Writing to Learn

These After reading activities help students integrate, elaborate, and apply the information and knowledge acquired from the reading. In class we discussed the different strategies that prompted these kinds of connections. These strategies are broken into 3 main categories formal, informal, and creative.

We talked about informal last class, so this week we focused on formal and creative. These strategies include activities such as essays, research papers, diamantes, cinquains, and sense poems. There are many more strategies but these are the ones I like the most. Each of these strategies gets students thinking about the different elements and ingredients that went into making the text. I know from experience that when I sat down to write a paper new ideas that had not been discussed in class suddenly became all too clear to me. I hope that when I begin my teaching career that I can get students to see what they were not shown. 

I particularly like the creative strategies. I feel that these strategies would force a student to think deeper about a subject or element presented in the reading. The student would have to own part of the text and connect to that element on a much deeper level to be able to write about it creatively. 

As teachers, we need to help students fill in the gaps between the texts and the world while keeping it concise. After strategies help students elaborate and internalize ideas and concepts presented in the text. 

After Reading

The After Reading activity helps students solidify what they have just read. For me the reading process is equivocal to baking a cake. The Before Reading Activity is aline with the gathering of ingredients and supplies; the During Reading Activity is mixing all the ingredients to make a cake, and the After Reading Activity is the baking of the cake.

I do not think students of today have much experience making cakes, so for this example to work in todays classroom teachers would need to change "baking a cake" to "downloading music onto an IPOD." Maybe if teachers related the reading and writing processes to students in ways that they can connect with, the students would not be so against learning each of these processes.

There are numerous After Activities for teachers to choose from that help students solidify their knowledge, but my favorite is the Cinquain. These little poems would be perfect for helping students develop their own understanding of the text. The Sense Poems would also be fun to experiment with as well.

Graphic Organizers

Graphic Organizers are those funny little drawings teachers used to put up on the board to show how ideas are related. I personally have not seen a teacher use a graphic organizer (other than Nicholson or Bond) in YEARS.

For me personally, I can make them, but I do not like using them. I was taught to use a graphic organizer as a way to brainstorm ideas for an essay, not to help understand a text. I think if graphic organizers are presented correctly they can be very beneficial to students of all reading levels.

Struggling readers would benefit greatly from an ongoing graphic organizer that develops as the characters develop. These students would be able to visually see the characteristics that they may be having trouble imagining in their mind. A graphic organizer would help a student who can not "hear" the text at lest to see the text in a purely visual form.

An activity that just popped into my head would be to have students read a descriptive passage of a character in the text we are reading and develop a graphic organizer based on this passage. Students would then take their graphic organizer and create a visual representation of the character based on the graphic organizer.

Struggling readers as well as good readers would be able to visually represent something they have already read. This visual representation may produce a deeper understanding of the character being depicted, thus helping the student to become a more advanced reader.

During Reading Activities

This week in class we discussed the importance of a During Reading Activity. These activities keep students engaged and focused on the reading. Good readers make predictions and inferences on the fly as they are reading; struggling readers need some extra help when it comes to the reading process. A during reading activity will help students make the internal reading process visual and help them become more active readers.

One during reading activity that I am certain to employ is annotation. Annotation forces students to slow down and consider what they are reading to make predictions and inferences while they are reading and considering the possibilities. I understand students will not be able to write in the books we read for class, but they will be able to write on sticky notes and post them to the pages. At the end of every class students would then translate their sticky annotated notes into their reading journal. This journal would help students create their own guide to understanding a text. Students would be able to reference this guide whenever they needed to to participate in class discussions or outlining a paper. Students would also keep track of examples of different literary terms and devices.

Once a week I would have students choose a passage or quote from the weeks reading and perform a reflection or reaction to the piece that they chose. In this activity students would be able to relate something in the text to their own lives. This activity would get the students engaged and hopefully further their thinking of the workings in the text.

During activities are possibly the most important activities because if the student does not get the intro they can still come to understand the text, but if the student does not understand the during we are all in deep trouble because there is no way they will understand it after. During activities provide the students with an opportunity to talk, share, and think through what they are reading.

Differentiation and Engagement

This week we discussed the importance of engagement and differentiation. Engagement is were the teacher creates a point of interest and relevance for the students. The teacher engages students by activating the correct schema, creating a point of interest, and getting their attention. If a teacher fails to do any of these things their lesson is not going to be as effective as they would like. Students need to be actively engaged in all aspects of the lesson. If they are interested in the lesson they are more likely to remember the lesson and what they learned. The students will be more active in the discussions and projects presented. Everybody remembers sitting in a class in high school and feeling bored all the time. These teachers did not get the students engaged or interested. On the same token, everyone also remembers a class where time flew by, and no one wanted to leave when the bell rang. It is important for us, as future educators, to be mindful of the importance of creating engagement and interest in our lessons.

Differentiation is important to remember as well. Teachers need to keep in mind what kind of students they have in their classooms. What works for some students may not work for others. For Beginning Ells teachers should provide them with sentence stem notes and fill in the blanks so that they still get the information they need to succeed in class. Intermediate ELLs would benefit from fill in the blanks as well, but maybe make it a little more advanced than the handout for the Beginner. Advanced ELLs could be utilized as English speaking buddies. These Buddies would be paired with beginner and intermediate ELLs to help with language acquisition. The buddy system would help raise the beginner and intermediate ELLs to a higher level, while also helping the Advance ELLs to become more proficient in the language.

Teaching Vocabulary

This week in class we discussed what teachers need to do when they are teaching new vocabulary. Teachers need to keep in mind that the words being taught need to be conceptually related. This information is important to remember because if the words are not related there will be no way for students to relate the words to each other. If the words are not conceptually related it would be like trying to teach students how to play pingpong, football, and how to read directions at the same time.

Students need the context before the isolated definition. The words used the most are the easiest to identify in context. Teachers need to expose the students to many new words, but only teach the most important words that will help the students understand the rest of the words.

Students will not incorporate all the words into their everyday use, but teachers should strive for the receptive or expressive levels. Teachers can teach more words if they have the ability to group the words and provide students with plenty of opportunity to use the words.

I like the word wall strategy because before the teacher has even started teaching the students are getting exposure to the new words. Students without even realizing it are making predictions about the lesson and that the words mean. The during activity that I will employ is the vocabulary log. In this strategy students keep a running log of how the vocabulary word is used. For the teach I am doing this week I am focusing on Repetition and related literary devices. The after activity that I am going to employ is independent writing and sharing. I think that students learn best by sharing what they think and developing their own definitions.

Vocabulary Lessons

This week in class we discussed the Teacher Knowledges and Skills that all successful teachers develop for themselves. These knowledges help the teacher develop the way they teach and why they teach the way they do. The five categories of these skills are declarative, procedural, conditional, volitional, and metacognitive.

Declarative skills are the  knowledges that go along with what something is. An example of declarative skills would be a concrete definition of a literary term. (Ex. Repition-the act of repeating; repeated  action, performance,production, or presentation.)The second skill is procedural, this skill is related to how to do the skill. This skill would be modeled in having students using repetition in their assignments. Conditional is the third skill. This skill is the when and where to use the above skill. An example would be having students know when repetition would be best suited for advancing their theme or topic in their writing. A teacher could have students look at Winston Churchill's use of repetition in his "We will fight" speech, and try to rewrite it with the same effect with out the use of repetition. Volitional is the reason why this teaching strategy woks for this teacher and these students. The metacognitive knowledge and skill requires bringing  everything together and making sure it all works.

Teachers do this everyday and do not even realize that they do. Every lesson plan layout and format demonstrates the here is what we are going to do, here is how we are going to do, when and were we are going to use this skill, why we are doing it this way, and the big picture format. I really like this format because it shows the best way to present new information. With concepts and skills it is easier to start with a concrete definition and work from there to build more knowledge and skills.

I like this way because it also requires the teacher to know themselves and their students. I do not think this way of learning would work for every student, but that would be up to the teacher to decide and plan for. This model requires not only the teacher to teach the students but to have an understanding of themselves, the students, and the material.

New Words in Context

This week in class we discussed context and the way teachers need to pay attention to context when teaching new words. Teachers can not teach all the words, but they need to teach the important words. If a text has more than 2-3 new words per page it is probably going to be an overload of new words. Students need to be able to use the words in context, remember their meaning, and produce the words in writing.

People have 3 levels of language: frontier, receptive, vocabulary. Teachers need to strive to get the new words into the vocabulary, but at least into the receptive would be great. Students need to have the new words repeated several times so that they can start associating meaning with the words. Context is the best teacher of new words. Context makes the meaning. Everything provides context for new words and ideas. Instead of teaching new words, teachers should teach the words that help develop context. The context of a word drives the meaning; it does not go the other way around.My Professor demonstrated this exact thing in class this week when she created the word "kolpers" and had us create a meaning for it from the context is was used in. The order of development makes sense because that is how children learn their native language.

When ELLs are learning the language it is important to remember the order the skills develop in. Listening develops first because ELLs can do nothing else. Since they can not speak, write, or read the language listening is the only way they can start to infer meaning from the new words. Speaking develops second. Speaking at first is just mimicking but then the words take on concrete meanings and the language continues to develop. Once a person can speak phonetics and letter recognition help them begin reading the new language. Generally after these other areas are mastered then writing develops.

ELLs and Native English Speakers alike can both benefit from the use of context clues and repetition. Teachers should elevate their language so that students can mimic it. Students will mimic what they hear so teachers should model what they want. When I begin teaching I will model for my students what I want them to do. I will speak to them the way I want them to speak in my classroom. From my modeling I hope they will learn what is expected in my classroom.

Lesson Planning/Differentiating Instruction

This week in class we discussed the different types of lesson plans and the most effective ways to use them to promote TEKS and ELPS. At first I was very intimidated by all the standards that had to be included in every lesson, but after going over the handout it all made sense. The information being taught does not have to change to promote TEKS and ELPS, only the way it is presented.

One thing that stands out in my mind, is the use of visual aids and demonstrations. All people learn best by doing. The use of visual aids keeps people engaged and interested. Often times when teachers utilize lectures they forget how boring they are to sit through. Some main points teachers need to keep in mind while utilizing a lecture are: visual aids, handouts, short and to the point. ELLs would benefit from these because they have the key ideas outlined for them and paired with visual aids.

Graphic organizers are an amazing way to get students thinking and writing. These help students viualize key concepts represented in the text. Graphic Organizers also help students draw connections between relating ideas through the physical act of drawing the lines.

When it comes to differentiating instruction for different levels teachers need to have an understanding of the levels the students are operating on and have a realistic goal for where the students should be at the end of the year. Group work is a fantastic way to overcome these level differences. Teachers can group the students into groups based on levels. These groups can consist of students all on the same level so they can all be challenged and raised to the next level together. Or these groups can have a collection of levels to help all students get better at an activity. Both group types are effective for different types of learning activities.

When choosing materials to keep in the classroom the Flesh-Kincaid and SMOG levels need to be considered. Different levels should be present in the classroom, and there should be picture books for entertainment purposes and higher level books to challenge students to raise their reading level.

Observation

This week we started our observations with our cooperating teachers. It was interesting to see the way the students responded to my cooperating teacher; they respect and like her. She did not have to get onto any of the students for not doing their work, or try very hard to get them involved in the class work.

For homework the students had to read an article, write an introduction using her formula, and come up with 3 main ideas they would like to elaborate on. Once the students got settled and she answered their questions they participated in a timed writing with the materials they had prepared at home. It was amazing to see how easily the students took to writing after they had prepared for it the night before. She was developing the students as writers and getting them ready for the PSAT timed writing portion.

My favorite moment was when one student mentioned that he "really enjoyed the homework." It amazes me how easily she moved from topic to topic. I have never seen a more efficiently run class. There was not the crazy shuffle of papers and nonsense at the completion of an activity. Every transition was smooth and the students were aware of that was coming next.

I learned that students want to learn. They all posses a willingness to learn. A teacher just has to activate the right schema to get the information to stick. The students were really engaged when they analyzed a paragraph that was full of religious imagery. Students like controversial things. Their lives are filled with drama so it makes sense that they would enjoy drama filled text.

The texts this teacher picked interested her students and provided them with something to relate to. I wonder how she picked them. The texts set the tone for the class. If the students are not interested in the texts there is no hope for the teacher and the information they are trying to get to the students. It seems to me that the text chosen for a particular class will make or break the learning process.

The Reading Process/Schema

This week in class we discussed the Reading Process and how it relates to Schema theory. A persons Schema relates to what they know and believe. Schema can change in two ways; it can accommodate or assimilate. When a persons schema accommodates it changes the persons view of the world, and when it assimilates it simply adds the new information to what is already known and believed.

The Reading Process includes schema in numerous ways. When a person reads they take the information presented in the text and their schema and put them together to create meaning and understanding. As an emerging English teacher it is important to develop students schema's to include literature. Many students see reading and writing as a hassle and a punishment, this schema must be changed and is only one of the numerous problems faced by teachers today.

As an English teacher I not only have to teach the lessons laid out by the state and federal standards but I also have to convince reluctant students that reading/writing are important and to actually do it. A students schema is always changing, usually only by assimilation. English teachers have the difficult task of changing students schema by accommodation in regards to reading/writing. This task falls onto all teachers but the brunt of it is felt in the English classroom.

By using the BDA framework in regards to a piece of literature or any reading assignment, teachers can get the students involved on a much deeper level while also improving retention. By having a student work through a warmup activity the teacher can activate the correct schema or create the appropriate schema for the activity. The during activity would help students answer any questions they had thought of after starting the activity. Also this type of activity would catch problems in comprehension and understanding before they became major issues. The after activity would serve the solidifying of the information and check the students mastery of the concept. By employing the BDA framework teachers are ensuring better understanding and retention.

After looking at the new Standards for Education and the correlating percentages something needs to change, and its not the studetns. The material needs to be presented in new, interesting, ways. Instead of teachers just saying, "Hey read this. Master this. Take this test." The curriculum needs to be more fluid and relatable to the students life.  Teachers today need to employ the BDA framework as a way to relate to students and find out what they know and how to increase their knowledge. Students are not going to change, the curriculum is going to get bigger, teachers need to rework their lesson plans in ways that enhance students schema.