have an understanding of the purpose of the play in the context Miller wanted. The class will collectively read the play with students being assigned parts to read. As the play is being read the teacher will continue to emphasis and point out the connections between the text and what was taking place historically in the 1950s. Students will then discuss the significance of the play and what stood out in particular to them. Students will then be instructed to write research papers based off the topics presented. They will do in depth research individually and write a paper on McCarthyism and its effects, the Salem Witch Trials and their effects, or the connection between McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials. These will then be presented to the class.
Identify other material that you could use with this material to augment instruction, especially for EC students:
To help students understand the play more thoroughly, the movie version could be shown in pieces to go along with where they are in reading the play. Also to give an outlet for the more creative minded students, a visual could accompany the paper such as a video, a song, or a poster.
Explain why you would use this material with your students. How will the material help your students learn the topic?
“The Crucible” is a widely studied book within the high school setting and this approach helps students to not only understand the text, but to also make the historical connections. I really like reading plays within the classroom because often some students do not respond well to simply reading a book, but really enjoy acting out a play. The style of the text is different, but the same basic elements are being learned.
Material 4 – Persuasive Essays
Your name: Rachel Denning
Name of Site: The New York Times Teacher Connections
Link to Resources: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20000414friday.html
Source (Author–if available): Katherine Schulten
Identify the teaching topic of the materials–be specific. Identify the population of the students (grade, course):
This lesson has students identify controversial topics that they have a strong opinion about and then they write a persuasive essay on the topic. Students will read the article “Growing in the Job” by Mark Brady and will construct their essays in the same style as the article. The lesson is designed for an 11th grade English classroom.
Give a brief description of how the materials would be used:
To start the lesson, students will be prompted to respond in their journals to the question: What controversial issues do you have a strong opinion about? Explain what it is and why it is important to you. The class will then share the topics and the teacher will record them on the board. They will then read the article “Growing in the Job” and as a class or a small group will discuss the following questions:
a. Do you agree with the writer that after-school jobs can have “educational value”?
b. What are child labor laws, and why do they exist?
c. Do you think the laws can be changed and still ensure that “children can be children”?
d. What does the writer mean when he says it is hard to teach “responsibility in an affluent culture that emphasizes self-gratification”? Explain.
e. How does this writer take a personal situation and give it national significance? Find the lines in which he does this.
f. How did the writer structure the piece so that it is simple and clear, yet makes a strong argument? (Look at how he begins and ends the piece, the arguments he uses, his writing style, and what each paragraph does individually. Who is his audience?)
Once the discussion of the article is concluded, students will be asked if there are any more controversial issues they want to add to the list on the board. Students will then write their own persuasive essays about the controversial topic of their choice. Students will then be divided up into partners for peer revision groups. A final draft will be handed in the next day.
Identify other material that you could use with this material to augment instruction, especially for EC students:
To help students who struggle with reading, the article could be read aloud by the teacher or by classmates so that students are hearing as well as reading the information.
Explain why you would use this material with your students. How will the material help your students learn the topic?
This lesson is great because it gets student’s thinking about controversial issues and it helps them form their own opinion about that topic. Often times it is difficult to express one’s thoughts toward a topic in a professional way and writing this essay helps students develop skills to do that.
Material 3- The Scarlet Letter
Your name: Rachel Denning
Name of Site: Discovery Education
Link to Resources: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/thescarletletter/
Source (Author–if available): Summer Productions
Identify the teaching topic of the materials–be specific. Identify the population of the students (grade, course):
This particular lesson is designed to be used with “The Scarlet Letter”. At the end of the novel many questions still remain and this activity allows students to imagine what characters lives look like beyond the ending. The focus is on Pearl and students can write a short story, a letter, or a scene about what Pearl’s life looks like at age 18. The lesson is for 11th grade English students.
Give a brief description of how the materials would be used:
This lesson enables students to use their imaginations and the knowledge they have about the text “The Scarlet Letter” to imagine what Pearl’s life looks like at the age of 18. Teacher and students will first discuss the ending of the novel and what knowledge the reader has about Pearl. Students are asked to describe Pearl based on the information the author gives such as her appearance, the ways she talks and acts, and the way others view her. Class discussion continues based on a provided set of questions; the students brainstorm together what type of person Pearl would be in various settings based on the things the reader knows about her. This allows individual thought to start as students open up their imaginations to consider aspects outside of the novel. After the class discussion, students will be instructed to put their thoughts about Pearl into writing. They have the option of writing a short story, a letter from Pearl to her mother, a scene between Pearl and her mother, or a doctor’s report on the cause of Pearl’s death. All of these writings take place when Pearl is 18 years old. Each student will be given the opportunity to share with the class what they have written.
Identify other material that you could use with this material to augment instruction, especially for EC students:
The story of “The Scarlet Letter” can be used to address a variety of issues. The class could discuss laws or a legal sentence that conflicts with a person’s morality. This takes the novel which is set hundreds of years ago and makes it relevant in the students’ own lives. This is again a crucial connection for any text being studied. The lesson provides great discussion questions that can fuel thought and conversation as well as journal writing. Students process and learn in a variety of ways and this lesson allows students to do that.
Explain why you would use this material with your students. How will the material help your students learn the topic?
This activity enables students to examine the questions left unanswered by the author. The author purposely left certain ideas without explanation in order to provoke thought and curiosity from the reader. By conducting the project in the classroom students are able to use their imaginations and be creative as well as explore the logical explanation to Pearl’s fate. Students are able to go back and explore the novel and hints and clues given by the author; this allows for a deeper understanding of the text. The lesson is such a great supplement to exploring the text and understanding its message and its relevance today.
Material 2- Photovoice
Your name: Rachel Denning
Name of Site: Read Write Think
Link to Resources: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=1064
Source (Author–if available): Krista Sherman
Identify the teaching topic of the materials–be specific. Identify the population of the students (grade, course):
This lesson is technology intensive and makes use of photography and blogging. The strategy is called Photovoice and it helps students connect their own experiences to various texts using both images and words. Students take pictures of an abstract concept and then connect that concept to characters in texts they have read in the classroom. This lesson is for 11th grade English students.
Give a brief description of how the materials would be used:
This lesson is meant to come at the end of a unit in order to connect a text to their own lives. This would be used following a book such as “Of Mice and Men” to examine the concept of courage. Students would be asked to free write about what comes to mind when they think of the word courage. They should consider the questions:
· What is courage?
· What does courage look like?
· How do you know if someone is courageous?
· When have you been courageous?
Students will then be given time to take pictures of what they think represents courage. They will pick their favorite three that they will post on their blog. Students will learn how to create blogs and will post their pictures and their descriptions of why each represents courage. They will also be able to view their classmates’ blogs and post reactions to their pictures and thoughts. This whole process leads up to an essay that will connect this abstract idea of courage to the text they have just completed. This process allows students to connect what they are reading in class to their own lives in an effort to more deeply understand the themes and the meanings within the text.
Identify other material that you could use with this material to augment instruction, especially for EC students:
The site provides several handouts that describe in detail the necessary instructions to complete each aspect of the assignment. A great help for many students will be for the teacher to show examples of his/her own blog so that the students can get an idea of what they should be aiming at. The project is great for student who struggle with making inferences simply based off of a text. This allows them to use other strategies to arrive at the same result.
Explain why you would use this material with your students. How will the material help your students learn the topic?
This lesson is a great way to demonstrate the relevance of a text in student’s lives. Through this project students see that a book is not simply a random story that they read and are tested on; it can offer worthy insight into their own personal lives. The lesson enables students to connect with the text which is the most important thing of all. I love that students are able to use technology and to create something visual and not just a paper.
Material 1- Grammar
Your name: Rachel Denning
Name of Site: The New York Times Teacher Connections
Link to Resources: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20051021friday.html
Source (Author–if available): Michelle Sale and Tanya Yasmin Chin
Identify the teaching topic of the materials–be specific. Identify the population of the students (grade, course):
This lesson is aimed at reinforcing grammar rules and concepts learned in previous classrooms. This allows students to form a solid foundation of what they already know and helps the teacher in planning how to proceed in teaching grammar. The lessons teaches grammar concepts through art and students are able to be creative by coming up with songs, dances, skits, or artwork to demonstrate grammar rules. The lesson is for an 11th grade English classroom.
Give a brief description of how the materials would be used:
For this activity, students would be given the prompt – “What is grammar and why is it important?” Students would be given time to journal about this and then the class would discuss their thoughts as well as their previous experiences with learning about grammar. Students will then be divided up into groups and each group will be given an index card with a grammar rule on it. The group will then have the opportunity to come up with an effective way to teach that rule to the class. The groups would be given the freedom to use any artistic method they like to convey the purpose and the usage of their particular rule. In the process of formulating their “lesson”, students will conduct research and present what they learned about exceptions and common mistakes made with their grammar rule.
Identify other material that you could use with this material to augment instruction, especially for EC students:
The site provides the link to an article about traditional grammar textbooks and shows ways to look at grammar that are outside the box. Discussing this article and the book it is describing opens up the student’s minds for their presentation and encourages them to really think outside of the realm of what they have always thought of as grammar instruction. This gives opportunity for creativity and imagination. This lesson reaches every type of learner because it truly does cover a wide variety of styles. Reading the article and discussing grammar and its concepts is great for oral learners. The opportunity to create a representation of a concept provides great learning resources for kinesthetic and visual learners. Student who thrive from action and movement and grow bored and restless just sitting in their desk can really benefit from this lesson. They are able to get up and move and create while they are learning important concepts.
Explain why you would use this material with your students. How will the material help your students learn the topic?
I like this lesson mainly because it is a really fun way to teach something that is rarely looked at as fun by students and by teachers. Grammar is sometimes seen as the black horse of an English classroom and a lot of students are not extremely competent when it comes to grammar. This lesson can be a great way to introduce a unit on grammar and to show the students that grammar can be fun.
Web Links Summary
The links provided a wealth of information and help. I picked a few and discussed some of my favorite aspects of each site.
Discovery Education Unitedstreaming: This site was full of so many great resources that stretch over many topics. What I found that was really neat was a whole section for new teachers. The section is full of ideas about how to get your classroom up and running in the best possible way. They even address the furniture and room design which is a small but very important aspect of setting up a classroom. Another aspect of the “New Teacher Survival Central” was a page on parent communication. It offers advice on how to effectively communicate with parents in order to keep them informed and involved with what is going on in the classroom. The site also offers a lot of great lesson plans that can be borrowed into any classroom.
PBS Teachers: The PBS site provides lesson plans that are not your average everyday sort of lesson. They are creative and full of great ideas that teach the basic topics, but they do it in such unique ways. There is a huge amount of material for every subject area, but one in particular that I thought was great was the section on how to use film in the classroom. This is such a creative way to teach a topic such as Communism by way of the witch trials in The Crucible. Students do not simply read the text, but they will conduct research, view media, and create an exhibition that demonstrates all that they have learned. The lessons are detailed and so very useful.
American Memory: Pictures are such a great way to introduce a topic and to initiate conversation. Pictures make a subject so much more real to students than simply reading and hearing about it; pictures connect them to the actual people of the time they are studying. The Library of Congress has this amazing site which provides access to tons of great pictures that can be used in the classroom. Basically any topic from any period in history has pictures that connect to it and there are helpful directions on how to get the pictures and the videos.
Web English Teacher: This site is an English teacher’s dream. It offers so many great lesson plans for every aspect of the English classroom. One section that I found particularly interesting was the section on grammar. Grammar is so often overlooked the classroom today and even when it is taught, it is like pulling teeth to get the students involved. This site offers a lot of great ideas on how to teach grammar and how to do it in fun and interactive way. It shows how to incorporate grammar lessons within other fun activities such as acting out adverbials.
Awesome Library: There is something for every subject area at this site. What was really great about this site was that they did not only provide lesson plans that were great and very useful, but they also provided lists of supplementary texts that could provide further information. There was also advice on how to search the internet for related resources. For example, one topic was poetry and there were links that provided samples of many different types of poetry, links for project ideas, and links for helpful websites.
