Class Reflection
Let me start by saying that this class was nothing like I expected. When I found out I had to take Reading in the Content Area I was not excited. I just knew I was going to have to read some books, write some reports, and do some projects…the same old junk. However, I was very pleasantly surprised! I have learned so much in this class not only about literacy techniques but about how and where to look for resources. I found materials related to my content area, strategies that could be used in any classroom, and resources that I will make an effort to use. I am more excited about my next year of teaching because I feel like I have found a support system in this supply of information. I really found the Discovery and United Streaming websites to be extremely useful to me and plan on using them much more in the future. I also like the vocabulary strategies in the last articles. They made me take a long look at the importance of this instruction in every classroom and I definitely plan on using some of the strategies in future teaching. I will definitely continue to look for resources, now that I know where and how to look effectively. I think I will continue my blog and may even set up another one for my students to post their work. I think it could be a great way to get parents and families involved in the education of their child. Thanks to all of you. Your comments were very helpful and encouraging. Good luck with your teaching and /or schooling!
Erin McIntosh
Unit 4: Lesson Plan 2
Baby Budget
http://www.teenageparent.org/english/baby_budget.html
Through this lesson students will explore the estimated financial cost of having a baby. I would use this lesson in a unit on Teen Pregnancy and Parenting Decisions. I would begin by having students estimate what they think it would cost to raise a child for a week, month, year, and/or lifetime. They will complete two Baby Cost Worksheets one for estimations and one for actual costs. To get the actual costs, students will have to check sales papers, go to stores, call around, etc. When they have prices for listed supplies they can enter them into an online Baby Budget Calculator to get the grand total. You could then have them think about things not listed like doctor’s visits, medicines, etc. I would then have them reflect on what they learned from this activity in a written essay.
Unit 4: Lesson Plan 1
Vital Vitamins
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/PEODoSomethingAboutEatingHealthyUnitDay2VitalVitamins912.htm
This is a lesson that is a part of a Healthy Eating unit. Through this lesson students will learn about different vitamins and how they function in the body. You open up the class by asking students if they take vitamins, what kind they take, and why they take them. Then you discuss the two groups of vitamins, water soluble and fat soluble, and how they generally work and function in the body. Students are then split up into groups and given a specific vitamin to research. They will have several questions and characteristics of each vitamin to research. I would probably have lab/library time set aside during one class period for them to do their research. When the research is complete, each group makes a “Vitamin Card” or poster listing their information. Each group would be required to present their vitamin to the class but would be encouraged to do so in a creative and self chosen way. Lastly I would have students reflect on their own diets and write about how vitamins and nutrients play a part in it.
Unit 4: Summary of Resources
When searching for lesson plans I was amazed at how much is really out there. I found an abundance of lesson plans related to my curriculum, even though I had to dig a little deeper for them. I even found some listed under other content areas. For example, I found some nutrition lesson plans listed with the sciences and some consumer awareness plans listed with social studies. Many of the lesson plans I found included games, videos, interactive activities, and reading material. I was so excited about all of these resources and will continue my search for new things to try as my career continues.
Unit 4: Article 2 Response
This article describes several strategies and activities teachers across all curriculums can use to teach vocabulary. The article points out that students spend most of their time at school outside of English class, so that should not be the only place that they learn vocabulary. Effective vocabulary instruction includes developing rich representations of word meanings and learning about how words work. These approaches give support to understanding and using text ideas through vocabulary knowledge. I really like the DASER format used by Mr. Pasley. I think it would be a great way for students to keep the vocabulary organized and they could put this in a notebook to keep for future reference or to study by. By having students find all of the parts of the DASER, students are learning many connections and associations to that specific vocabulary word. It also looks like it would be easy to reproduce and modify. I will definitely try this tool out next year!
This article really underlined the importance of vocabulary instruction in all content areas. I like that there were specific examples of the activities and strategies, I always understand better when I can see it. I now realize that I put vocabulary instruction on the back burner when it should have been a priority. I will definitely change this for the years to come.
Unit 4: Article 1 Response
This article describes a way of teaching research methods in ways that are both beneficial and exciting for students. Students have to learn about different genres of writing, how to cite sources, and where to find research material. They then take the information and put it into a “paper”. I think this is a great way to get students engaged and truly interested in a particular topic. I definitely agree that high school writing is “unoriginal” and to put it bluntly…it stinks. You would not believe the papers I get with “lol”, “bff”, “cuz”, etc. in them. It is completely ridiculous. I have found that students will only write exactly what they have to in order to get by. They put no effort, thought, or creativity into their writing samples at all. This project approach to writing research sounds fun and I could see students really being able to get immersed in it.
In reading the article several questions arose. One question I couldn’t help but wonder about is “Can students handle the freedom given with these papers?” To me, it seems that these papers are very loosely structured and some students would have huge problems with it. I find that my students, even though they will not admit it, are very needy and like for me to tell them exactly what to do. They want to know every single aspect of each assignment and how to do it. I think this is to keep them from having to do too much work. Very few of my students would be able to take these instructions and roll with them to make a great project/paper. Another question is “Do I have the time and resources available to spend on this multigenre paper?” It sounds like this is a pretty in depth and lengthy project to take on, not only for the students but for the teacher as well. I am not sure that with all of the test material to cover that I would have the time to devote to this. It also seems that you would have to have continued access to computers and unfortunately at my school I do not. Most of my students do not have computers at home either so they have to do what work they can at school. The final question I had was “Since this paper sounds like such a great idea, what good does a traditional research paper really do for the student?” It just seems to me that when compared to the multigenre paper the traditional research paper idea stinks. Although you will have students who would choose to stick to traditional assignments, students who choose to venture out will ultimately learn more and will enjoy doing it. I also feel that these sorts of projects will allow students to explore creativity and will prepare them for the competitive job market. They will learn to be more creative with their work and will be able to use that to their advantage when applying for jobs, interviewing, or making presentations. They can individualize their work as well.
Strategy 5
Your Name: Erin Mcintosh
Name of Strategy: PLAN: Predict/Locate/Add/Note
Source: Somers Central School District
Link: http://www.somers.k12.ny.us/intranet/reading/PLAN.html
Description: This is a strategy that students can use before, during, and after reading. Students make thinking maps or flow charts for each section of the notes. In the Predict section, students pre-read and predict the content and structure of the text using major headings and subheadings. In the Locate section, they assess their prior knowledge. They locate known and unknown information to help them decide how closely they need to read particular sections. In the Add section, students use comprehension skills by explaining new concepts and confirming and extending known concepts. In the final Note section, students use the information to organize and summarize.
SCOS: Family and Consumer Science for me but could be used in any curriculum.
Why will this work and how will it help students to learn?
Again in this strategy students have to take responsibility of their own learning. They also have to organize their information in a way that will help them summarize and learn new information. Students will follow a definite structure and will be able to reproduce organized information. This strategy would be helpful to students who are making the transition from “learning to read” to “reading for information.”
Strategy 4
Your Name: Erin Mcintosh
Name of Strategy: Alphaboxes/Pair-n-Share
Source: West Virginia Department of Education
Link: http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/AlphaBoxes2.html
Description: Alphaboxes is a very useful and versatile strategy. It can be used for vocabulary, comprehensions, recall, and many other things. Basically you have a worksheet with square boxes labeled with the alphabet letters. There is one letter in each box except for letters not commonly used, they usually share a box. For vocabulary purposes you could have students to list words that they already know that deal with the topic you are discussing, then as the unit continues they can add more words so that they have their own personal word wall. For comprehension you could have students read a passage and highlight or underline words that are important in the text. Then give them the alphboxes sheet and have them read the passage again placing the highlighted words into the boxes. You could then have them choose two or three words that are the most important in the entire text and have them tell why they chose those words. For recall or summarizing, you could have them read first and then try to fill in the boxes without using the text to help them. For any of these you could then pair students up and let them share with one another and get words they may not have had before.
SCOS: Family and Consumer Science for me but could be used in any curriculum.
Why will this work and how will it help students to learn?
This strategy makes students responsible for their own learning by having them choose words to place in the boxes. For the vocabulary part, students will have sheets full of words to help them when writing, studying, or reviewing. For comprehension, they have to justify reasons for choosing certain words to represent the passage they are reading and they have to be able to remember what they read in order to do that. For recall they have to be able to tell what they read and what they got out of it. This is a different strategy than the old boring “read and answer questions”. Students will be able to hold themselves responsible for their own learning and will be able to do it in a way that appeals to them.
Strategy 3
Your Name: Erin Mcintosh
Name of Strategy: Snowball Fight
Source: Teaching Expertise
Link: http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/teaching-tips-1-679
Description: This strategy was found on a website that has many great ideas for getting your students moving during a lesson. I liked this one the best and thought it would work well with my students. I would modify this version of it to fit my needs. First you have the students read the selected material for that lesson. Next give each student a piece of white paper and have them write a question or comment about their reading. Then they take the paper and ball it up. They suggest you have the students stand in a circle and throw the balled up paper into the center of the circle, but I could just imagine them trying to hit one another and someone bleeding from a paper cut, etc. So I would just have them throw the paper into a trashcan or bucket. Then have each student come and pick out one of the paper balls. Once back in the circle, each student will read what is on the paper they picked out and discussion will take place on the question or comment.
SCOS: Family and Consumer Science for me but could be used in any curriculum.
Why will this work and how will it help students to learn?
The motto of this website is “If their bodies don’t move, their brains won’t groove!” and I agree completely. It just seems like when students are up moving around and interacting with one another, they are more enthusiastic about learning. This is an anonymous way for students to get their questions answered as well as striking up conversation about the topics. Students also have to recall and comprehend their reading to be able to comment and question. It could get a little wild if not carefully monitored!
Strategy 2
Your Name: Erin Mcintosh
Name of Strategy: Vocabulary Squares
Source: Greece Central School District: Tools for Reading, Writing, and Thinking
Link: http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Tools/Index.htm
http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Tools/vocabsquares.pdf
(worksheet/template)
Description: This a graphic organizer that can be used to help students understand important words from their reading or from your curriculum in general. Students are given a worksheet with squares separated into 5 parts in which they are asked to identify characteristics of the word. They have to tell the part of speech, antonyms, synonyms, and variations, symbol, icon, or logo, and definition. Then they must use the word appropriately in a sentence.
SCOS: Family and Consumer Science: Vocabulary
Why will this work and how will it help students to learn?
I would use this strategy to introduce a unit. Before I even get into a new unit, I go over new vocabulary because if students don’t know what the words mean, they will never understand the content of the unit. I would use this to give them a deeper understanding of what the words mean, what they don’t mean, and how they are and are not used. I would have them keep these worksheets in their required notebook to have for reference during the unit study. They could also use these as vocabulary study sheets to have for review of their exams. It may help some students by giving them a visual of the word. I have one student who has a photographic memory and never writes anything down, but he always can recall what I wrote or a worksheet I gave him. These would work well for him when recalling knowledge because he will be able to visualize the structure of the squares.
