Honestly, I will be referring to all of these materials because I found all of them extremely helpful and useful for when I will be a teacher. I mostly enjoyed reading all of the articles, because they provide lots of information. For example, in the “You can’t learn from books you can’t read” article, I was happy to know that I wasn’t the only one that felt like textbooks were hard to read. It helped me see that I will not be relying solely on textbooks when I am teacher. I had heard of multigenre projects, but I did not know exactly what they were until the article explained that. My students will be doing multigenre projects instead of book reports, because I think they have so much more new engaging potential and students can be more creative with them. Aside from the articles, I learned about kid friendly sites and search engines. The sites I found most useful and will continue using frequently are learnnc.org, youtube, google, ReadWriteThink, Awesome Stories, The Internet Public Library, NCTE, and NCTM. I will refer to the other websites as well, but I did not use them as much specifically during this online course.

I will definitely continue finding resources, because I want to be a teacher who is in tune with what the students are into. I’ll try to make teaching fun and engaging for students. When using these resources, I might be making modifications to fit my teaching styles but having these lesson plan websites and other websites will be useful. Youtube is also very entertaining and can be a great resource for students to enjoy if I find a video before hand for them to watch. I will probably continue with my blog eventually. Or I might make a new one. I haven’t really decided yet. When I become a teacher, I want to try having a class blog with my students to see how that goes, because I think blogging is very useful in the 21st century. I really enjoyed this course and learned a lot from each unit!

Link: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/careerstart-grade6/2017

What I like about this lesson and how I would use it: I really like this 6th Grade English Language Arts lesson because students learn about what cause and effect mean and how cause and effect can be applied in the real world in the workplace. Students will be soon working or will work in the future, so having cause and effect examples with regard to schools and then to the workplace will help students think about their future responsibilities. I can start off using this lesson in my classroom by having students brainstorm what cause and effect are. Then I will give them examples related to school to see if they can tell me if it is a cause or an effect. Then I will pass out the provided “Cause and Effect Guided Practice” worksheet and have students complete the first ten questions in small groups. As the teacher,  I will walk around the room and let students do the talking. I will only ask questions or make comments when absolutely necessary. After going over the answers, students will create three causes and three effects of their own. Then they will fill out the “Cause and Effect in the Workplace” worksheet that is related to cause and effect in the workplace so they can know how to deal with these situations later in life when they are working. To finish the lesson, we’ll review answers and discuss the possibility of cause and effect situations having more than one answer, which will lead to the closing question asking students if the real world always has only one way to achieve a desired effect.

Link: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/careerstart-grade6/2638

What I like about the lesson and how i would use it:

Students need to understand media literacy in advertisements and other types of media literacy, because they need to understand how they are being hooked into buy a product. Instead of becoming helpless victims to buying unnecessary products, they can start at a young age to understand how advertising works. They can take personal responsibility for their lives. I took “Media for young people” with Dr. Considine as I know other English concentration majors in Middle School have done. I feel like I learned a lot about advertisements that I wish I would have learned earlier in life. I think middle school is an appropriate time for growing students to learn about media literacy. They are growing up and are more vulnerable to being reeled into buying a product, so they should learn to embrace media literacy instead of becoming the victim.

I like this lesson for 6th grade less plan that I would use in an English Language Arts classroom. Students will be looking at a few examples of magazine advertisements on the overhead as the teacher asks questions such as: What product is this advertisement selling? What are the people doing in the advertisement? What do the words say, if there are any? Who is the advertisement targeting? What type of magazine would you place this advertisement in? What does the advertiser want you to conclude about the product? In other words, what does the advertiser do to “hook and reel” the target audience into the product? Then the students try to find hidden messages in the articles while answering these questions. Then students get into small groups and create their own advertisements with a hidden message using what they learned at the beginning of the lesson. Students will have to include a product name, slogan, color illustration and graphic design, neat and professional appearance, and contain a hidden message in the text or illustration. Once students are done this (in a class period or two), they will share their advertisements with their peers and their classmates will have to try to pick out the hidden message.

I would pretty much follow this lesson plan with a few minor changes/additions. I will have a group discussion on the example of advertisements I put on the overhead instead of just lecturing to the class. Once students share their advertisements, I will create a rubric to make sure they have included everything they need (listed in the previous paragraph). To have a post-assessment on the lesson, I will have students write a journal entry reflecting what it means to be responsible by being literate in advertisements, how advertising influences their lives, and explain three or four new things they learned about advertisements from this lesson. This way they can be connecting the lesson in school to their lives by using examples in the real world.

I liked how Lucas Pasley’s website had a section for ESL students. He also had his class organized by grade and what each grade was learning that year. Donna Link’s website was enjoyable as well, because I saw how she had different assignments for her art students to do. Some of the assignments did include vocabulary, which is important for students to understand in order for them to effectively learn to the best of their knowledge.

Questions:

1) How do you decide the minimum number of genres that should be required in a paper? How do you decide other parameters for setting up the multigenre project? These parameters include having a halfway check point, focusing on a certain type of topic rather than giving students free reign over their choice, having note cards or learning logs, requiring endnotes and a bibliography, etc.

2) Which genres should you teach to the class? How do you decide which genres are most important?

3) Is it important to model your own version of a multigenre project to students? Or do you allow students to create their own versions?  Why?

I personally really like the idea of writing “I” poems. In a previous blog, I posted Dr. Smith’s comprehensive list of “ways of responding to literature” and writing an “I Am” poem from the viewpoint as the main character was one of those options. I really learned a lot more by writing a poem through the viewpoint of Cendrillon, the main character in Before Midnight: A Retelling of the Cinderella Story. I never would have thought of writing a poem about a text before reading it, but I like how the authors explained that it will activate prior knowledge and help engage students in the reading.

Questions:

1) Is it more valuable for students to create “I” poems before or after reading text? Why?

2) Do you feel that students should imitate provided formats of the poems to learn? Or should students create their own formats of “I” poems instead? Which way provides more valuable learning: providing a model or providing one of the many formats of the “I” poem? Why?

3) Do you think students would benefit more from writing “I” poems or from writing reading response journals? Why?

Your Name: Marie-Jo Gartshore

Name of Strategy: KWL Charts

Source (Where did this come from?): 1) Pennsylvania Department of Education and 2) Indiana University: Advanced Study of the Teaching of Secondary School Reading.

Link to the Strategy:

1)    http://www.pde.state.pa.us/reading_writing/cwp/view.asp?a=196&q=98031

2)    http://www.indiana.edu/~l517/KWL.htm

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:

-Students fill out 3 columns in a KWL chart for a text. Students can complete KWL charts independently and/or in small groups depending on what the teacher or students want to do. Before reading a text, students write everything they KNOW on a given topic that can be introduced by name or title and what they know goes into the K column. Then students complete the W column which is where they list anything they WANT to know about the topic. After reading the text, students write about what they LEARN in the L column, which will be a summary/review of what was read. I would implement this in a classroom to read major texts in my classroom. For the fairy tale unit, I would have students do a KWL chart on fairy tales or Cinderella before looking at Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity:

NC Standard Course of Study (English Language Arts Grades 6-8)

5.01: The learner will respond to various literary genres using interpretive and evaluative processes. The learner will increase fluency, comprehension, and insight through a meaningful and comprehensive literacy program by: using effective reading strategies to match type of text; reading literature and other materials selected by the teacher; interpreting text by explaining elements such as plot, theme, point of view, characterization, mood, and style; exploring relationships between and among characters, ideas, concepts, and/or experiences.

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

KWL charts work well in classrooms, because having students list what they know and want to know about a topic will introduce them to the text they are about to read. Then they will read the text and write about what they learned. If they have not learned all that they wanted to know, then students can explore other sources to find the answers they seek. Students can mentally compare and contrast the three columns to see what they learned. This strategy helps students learn because it activates students’ prior knowledge of the topic of the text students are about to read. KWL charts are also used because they help students monitor and assess their comprehension of the text. The strategy also shows students that reading the text will have a purpose and it allows students to expand ideas beyond the text if their questions in the “W” section have not been all answered. Students will be actively engaged when reading the text and when writing down all the information they know, want to know, and learned. It will help them read actively to answer questions or things they wanted to know. KWL charts will also help students correct knowledge of what they think they knew before they read. After they read and realize they might have been incorrect, they have the opportunity to build upon their misconceptions to learn the right answer. A KWL chart is an effective reading strategy for students reading different texts, because it helps introduce them to the reading and helps them focus on the reading as well.

Your Name: Marie-Jo Gartshore

Name of Strategy: Literature Circles

Source (Where did this come from?): All America Reads and Amazon

Link to the Strategy:

1)    http://www.allamericareads.org/lessonplan/wyw/during/litcircles.htm (Description of Literature Circles)

2)    http://www.amazon.com/Ella-Enchanted-Gail-Carson-Levine/dp/0060558865/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254100045&sr=1-1 (Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine)

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:

-Literature circles involve small groups of students within a class or the whole class to gather together in a circle to discuss a text in depth. In small groups of students, each student is assigned a role (and complete role sheets) to help them stay on task and engaged in the discussion. These roles include Summarizer, Discussion Director, Investigator, Illustrator, Connector, Travel Tracer, and Vocabulary Enricher. In whole-class discussions, the teacher can have students ask their own questions to direct the discussion or the teachers can ask initial questions to help focus the students. The teacher is not supposed to lead the circle (only help them focus) or state opinions during the literature circle unless necessary. Literature circles are focused towards students rather than being teacher-led discussions. The literature circles help students become critical thinkers. Students also are able to reflect as they read, discuss, and respond to the book. This strategy will be implemented during the fairy tale unit by having literature circles on Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

NC Standard Course of Study (Grades 6-8)

1.02: Explore expressive materials that are read, heard, and/or viewed by: monitoring comprehension for understanding of what is read, heard, and/or viewed; analyzing the characteristics of expressive works; determining the effect of literary devices and/or strategies on the reader/viewer/listener; making connections between works, self, and related topics; drawing inferences and or conclusions; determining the main idea and/or significance of events; and discussing print and non-print expressive works formally.

1.03: Interact appropriately in group settings by: listening attentively; showing empathy and respecting the opinions of others; contributing relevant comments connecting personal experiences to content without dominating; giving appropriate reasons/citations that support opinions; monitoring own understanding of the discussion and seeking clarification as needed; and clarifies, illustrates, or expands on a response when asked to do so, and asks classmates for similar expansion.

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

Students will enjoy literature circles because they will be actively engaged and they will use their critical thinking skills when discussing a book. For example, I would have students participate in literature circles with Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine during the fairy tale unit. By having literature circles, students will be more willing to participate in this student-centered environment as opposed to having the teacher lecture students about the book. Students are able to participate in group settings and learn the appropriate ways to participate, which is objective 1.03 in the NC Standard Course of Study. They are able to socialize about a novel and share their opinions. Literature circles cause students to gain a deeper understanding of what they read as they analyze the text or refer to the text during the literature circle. The role sheets help students stay on task and can be used a participation grade. Students can come together and share their responses to the novel so they can all learn together by hearing different views and opinions of all the uniquely diverse students in the group.

Your Name: Marie-Jo Gartshore

Name of Strategy: Reflections

Source (Where did this come from?): Pennsylvania Department of Education and ReadWriteThink.org

Link to the Strategy:

1)    http://www.pde.state.pa.us/reading_writing/cwp/view.asp?a=196&q=98199 (Description of the strategy)

2)    http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=1 (Sessions 7 and 8 of the autobiographical fairy tales lesson uses Reflections)

3)    http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson42/RWT027-3.pdf (Reflection worksheet for students to reflect and answer questions about their fairy tale projects).

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:

-Reflections are done when students write a few lines answering prompted questions from the teacher about what they have just read, heard, viewed, or completed. This strategy would be used at the end of a lesson and/or a unit so students can acquire the new knowledge they have learned and retain it in their memory. The example provided for Reflection of the autobiographical fairy tales students created asks prompting questions such as “Explain what you did to finish your project,” “Write about what you liked most about the fairy tale project,” “Write about any part of the project you found hard to do,” “Write about any part that you thought worked well,” and “Write what you would do different next time.” These questions help students think critically about their fairy tales and answer questions in a journal about the fairy tale project they just did.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

NC Standard Course of Study (Grades 6-8)

1.02: Explore expressive materials that are read, heard, and/or viewed by generating a learning log or journal.

1.04: Reflect on learning experience by analyzing personal learning growth and changes in perspective, identifying changes in self throughout the learning process, and interpreting how personal circumstances and background shape interaction with text.

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?:

Writing Reflections after doing a project such as writing autobiographical fairy tales will help students stop and think about the prompted questions regarding their projects for a few minutes. Then they will write down their responses to the questions. Reflection on an activity helps students become aware of new learning skills and help the newly acquired knowledge stay in their memory. Reflections will also help students evaluate an activity by saying what they enjoyed, disliked, and what they would have done differently. If teachers ask students to write Reflections after major engaging assignments or projects, then the students will be able to identify and analyze their thoughts on the projects. By thinking and answering a few different questions about the project they just did, students will effectively remember this knowledge in their memories the next time they need to access it. Instead of just writing a fairy tale and moving on to the next writing project, students will be critically thinking about what they just did to help them remember the project in the future.

Your Name: Marie-Jo Garthosre

Name of Strategy: Peer Review

Source (Where did this come from?): ReadWriteThink.org and Google Search Result

Link to the Strategy:
1) http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=1 (See Session Six for Fairy Tale Peer Review Form)

2) http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson42/Fairy_tale_peer_review.pdf (Link to Fairy Tale Peer Review Form)

3) http://www.linfo.org/peer_review.html (Detailed Definition of Peer Review)

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:

-Peer Reviewing is the process of one person reading a peer’s work and making sure it follows the required criteria. Students use Peer Reviewing to also give constructive feedback to help their peer improve his or her writing. This strategy will be implemented when students want feedback on their writing during writing workshops to help create final drafts of their works during the revision process. This strategy will be used “during reading” because students will be reading other students’ writings during writing workshop. I also included a link with a specific worksheet (Fairy Tale Peer Review Form) for students to use when peer editing their autobiographical fairy tales during the Fairy Tale Unit that I described in Unit 2 of RE 4630. The other link for Session Six of writing the fairy tales describes the process that students will go through when doing peer review. They will get into pairs or small groups, I will review the Fairy Tale Peer Review with them, and then students will read and complete the peer review form for each peer’s fairy tale that is read.  Then students explain their constructive feedback to the other person from the Peer Review Form once they are finished peer editing that person’s work.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

NC Standard Course of Study ELA (Grades 6-8)

1.03: Interact in group settings by listening (or reading) attentively, showing empathy, and contributing relevant comments.

5.02: Study the characteristics of literary genres through reading a variety of literature, interpreting what impact genre-specific characteristics have on the meaning of the work, and exploring how the author’s choice and use of genre shapes the meaning of the work.

6.02:  Identify and edit errors in spoken and written English by: applying proofreading symbols when reading, producing final drafts that demonstrate accurate spelling and the correct use of punctuation and capitalization, and developing and awareness of errors in everyday speech.

The Peer Review Form will focus mostly on grammar (6.02). However, students will also have to interact appropriately in group settings (1.03) when they are reading peer writings with a partner/small group and the peer reviewer will have to understand the components of a fairy tale and the impact of those components when reading a peer’s fairy tale  in order to answer the questions on the Peer Review Sheet (5.02).

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

This strategy will provide students with various outside feedback from their peers throughout the writing process. Instead of just having teacher-student conferences or having the teacher provide corrections on papers on the final draft, students will be actively learning how to read other students’ works to help them revise their draft. Students will have to follow questions that the teacher provides to make sure that their peers are doing what they should be doing in their fairy tales, for example. In my experience, it is good getting feedback from my peers, because I am able to see my writing in different ways. A lot of times, I thought I had done the work right, but then my peers helped me see that I was missing some things or had some grammar errors. Getting outside opinions is very helpful to creating the best final draft possible. Students will be able to use what they know about English grammar to edit other papers written by their peers. The Peer Review strategy will help students see different angles of their writing, help students have all the requirements in their work, and provide them with the opportunity to read other peers’ papers to see how others wrote their fairy tales.  Peer Review also is a way to see if the reviewers understand what is needed in a paper by answering questions for peer fairy tales. For example, the students will need to understand the characteristics of fairy tales to see if the paper they are peer editing has all of the required characteristics. Peer Review can be used on all writing assignments, not just the autobiographical fairy tale I describe as an example, to help students improve their writing.