Final Letter
Dear Students,
Literacy is an extremely important part of our ELA classroom. When you are asked to consider daily encounters with literacy, you may think that it occupies a very small percentage of your day. However, our experiences in this classroom while encourage you to broaden your definition of literacy, and the importance of literacy to your life. Within this classroom we will read and respond to a variety of texts, both formal and informal. Rather than reader novels and textbooks exclusively, we will read magazines, newspaper articles, journals, and much much more. You will learn that the reading process not only includes the thinking that is done in response to the words on the page in front of you, but also the inclusion of your previous knowledge. ELA learners read all kinds of texts, and in order to interpret those texts, they use their life experiences. By drawing upon your experiences and your responses to these experiences, you will be able to make better sense of new characters, plots, themes, and settings that you encounter in your reading. In addition to utilizing your experiences outside of the classroom, I encourage you to pay attention to the experiences that your peers share. In this process, comparing your experiences to your peers’ will provide an explanation for your differences in interpretation. Learning to appreciate other individual’s interpretations of texts is a great way to learn about the reality of your own beliefs. In many ways it is the reading process that informs your initial responses, and your interactions with other opinions that cause you to revise and/or strengthen your opinions. In our classroom I will encourage you to engage in a variety of reading and writing exercises. It will be helpful to utilize this thinking process as we work through these exercises together. After you leave my classroom, I would like for you to be excited about the idea of literacy, and appreciate your literacy as an empowering tool! When you encounter a text in your daily life, I believe it will be rewarding to think about the critical reading and writing exercises that we did in class. Every person can be an expert in English Language Arts by simply reading what interests them, and talking about the ideas that they have about these texts with other individuals. I believe that you will find that writing down your ideas in a journal of some kind will help you strengthen the skills that we have been talking about, and will ultimately enrich your lives! Use this class to explore your own interests, and find out what literacy means to you!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Top Ten Toolkit -Group 4
Text Set
Atkin, S. Beth. Voices from the Fields: Children of Migrant Farmworkers Tell Their Stories. Boston: Little Brown, 2000. Print.
This compilation of photographs, interviews, and poems by Beth S. Atkin tells the stories of Mexican-American children and their migrant families. The collection of primary sources provides the perfect forum for these children’s voices to be heard. The words and images reveal the struggles that migrant families go through in order to establish a better life. Furthermore, the children express the ways in which they compare to their new American peers, and how these similarities/differences affect the formation of meaningful relationships.
I would use this text in my English Language Arts classroom throughout the middle grades. Reading first hand accounts of migrant children gives these students a voice in the classroom as well as illustrates the actuality of this experience to their peers. The book will be helpful to ELLs who are integrated into my classroom by making them feel like their individual experiences are worthy of literature, and study in the classroom. Furthermore, the text will work to demystify the experiences these students for mainstream students.
Kaufman, Alan, ed. The Outlaw Bible of American Literature. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2004. Print.
Alan Kaufman has cobbled together a working history of 20th century American outlaw literature with this book. Writers such as Lou Reed, Hunter S. Thompson, Ray Bradbury, Emma Goldman, Patti Smith, Henry Miller, Jack Black, Jack Kerouac, and William S. Burroughs reveal the progression of anti-mainstream America sentiments over the past century. The works hail from a variety of genres including rock criticism, poetry, fiction, epistemological, and more.
Because of the mature nature of much of the literature that is contained in this anthology, I would use this as a resource for my ELA students in eighth grade and higher. As these students teeter on the cusp of adulthood, the sentiments that are expressed in these works is becoming more and more familiar. Students will not only get the opportunity to experience different genres of texts, but they will also be exposed to a variety of subjects that cater to a range of interests. Many times students aren’t aware that outlaw literature exists and is an acceptable, celebrated form of expression in this country. This book will familiarize students with some of the individuals at the foreground of this movement, and hopefully widen their definition of acceptable forms and functions of literature. The book may inspire students of this age to begin expressing their own societal reactions and disappointments in writing.
Saint-Exupery, de Antoine. The Little Prince. Trans. Richard Howard. Florida: Harcourt, Inc, 2000. Print.
The Little Prince is a timeless novel. The novel is written from the perspective of a young-hearted traveler who encounters a “little prince” from a far away planet. The narrator traces his experiences with the prince, while simultaneously examining his own life and psyche. The story outlines the distinction between child and adult thought, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining imagination through this transformation.
This novel appeals to all grade levels, and all reading levels. Because of this universality, I would use this text when teacher ELA to any middle grade classroom. The simplicity of the writing is helpful in reaching struggling readers, but the mature use of metaphor and universal themes is stimulating to the advanced reader. Students will empathize with the Little Prince, and appreciate the importance that both the narrator and the prince place on imagination. Furthermore, the novel encourages ethical lessons and development through the princes encounters with a variety of personalities and occupations. The book is a great segue to conversation about world-view, and interaction with the world in general.
Strategies
Occasional Paper (Assessment)
Occasional Papers ask students to use their previous experiences to create an essay based on an occasion in their life. Generally, students are asked to certain conclusions about this experience according to a prompt. For example, students may be asked to recall an experience that they had and then connect it to something that they have done in a content course, ultimately relating the two to a larger theme. This strategy is appropriate for all levels of reading and writing, as well as all grade levels. The strategy can be tweaked to accommodate advanced thinkers, as well as learning disabled students. Occasional Papers encourage students to utilize their past experiences in the critical literacy process, and gets them in the habit of doing so on a daily basis. Furthermore, this strategy has students begin making larger thematic connections between disparate events and/or activities. Students are much more likely to be motivated to complete a writing assignment where they are allowed to write about themselves, and their experiences. Not only does this process empower the student, but when the papers are shared in the classroom, students are exposed an incredible amount of diversity. I will use this strategy in my ELA classroom as both a WTL exercise and an assessment. Rather than assigning traditional assessments all of the time, Occasional Papers are a great way to incorporate real-life applications of lessons. I might use this strategy to assess a students overall understanding of a text, but asking them to connect their own experiences to the events and ultimately the themes of the work.
Double Entry Journal (Critical Reading)
This strategy uses traditional methods of journaling and note taking, but modifies combines and modifies them slightly in an effort to increase effectiveness. The double entry journal asks students to create two columns: the right hand column records notes on a lecture or reading, and the left hand column provides an opportunity for students to respond or reflect on the information. This strategy is appropriate for responding to both class lecture and independent reading. Rather than encouraging rote learning with traditional note taking, this strategy encourages kids to reflect upon the information that they are being taught. These journals make the critical literacy process much more concrete. Students have physical lists that help them with the thinking process, and act as a tool of reference for later. I will use this strategy in my ELA classroom in order to get kids thinking original thoughts about the information that I present. Students will have the opportunity to use their discretion while reading and/or listening, to decide which elements are important enough to record. The two lists can be used to compare individual works with one theme. I will also use the journals as a forum for students to record their incoming knowledge prior to a lesson, returning to the list at the completion of the lesson to comment upon what they have learned.
Atkin, S. Beth. Voices from the Fields: Children of Migrant Farmworkers Tell Their Stories. Boston: Little Brown, 2000. Print.
This compilation of photographs, interviews, and poems by Beth S. Atkin tells the stories of Mexican-American children and their migrant families. The collection of primary sources provides the perfect forum for these children’s voices to be heard. The words and images reveal the struggles that migrant families go through in order to establish a better life. Furthermore, the children express the ways in which they compare to their new American peers, and how these similarities/differences affect the formation of meaningful relationships.
I would use this text in my English Language Arts classroom throughout the middle grades. Reading first hand accounts of migrant children gives these students a voice in the classroom as well as illustrates the actuality of this experience to their peers. The book will be helpful to ELLs who are integrated into my classroom by making them feel like their individual experiences are worthy of literature, and study in the classroom. Furthermore, the text will work to demystify the experiences these students for mainstream students.
Kaufman, Alan, ed. The Outlaw Bible of American Literature. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2004. Print.
Alan Kaufman has cobbled together a working history of 20th century American outlaw literature with this book. Writers such as Lou Reed, Hunter S. Thompson, Ray Bradbury, Emma Goldman, Patti Smith, Henry Miller, Jack Black, Jack Kerouac, and William S. Burroughs reveal the progression of anti-mainstream America sentiments over the past century. The works hail from a variety of genres including rock criticism, poetry, fiction, epistemological, and more.
Because of the mature nature of much of the literature that is contained in this anthology, I would use this as a resource for my ELA students in eighth grade and higher. As these students teeter on the cusp of adulthood, the sentiments that are expressed in these works is becoming more and more familiar. Students will not only get the opportunity to experience different genres of texts, but they will also be exposed to a variety of subjects that cater to a range of interests. Many times students aren’t aware that outlaw literature exists and is an acceptable, celebrated form of expression in this country. This book will familiarize students with some of the individuals at the foreground of this movement, and hopefully widen their definition of acceptable forms and functions of literature. The book may inspire students of this age to begin expressing their own societal reactions and disappointments in writing.
Saint-Exupery, de Antoine. The Little Prince. Trans. Richard Howard. Florida: Harcourt, Inc, 2000. Print.
The Little Prince is a timeless novel. The novel is written from the perspective of a young-hearted traveler who encounters a “little prince” from a far away planet. The narrator traces his experiences with the prince, while simultaneously examining his own life and psyche. The story outlines the distinction between child and adult thought, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining imagination through this transformation.
This novel appeals to all grade levels, and all reading levels. Because of this universality, I would use this text when teacher ELA to any middle grade classroom. The simplicity of the writing is helpful in reaching struggling readers, but the mature use of metaphor and universal themes is stimulating to the advanced reader. Students will empathize with the Little Prince, and appreciate the importance that both the narrator and the prince place on imagination. Furthermore, the novel encourages ethical lessons and development through the princes encounters with a variety of personalities and occupations. The book is a great segue to conversation about world-view, and interaction with the world in general.
Strategies
Occasional Paper (Assessment)
Occasional Papers ask students to use their previous experiences to create an essay based on an occasion in their life. Generally, students are asked to certain conclusions about this experience according to a prompt. For example, students may be asked to recall an experience that they had and then connect it to something that they have done in a content course, ultimately relating the two to a larger theme. This strategy is appropriate for all levels of reading and writing, as well as all grade levels. The strategy can be tweaked to accommodate advanced thinkers, as well as learning disabled students. Occasional Papers encourage students to utilize their past experiences in the critical literacy process, and gets them in the habit of doing so on a daily basis. Furthermore, this strategy has students begin making larger thematic connections between disparate events and/or activities. Students are much more likely to be motivated to complete a writing assignment where they are allowed to write about themselves, and their experiences. Not only does this process empower the student, but when the papers are shared in the classroom, students are exposed an incredible amount of diversity. I will use this strategy in my ELA classroom as both a WTL exercise and an assessment. Rather than assigning traditional assessments all of the time, Occasional Papers are a great way to incorporate real-life applications of lessons. I might use this strategy to assess a students overall understanding of a text, but asking them to connect their own experiences to the events and ultimately the themes of the work.
Double Entry Journal (Critical Reading)
This strategy uses traditional methods of journaling and note taking, but modifies combines and modifies them slightly in an effort to increase effectiveness. The double entry journal asks students to create two columns: the right hand column records notes on a lecture or reading, and the left hand column provides an opportunity for students to respond or reflect on the information. This strategy is appropriate for responding to both class lecture and independent reading. Rather than encouraging rote learning with traditional note taking, this strategy encourages kids to reflect upon the information that they are being taught. These journals make the critical literacy process much more concrete. Students have physical lists that help them with the thinking process, and act as a tool of reference for later. I will use this strategy in my ELA classroom in order to get kids thinking original thoughts about the information that I present. Students will have the opportunity to use their discretion while reading and/or listening, to decide which elements are important enough to record. The two lists can be used to compare individual works with one theme. I will also use the journals as a forum for students to record their incoming knowledge prior to a lesson, returning to the list at the completion of the lesson to comment upon what they have learned.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Top Ten Toolkit -Group 3
Top Ten Toolkit
Text Set:
Eliot, Thomas Stearns. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Florida: Harcourt, 2009. Print.
This collection of children’s poems was written and compiled by T.S. Eliot during the 1930s. The poems were the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway musical “Cats”, in which the poems are set to music. Unlike much of Eliot’s modernist poetry, this collection is incredibly approachable. While intended for children, the poems utilize all of the traditional mechanics of poetry, and are written to be entertaining for both adult and children. The poems are divided into sub-headings mostly by the cats’ names, and explore issues of cat psychology and sociology. Many of the cats are personified, and a variety of human characteristics can be seen in the cats.
I would use this book of poetry for middle grades ELA students, and up. This poetry is a perfect way to introduce the modernist poets in an interesting, fun manner. Students will learn and study the traditions and mechanics of poetry, and will enjoy the illustrations by Edward Gorey. This poetry will give the students a great opportunity to practice speaking and learning the rhythm of poetry with a lighthearted subject matter. The students will also enjoy watching the musical cats, as they will already be familiar with the musical’s dialogue.
Bright Star. Dir. Campion, James. Pathe Renn Productions, 2009. DVD.
The film Bright Star chronicles the late life of poet John Keats, including his relationship with Fanny Brown. The film is particularly well made: it does a fantastic job incorporating Keats’ poetry, and chronicling the period. The film illustrates traditions of the period, including the traditional life of poets.
Students in middle grades ELA classrooms will enjoy this film in conjunction with reading Keats’, and other Romantic poets’ work. Bright Star gives the student’s an opportunity to glean some background knowledge on Keats’ poetry. The students will think critically about how the events in Keats’ life are incorporated into his poetry. Furthermore, the film provides a visual rendition of the time period, including the prevalence of Tuberculosis, which ultimately killed Keats.
Strategies:
Character Bulletin Boards (Engaging Diverse Cultures)
Character Bulletin Boards as helpful for struggling readers as they transition out of young adult-literature to more mature literature. For many students, reading without pictures is quite boring, leaving little incentive for them to read at all. As students read novels, etc. the teacher encourages them to really visualize the components of the literature. As they visualize the different characters in their setting, they are instructed to draw illustrations of these characters. The illustrations should be based entirely on the author’s descriptions, and the students’ interpretations of these descriptions. In addition to the illustrations, the students are encouraged to write short descriptions on note cards that will accompany them. The descriptions can be quotes from the text, or original student comments on the characters’ disposition. The illustrations and comments are then posted on a bulletin board in the classroom with the title of each book. This strategy is most appropriate for middle grades students, who are struggling with reading comprehension, and text visualization. This kind of exercise empowers students, and makes them feel like they are truly part of the meaning making process as they read. They are encouraged to feel as though their previous experiences are useful in interpreting the writer’s words, and that just because the author didn’t include illustrations doesn’t mean that she does not intend for you to visualize her words. The strategy gets kids in the habit of thinking critically about the characters’ descriptions, with a purpose. This purpose will soon become part of the student’s natural reading process, which will greatly increase comprehension. I will use this strategy in my ELA classroom with middle grades students. Students who are reading different books, or the same book can look at each other’s illustrations and compare them to their own interpretations. If the students haven’t read that particular book yet then the illustrations may spark their interest. I believe that this strategy will increase students’ interest in reading, and encourage them to read with purpose.
Vocabulary Tree (Struggling Reader)
The Vocabulary Tree strategy is used to help teachers more effectively teach root words. The students actually create a visual enactment of the language process. Students are given a root word, which is placed at the base or root of the tree. Then, students are told to find the definition of this word, and write it under the word. As the tree grows upward, the students are asked to write a provided word that uses the root word in it, with the definition below it. In each of the tree’s branches, the students are asked to find and write as many words and their definitions that they can find that use the original root word. In addition to these words, the students are asked to use these words in a sentence, and write it on the branches. Shooting off of the branches on the tree’s twigs the student writes where they found this sentence, whether they heard it, made it up, or found it in a book, etc. The students keep these trees in their vocabulary binders, and are asked to build upon them every chance that they get. This strategy is appropriate for teaching root to all grade levels, and all levels of readers. Instead of just giving the students a list of words, and asking them to memorize them, this strategy really re-creates the vocabulary process. The trees are a concrete example of this process, and the students have a physical manifestation of it to keep in their binders. The words stay in the students’ mind
As they read different materials, because they are eager to contribute to their tree. The students can even be graded on the number of branches that they ultimately add, in order to increase their incentive. I will use this strategy in my ELA classroom to teach the meaning and process of root words. By illustrating this process I believe that students will actually begin to look for it in their reading. When they come across a word that is unfamiliar to them they will visualize, and flip through their root trees and look for root words within those unknown words. This strategy will really help struggling readers in my classroom to work out the meanings of unknown words on their own. This is a tool to encourage dependant readers to transition to independent readers.
Words Across Contexts (Assessment)
This strategy encourages students to make connections across the curriculum through polysemous words. The students are given, or encouraged to look for words in their reading that have more than one meaning. After that, students are asked to use the template “What would the word (insert word) mean to: example a, example b, and example c.” In order to keep up with the different words the teacher creates and distributes a template for the students to fill in, and keep in their binders. This strategy is appropriate for all grade levels, and really helps students with reading in the different content areas. This exercise informs students that words can always have different meanings, and encourages them to look at the words context before assuming its meaning. Because the students are encouraged to fill in the template with their own examples for word context, they are able to associate the words with something that is meaningful to them. This really encourages students to remember the words because they have created their own associations that mean something to them. I would use this strategy as an assessment by providing the words, and allowing the students to fill in the rest of the template. I would also use this strategy in y ELA classroom as an opportunity for different students to guide the discussions. Different students could come to the board and lead the discussion of the words using their own examples; this way students will be exposed to all the different word-contexts. Students might be exposed to an example of a word that is particularly meaningful to them. Furthermore, using this strategy, as an assessment will make students feel like their individual ideas are meaningful and valid, and that memorization is not the only valid means of learning.
Text Set:
Eliot, Thomas Stearns. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Florida: Harcourt, 2009. Print.
This collection of children’s poems was written and compiled by T.S. Eliot during the 1930s. The poems were the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway musical “Cats”, in which the poems are set to music. Unlike much of Eliot’s modernist poetry, this collection is incredibly approachable. While intended for children, the poems utilize all of the traditional mechanics of poetry, and are written to be entertaining for both adult and children. The poems are divided into sub-headings mostly by the cats’ names, and explore issues of cat psychology and sociology. Many of the cats are personified, and a variety of human characteristics can be seen in the cats.
I would use this book of poetry for middle grades ELA students, and up. This poetry is a perfect way to introduce the modernist poets in an interesting, fun manner. Students will learn and study the traditions and mechanics of poetry, and will enjoy the illustrations by Edward Gorey. This poetry will give the students a great opportunity to practice speaking and learning the rhythm of poetry with a lighthearted subject matter. The students will also enjoy watching the musical cats, as they will already be familiar with the musical’s dialogue.
Bright Star. Dir. Campion, James. Pathe Renn Productions, 2009. DVD.
The film Bright Star chronicles the late life of poet John Keats, including his relationship with Fanny Brown. The film is particularly well made: it does a fantastic job incorporating Keats’ poetry, and chronicling the period. The film illustrates traditions of the period, including the traditional life of poets.
Students in middle grades ELA classrooms will enjoy this film in conjunction with reading Keats’, and other Romantic poets’ work. Bright Star gives the student’s an opportunity to glean some background knowledge on Keats’ poetry. The students will think critically about how the events in Keats’ life are incorporated into his poetry. Furthermore, the film provides a visual rendition of the time period, including the prevalence of Tuberculosis, which ultimately killed Keats.
Strategies:
Character Bulletin Boards (Engaging Diverse Cultures)
Character Bulletin Boards as helpful for struggling readers as they transition out of young adult-literature to more mature literature. For many students, reading without pictures is quite boring, leaving little incentive for them to read at all. As students read novels, etc. the teacher encourages them to really visualize the components of the literature. As they visualize the different characters in their setting, they are instructed to draw illustrations of these characters. The illustrations should be based entirely on the author’s descriptions, and the students’ interpretations of these descriptions. In addition to the illustrations, the students are encouraged to write short descriptions on note cards that will accompany them. The descriptions can be quotes from the text, or original student comments on the characters’ disposition. The illustrations and comments are then posted on a bulletin board in the classroom with the title of each book. This strategy is most appropriate for middle grades students, who are struggling with reading comprehension, and text visualization. This kind of exercise empowers students, and makes them feel like they are truly part of the meaning making process as they read. They are encouraged to feel as though their previous experiences are useful in interpreting the writer’s words, and that just because the author didn’t include illustrations doesn’t mean that she does not intend for you to visualize her words. The strategy gets kids in the habit of thinking critically about the characters’ descriptions, with a purpose. This purpose will soon become part of the student’s natural reading process, which will greatly increase comprehension. I will use this strategy in my ELA classroom with middle grades students. Students who are reading different books, or the same book can look at each other’s illustrations and compare them to their own interpretations. If the students haven’t read that particular book yet then the illustrations may spark their interest. I believe that this strategy will increase students’ interest in reading, and encourage them to read with purpose.
Vocabulary Tree (Struggling Reader)
The Vocabulary Tree strategy is used to help teachers more effectively teach root words. The students actually create a visual enactment of the language process. Students are given a root word, which is placed at the base or root of the tree. Then, students are told to find the definition of this word, and write it under the word. As the tree grows upward, the students are asked to write a provided word that uses the root word in it, with the definition below it. In each of the tree’s branches, the students are asked to find and write as many words and their definitions that they can find that use the original root word. In addition to these words, the students are asked to use these words in a sentence, and write it on the branches. Shooting off of the branches on the tree’s twigs the student writes where they found this sentence, whether they heard it, made it up, or found it in a book, etc. The students keep these trees in their vocabulary binders, and are asked to build upon them every chance that they get. This strategy is appropriate for teaching root to all grade levels, and all levels of readers. Instead of just giving the students a list of words, and asking them to memorize them, this strategy really re-creates the vocabulary process. The trees are a concrete example of this process, and the students have a physical manifestation of it to keep in their binders. The words stay in the students’ mind
As they read different materials, because they are eager to contribute to their tree. The students can even be graded on the number of branches that they ultimately add, in order to increase their incentive. I will use this strategy in my ELA classroom to teach the meaning and process of root words. By illustrating this process I believe that students will actually begin to look for it in their reading. When they come across a word that is unfamiliar to them they will visualize, and flip through their root trees and look for root words within those unknown words. This strategy will really help struggling readers in my classroom to work out the meanings of unknown words on their own. This is a tool to encourage dependant readers to transition to independent readers.
Words Across Contexts (Assessment)
This strategy encourages students to make connections across the curriculum through polysemous words. The students are given, or encouraged to look for words in their reading that have more than one meaning. After that, students are asked to use the template “What would the word (insert word) mean to: example a, example b, and example c.” In order to keep up with the different words the teacher creates and distributes a template for the students to fill in, and keep in their binders. This strategy is appropriate for all grade levels, and really helps students with reading in the different content areas. This exercise informs students that words can always have different meanings, and encourages them to look at the words context before assuming its meaning. Because the students are encouraged to fill in the template with their own examples for word context, they are able to associate the words with something that is meaningful to them. This really encourages students to remember the words because they have created their own associations that mean something to them. I would use this strategy as an assessment by providing the words, and allowing the students to fill in the rest of the template. I would also use this strategy in y ELA classroom as an opportunity for different students to guide the discussions. Different students could come to the board and lead the discussion of the words using their own examples; this way students will be exposed to all the different word-contexts. Students might be exposed to an example of a word that is particularly meaningful to them. Furthermore, using this strategy, as an assessment will make students feel like their individual ideas are meaningful and valid, and that memorization is not the only valid means of learning.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Top Ten Toolkit -Group 2
Top Ten Toolkit
Text Set
1. Library of Congress Website: Kids and Families. Retrieved July 13, 2010, from
http://www.loc.gov/families/, 2009.
This website is maintained by the Library of Congress. This particular section: Children, and Families focuses on fostering youth literacy. The page includes links to numerous themes, including America’s Library: an American history for elementary and middle school students, Music, Theatre, and Dance: a collection of scores, sheet music, audio, films, and more, Portals to the World: Resources and information on the nations of the world, Lifelong Literacy: Promoting Adolescent and Youth literacy through digital book access, Braille access, book reviews, and messages from the youth literacy advocate. These are just a few of the site’s portals; it is a priceless tool for the pursuit of knowledge.
In my ELA classroom, this website could be used as a valuable resource for both supporting the curriculum, and supplementing it. Students could browse the site for book recommendations to do projects on, which would familiarize them with literary criticism and the critical writing process. This site could also be valuable to students with disabilities: its inclusion of both digital and Braille literature could open up the doors of literacy to all of my students. The site will also provide important cross-curriculum thematic ties, with literature that pertains to American history, nations of the world, and music, theatre, and dance.
2. Stephanie Meyer podcast from The National Book Festival 2006, Retrieved July 13, 2010 from http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4001, 2006.
In this Podcast provided by The Library of Congress, Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight Series speaks at the 2006 National Book Festival. The author begins by speaking a little bit about the process of becoming an author, and her inspirations. Meyer also speaks about her experiences first and foremost as a reader, and how these experiences have contributed to her writing. The author then reads a short excerpt from her second novel, and answers questions from the audience. Meyer honestly answers questions from both adolescents and adults concerning her career and the series itself.
Knowing that both the Twilight novels, and movies are popular with young adult readers, I would show this reading/interview to my ELA class. For the students who are familiar with Meyer’s work, this interview will allow them to glean a little bit about the author’s motivations. The students will be able to think critically about the author’s explanations, and compare them to their experiences with the text. Also, students will be exposed to the writing process, and consider their own potential as writers. Meyers reads a dream sequence and compares her writing career to the sequence, which will encourage the students to believe that anyone can become a writer if they choose to pursue it. For the students who are not familiar with the text, the interview, and their classmates’ reactions might encourage them to pursue it. Also, as Meyers shares her love of reading, students may feel more inspired to read in general because of their interest in the text/movie.
3. Atkin, S. Beth. Voices from the Streets: Young Former Gang Members Tell Their
Stories. Little Brown and Company, 1996.
This non-fiction text is an incredibly rich resource for students from all backgrounds. The book’s powerful first-person interviews with young former gang members is accompanied by these individual’s poems, quotes, photographs, and journal entries. These materials in conjunction with the use of each individual’s own voice resonates honesty. By including individuals of different ages, as well as various ethnic, racial, and socio-economical backgrounds, the text is able to breakdown stereotypes about youth who join gangs. The autobiographical accounts chronicle their experience from their decision to join a gang, to their successful emergence from gang life. This message of hope is supplemented by an intervention page, a how to get help page, and a suggested reading list.
Because of the variety of individuals that are portrayed in this text, each student in my ELA class should be able to identify with some aspect of it. This personal connection will encourage students to think about the true consequences of choices that they make. The text will also provide an interesting opportunity for the students to explore a different literary genre: autobiography. The supplemental materials in the text will allow the students to put faces to the words, explore how experiences translate to poetry, and see the benefits of journaling. The students can use this example to create their own autobiographies, create poetry, and journals that express difficult times in their own lives. Students will also understand that every individual can make poor decisions regardless of their race, gender, age, or socio-economic background, and that hope will always offer an opportunity for change.
Strategies
1. Retellings (Reading Comprehension)
A retelling is used as an after-reading strategy to encourage reading comprehension. Students create an oral summary of a text based on “a set of story elements, such as setting, main characters, and conflicts” (Beers). First, the teacher models a retelling for the class. The teacher reads a short story to the class, and then retells it. After creating a scoring rubric, the teacher posts the rubric on the overhead, and allows the class to discuss how her retelling would have been scored. Teachers should be sure to model both exemplary and poor retellings, so that the students have the opportunity to understand what contributes to each. This strategy is appropriate for all age groups. It can be used to plan lessons, and track students’ reading comprehension progress over time. Because struggling readers often have a difficult time organizing information from a text in their heads, practicing retelling allows them to perfect this skill. If they are constantly thinking about the information they read in terms of a narrative that they would retell, then they will have mastered reading comprehension. If a student practices retelling on a daily basis, a teacher will be able to use the rubric to track their progress, which is usually very difficult to do with reading comprehension. This strategy provides the scaffolding that a student needs to create a logical retelling and guide their reading over time. I would use this strategy in my ELA classroom for both short in class reading assignments, and longer individual reading projects. This strategy will help students understand how to effectively convey their thoughts orally, and ultimately it will help them with writing as well. If a student can orally convey the themes and logic of a novel, then she will have little trouble writing them.
2. Sketch to Stretch (Struggling Readers)
Like retelling this strategy gives students the opportunity to practice truly understanding what they have read, in their own logical terms. After students have read their text, they are asked to create a sketch of what they have read. This sketch can be made in pairs or individually, but must be symbolic of the text. In order to make this strategy successful, the teacher must create and post a set of guidelines for the sketches. The teacher will first model the exercise, after reading a short piece of literature to the class. After creating a sketch on either the board, the teacher will go over the guidelines, and compare her drawing to these guidelines. After discussing the effectiveness of the drawing the teacher models the second portion of the exercise: the explanation. Students are asked to write an explanation of their sketches that explains how the sketch represents the text. The teacher models this portion, and explains that students should be allowed to draw conclusions about the sketch prior to reading the explanation. For this reason, the students are asked to write their explanations on the back of their sketches. After creating their own sketches, the students are put into small groups and asked to share and discuss their drawings; as was modeled. This strategy is appropriate for readers of all levels, and with all different types of texts. Students can engage in this exercise after reading different texts, or the same text. With different texts, students will be exposed to new literature that could spark their interest, and with a universal text students will be exposed to different perspectives and interpretations. This strategy works well with all different types of learners, and is particularly helpful to students who are visual learners. Many students will learn better by drawing their ideas first, which will then help them complete the writing portion of the exercise. Students are encouraged to construct their own meaning from the text they read in this strategy. Students will learn to look for constructing elements of a text as they read, and will learn to visualize them. This process will encourage critical reading, and comprehension, as well as imagination. I will use this strategy in my ELA classroom often, perhaps as either an opening or closing exercise. It could be helpful in both drawing students into a lesson, and wrapping up a lesson. I like how the exercise can be used with any type of text, and is relevant for any reading level.
Text Set
1. Library of Congress Website: Kids and Families. Retrieved July 13, 2010, from
http://www.loc.gov/families/, 2009.
This website is maintained by the Library of Congress. This particular section: Children, and Families focuses on fostering youth literacy. The page includes links to numerous themes, including America’s Library: an American history for elementary and middle school students, Music, Theatre, and Dance: a collection of scores, sheet music, audio, films, and more, Portals to the World: Resources and information on the nations of the world, Lifelong Literacy: Promoting Adolescent and Youth literacy through digital book access, Braille access, book reviews, and messages from the youth literacy advocate. These are just a few of the site’s portals; it is a priceless tool for the pursuit of knowledge.
In my ELA classroom, this website could be used as a valuable resource for both supporting the curriculum, and supplementing it. Students could browse the site for book recommendations to do projects on, which would familiarize them with literary criticism and the critical writing process. This site could also be valuable to students with disabilities: its inclusion of both digital and Braille literature could open up the doors of literacy to all of my students. The site will also provide important cross-curriculum thematic ties, with literature that pertains to American history, nations of the world, and music, theatre, and dance.
2. Stephanie Meyer podcast from The National Book Festival 2006, Retrieved July 13, 2010 from http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4001, 2006.
In this Podcast provided by The Library of Congress, Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight Series speaks at the 2006 National Book Festival. The author begins by speaking a little bit about the process of becoming an author, and her inspirations. Meyer also speaks about her experiences first and foremost as a reader, and how these experiences have contributed to her writing. The author then reads a short excerpt from her second novel, and answers questions from the audience. Meyer honestly answers questions from both adolescents and adults concerning her career and the series itself.
Knowing that both the Twilight novels, and movies are popular with young adult readers, I would show this reading/interview to my ELA class. For the students who are familiar with Meyer’s work, this interview will allow them to glean a little bit about the author’s motivations. The students will be able to think critically about the author’s explanations, and compare them to their experiences with the text. Also, students will be exposed to the writing process, and consider their own potential as writers. Meyers reads a dream sequence and compares her writing career to the sequence, which will encourage the students to believe that anyone can become a writer if they choose to pursue it. For the students who are not familiar with the text, the interview, and their classmates’ reactions might encourage them to pursue it. Also, as Meyers shares her love of reading, students may feel more inspired to read in general because of their interest in the text/movie.
3. Atkin, S. Beth. Voices from the Streets: Young Former Gang Members Tell Their
Stories. Little Brown and Company, 1996.
This non-fiction text is an incredibly rich resource for students from all backgrounds. The book’s powerful first-person interviews with young former gang members is accompanied by these individual’s poems, quotes, photographs, and journal entries. These materials in conjunction with the use of each individual’s own voice resonates honesty. By including individuals of different ages, as well as various ethnic, racial, and socio-economical backgrounds, the text is able to breakdown stereotypes about youth who join gangs. The autobiographical accounts chronicle their experience from their decision to join a gang, to their successful emergence from gang life. This message of hope is supplemented by an intervention page, a how to get help page, and a suggested reading list.
Because of the variety of individuals that are portrayed in this text, each student in my ELA class should be able to identify with some aspect of it. This personal connection will encourage students to think about the true consequences of choices that they make. The text will also provide an interesting opportunity for the students to explore a different literary genre: autobiography. The supplemental materials in the text will allow the students to put faces to the words, explore how experiences translate to poetry, and see the benefits of journaling. The students can use this example to create their own autobiographies, create poetry, and journals that express difficult times in their own lives. Students will also understand that every individual can make poor decisions regardless of their race, gender, age, or socio-economic background, and that hope will always offer an opportunity for change.
Strategies
1. Retellings (Reading Comprehension)
A retelling is used as an after-reading strategy to encourage reading comprehension. Students create an oral summary of a text based on “a set of story elements, such as setting, main characters, and conflicts” (Beers). First, the teacher models a retelling for the class. The teacher reads a short story to the class, and then retells it. After creating a scoring rubric, the teacher posts the rubric on the overhead, and allows the class to discuss how her retelling would have been scored. Teachers should be sure to model both exemplary and poor retellings, so that the students have the opportunity to understand what contributes to each. This strategy is appropriate for all age groups. It can be used to plan lessons, and track students’ reading comprehension progress over time. Because struggling readers often have a difficult time organizing information from a text in their heads, practicing retelling allows them to perfect this skill. If they are constantly thinking about the information they read in terms of a narrative that they would retell, then they will have mastered reading comprehension. If a student practices retelling on a daily basis, a teacher will be able to use the rubric to track their progress, which is usually very difficult to do with reading comprehension. This strategy provides the scaffolding that a student needs to create a logical retelling and guide their reading over time. I would use this strategy in my ELA classroom for both short in class reading assignments, and longer individual reading projects. This strategy will help students understand how to effectively convey their thoughts orally, and ultimately it will help them with writing as well. If a student can orally convey the themes and logic of a novel, then she will have little trouble writing them.
2. Sketch to Stretch (Struggling Readers)
Like retelling this strategy gives students the opportunity to practice truly understanding what they have read, in their own logical terms. After students have read their text, they are asked to create a sketch of what they have read. This sketch can be made in pairs or individually, but must be symbolic of the text. In order to make this strategy successful, the teacher must create and post a set of guidelines for the sketches. The teacher will first model the exercise, after reading a short piece of literature to the class. After creating a sketch on either the board, the teacher will go over the guidelines, and compare her drawing to these guidelines. After discussing the effectiveness of the drawing the teacher models the second portion of the exercise: the explanation. Students are asked to write an explanation of their sketches that explains how the sketch represents the text. The teacher models this portion, and explains that students should be allowed to draw conclusions about the sketch prior to reading the explanation. For this reason, the students are asked to write their explanations on the back of their sketches. After creating their own sketches, the students are put into small groups and asked to share and discuss their drawings; as was modeled. This strategy is appropriate for readers of all levels, and with all different types of texts. Students can engage in this exercise after reading different texts, or the same text. With different texts, students will be exposed to new literature that could spark their interest, and with a universal text students will be exposed to different perspectives and interpretations. This strategy works well with all different types of learners, and is particularly helpful to students who are visual learners. Many students will learn better by drawing their ideas first, which will then help them complete the writing portion of the exercise. Students are encouraged to construct their own meaning from the text they read in this strategy. Students will learn to look for constructing elements of a text as they read, and will learn to visualize them. This process will encourage critical reading, and comprehension, as well as imagination. I will use this strategy in my ELA classroom often, perhaps as either an opening or closing exercise. It could be helpful in both drawing students into a lesson, and wrapping up a lesson. I like how the exercise can be used with any type of text, and is relevant for any reading level.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Top Ten Toolkit
Top Ten Toolkit
Text Sources
1. Jokinen, Anniina. Luminarium. Retrieved July 6, 2010, from http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/, 1996.
This site is maintained privately by Anniina Jokinen, and the materials are are consulted for accuracy by authorities in the field (Norton Anthology of English Literature, Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, etc.) The site is a multimedia reference source for English Literature; it is comprehensive and covers the Renaissance period through The Eighteenth Century. Each period is accompanied by a short historical account, images, art, music, and links to the most accomplished writers of the time’s work.
It is sometimes difficult to bridge the time gap, and get middle grades students interested in period literature. Although many of the works’ themes are timeless, and reoccurring in contemporary literature, adolescents often are reluctant to see beyond differences in language and dress, etc. This site puts the literature in historical context, which offers a cross-curriculum tie. It also is made to engage today’s tech-savvy youth with quick links to multimedia. Through this site the students have a visual component to accompany the texts that we read in class, and they are able to browse according to their specific interests. Furthermore, the site provides links to academic essays and articles that will encourage the students to think critically about the literature. Since each writer is a mere click away from another, the site also encourages students to compare/contrast works from the same period, and between periods.
2. Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House, 1970.
Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a text that represents gender diversity, through the representation of its strong female characters. The work is not only an autobiography, but also a bildungsroman. The autobiographical fiction traces the writer’s progression from childhood to adulthood, and her transformation from a “caged bird” to a beautiful strong woman. The work covers a variety of important themes including racism, identity, and literacy. In the exploration of these themes, Angelou utilizes complex metaphors, and incorporates numerous stylistic devices.
This work of literature is jammed packed with tools of learning. Not only does the work provide a variety of positive female images for developing young women, but it also provides an opportunity for the shaping of the perception of women, for young men. Angelou’s novel also tackles difficult subjects, such as racism, identity, rape, and literacy. These themes can be difficult to teach on their own, but within the context of the novel, students can relate their experiences to real characters. As a coming of age story, the students in middle grades will be particularly able to identify with the struggles of the protagonist. In addition, the novel will help students understand such important literary devices as metaphor, first-person narrative voice, and the genre of bildungsroman. The students will also be exposed to Angelou’s influences, such as folklore, and slave narratives. The novel can also be tied to social studies lessons on the civil rights movement, and racism.
Strategies
1. Tea Party (Engaging Diverse Cultures)
In this strategy, the teacher first places phrases, sentences, or single words taken from a piece of literature that the students will read, and passes them out to the students. The phrases should represent a variety of aspects of the book, and should provide insight to the characters, plot, setting, conflicts, etc. Next, the students are asked to move about the room, and read their particular cards to each other, and begin discussing what the cards might imply about the text. The students then return to small groups, and combine all of their ideas to predict what the text might be about. The students create a “We Think” paragraph that summarizes what the text might be about, and read them aloud to the class. They are encouraged to explain how them came to this prediction, and explain the inferences that they made. The class then reads the text, and is able to revisit their predictions in context. This strategy is appropriate for all ages, and can be used with almost any kind of text. During this strategy students are asked to bring there outside experiences, and knowledge to the classroom, and use that information to make inferences about the text. By connecting events in the text to prior experiences the students are exposed to a variety of diverse backgrounds. Each student’s diversity to influence their interpretation of the text, and they will have the opportunity to share these differences with other students and compare their own experiences to others'. I would use this strategy as a pre-reading exercise for in my Language Arts classroom. I would use this strategy with novels, and poetry, to get students thinking about diversity, language use, and how form is and extension of meaning in literature.
2. Say Something (Assessment)
Say Something is a during- reading strategy that encourages comprehension, by helping students focus on what they are reading and not what their mind is wondering to. The strategy interrupts the student’s reading and asks them to think about what they have read. Students are put into groups of two or three, and asked to take turns reading the text aloud. As each student reads, they are asked to pause to “say something” about what they have just read. This comment can take many forms; it can be a connection to something else they have read, or a prediction, a question, or a clarification. It is just asked that the comment be meaningful to the student and pertain to the text. The other members of the group then offer a response to the comment, and another reader begins. This strategy is appropriate for middle grades, and is appropriate for all reading levels. If the groups are mixed ability, struggling readers can learn from the more advanced readers. This strategy encourages students to read for meaning, rather than just reading the words on the page. It encourages them to recreate this activity in their head when they are reading alone, silently. I would use this strategy in my Language Arts class while we are reading a novel, or a longer piece of literature. I would model the behavior first, and provide rules for comments, and examples of meaningful comments. The reason I would use this strategy as an assessment is because it is a creative, less intimidating way to assess students’ reading for meaning. Some students have difficulty expressing their ideas in writing, so this assessment would provide an opportunity for all students. It is also a great opportunity for students to refine their oral expression skills, which is equally important as writing. I would give participation grades for the exercise, and ask the students to answer a few questions about their experience with “say something” afterward.
3.Bookmarks (Critical Reading)
This strategy is utilizes the pun in “book MARK” to encourage critical reading. First, the teacher models, by creating a few example bookmarks. The teacher then explains that she would like each student to create their own bookmark that “marks” what is important to them in the text that they are reading. The bookmark can take many forms: the teacher can pass out a template that provides many spaces for unknown words, their page number, and the word’s meaning, or the bookmark can be a place where students record questions they have about the text, the students can also record important information such as character info, or setting changes. The bookmark can be made and used with any type of literature, and any grade level. By jotting down important information on these bookmarks, students are encouraged to think critically about the text as they go along, and also have a reference for as they proceed through the text. I would encourage students in my Language Arts class to utilize this strategy every time they read. I would give them the choice of what information they wanted to include on the bookmark, and would like them to be collected at the conclusion of the novel so that I could track their progress.
Text Sources
1. Jokinen, Anniina. Luminarium. Retrieved July 6, 2010, from http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/, 1996.
This site is maintained privately by Anniina Jokinen, and the materials are are consulted for accuracy by authorities in the field (Norton Anthology of English Literature, Cambridge Guide to Literature in English, etc.) The site is a multimedia reference source for English Literature; it is comprehensive and covers the Renaissance period through The Eighteenth Century. Each period is accompanied by a short historical account, images, art, music, and links to the most accomplished writers of the time’s work.
It is sometimes difficult to bridge the time gap, and get middle grades students interested in period literature. Although many of the works’ themes are timeless, and reoccurring in contemporary literature, adolescents often are reluctant to see beyond differences in language and dress, etc. This site puts the literature in historical context, which offers a cross-curriculum tie. It also is made to engage today’s tech-savvy youth with quick links to multimedia. Through this site the students have a visual component to accompany the texts that we read in class, and they are able to browse according to their specific interests. Furthermore, the site provides links to academic essays and articles that will encourage the students to think critically about the literature. Since each writer is a mere click away from another, the site also encourages students to compare/contrast works from the same period, and between periods.
2. Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House, 1970.
Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a text that represents gender diversity, through the representation of its strong female characters. The work is not only an autobiography, but also a bildungsroman. The autobiographical fiction traces the writer’s progression from childhood to adulthood, and her transformation from a “caged bird” to a beautiful strong woman. The work covers a variety of important themes including racism, identity, and literacy. In the exploration of these themes, Angelou utilizes complex metaphors, and incorporates numerous stylistic devices.
This work of literature is jammed packed with tools of learning. Not only does the work provide a variety of positive female images for developing young women, but it also provides an opportunity for the shaping of the perception of women, for young men. Angelou’s novel also tackles difficult subjects, such as racism, identity, rape, and literacy. These themes can be difficult to teach on their own, but within the context of the novel, students can relate their experiences to real characters. As a coming of age story, the students in middle grades will be particularly able to identify with the struggles of the protagonist. In addition, the novel will help students understand such important literary devices as metaphor, first-person narrative voice, and the genre of bildungsroman. The students will also be exposed to Angelou’s influences, such as folklore, and slave narratives. The novel can also be tied to social studies lessons on the civil rights movement, and racism.
Strategies
1. Tea Party (Engaging Diverse Cultures)
In this strategy, the teacher first places phrases, sentences, or single words taken from a piece of literature that the students will read, and passes them out to the students. The phrases should represent a variety of aspects of the book, and should provide insight to the characters, plot, setting, conflicts, etc. Next, the students are asked to move about the room, and read their particular cards to each other, and begin discussing what the cards might imply about the text. The students then return to small groups, and combine all of their ideas to predict what the text might be about. The students create a “We Think” paragraph that summarizes what the text might be about, and read them aloud to the class. They are encouraged to explain how them came to this prediction, and explain the inferences that they made. The class then reads the text, and is able to revisit their predictions in context. This strategy is appropriate for all ages, and can be used with almost any kind of text. During this strategy students are asked to bring there outside experiences, and knowledge to the classroom, and use that information to make inferences about the text. By connecting events in the text to prior experiences the students are exposed to a variety of diverse backgrounds. Each student’s diversity to influence their interpretation of the text, and they will have the opportunity to share these differences with other students and compare their own experiences to others'. I would use this strategy as a pre-reading exercise for in my Language Arts classroom. I would use this strategy with novels, and poetry, to get students thinking about diversity, language use, and how form is and extension of meaning in literature.
2. Say Something (Assessment)
Say Something is a during- reading strategy that encourages comprehension, by helping students focus on what they are reading and not what their mind is wondering to. The strategy interrupts the student’s reading and asks them to think about what they have read. Students are put into groups of two or three, and asked to take turns reading the text aloud. As each student reads, they are asked to pause to “say something” about what they have just read. This comment can take many forms; it can be a connection to something else they have read, or a prediction, a question, or a clarification. It is just asked that the comment be meaningful to the student and pertain to the text. The other members of the group then offer a response to the comment, and another reader begins. This strategy is appropriate for middle grades, and is appropriate for all reading levels. If the groups are mixed ability, struggling readers can learn from the more advanced readers. This strategy encourages students to read for meaning, rather than just reading the words on the page. It encourages them to recreate this activity in their head when they are reading alone, silently. I would use this strategy in my Language Arts class while we are reading a novel, or a longer piece of literature. I would model the behavior first, and provide rules for comments, and examples of meaningful comments. The reason I would use this strategy as an assessment is because it is a creative, less intimidating way to assess students’ reading for meaning. Some students have difficulty expressing their ideas in writing, so this assessment would provide an opportunity for all students. It is also a great opportunity for students to refine their oral expression skills, which is equally important as writing. I would give participation grades for the exercise, and ask the students to answer a few questions about their experience with “say something” afterward.
3.Bookmarks (Critical Reading)
This strategy is utilizes the pun in “book MARK” to encourage critical reading. First, the teacher models, by creating a few example bookmarks. The teacher then explains that she would like each student to create their own bookmark that “marks” what is important to them in the text that they are reading. The bookmark can take many forms: the teacher can pass out a template that provides many spaces for unknown words, their page number, and the word’s meaning, or the bookmark can be a place where students record questions they have about the text, the students can also record important information such as character info, or setting changes. The bookmark can be made and used with any type of literature, and any grade level. By jotting down important information on these bookmarks, students are encouraged to think critically about the text as they go along, and also have a reference for as they proceed through the text. I would encourage students in my Language Arts class to utilize this strategy every time they read. I would give them the choice of what information they wanted to include on the bookmark, and would like them to be collected at the conclusion of the novel so that I could track their progress.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Occasional Paper
I recently had the opportunity to have an ultrasound, and check the well-being of my first child. While it seems like I would be the most familiar with my body and its occurrences, throughout this experience it truly seemed foreign to me. The appointment began with the technician asking me a few ‘standard’ questions. I was able to answer these questions, but I could tell that I was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the jargon that was being used. Although the image was magical when it appeared on the screen, I had a very difficult time making any sense of it. The technician’s explanation of each image was thorough, but somehow seemed to contribute to my sense of confusion. The shades of black and grey that filled the screen moved rapidly, and didn’t remain in one position long enough for me to orient myself to them.
I consider myself an intelligent person, who is educated and well read. Despite having read fairly extensively on the topic of pregnancy, I felt lost when confronted with this situation. When I reflected upon this experience later, I couldn’t help but relate the feelings that I had had to the way my students must feel when confronted with new material. I quickly realized that it is very difficult to truly explain a subject that you are well acquainted with to an individual that harbors no knowledge. As teachers, we try our hardest to utilize the resources that our education bestowed us but it is still easy to forget that each individual brings their own schemas to the table. What is common knowledge to one person is foreign to another, who lacks the necessary background experience to interpret it in the same way. Often times it is assumed a language arts teacher doesn’t have to approach this disconnect as often as other content teachers. However, I must remind myself on a daily basis that literacy is not a universal skill, and that some of the materials I teach may be interpreted as I interpreted the ultrasound. Following this experience I will always remember that information can always be interpreted in a myriad of ways, and just because an explanation is thorough does not mean that it is successful in relating meaning.
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