A Big Thank You!

Project RAISSE has been a wonderful experience for Gilbert High School. I cannot thank the participants enough for all of the hard work, dedication and commitment to this project. As you reflect on how Project RAISSE changed you as a professional educator and your view on reading and literacy, remember that student achievement is our utmost priority. Implementing these best practices in your instruction and presentation will promote the effort in helping students find success in your content area.

Small Triumph

Okay, a small triumph to report! We started Scribbler of Dreams, a modern-day version of Romeo and Juliet, about a week before we began our research projects. We read Romeo and Juliet last semester, and this semester, we decided to continue our study of forbidden love through this modern novel and through research. Well, when we began reading the book, I had several very vocal girls in my second block class who were really not interested in this book. Everyday that week when we pulled out the novels to start reading, they were very vocal about their dislike for this story. Now they are loving it! They cannot wait to read the novel everyday, and they are volunteering to read out loud. I love it when the students are won over!!

Great Research Experience. . .

So, we’ve finished our rough draft of our research papers and I think this may be the first time ever that I have received 95 percent (or maybe more) of my students papers. I usually have a fairly large number of students who just DO NOT do the assignment. I really think our media assistant’s webpage that she created helped the students find their information more quickly so that they had time to get the bibliography and the essay completed. I’ve had our media specialist pull books before for the students, but I haven’t had her compile groups of websites for each topic. One she compiled her wiki space site, I knew right away that the students could just go to these sites and quickly find their information, rather than spending hours and hours surfing through Google. Also, Debra, our English resource teacher, really helped her students in her class to draft outlines, and think of questions to answer for each topic. She is AWESOME!! These two ladies helped the students do such a great job on their papers. I even had a few of these special education students who went around the computer lab after they finished their papers and helped the other students with their research projects!!!

Grading Portfolios

I just had to write--eventhough it is 12:30 A.M. on a Saturday morning. I brought the portfolios of my two study groups home with me to grade. I turn them in to USC on Monday, so of course, I am not grading them until the weekend before--you teachers understand that, right??? Well, I certainly didn't imagine that I'd be grading them on Friday night! However, that is EXACTLY what happened.

I brought them into the house to clean out the car for my usual weekend job--carting my kids around to various activities. I casually picked up one notebook to flip through--and was HOOKED!

Each one of my ten study group members' portfolios was wonderful. I could hardly believe all that we'd done together--must less how much they'd done on their own that they hadn't even had time in study group to share (though we certainly had already shared a LOT there!).

Best of all, when I read the year-end reflections, I was thrilled. The students at GHS--and PHS, too, I am sure--are so fortunate! Ultimately, they are the ones who benefit from the enthusiasm, comaraderie, "tool box" of strategies, and new knowledge of books that was demonstrated in each portfolio I read.

Not only was I inspired enough to stay up til the A.M. hours to read these, I just had to share my excitement! Now. . . I just hope someone reads this since you are all through with your blogging "requirements."

Congratulations to all RAISSERS!! and their students!!

Opportunity for Publishing Students' Work

Are you guys familiar with the magazine Teen Ink? It is a really cool magazine that only includes the writings and artwork of youth. Students really enjoy reading writings done by their contemporaries.

Your own students can submit their writing--no matter the genre. The magazine is available to schools and can be purchased as individual subscriptions are classroom-set orders. The subscriptions are not all that expensive. Ask an English teacher at your school; we get samples all the time.

There are also a lot of other publishing opportunities. See you English department chair for suggestions. Sometimees offering a child an opportunity to publish makes them work harder and write more! That's always a good thing.

All Over

RAISSE is over and I hate to say that I am some what relieved. I have learned so much from RAISSE. However, this has been a really overwhelming year for me. This year was my first offical full year as a teacher and boy, oh, boy has it be a ride. I am so ready for the summer, as I am sure many of my collegues are very ready too! RAISSE really has made me a better teacher. I try to incorporate RAISSE strategies into my classroom more frequently. I also have to say that students seem to enjoy a lot of what I incorporate with these strategies. I send a big thank you to all the group leaders who did such a wonderful job keeping all of us on track.

Rubrics

I have to say rubrics are such a pain to create. If you are like me, it takes forever to get them just right any way. However, once you have a good rubric, they are wonderful tools to have. You can just simply change a word or two here or there from semester to semester. Rubrics really make grading a lot easier. I have also made a few rubics that come back to bite me. Once I made a rubric that really did not give students the clear understanding of a product that I was looking for. Students turned in some pretty rough looking projects, but I had to give them a grade based on the rubric. So it was a lesson well learned.

Using picture books in secondary classrooms

Here is another great article that I found in the process of doing my thesis.


AUTHOR:
CYNDI GIORGIS
TITLE:
The Power of Reading Picture Books Aloud to Secondary Students
SOURCE:
The Clearing House 73 no1 51-3 S/O 1999

VALUE OF READING PICTURE BOOKS ALOUD:

Few secondary students remember having seen a picture book since entering middle or high school, much less having had one read aloud to them. A recent study of secondary teachers (Duchein and Mealey 1993) indicated that more than two-thirds of those interviewed were read to prior to beginning school and more than half were read to by primary teachers, but the practice had ceased for most by third grade. Teachers who did read aloud during grades four to six and into middle and high school, however, made significant, positive, and long-lasting impressions on their students. As one seventh grader whom I worked with said, "It felt odd at first because I haven't had a teacher read a picture book to me in a long time. Most people think that we are too old for picture books, but it's interesting to listen to them." The perception is that picture books have either no value at the secondary level or that reading such books aloud should be reserved for children still in the early stages of their literacy development.Research studies over the years have also supported the positive correlation between a student's being read to and his or her own ability as a reader and writer. Unfortunately, many teachers believe that once students begin reading independently, the process of reading aloud to them should end. One secondary teacher in a college literature class recently asked, "Why should I read to my students when they can read for themselves?" Again, studies show that older students who have experienced reading aloud realize "the power of the spoken word and the bond that develops between speaker/oral reader and audience" (Megyeri 1993, 186).When secondary teachers read picture books aloud, it is important that they read the entire book rather than a few pages or brief excerpt. Students gain numerous perspectives through text and illustration that they would not if one or two pages were taken out of context. A case in point is The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. This story is told from the wolf's point of view (allowing the teacher to elucidate the literary element of point of view) and is effective with older students because they are familiar with the traditional story of "The Three Little Pigs" and they connect to the sophisticated humor in the story and illustrations. Reading the whole book conveys to students that the teacher values literature in its entirety.

HOW TO SELECT PICTURE BOOKS:

Reading aloud to students should occur in all secondary classrooms, not just language arts classes. A number of recently published picture books deal with issues and concerns of today's middle and high school students. These books can be integrated successfully into social studies, language arts, math, science, music, and art (see figure 1). Picture books have been published that focus on historical issues such as the Holocaust, Japanese internment, slavery, Westward expansion, and the Lowell (Massachusetts) mills. In addition, many excellent picture book biographies highlight scientists, explorers, artists, and musicians from the past and present. Teachers searching for books to support the discussion of societal issues such as drugs, homelessness, and suicide will find picture books that present these difficult topics in an powerful format that is meaningful and accessible to all students.When selecting a picture book to read aloud, the teacher should be clear about his or her intended purpose. Books with an interesting story and appealing illustrations are key to the success of the read-aloud. Recommendations from other teachers and librarians are a good place to begin to locate picture books, although what may have worked well in one classroom or the library does not necessarily work with another group of students. Knowing the students and what may appeal to them is critical. Teachers should also select a book that they themselves enjoyed because their enthusiasm for the story will become evident once they begin reading it aloud. Finally, teachers should never assume that the meaning derived from a picture book is bound to be simplistic. Some powerful discussions in secondary classrooms can evolve from the reading of a picture book.

STRATEGIES FOR READING ALOUD:

Teachers at the secondary level will often read aloud poetry, short stories, or brief passages from novels. Yet, many times when a secondary teacher brings a picture book to the classroom, he or she apologizes to the students and tries to explain the reasons for bringing a book for "little kids" to the class. Students immediately perceive that they are going to be "read down to" and often are put off by the experience. If students reject picture books in their classroom, the question should be raised as to how the book was introduced. If the picture book is explained as an inferior text, then students will develop a negative mindset before the reading occurs, and the experience is doomed to failure.Also, it is critical that a teacher actually use the term picture book. Recently, during a workshop on literature, a middle school teacher stated that she preferred to call them "short stories" rather than picture books so that her students didn't reject them. However, a knowledgeable teacher who has read, and seen the potential for reading, picture books aloud should not pretend that the books are anything but picture books. By explaining to students how text and illustrations work in concert to create meaning, teachers will help students come to accept picture books as commonplace in the classroom.When students see themselves and their life experiences in the books that are read aloud to them--such as the sibling rivalry found in Patricia Polacco's My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother--the reading experience becomes much more meaningful. Picture books may cause students to reflect on values, both materialistic and altruistic, by discussing a book such as The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Baylor. In that story, the protagonist initially bemoans the fact that her parents make very little money. She comes to realize, however, that true wealth has nothing to do with money. At times, reading a powrful picture book to secondary students may push them in their thinking because many of these books deal with complex issues.When the picture book presents a historical perspective, it is critical that the teacher provide a context for the reading. The power of reading aloud Richard Wright and the Library Card by W. Miller, a story focusing on an incident taken from Wright's novel Black Boy about his inability as a black man in the South to check out books from the public library during the 1920s, will be lost if students are not provided with the historical context in which to place the story. The same is also true of Sarah Stewart's The Gardener, set during the Depression and written in a letter format telling of a young girl's attempts to create a garden that will cheer up her seemingly crabby uncle. Once students have an understanding of the time period, they will be able to derive meaning from the text and illustrations.An important reason for reading a picture book aloud is that the story can be shared in one class sitting, an ideal situation in secondary schools, where class periods are often brief and reading and response to picture books is possible within a single period. Of course, the book can be reread time and again, but the impact will be lost if the story is carried out over several days.

CONCLUSION:

Reading aloud to middle and high school students demonstrates a teacher's enthusiasm for reading, an attitude that can be contagious (Richardson 1994). Hearing a good story read aloud often piques the interest of the most reluctant reader, who will then become an active listener and, possibly, a more willing reader. As one high school student said, "My outlook on picture books is that I feel it is important to keep these books throughout our school years. Although these books are thought to be only for elementary students, they are a nice way to inspire another story or use as a tool to help you open your creative doors. With all the stress and homework of high school, it's nice to have someone read you a story."

Literacy as blogging!

I am currently working on a Masters degree, and one of the requirements is that I complete a thesis. I have found many interesting articles. Here is one on how blogging is used to help increase literacy in the classroom. If you would like the entire article, it can be found through DISCUS.

Collaborative literacy: blogs and Internet projects.(TECHNOLOGY IN LITERACY EDUCATION).
Author(s):Erica Boling, Jill Castek, Lisa Zawilinski, Karen Barton and Theresa Nierlich.
Source:The Reading Teacher 61.6 (March 2008): p504(3). (1625 words) Reading Level (Lexile): 1250.
Document Type:Magazine/Journal
Full Text :COPYRIGHT 2008 International Reading Association Inc.
Popular technologies offer new and exciting ways to capitalize on the strengths of authentic writing, the power of the writing process, and the engagement of collaborative writing. In this column, we showcase students using some of these new technologies. The first vignette focuses on using blogs in the classroom. Blogs are websites that allow individuals to create personal webpages of text, pictures, graphics, videos, and other multimedia with the same ease as creating a word processing document. Unlike traditional websites, however, they provide a space where people can post comments and engage in online conversations. The second vignette illustrates the power of collaborative writing using Internet projects.
Classroom Blogging (by Erica Boling)

Articles

I love using articles in my classroom. Many times I will pick something off the news or something that I came accross on the internet that is interesting and relates to my classes. This has been a great way to start some good conversation in my classroom. Students seem to enjoy a lot of the articles that I bring in. I even have some students that will bring in things that they have found. I had a student bring in a flyer from a doctor's office. It really had great information. Articles have also helped me bring a real world aspect to the material that I teach.

Buying Books

I am really excited about buying books for my classes. I plan on going to Books-A-Million and looking for lots of books that relate to my classes. I am a little nervous that $100 will go very fast though. I bought a few books at the flea market, and I have noticed that many students just pick the books up casually in my room. It is very exciting for me to see students wanting to read more. I know buying more books for my room will peak their interest a little more.

Bloging Reflection

After searching for the past 4 days for all of my blogs, I have realized that I have spent more time looking for blogs than I spent writting them. I could not find all 8 posts for the life of me. So here I am blogging to reflect on my blogging experience. Most teachers had great input and advice for each other and I hope that my blogging helped them somehow. There are many new and exciting things that I try everyday to make class exciting and refreshing. The best advice that I could give anyone is to start each period with a smile on your face and an upbeat attitude no matter what it is that you may be dealing with that day: stress, loss of sleep, etc. The students deserve to have a positive uplifting teacher everyday! Try to make this a priority. We deserve the same as teachers, but often don't receive this - so don't get your hopes up. Hope everyone enjoyed blogging as much as I did. Happy blogging futures for all.

Want Books....Lots of Books!

Now it is time to order books for my classes and I need some help. Does anyone know of any great books that would go well with my Health Science classes? I am really looking for "quick reads," "read alouds" or anything that will capture my students' minds. Some topics might include: health careers, diseases, anatomy, physiology, diversity, or anything that future doctors, nurses, lab techs, vets, etc., might need to read. If you have any great ideas, please let me know ASAP...my list is due this week! HELP! :P

Blogs, Blogs, and More Blogs

Just in case you start having withdrawal pains from reading blogs, try this one:

http://professornana.livejournal.com/ This is Teri Lesesne's blog. Teri is a former librarian who does a great job sharing book reviews of new YA books.

And then when you get tired of reading blogs - try listening to podcasts. They are even more fun than blogs.
Janet

Yearbook

In preparing my Reference Guide and finishing my journals for today, I recalled what we learned from Dr. Feathers, of Wayne State University, at our GHS professional development. She spoke about the relationship of images to text and how that aids in reading and comprehension. I've been working with my yearbook staff all year on "Telling the story" of the spread or picture. I'm going to incorporate this idea into my lessons for yearbook next year. I hope that students will understand that the yearbook is not just about the pictures, that it is a combination of the images and the story.

American Literature

I am looking for Read Aloud ideas and supplementary texts for my American Literature classes. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions to share? All ideas will be welcomed and appreciated.

Raisse is Over?!

Now that we've had our last Raisse meeting, I'll be sorry to see my group members less. I can only hope that we are able to set something up in which the entire school gets involved in Raisse-ish type activities. Someone suggested today that we could begin a teacher blog just for PHS teachers so that we can continue sharing ideas, strategies and frustrations of lessons gone awry. I think that this is a great idea.

Project Raisse, life changing event ? hmmm...

I took this class expecting to learn lots of great new strategies and ideas, which I have in some aspects, but a lot of what I've learned, I was already doing in my classroom. So, this may not have been as life changing as I expected. However, the connections I made with my fellow teachers whom I do not see on a daily basis, or with whom I talk rarely, has made this entire experience more than worthwhile. I am planning on collaborating with teachers on cross-curricular units next year based on what we've discussed in our groups. For example, Mark McAbee and I follow nearly the same chronological process in our classes and we can make connections across the disciplines. I never get to speak with math teachers or science teachers about content, so this was refreshing and built a sense of fellowship. That has changed my professional life here at PHS, and I think that it will be harder for me to live in an "English Hall Vacuum" after this... and that is a good thing!

Parker's Blog

At our Raisse meeting this morning, Dee and Erin talked about Parker's blog that he has been working on with students and I just checked it out. It is very cool and I think that setting up something like this for teachers would be a valuable resource.
The web address for Parker's blog if you are interested is http://theposterboard.blogspot.com

Rubrics and Change

Okay - this is my last post, and I will be caught up! One thing that I have gotten out of the RAISSE class if that the use of rubrics is more important than I ever thought. I felt like it took too much time, that it didn't give me enough leeway in grading projects, that it was just another piece of paperwork for me to do. But I am now a believer. Hard headed as I can be, I now see that it only makes life easier. And giving the rubric out at the beginning when you assign the project is the most necessary thing about it. It helps us be "accountable," it covers us when the students say, "I didn't know you wanted that!" And more important - it makes the students "ACCOUNTABLE." Why my brain wouldn't accept this all along - I don't know. We teachers sometimes get into our routines and watch that pendulum swing back and forth with "new" strategies that come and go, and come back. Many of these strategies that we have talked about were in CHRISS training about 10 or so years ago that we did in groups at LHS. There was also a "Summer Institute" one year that introduced such strategies as "Think, Pair, Share" and KWL and egg timers and other graphic organizers galore. The Janet Allen institutes are full of these same things with the addition of Read Alouds and a focus on literacy. What I have really liked about the format of RAISSE, is the study groups. I think that this have forced (encouraged is a better word) us to meet with teachers across the curriculum with whom we wouldn't normally have pedagogical conversations. Ideas that work in science class might have never occurred to me to try in my English class, but I have gotten great ideas from the math, science, special ed, computer technoloy, and broadcast journalism teachers in my study group. This has been a wonderful and enlightening experience. Thanks to everyone.
Vicky J

Story Book Assignment

I used this activity with my Public Speaking class. Most of them enjoyed it and were successful in the creation of it and the presentation of it. Some students had trouble understanding how to present complicated material in a story book format. They kept asking, how are little kids going to understand it? I explained that this was the format for the project. Maybe no little kids would actually read it. Some could not grasp this idea. But for the most part it was a success. First I gave them asn assignment sheet with topics from which to choose, explict expectation of what would be turned in, including an outline of the topic, a story board for their story, pictures in cluded, and a works cited page. Some of the topics included the communication process, what makes an effective speech communicator, nonverbal communication, barriers to effective listening, faulty reasoning, and stage fright. I also suggested some sites to help them format their works cited page. Once they had all finished their books and saved them to the O drive, I printed them out, and bound them using the library's binder machine. They LOVED getting their story books back looking so nice. We then invited classes to hear our presentations. Next time I think I will split this up between two days, so that it doesn't take an entire class away from the visitors, and I will have some sort of evaluation tool for visiting students to fill out. I enjoyed this activity as did the students and will be looking for other ways to incorporate it.
Vicky J

RAFT Writing

For my spotlight strategy, I chose to do a RAFT writing assignment, where students write from a different point of view (Role), for a specific Audience, in a specific Format, on a specific Topic. Again I used this activity with my English students while working on The Miracle Worker. The Assignment was to choose a character from the play, write a business letter to Dr. Anagnos, explaining the miracle that has taken place, how you feel about it as your character, and how you think it will affect the family and each individual other character - from your character's perspective. I gave them a list of brainstorming questions like the following. How would you describe your character? What are the desires of your character? Who are the important people in your character's life and why? What are your character's expectations at the beginning of the play? What are your character's feelings at the end of the play? What was the lesson your character learned? How does your character think this will affect each of the other characters? Next time I will create a graphic organizer for this purpose. Some of the students had a hard time answering these questions. Of course, then they drafted their letters, we went over the format for a business letter, and they rewrote their drafts in business letter form. We then went to the lab and typed and printed them out. Most of the students got a kick out of this assignment. Some had trouble staying in character throughout the letter, but I think it taught a good lesson in point of view. It also got them thinking about the feeling of the different characters.
Vicky J

The Miracle Worker - Using the Film in Class

As my movie project I used The Miracle Worker, which I usually show in class, but had an inspiration about how to make it better. One of the things I try to get the student to focus on is that stage directions when reading a ply or a screen play. Especially in this piece, many of the scenes have little or no dialogue, but are mainly stage direction, i.e. the dining room scene. Therefore I cam up with a graphic organizer for the students to use while watching the movie. I asked them to note colors, levels of lighting, and music used in certain types of scenes. Then after the movie we would go back to the literature book, and I would have them look for those scenes, read the stage directions to see if the movie followed them. Whether or not they did, they should decide if the techniques used helped to portray mood or theme in the movie. I ask them if they think the director made good choices and if not, what would they have done to make the mood more evident. I will use this one again, but I may modify it.
Vicky J

"How to Bartle Puzzballs"

At the beginning of the year our RAISSE representatives introduced an activity that I used with my class. At that time I was having trouble getting on the blog. Now, looking back at my journal, I wanted to share that experience. The students each got a copy of the reading selection. It includes gibberish words that create a paragraph that make no sense. Then there are questions about the passage. After giving them a chance to read the passage and letting them laugh and share their first impressions about it, I asked the question, "How many of you have ever read a passage with real words and felt like you had no idea what you just read?" All hands shot up. I asked, "What do you usually do about it?" Some answers included, "Just forget about it!" "Go on to something else." "Wait for the teacher to explain it." Then someone said, "Read it again." Yay! So I put them in groups and charged them to read it over and over again, try to decide what the gibberish words stood for, and reword it so that it made sense. After about 15 minutes, we came back together as a class. We went through the questions together, and tried to answer them using word placement, parts of speech, and guessing the meanings of words. Then we brainstormed strategies for comprehending what we read. Some of the suggestions were to read the passage at least five times, look at the words you already know (the little words) and try to figure out what the other words mean, look at the parts of speech to tell whether a word is a noun, verb, a name (proper noun), etc…, find the definitions of words, do some research on the topic, and many more. Then I suggested that they should try these strategies whenever they come across a passage that they don’t understand after reading the first time. It seemed to make a lot of sense to them. We have touched back on these strategies from time to time, but I think I could do more with the activity next time.
Vicky J

Does this count as a Post?

The Money Tree
by
Don Parker

When I was a boy in my hometown
People came from miles around
To see the great big Money Tree
That grew in the yard next door to me.

The people looked ‘till their eyes ‘most popped
To see the money that grew on top.
The big bills high and the little bills low.
The money grew from head-to-toe

The wind would blow and money fell
You ought to have heard the people yell.
Maybe a thousand or two would fall
But I could never get any at all.

One day a tornado with might force
Found the Money Tree in its course.
It twisted and turned as best as it could
Then finally splintered the tender wood.

Around the world the seeds were blown
And somewhere else a tree has grown.
I’ll search this earth ’till I’m old and grew
And find my Money Tree again someday.

Now life is like this tale I’ve told
It’s been that way since the days of old.
If you look you will find what you are searching for.
It might be found through the very next door.


P.S. I wrote this in middle school for a poetry contest.
The teacher accused me of cheating.
I never told anyone.
I didn't write for 20 years.
It's being made into a children's book.

This is torture!

I have sat here for hours trying to think of something to say. I have searched all of the Posts to find topics to which I can relate. Don't get me wrong. After reading all of the posts, it's obvious that you are all are very qualified teachers. For me, this is a grueling process. I teach technology. I am project oriented. Reading and writing is not easy. I am constantly questioning my choice of words, grammar, syntax, spelling (thank God for 'Spell Check"), and-on-and on. Are hyphens necessary? Does what I have written make sense? People can read what I have written! Yikes! I like things that are real. I don't like to B.S. However, I do have a feeling of accomplishment when I press "Publish Post". By the way, does the (.) go within or outside the quotation marks? Or is that "in or outside the quotes"? Help! Guard! Let me out!

Suggestions on Books?

Our special education department would like to order some new books for our classes that we can read as a class. We have several titles but many of the upper-classmen have already read them. Does anyone have any suggestions for some new titles that we could order?

A Long Way from Chicago

I have been reading A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck with my students and I have to say that this was a very fun book. I think we'll read the sequel when we finish this one. I haven't had as much time as I would like to read with my students because they have had so many projects for other classes, but hopefully, things will settle down and we can get back to a routine.

Mistaken Identity

I have read the book Mistaken Identity which is about the families of Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak. Their story was just recently shared on NBC's Dateline. Since I teach Health Science this book lead to much discussion in the classroom. We discussed topics such as how a body is identified, head injuries, health care workers who were involved in Whitney's care, and many more. Whitney suffered severe head trauma from the wreck she was in. This was a great way to open the study of the nervuos system in my anatomy class.

"Use Help, Please"

I am a technology teacher. The course is focused around Apple's Final Cut Pro, a professional video editing software application. It's a great program, but the learning curve is intense. Once you understand the process, if you can visualize it... you can make it happen. I give the students plenty of guided practice on how to navigate the interface and how to accomplish basic editing tasks.
I make a list of terms and questions whose answers can be found in Final Cut Pro's Help. Once I turn them loose to create their own video projects and they have "How To" questions, and there are many, I make them search for the answer in Help or Google. I believe that they have enough information to ask the right question using the terms and questions I have provided. Therefore, they should be able to discover the answer on their own.

Independent Reading

The practice of allowing students to select their own books is one I have always endorsed, and one of the reasons I am so excited to be a part of the English department here at GHS. For those of you who don’t know, English teachers here commonly require students to read three or four books “independently” during each English semester. Though some of this reading occurs at home, teachers also usually provide silent reading time in class for students to accomplish the task. One important characteristic of this reading experience is that the students, not the teachers, select the books. This allows students to explore genres they are interested in, or to discover what type of reader they are by sampling various texts. I feel this is one of the most useful strategies in building literacy because honest reading requires true interest, which is something we cannot force upon our students. By allowing students to pick their own books, we can be fairly certain that genuine reading takes place.
Of course, the issue of accountability always enters the picture. The standard “book report” assignment for independent reading seems to be note cards. These serve as class grades and double as incentives for Reader Rewards day. The other tricky bit is connecting students (especially reluctant readers) with books they really want to read. Some teachers simply require students to find reading material on their own, others take their classes to the library, and still others provide texts through personal classroom libraries (though I have a feeling most teachers provide more than one of these options). I don’t care how a student finds a book, so long as he/she discovers something enjoyable. Being a book collector myself, I have found my natural inclination to be building up a sizable library in my room: my collection has grown by a few hundred books this school year. Of course, I highly recommend visiting thrift stores and/or used bookshops. You’d be surprised at the quality you can find so cheaply!
If you haven’t tried enticing your students to read by dangling class credit before their slavering jowls, I strongly recommend it. And since the reading is accomplished outside the classroom, you don’t even have to worry about losing instructional time. The rewards are well worth the slight effort on your part. I think your students will agree.

And One Makes Eight!

This is my eighth post, completing the requirement (yippee!). I did spend a little time reading others' posts this morning, and there are a lot of great ideas and, I'm proud to say, a bunch of folks who clearly have a passion for teaching. That makes my heart glad, 'cause it sure is easy to get cynical these days.
I think in my next life, I'll be an English teacher. Seems like so much of this cool stuff is more easily incorporated into teaching English. Besides, as Huck would surely NOT say, "Ain't readin' the mostest fun?"

Describe a Project you would like to Produce in Broadcast Production and how you would go about making it happen.

This is a post for my Broadcast Production Class. I meant to post on The Poster Board but posted here instead. Anyway, this is more like the kind of writing I want them to do.

Movie Lesson really resonated with students

I decided to show the movie Lorenzo's Oil again in my classes for this semester as part of the nervous system in Anatomy and genetics in Biology. It still amazes me how much this movie resonates with the students. To start with, I give them an anticipation guide with agree/disagree statements about the movie (such as "If a person has a terminal illness, everything should be done to keep them alive as long as possible," or "Parents have the right to make life and death decisions about their children without discussing it with them first"). The discussion these statements provide is quite lively and really starts their brains thinking in a good way. Then when we watched the movie, they were all awestruck at what was happening. It was amazing how a movie where nothing blows up and there's no real cursing or violence kept their attention. After the movie, we revisited the anticipation guide to see if any of their responses changed, and a lot of them said they had. I then showed them the myelin project website and the current information about Lorenzo (still alive and about to turn 30!). We ended the discussion with a poem written by lorenzo's mother that was turned into a song ("Lorenzo") by Phil Collins. I then had them do a freewrite or write a letter to Lorenzo which we will send to him. The students were so excited to hear he was still alive and that they could write to him. Their letters were very heartfelt and showed a great deal of compassion and sympathy I didn't think that they were capable of. We've now been referencing back to the movie all week as we talk further about our material, and I think the students are holding on to it a lot better now that they've made the emotional connection to the content. this is definately one I'm keeping for my bag o tricks, even though it requires a parent permission slip!

Spring Break Reading

I finished reading Stray (Autobiography of a Dog) to my physical science classes the week before spring break. A lot of the students really liked the book and looked forward to hearing the story each day. As an extension, I took my classes to the school library the Friday before break and gave them time to select a book to read over their week off. The carrot was a promise of a 100 quiz grade for those who read a book and brought it to class when we got back, then answered a few questions about it, with no penalty for those who chose not to read a book. I was surprised at how many students picked out a book, and how many wrote thoughtful responses to my questions. I think a lot more students would read on their own if we would give them opportunities to just get a book from the library rather than expect them to go get one on their own. Maybe once some of them see how much fun it is, they will get hooked. I plan to do this with future classes.

PE Reading Exercise

For the last 7 chapters of our Looking Good Feeling Good Textbook, I decided to change up the way I had previously presented the material. The students were given a syllabus with a packet of assignments for the last 7 chapters. Each week we go to the classroom the students already have it outlined what is expected of them. The students can work ahead or stay with the day we are on. In addition to the packet, the students have a reading exercise and place on a worksheet (already made to them) the heading of each section and 3 facts they read about. After completing the activity and reading exercise the students were allowed to use their information on the test. The reading exercise was stapled to the back of the test for proof of completion and also to show how little or how much work was done in relation to their grade. This has worked quite well in the PE class.

Don't Quote Me

Using quotes can be very interesting to to students. Find a quote that is related to your topic in some way and introduce it with a quote. Have the students discuss the meaning and see if anyone can find another related quote.

Update on Blog http://theposterboard.blogspot.com

I want to thank all of you who have commented on Class Blog at http://theposterboard.blogspot.com and for your support. For several days the class has not blogged. Why... because I haven't given them a topic. With the start of a new semester and wanting to "get off on the right foot," I have neglected posting a daily question for them to blog. They have missed it. Each day they come in and ask, "Do we have a blog today?" and now they've added "Why, not?" Why is it that when we find something that students enjoy and can learn from, we often miss the opportunity and stay in our comfort zones? I'm resolving today to blog everyday in my classroom. Thank you RAISSE for guiding me to this point.

Research Papers!!!

I have been working with an English I teacher who teaches the year-long English. She has a lot of struggling students and they have just begun the dreaded research papers. Today in the library, students were to research information about their topics. They were all lost as to what to do. The poor teacher and I were running around trying to help each student as their questions began to mount. These students didn't really understand what they were looking for or why, even though the teacher had gone into great detail about what to do. My question to everyone is... Does anyone know of a simple way to explain the purpose of research and the steps to completing research so that students who struggle with reading and writing can understand what to do?

It's all in the DESCRIPTION!

For my movie project I decided to do it on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Students completed a journal entry on the board where they wrote a description of a new character for the Harry Potter series. Then I did a Read-a-Loud from the book and read them the descriptions of Aunt Marge and the dementors. Then we viewed how the dementors were made from the video. The students really liked how the animators used the words from the book to make the character. After the video, I had the students look back at their journals and use Flash to create their character. It took them about two days to get through the assignment.

For the most part, they enjoyed creating their new characters.

Notebook Completed!

I am so excited that I have finished putting my notebook together. The letter for me was the most difficult part of the notebook. Trying to figure out what to say to someone about how to run my classes is quite challenging. I hope the rest of you have finished.

Reading First Initiative Model for Math Instruction?

In reading an article in improving the teaching of mathematics, they discussed the federal program of the Reading First Initiative that began its work over 10 years ago and has had over a $1 bilion a year grant program from the feds. According to the article, this panel recommended a nationwide "push for greater coherence in math instruction." NCTM has published "Curriculum Focal Points", a document that should help address how mathematics should be taught, especially at the early grades. I, frankly, am a proponent of basic skills and automatic recall so that the students of algebra can concentrate on problems of algebra and not on seven times eight. I also feel this parallel's the Reading First Program of teaching basic skills and how phonics connects to letters in the alphabet.

Basketball Vocabulary

We've been working on learning the different types of passes in basketball. I recently wrote the four different passes on a few basketballs and had students make passes to a partner. When a student received the ball, whateve type of pass was written at the top of the ball, they then had to say and make that type of pass. The students were able to pick up on the types of passes and transform this into a moving and learning exercise.

Research Papers!!!

I think broad topics are one of the reasons why students have a hard time with research papers. So many times in a rush to get it done, we leave our topics to broad. They become overwhelmed with the amount of information they are reading and can not decipher what needs to be in there and what is to be left out. This was very obvious to me when I produced my paper for the PACE program. I had way to much information. I could have narrowed it down to one simple topic. Just one simple idea. Hope it helps.

Hunting the Uncommon

Understanding vocabulary in a content area is important for the student to comprehend the ideas and concepts being taught. I found this exercise in a book I have recently read and thought that it was a great idea. The following is and example.

Hide and Hair

Hides were man's first clothes. Eventually he learned to weave the hair from hide into warm garments and coverings. Six products of hide or hair are defined below. Guess the words and the proper names that are their source.

1 & 2 Two curly or wavy furs, comparable in desirability,made from the skins of young lambs.

3. fine, downy wool growing beneath the outer hair of a Himalayan goat.

4. A soft, highly prized leather of goatskin tanned with sumac.

5. The skin of a sheep or goat, prepared for writing upon; paper made in imitation of this material.

6. Leather with a soft napped surface.

This is a fun way to introduce new vocabulary.

Dining Out with Computers

In my accounting class we read a short article about how computers help resturant employees and management teams create a better service experience for customers. After reading this article to the students, they were encouraged to find a different article about how technology helps in the field of their choice. Computers are used in almost all areas of business and play an integral part in most companies. After the completion of their research they were to write a short 50-75 word summary of their findings.

Meiosis Flip Card Book

My students were asked to read about crossing over during meiosis. They were then asked to take notes on a two column note sheet. On the left side of this sheet the phases of meiosis were listed, on the right side a description of each phase was written. Each student was given eight large index cards and asked to accurately draw and label each phases of meiosis. They were then given four different colors of yarn and asked to model crossing over on their prophase I stage of meiosis. The pieces of chromosome that crossed over during Prophase I had to be displayed at each stage of meiosis as they moved from meiosis I to meiosis II. When the flip books were finished each student used the cards to explain the process of meiosis to a classmate. The students then turned the two column note sheet over and wrote an analysis and conclusion to the activity. In this write up they were asked to discuss the results of the first and second meiotic division, how meiosis explains Mendel’s laws of segregation and independent assortment, and how this process increases genetic variation. The students liked this activity and their conclusions show a greater understanding of meiosis and genetic variation. I will use this activity again.

Literacy Day

PHS is planning a Literacy Day next December. One of the books chosen to read is A Thousand Splendid Suns. The author also wrote The Kite Runner. Erin gave me the book to read and, let me tell you, I started it and couldn't put it down. I read it in one weekend and still find myself thinking about the book. I thought of Afghanistan as being a "backward" third world country but this book opened my eyes to the reality that, before the Taliban, Afghanistan was a modern country with DVD players, Fanta orange, and movie theaters. I encourage all of you to read this book. It will open your eyes as well as the eyes of your students.

Cell Organelle Storyboard

I like the idea of using the storyboard format to make a study group cell organelle book.
Each group of four students will be given four organelles to give a description of, sketch and a write a script for the organelle’s function in the cell. Each person will pass their paper to the right and present one of their four member’s storyboard. Here is an example.

DESCRIPTION
1.MITOCHONDRIA-sites of chemical reactions that produce energy.
SKETCH

SCRIPT
I AM THE MIGHTY LITTLE POWER HOUSE OF THE CELL AND I PRODUCE ADENOSINE TRIPHOSPHATE (ATP) ENERGY THROUGH THE PROCESS OF CELL RESPIRATION.

Wordsmithing

A wordsmith is a person who makes and experiments with new words. I tried a wordsmithing activity with my Honors Geometry class when introducing the unit on quadrilaterals. The students used a three column matrix and searched the text for new geometric terms, which they recorded in the first column of the matrix. Then, they guessed what each term meant and wrote their guess in the second column. Next, they looked in the text for the definition of the term and wrote it in the last column. Finally they chose at least one of the new terms and rewrote it in an interesting or unusual fashion, which revealed the underlying meaning of the word. For example, one student wrote the word parallelogram as pairs-o-parallel. The students seemed to enjoy the activity because it allowed them to learn what they didn't already know about the terms, while allowing them to be creative at the same time.

Graphic Organizer for Mean, Medium, and Mode

Our last small group meeting inspired me to use one of the methods introduced by one of our teachers. It was a graphic organizer used to clarify the difference between mean, medium and mode. In Biology I Part II, I am in the middle of teaching population genetics. We are discussing stabilizing, directional, and disruptive selection. This will be a good activity to help student remember the difference between these terms as they study the different graphs of natural selection.

When Knowledge and Ethics Collide

I had my students silently read an internet article about biology and ethics. Then asked them if they thought it was ethical for scientists to use science technology just because they can. Here is one journal response.
From this article I learned about ethics and how they pertain to biotechnology and to biology. People argue that even though we can alter through gene therapy and other technology that does not mean we should. We are not gods, so should we play like we are? Personally I think that if we discover the information and it can help humankind, why not? I do not want to be the person that tells a mother we can not save your child because someone thinks the means to get the cure is unethical. Some things must be sacrificed for the good of man and animals.
The students seemed to find the article interesting and there were many different opinions about the ethics of biotechnology. The journal writes were good and the class discussion was excellent. I will do this activity again.

Four Perfect Pebbles Comments

I thought reading the book in class was great and very worthwhile, but I was in the middle of reading books of my own to my classes and had to stop doing that for a week, which was a not-so-good thing. If we are going to do this in the future, it would be good to know well in advance (if possible) about it so we can schedule other reading stuff accordingly. I think having all your teachers read the same book to you is a very good thing. It may be weird for some students, but hearing the different ways adults read gives students a sense of what good aloud-reading is and what it is not, what to emulate and what to avoid.

Recognizing Reading Strategies

A fellow teacher is working on an assignment with her class in which students respond to othere poeple's responses and asked me to read a short story and respond to it. I found myself reflecting on the comprehension strategies I use while reading. I realize that I do stop often and ask myself questions. I also connect the text to my other experiences.
My point in telling this is that I need to work with my students on recognizing what strategies they use while reading and teach them more of these new strategies.

Update on Blog http://theposterboard.blogspot.com

I want to thank all of you who have commented on Class Blog at http://theposterboard.blogspot.com and for your support. For several days the class has not blogged. Why... because I haven't given them a topic. With the start of a new semester and wanting to "get off on the right foot," I have neglected posting a daily question for them to blog. They have missed it. Each day they come in and ask, "Do we have a blog today?" and now they've added "Why, not?" Why is it that when we find something that students enjoy and can learn from, we often miss the opportunity and stay in our comfort zones? I'm resolving today to blog everyday in my classroom. Thank you RAISSE for guiding me to this point.

Class Blog at http://theposterboard.blogspot.com

My classes are now blogging. The process has been very rewarding. It has taken three days to get everyone "invited" to participate. After much trial and error, I have discovered that the smoothest way to "invite" is to have the students:
1. Create a Google Account
2. Create a Gmail Account
3. Invite to Blog via their Gmail

Everything seems to go smoother when you stay in "Google World".
I had problems with the "invitation to join the blog" that I sent to emails other than Gmail. It was difficult to accept and to respond to the invitation.
When Usernames and Password are "Googlized", the process is friendlier.

Please go and view the blog at http://theposterboard.blogspot.com
We are in our infancy, but I believe that I am bringing them along as I grow and become more at ease with the process.
They started out responding by "texting", but each day as we review and comment on their work, they seem to be improving.
the important thing at this point is that they seem to like the activity.
I am open to all suggestions.
Yesterday I created a different post for each class and they expressed their dislike for not being able to read all their fellow students comments on one post. Hopefully they are learning from each other.

I'll "Keep You Posted".

Math Books

I ordered some books today on Amazon.com to use in my classroom. I am really excited about receiving these books. I ordered the following books: A Gebra Named Al and its sequal, Hannah Divided, and Equal Sequal. These books are mostly related to Algebra. I really liked using Amazon to order the books. When you find a book that you like, Amazon gives you a list of related books. There are more math books out there than I thought!

Formal Language/IDK, my BFF, Jill?

The question of the ages! In our last study group meeting, a teacher talked about an activity she used where she allowed students to write a "Text Message" to her (on paper). The topic, I think, was a response to an earlier activity they had done. She was amazed at the depth of their thinking when not forced to use formal language. The activity sounded fun and productive. I like this activity. It can be used to reach the students, get them thinking, and then slowly transition them into writing Standard English. This sparked a discussion on the future of the English language. We all agreed that we don't want to see formal language change or even disappear, but can the evolution of language be stopped? The use of different discourses by people in different places in society won't change, will it? So what will happen? Maybe the discourses will become even more diverse. What we as teachers must do is try to continue to teach a standard by which the different segments of society will continue to be able to communicate. I don't think it will ever come to the point of losing formal English altogether - at least I hope not. All we can do is try to teach them what we know, stand up for our pedagogical beliefs, and keep on truckin'. My grandmama used to say, "Just do the best you can with the sense you have, and let God take care of the rest."
Vicky J

Special Education Consultation

Since the start of the semester, I have been going into classrooms on a regular basis to assist our resource students. Here are a few observations...
1.) We have wonderful teachers at GHS! They teach so that a student with a learning disability is able to grasp new concepts. They are willing to give extra support to the students and have been great about keeping me informed of happenings in their classes.
2.) Teachers are welcoming to me and don't seem to mind my presence in their classes! Thanks!
3.) I'm amazed at how many general education students struggle with basic material, especially in math. In many cases our special ed. students are doing much better.
4.) Why don't students take notes? When I am in a classroom, I am frantically taking notes. When do they learn how to take notes? I guess I need to work on that with my students.
5.) A lot of material is covered every day in every class. Students MUST study on a regular basis to keep up.

I am really enjoying going to the classes and I think it is helping our students. I am able to give copies of my notes to students and keep students aware of upcoming and ongoing assignments in their regular classes! I am grateful for this opportunity!
Debra McDonald

II. The Evolution of Discourse – Technological Adaptations

Ruddell discusses how literacy has evolved rapidly over the past fifteen years or so due to the explosion of technological communication. He argues we cannot afford to define literacy strictly, but must expand our definition to include burgeoning, new literacies. I agree, but again with qualifications.
The advent of the Internet has dramatically altered the way we experience literacy today. I am certain that all of my students with cell phones and Internet access invest more effort and time typing to their friends than they do writing for personal reasons or scholarly pursuits. This prevalence of technology has brought with it unprecedented expediency. It has also generated new Discourses, such as the significantly abbreviated messages sent through instant messaging programs and cell phone texts, not to mention the highly specialized lingo of online gaming enthusiasts. At times, communicating within an online gaming community can be like speaking an entirely different language, so it is easy for me to understand Ruddell’s point that we must be as adaptable as our students if we have any hope of keeping up with their fluid understanding of literacy.
There comes a point, however, when foreign Discourses can infiltrate the domain of a well-established language system. It is one thing to send a 160-character-limit text message to a friend; it is another thing entirely to include “u,” “IDK,” and “LOL” in formal writing assignments. Are these abbreviations really acceptable expressions in graded work? Shouldn’t students understand the concept of using different Discourses for different audiences? Normally I would admit that such distinctions fall largely on the shoulders of English teachers, who are already charged with differentiating between what is considered appropriate for various circumstances and readers. However, I feel this epidemic has become so widespread that all teachers have to deal with this “evolution” in language. I guess what really bothers me about this trend isn’t its abuse of the English language, but rather its contribution to the breakdown of social conventions. The more students weave techno-Discourse into their daily writings, the harder it becomes to differentiate between formal and informal registers. Hypothetically, within a generation or two there will be no real distinction.
Interestingly (to me, anyways), we are managing to stay abreast of current trends in this fluctuating use of the ever-changing English language. Despite my ivory-tower-mindedness concerning the “appropriate” use of language, I actually embrace the idea that language responds to its environment like a living organism would. When Ruddell argues that teachers must take it upon themselves to adapt to the changing times, I can’t help but think that our very participation in a RAISSE blog is evidence of our commitment to this very ideal. It seems we are already undergoing a transformation that will allow us to operate on the same “page” as our students. My question is, should we wholeheartedly support this change (a la “survival of the fittest”), or is there a point at which we should remain steadfastly true to the literal page before the digital world makes the printed word obsolete?

I. The Nature and Range of Discourses

A central portion of Ruddell’s argument is Gee’s idea of Discourses (almost certainly borrowed from Russian philosopher/literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin’s Dialogic Imagination). For those of you without access to Chapter 1 of Ruddell’s text Teaching content reading and writing, “Discourse” is defined as “ways of thinking, acting, speaking, believing, valuing, [and] interacting…. Like chameleons, we are all highly capable of participating in a variety of Discourses” (6).
As I understand it, there is a distinct Discourse for every hat one might wear – each social role brings with it its own specialized language or dialect, in addition to behavioral expectations. I think we’re all accustomed to this idea on a fundamental level. We implicitly recognize that our speech patterns differ depending on context and surroundings. The language and behavior we use at home differs from that which we use at school, or in a conference, or at a social gathering. In linguistics, these varieties of language are called “registers,” and I feel the issue of registers is of special importance when discussing the development and refinement of literacy.
As an English teacher, I feel it is crucial to expose my students to formal registers. As Ruddell says, all students “can read something” – the trick is to ascertain where their reading skills lie and to build upon those foundations (7). In my experience (however limited it might be), students come to us as experts of the informal registers they use at home and with friends, but with very little experience with formal language. This is the source of one of my biggest struggles. Do I drill grammar, spelling, punctuation, usage, mechanics, and other facets of Standard English? Or do I grade holistically, paying little attention to conventions and greater attention to content and quality of thought? I suppose I should alternate between the two, but for some reason I am having a difficult time balancing the two extremes. My own secondary education stressed precision and accuracy in communication, which is probably one of the reasons I entered the English field to begin with. But my coursework in Education tended to push me in the direction of leniency…after all, how can I expect all of my students to operate on an advanced level? In a perfect world, I could differentiate my instruction to highlight content vs. convention with ease, but I’m grappling with this issue right now.
The idea of Discourses is similarly prevalent to teachers of other subject areas as well. Effectively, each course has its own Discourse. In order to succeed, students must become literate in each class. Because every field of study has its own jargon, every teacher is responsible for instructing students in the specialized language of that field. Ruddell chastises teachers who expect students to come fully prepared with all the literacy skills (Discourses) necessary to excel, because teaching these Discourses is one aspect of instruction in every class. He has a point – it is unreasonable to expect a middle school student to enter high school with all the vocabulary and reading/writing skills needed for all classes. However, I don’t feel it is at all unrealistic to expect a certain degree of experience and skill. I am dismayed when my students don’t exhibit even the basic literacy skills that society has agreed should have been mastered in elementary school. That is just one of the (necessary?) evils of social promotion, but that’s another issue entirely.
With all of this in mind, I would like to pose a few questions:
1) What level of literacy expertise can we expect our students to have coming into our classes?
2) What improvements can we reasonably expect to make in the course of 45/90/180 days?
3) If students are masters at some Discourses and novices at others, what pre-existing, fundamental literacy skills can we draw upon in each of our fields as a starting point for our own studies?
4) To what degree should we permit informal registers to enter our classrooms, and when should we enforce the use of formal registers? (for example, distinguishing between daily journal writing versus end-of-term research papers)
5) How do we cope with the constantly evolving techno-literacies and weave them into all classrooms?

I’m not expecting responses to all of these questions, but any thoughts would be appreciated. Ruddell skims the surface of the last issue (technological literacy) in his chapter, and I’d like to discuss it separately in another post.

foldables

I use these a good bit in class. They are easily adapted to many different topics. Students really enjoy making these projects and then they have good study materials for later. The material for the students doesn't break my bank as much as other strategies that suggest using post-it notes and such that I don't really enjoy purchasing. Also with the foldables the student can use their own supplies--paper and colored pencils.

Trying to appreciate enthusiasm

It's that time of year again. You know what time. That's right. Spring Break is approaching, the school year seems to be dragging and summer is a long way away. I keep hearing it as I go through the hallways, "spring break will never get here;" "we've got two months left after spring break; how will we survive?" "It's a long time until summer." Now, you might think the students are saying this, and I'm sure they are; but I've been hearing this from teachers. Every single day. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm a little bit guilty of this. My wife and I are both teachers, so we're both feeling the crunch/drain. However, why is this? Instead of complaining and looking at the downside, I/we need to appreciate how much time we've got left. I have a pretty good bunch of kids this semester. Sure, my 3rd block is very, very, very, very, very talkative. However, instead of seeing this as a negative, I need to focus on the fact that they are just enthused. I'll ask a question, and six people want to answer at the same time. That's a good thing. I've got the slackers, of course, but I've got a bunch of hard workers. Let's take a moment to appreciate this and not complain. I had a group last semester that was HELL! Started with 19 (15 were repeaters), finished with 11 and no one failed the class--with very little help from me. I have very few repeaters, no discipline problems--except for talking--and everyone seems to enjoy the class. I should be sad the semester is coming to a close. It's hard, I know, but let's enjoy the kids we've got while we've got them. Even the one in the back that has to shout out the most ridiculously stupid thing that you've heard every semester for the past five years but he thinks is so original. Appreciate his unoriginality and copy-cattedness. It's not easy, but we're teachers. It's our job.

Story writing - Pass Along

My students have been learning to write in the past tense, in level 3 Spanish, and they just did an exciting activity that I wanted to share. Everyone would have a sheet of paper out and write the first line of a story: ex. Once upon a time there was..., In a galaxy far far away. Then, I would tell them to pass their story to the right. That person would write the second line of the story and so on. The students would have to read what the other person wrote, proofread it, and use their creativity to write the next line. After passing the story many times, the last person would read the story and draw a picture on a piece to describe the story. In the end, we would sit in a large circle and the original owner of the story would read their story out loud to everyone! This was great and the students were rolling on the ground laughing about the crazy things that people wrote. This kind of "tricks them" into learning. So many standards are met when doing this activity. I would definetly suggest other teachers doing this!

Socratic Seminar

This week two of my classes enjoyed the use of Socratic Seminar. It works well with smaller classes. They enjoyed the physical arrangement of the circle and seemed to feel more comfortable in presenting this way.

Marianne Haney

Dealing with all of that male testerone

It's happened to me once again, and I cannot stand it. Once again, I've been given a class of mostly guys. Out of 19 students, there are only three girls (and very quiet ones at that). Also, half the class is made up of football and rugby players. You know the type. The real "men's men" type. Don't get me wrong. These are a great group of guys. They do their work, they don't complain (too much--they are high school students), and they're respectful and polite. However, they show no interest in anything. They do their work, but they are lifeless about it. I can give a literary assignment, they'll do it, but don't even think about getting them to share their opinions or asking them to discuss what they read. They just want to write their views down and move on. It is a completely unemotional group. The girls have become just as bad. They won't say anything because they are afraid of being made fun of by the guys for showing interest. How does one deal with this situation? How can you motivate a group of guys and get them to show some emotion when they have been trained not to show emotion, that emotion and interest are for girls? They just want facts and logic. That's it. Unfortunately, literature is not just facts and logic. It's about having a response to it. What to do?

Triskaidekaphobia

I recently found an article about triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number thirteen. I thought that my math students would enjoy reading this article. This week my students are going to read this article and complete a follow up writing assignment. The writing assignment asks them to describe some of their fears about mathematics. If they do not have any fears about math, they are asked to describe fears that they have about another school subject.

Read Aloud in PE

I've tried the read aloud on a few occassions. My latest attempt was with my PE/Basketball classes. The book , "Playing for Knight" , is about a basketball. One would think a basketball class would enjoy an excerpt about a basketball player. The generall consensus was lets go to the gym now.. I must say one student did come up to me during class and ask to borrow the book. So, I guess you could call it a success ....one student at a time.

Spanish/English Book Activity

My Level 3 Spanish Students have learned about the past tenses and are now trying to write stories using both the preterit and the imperfect. I borrowed an English fabel book that begins talking about....Once upon a time....and they are going to do fun reading exercises with it that connect with our standards. They are going to underline the verbs in the past tense and tell me if it were translated into Spanish, would the verb be conjugated in the preterit or the imperfect and why. This is going to help them with their essays they are writing about their lives, 1) what they were like when they were younger and 2) what were their favorite memories. Does anyone have any other ideas that I could do with this English fabel book, maybe something that could be an extension of this before we do it?

Government Activity

The students will use foldables this week when they learn "How A Bill Becomes A Law."
They will write the major steps in both the House and Senate, and ultimately give the options the President has when he gets the proposed law.
I look forward to using this activity with them.

Marianne Haney

Activity

This week my US History seminar class made foldables with the sections of their book. They wrote the title of the chapter at the top of the sheet. Each section was written on each tab. The students were instructed to write five statements of fact from that particular section beneath the tab. Once started, they all caught on quickly. Most finished within the time period allotted in block. I will try this again.
Marianne Haney

Wanted Mathematician Poster

I recently had my Algebra I Part I students complete a project on famous mathematicians. Each student received a mathematician to research. The information that they found had to be put on an 8 1/2 X 11 "Wanted" poster. The students had to include the mathematicians name, birth/death date, birth country, the country they worked in, and 5 to 8 sentences describing what contributions they made to mathematics. Many of my students enjoyed this activity. I think many of them enjoyed it because it got us out of the classroom and into the computer lab. It also answered many of their questions like: "Who in the world came up with this stuff?"

Four Perfect Pebbles

Now that the "dust" has settled a little after Mrs. Lazan's visit, I am wondering what y'all thought about the read aloud exercise. How did your students react? A couple of students told me that they liked the reading part, but they didn't like the different teacher voices. They said they kept getting confused because one teacher would read one way, and the next would sound different. That one surprised me, but it made sense.

Do you think we should try this type of thing again? Suggestions for improvement?

A Fantastic Essay That is Pure B.S.

I happened to come across this link about an essay posted to The New Yorker by Michael Chabon. If you know who the author is, the man is a brilliant writer who writes complex novels. He' s even won the Pulitzer Prize for The Adventures of Cavalier and Clay. The man must be a walking dictionary because I don't know half the words he uses most of the time. Also, he loves, and I mean loves, superheroes and the mythology surrounding them. His essay is titled, "Secret Skin: An essay in unitard theory" and is about how superhero costumes can never be realistically possible because they would look too ridiculous to ever be taken seriously. He approaches this with a scientific eye and analyzes each part of the costume, including the hood, mask, gloves, boots, trunks, everything. It is amazing how much analytical detail he goes into. It's like reading a scientific journal article about how cholosterol leads to heart disease. It's just written in such a tone. However, upon finishing it, you will realize that the whole essay is total B.S. because who really cares about the functionality of a superhero's cape. You still have to admire the writing style of the man, though. He's brilliant but full of crap, which makes for an enjoyable read. Check it out:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_chabon

If only our students could write so well.

Read Across America Day

Read Across America Day is Monday, March 3, 2008. The NEA’s website is rich with resources for implementing our own read across America programs.
http://www.nea.org/readacross/index.html ......You may wish to check it out.. .. I would love to…if I had any time….

Modified Vocabulary Matching

After the success of the first vocabulary matching cards activity I did with biochemistry, I decided to do it again for the cell organelles in Biology 1 Part 1. This time, however, I did it a little bit differently but with surprisingly great results.

For the lesson on the organelles, I have always had my students correlate cell structures to city structures and then create a "Cell City" where they draw and label a poster of a city with the names and functions of the cell organelles. This has worked fairly well in the past, but when students reached Biology 1 Part 2, they could often remember the name of the organelle and what city structure it was, but not necessarily the function of it.

What I did was to take the vocabulary matching activity with the 3 piles of cards, one with the organelle, one with the function, and one with the picture and changed it slightly so I had 2 piles, the organelle name and function piles, but copied some pages with large pictures of each organelle on them. Then I had the students color and cut out the pictures and arrange them in a poster "cell," then label it with the other two piles of cards. This worked amazingly well! The students were engaged in the activity and had fun trying to match up the picture, word, and definition while trying to build a giant plant cell. As an added challenge, I had several of each type of organelle (where appropriate) so that students could see that cells don't always have just one of everything. I then used this activity as a springboard for the cell city project, and got better results from that then I have ever gotten before! This was a great way to add another element of critical thinking and understanding to the vocab matching activity by having them construct something using what they were matching. The students also seem much more able to recall the facts about the cell organelles as well! I am definately sticking this one in my bag o' tricks!

Vocabulary Strategy

I used a chart called "Alike but Different" to help my students differentiate between range, variance, and standard deviation in statistics. In previous years, the students always seemed to have a hard time keeping them straight, especially variance and standard deviation. This year, my concepts kids really liked the "Alike but Different" graphic organizer and they did much better on keeping the three straight in their minds on the quiz we had. I can't wait to see if it holds through to the test.

I can't wait to see the strategies that my study groupmates feature.

Adopting Mathematics Textbooks

Textbook adoption in many math areas is just around the corner. Our day at GHS, and listening to those wonderful speakers as they addressed many aspects of viewing textbooks, I found interesting and informative. There are many areas to look at. Of course, content, with minimal ambiguities, and specific relevance to the math area, be it, algebra, geometry or whatever, is of primary importance. The supplementary materials are an important factor as well, but certainly, as was addressed in the inservice, readability is a huge part of choosing the student friendly mathematics textbook. As we go through this process over the coming months we will concider the areas suggested by the speaker. Legibility of print, graphs, charts, pictures, colors, descriptions of the pictures and appropriateness of labels and placements within the topics discussed are all areas to be looked at.

Vocabulary Matching

To review the chemistry vocabulary for Biology 1 Part 1, I used the vocabulary matching activity Dee showed us. It worked really well! I had 3 stacks of "cards" (really I just printed, copied, and cut them on paper) and had the students match up the word, the definition, and a picture of an example of that word. They seemed to have a lot of fun doing and and most really took their time and really wanted to get it right. Even my 4th block class, which is not the most enthusiastic of the bunch, enjoyed this activity. I am planning on doing it again as a reinforcement for cell structures this week.

Literacy Day at Gilbert

I am still thinking about the segment from this morning's session that showed the eye-tracking involved with reading books that have illustrations. As a grandmother who often buys books I am going to be more aware of the placement of visual cues with regards to the verbal cues. Even though we had previewed our textbooks in our study session with Dee, Erin, and Mark I was reminded the role the organization of the verbal cues as well as the picture cues can play in instruction and learning. I have never been involved in a session involving the Socratic Circle, so I did walk away from the afternoon with a lot to think about and the ways it could be used in the classroom to engage students in the lesson as well as to develop deeper levels of thinking about issues or concepts. Thanks to the GHS staff who made the PHS staff feel welcomed. pwr

Medicine Man

This movie is about the race to find a cure for cancer in a rainforest that is disappearing around two scientists as they frantically carry out scientific research using scientific inquiry. They pose hypothesis after hypothesis and carry out scientific method to refute each one of these hypothesis, until the end of the movie when they find the answer to the problem. The scientists show the use of appropriate laboratory apparatus such as the gas chromatograph, which is an instrument used to analyze different bio-chemicals. They organize, interpret and evaluate data from a controlled scientific investigation which identifies the control, as well as independent and dependent variables. The movie exhibits the rainforest biome and alludes to the interdependence of all living organisms within this living system. The destruction of the rain forest means less rain and the encroachment of savannahs and deserts with each year, as well as the possible destruction of vast numbers of plant and animal species that possibly carry the cures for many diseases. I used this video to introduce scientific method. My students were given a worksheet with questions that followed along with the movie. They were asked to determine the problem, three different hypotheses, the control, as well as the dependent and independent variables. They were asked to do a journal write in which they discussed what they had learned and if they thought the movie helped them better understand the scientific process. Most students really liked the movie and thought it was helpful to see the field research involved in solving a scientific problem.

KUDOS

I just want to let all of you RAISSERs out there know how extremely impressed I am with all of the activities you are trying. I have truly been atonished at the amount of strategies being used at both Gilbert and Pelion. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!!!!!!!!

Finding Short Pieces to Read Aloud

I was looking over my books after our latest meeting, and I thought I would share some ideas about books in which I have found some good Read Alouds. When my parents were cleaning out their old books, I snagged a few that have great pieces in them. I found several Books of Amazing Facts, Facts and Fallicies, Guiness Books of World Records, Travel Stories, Amazing Stories of the TwentiethCentury, etc... Some of these are a little out dated, but they have some interesting stories. Also, whenever I happen to be strolling the flea markets, or antique malls, or garage sales, I always see lots of books for $1 or less. Sometimes there are books like these stuck in the bottom of the box. In fact I picked up a few good ones at the LMS garage sale over the summer. Finding the right Read Aloud for a lesson could be serendipitous or it might take some reading. I don't know if that helps, but anyway...
Vicky Jackson

One of the books we read in US History is The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw. The students like choosing stories to read and journal. The primary stories are written by people who lived during that time period and were close to the age of the students.

Badminton Vocabulary

In PE, I gave a test on the Badminton equipment vocabulary with just a study sheet. I gave the test to the students yesterday and many failed the test. My plan next week is to re-teach the vocabulary for the equipment using the vocabulary words, racket, birdie, and badminton court diagrams with placing the words on the correct parts of the equipment. This will help with visual and the actual parts of each equipment while learning the words. I am hoping this literacy strategy will help the students pass the test.

We use several types of scavenger hunts in our classes. One involves a Constitution Scavenger Hunt in which the students have to find a list of items in the Constitution. They have to write down the Article, section and clause to prove that they have found it.

Marianne Haney

In our AP US Government class, the students analyzed their political ideological beliefs by visiting several websites and writing the results. The students were able to compare their beliefs to famous people as well. It's interesting sometimes when a student thinks they're liberal, and then discover that they are closer to moderate or conservative.

Marianne Haney

For the past couple of weeks, students in AP US History have been researching and working on a newspaper project of the Gilded Age. They researched the people, events, economy, technology, politics, etc. of the era and composed a newspaper on publisher. Included in the project, was an obituary, an editorial, a political cartoon and an advertisement. The students enjoyed seeing the ads during the time period, and sharing these newspapers with the class.

Marianne Haney

Adding Clipart to make reading/handouts/notes more fun

I have noticed a difference in my classes with thier graphic organizers that I had out and other notes when I add clipart. They seem to be more engaged and less afraid of work. I add clipart on tests to make them more relaxed. I love to see them smile about the clipart as handouts and readings are handed out. Some people might think that the clipart is a little "elementary" or "too childish" but the students appreciate the fact that I am trying to make their notes and other material more friendly. For example, I teach Spanish and when teaching about J-stem irregulars in the preterite tense, I found a little dog thats body and tail formed the letter J and it was really cute. All of my PowerPoints have a handout with 1/2 the notes already written out for them, so that we can move along with the material and not waste time with note taking. Their notes are extremely helpful when they are going to study for a test or quiz because their notes are organized. If you haven't tried doing this for your students, you should try it and enjoy the reaction from your students!

class activity

This week in US History, my class did an activity called written conversation. Working in pairs, they read a section of their chapter and then wrote their reaction to what they read. The students enjoyed it because they could write notes in class and pass them back and forth to their partner. They read silently and seemed to enjoy this activity.

Marianne Haney

Re: Teaching to the Test

I am a physical science teacher and can relate to the issue of teaching to the test. We have increasingly eliminated interesting aspects of science education, including hands-on activities, in an effort to sufficiently cover the standards so students can demonstrate knowledge on a 55-question EOCT. I could view this cynically and say that the main goal is to make the school and the district look good, but I choose to view it positively and say that at least the students have demonstrated some basic knowledge.
By focusing on the tested standards we have improved our performance tremendously, but at the cost of taking a lot of the "fun stuff" out of science. This semester I am giving up quite a few hours of instructional time to read books to my classes -- about 10-15 minutes a day. Though I hope not, I expect my scores to decline somewhat as a result, but am convinced that in the long run the students will be better off. I am already getting a good bit of positive feedback from the students, and when I finish my book I am going to take the classes to the library to check out a book. Then I will let them write a brief commentary on the books they have read and give them extra credit for it.
Sometimes you just gotta do what feels right, and this feels OK to me.

FitnessGram and Looking Good Feeling Good Chapter

During PE class, all students participated in the Fitnessgram for a week. The students tabulated their scores and then the next week we went to the classroom for our one day a week session. In the classroom the students used their scores to help them with Chapter 2. We discussed which tests/scores represented health related fitness and which tests/scores represented skills related fitness. The students did a great job listing and relating the two items. I believe next time I will have the kids also input their scores into the fitnessgram program on the computer for media literacy. Any thoughts on how to make this different???

Teaching to better students or teaching to the test

I was thinking back the other day to a conversation I had with a collegue. The person told me that everything s/he was going to read/teach was to prepare for the End of Course test at the end of the semester. Everything. This person was not going to do anything that wouldn't prepare students for the test. Now, I completely understand why the person felt this way. Now that these tests are a part of school report cards, there is more pressure on teachers to help their students do well. If your school doesn't get an "Excellent" rating because the passage rate goal wasn't met, then you better believe there is going to be pressure on these teachers to meet that passage goal. However, when has teaching become all about the test? I feel like the strategies and ideas promoted in this course do more than just help us teach to the test. I don't want to just teach to the test. Yes, I do want my students to pass these high stakes tests. I would love to have a 100% passage rate. However, it just bothered me a little when this colleague said this to me. Again, I completely understand it; but it's sad that education has come to this. Let's face it. The reality is that test scores are everything. We can come up with the most engaging fantastic lesson imaginable; but if these lessons don't help raise test scores, then you better believe you'll be told these lessons are the wrong way to go.

Time to cause some vocabulary controversy

I was looking back at the section in the textbook on teaching vocabulary. Now I know I'm going to start some controversy on this, but I have to say it (maybe because I like to cause some intellectual debates in my classes). Do we really need all of these fancy, all-out methods of teaching vocabulary? Having word meaning graphic organizers, vocabulary trees, and other methods sound nice; but are they really needed? If I was a high school student, heck even today as an adult, and I was given the task of making a word meaning graphic organizer for some words, I would laugh and just take a zero. Who needs all of that work? Do we really need to have kids figure out the prefix and suffix, the etymology of the word, examples of where the word is found and other such tasks? I think our motives are fantastic. Yes, we need to increase students' vocabulary skills. However, is this the way to go? Does this really work or is it teaching students that vocabulary is a pain? Granted, giving words and definitions and then quizzing them does not work either. They memorize the words five minutes before the quiz and then forget them 30 seconds after the quiz. However, there has to be a happy medium. As soon as I figure it out, I'll write a book and become rich. Until then, anyone have any great ideas for teaching vocabulary?

Graphic Organizers!!!

We have discussed the use of graphic organizers to increase understanding. Graphic organizers can also be really nice when giving notes. I have tried using them to organize notes from a lecture or direct instruction. Students then know exactly what to listen for and it helps them organize their notes.

I found this site...http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/spanish/ which has a HUGE amount of graphic organizers. This is the Spanish link, but you can also get them in English. This page includes traditional graphic organizers (KWL) but it also has some more fun graphic organizers. My favorite is the "Sandwich" which actually uses a sandwich with bread, tomatoes, lettuce, and meat! Currently we are doing a read aloud about an illegal family from Bangladesh. The students are going to be asked to determine a theme, details and major events that take us through the story (meat, tomato, and lettuce) and then summarize how it ends in one sentence. Based on time restraints, they may even make predictions on the ending based on the events leading up to the end. With our upcoming school wide read aloud, this may be a good tool to use to hold the students accountable and help them keep up with the story throughout the day? Just a thought. Hope y'all enjoy this wonderful resource.

Writing About Graphs

One of the things that I struggle with in my Intro to Algebra classes (these are the students in the bottom quartile on standardized tests) is getting them to understand that slope is a rate of change and what this will look like on a graph. One of the activities that I tried this week is to have them look at a graph and write a story explaining the time passing and the rate of speed. My students really got into this activity. They were actually quietly working and being creative and learning. It was great. Some of them got so involved in the activity that they wanted to make their own graph to write a story about. I am thinking about making this a children's book or making it more detailed by using Powerpoint.

Newspapers and Mathematics

Reading a summary of this book, A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper , I thought that I would try some of the techniques in my Algebra 1, part 2 class. When we got to the statistics, I saw that the newspaper was an excellent source of very relevant data. The students were required to read a newspaper and gather some data that they found interesting. It could include any data, and these are a few of the topics that they worked with: sports, politics, health, fitness nutrition, and sales prices. We did stem-n-leaf plots, box-n-whisker plots, scatter plots and lines of best fit. We found mean, median, mode, range, upper and lower quartiles,. rates of change, and their final task was to verbally summarize as they went along.
The next time we do this activity, I will try to make time for oral presentations as well.

Blind Writing

As we finish reading The Miracle Worker in English I Part 1, I am preparing them for a RAFT writing assignment. One activity we did to prepare for this was a Blindfold Activity. I blindfolded students in groups of four at a time. Then each of those students had to perform some task in the room, like place a marker in a cup full of markers without turning it over. The cup was across the room. One student did turn it over and had to find all of the markers and put them back. (I told them ahead of time how many there were.) Another activity was to put papers in order that had hoes punched in the upper right corner. The page with one hole first, two holes second, etc... Then they had to staple them. Another group had to writ their names on paper after folding it in half. After the activities, students wrote about their feelings while they were blindfolded and their observations of others doing the activities. Later we will use these notes to help them write a RAFT paper. (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) Students will choose a role of one of the characters in The Miracle Worker and write a letter to Aunt Ev from the play explaining the miracle that has taken place. I hope to see many masterpieces from this!
Vicky

Twice Told

I just processed a really cool book that I think would be interesting to use in a class. The title is Twice Told: Original Stories Inspired by Original Art. Scott Hunt, the artist, says in his introductory note:
"So I did a series of nine drawings, using a visual vocabulary of clues to suggest stories - stories that the viewers have to discover for themselves. And then we gave each of the drawings to a different pair of authors and asked each of them to write a story based on what they imagined was going on in the picture. The following collection is the delightfully surprising result.:

The authors of the short stories include YA authors Sarah Dessen, Ellen Wittlinger, William Sleator, Nancy Werlin, Alex Flinn, etc. It would be very interesting to read both stories inspired by the art, and then have the students use the "Written Conversation" strategy for either or both stories.

Is there anyone who would like to partner with me in this endeavor?
Janet

Music in the Classroom

Several people have discussed how they use music in the classroom, so I thought I would share this site and information.
http://www.voicesacrosstime.org/
It is primarily a history resource, but I think some of the ideas could be used in a variety of classes.

The information about their institute is quoted below. I would love to go, but I doubt that I will be able to do it! Maybe someone can.
------
Summer Institute
Voices Across Time was also the basis of a Summer Institute for Teachers funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and hosted by the University of Pittsburgh. Offered in 2004 and 2006, we hope to offer the Institute again in 2008.
----
Janet

Telling a Story by Making a Music Video

In my Broadcast Production classs, students learn how to tell a story by producing a Music Video. I like to have them use "Oldies"
making because the lyrics are descriptive and benign. When I play the song for the first time, they think it's too old and not hip, but once they get into the process and story telling they have a lot of fun with it. Surprisingly, some of their favorite videos are these "oldies". I'll put some up at www.lexington1.net/phs/video.html for you to view. I like "Charlie Brown"...that's me playing the grumpy teacher. Also, "Hey, Mickey"and some others. Bookmark the site page and over time I'll put some more up. We have a few almost "in the can".

Give me until about 12 pm today to get the page uploaded.

enjoy,

yogidon

Online Books that are Interactive for Foreign Language teachers

This is an awesome site that has an interactive story - like a comic book. You can also choose the names of the characters. After you choose, the story is read aloud to you. The teacher does not have to read it to them. http://www.storyplace.org/sp/eel/eel.asp?themeID=12 I am planning on using it with my students today. This is wonderful for all levels of students, since they have infant books and up. I kind of got hooked on it today - and I can't wait to use it with my students today!