Reading in the Middle, Junior and Senior High Schools, Fall, 2011

Concept/Definition Mapping:

Concept and Definition Mapping was one of my favorite instructional strategies in the Buehl text book because it can be applied to so many different situations. What you do is you find a key concept that pertains to what your teaching and it helps students to make sense of the concept. They have to find out what the concept is, examples of it, and what it's like. After they make the map, they have to summarize what they found into a sentence that makes up the definition. These maps are great study tools for students and can be used to help students remember concepts they have forgotten, and it can even assist them in projects. Overall Concept Mapping is an awesome instructional strategy that any age or subject can use. You can find it on p.66 in the text book.

Discussion Web:

I love this web because it is great for all ages, also because it can encourage discussion of controversial topics without creating debates, and allows students to consider sides of questions that they may not have ever thought about before. This web has the teacher pose a focus question. Pairs then work to come up with facts as to why to agree with the question or fact and why to oppose or disagree with the question or fact. After they complete this they must form a group with another set of partners to come up with conclusions for both sides of the argument using the facts that they have found. After all groups are finished they present their conclusions to the class and then each individual student writes a response telling their personal beliefs and why.

A really good teaching strategy that I love is the usage of manipulatives, experiments, labs, and models. This is great because it helps all students. Using hands-on tools, such as experiments and manipulatives, can benefit every student no matter what their learning style is. You can also use them for any subject you may end up teaching. It is especially good for students who have disabilities because they see something concrete in front of them and not just words in a textbook; they can actually apply the information they are learning. You can find this strategy and more in Science Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain by Marcia Tate and Warren Phillips.

Story Mapping
I thought that sotry mapping was a great instructional strategy because the students can create something visual that represents the story. The teacher starts by reviewing the elements of a story with the class. Then as a class, you pick a story to map. Each student has their own blank copy to fill in while the teacher is demonstrating how to fill it in on an overhead. The teacher also instructs the students only to write down information that helps move the plot along, not every little detail. Then the teacher models how to turn the story map into an interpretation of the authors theme. After that the teacher shows how significant questions can relate to the story map structure. Finally, students complete a story map either independently or in pairs on a story that they have chosen. Story mapping is something that can be useful for any age and can help students better understand the structure of a story and how to analyze a story. Some students need the visual representation in order to understand something and this is a great strategy for that. It is on page 166 of the textbook.

Envirolopes:

Alright so I decided to focus on an area that I am not very familiar with, 6th grade science. I found a very fun and interesting instructional strategy called Evirolopes. This is a field sampling you can use for almost any type of science unit. This would be a good strategy to use with children with or without disabilities, as it is hands on and all students have a specific goal. It can be modified to be an entire group, small group, or individual activity based on the needs of the class. First the teacher introduces the students to text or videos that relate to a the competency goals set by the NC Standard Course of Study. The teacher labels and distributes envelopes with specific labels relevant to the lesson taught (labels such as: "items that show evidence of animals- such as bites taken from a leaf or a feather" or " find five different kinds of rocks"). Then students are taken to a pre-selected area where they can gather samples from the environment. They are allowed 20 minutes or so to gather samples. They may document their finding and report them to the class. This can include hypotheses about materials gathered and evidence that backs up their findings from text used in the lesson.

KWL chart

I was first introduce to this strategy last semester and I think is one good strategy to use in reading. The strategy involves the use of a three columns graphic organizer that become the students study guide as they read. Students will ask to use their prior knowledge to fill in the Know column. The second column is what the students want to know about the topic. The first and second column are done before reading, and it engage student to think about the topic before they read. After the students read the story they will then fill in the third column of what they learned.

Quick Writes -
I love Quick Writing as a learning strategy because it encourages reflective thinking among students. I really like the idea of using Quick Writes for Exit Slips. Exit Slips allow students to reflect on what they learned in class and either make sense of what they learned or ask questions that they might not have asked in class.

Not only will students get the chance to reflect and explore what was taught in class, it also gives feedback to the teacher so that they can assess what needs to be covered further in class, or what students are most interested in.

Discussion Web:

I found this to be a really effective tactic for an English classroom. Not only could I have students research and learn about controversial topics, but I could also have them discuss and define an opinion on aspects of literature we are discussing in class. I would like to use both possibilities for my classroom. I would like to have students discuss their opinion of a certain character and his or her actions, and then on a separate day, discuss a controversial topic that relates to the novel or text. The preparation for this discussion is where students would do most of the work. They would need to research anything from social norms to constructing a working definition of absolute morality. This would provide numerous possibilities for personal growth and understanding of perspective. This would also allow students to acknowledge the power os persuasion and research.

I really love the "Author Says/I Say" charts on page 49. This strategy not only requires students to read closely and analyze what they have read but it requires them to connect the reading to a real world situation. The cause/effect part of the chart is an excellent way to develop a thesis for a paper or an idea for a research project. Overall, this strategy is a simple, effective way for students to synthesize what they have read and apply it to the real world.

Mental Images/Visual Aids:

I think that visual aids and mental images are key to helping readers connect with reading. This strategy allows the reader to grasp a better understanding of the literature. It i important for students to be able to picture the work in their mind. And, with the help of visual aids this process can be completed. These aids can help activate background knowledge for the student by maybe sparking a memory. Also, the aids can help students explore the setting, and time period of certain works. I think these aids would be especially useful for students that cannot read as well as others.

I think that the Double Entry Diary would be a useful strategy for my highschool English class. It allows the students to engage with the text on a more personal level than just trying to retain facts. I think that there are more ways for reading to be approached than just strict memorization. The process of truly understanding something often involves connecting it to real life experience. In the Double Entry Diary students use the left colomn to identify the facts or summary of what they have read and the right colomn to identify what they were feeling while reading. This kind of conncetion builds a stronger memory of the facts in the minds of the students. This strategy makes students become active readers and it creates notes for students to go back too when they need to study.

Quick Writes:

I love quick writes. I think that having the students do quick writing assignments really keeps them on their toes. I know that I also liked having journal entries about books or different topics in the classroom. It is definitely helpful for the students as well because they can go back and read over their quick writes and remember different things that we have discussed in class. They are also good to help the students learn in a more productive way because they are going to write like they think and it will help them to better understand the material. I like the exit slips and I have been shown them before. It can be used as a quick way for the teacher to see if the students understood what was discussed in class but it also allows the students to ask questions that they might not have gotten to ask in class.

My first strategy is a pre-reading activity called "Character Quotes" and the detailed explanation begins on page 62 in our text. Roughly, this strategy encompasses the idea of character study. The chosen text (which includes the characters to be analyzed) will be previewed. The students and teacher look for quotes which emphasize a potential quality of a character. By using these quotes to get their creative sparks flowing, students will create a list of descriptive words or phrases. They will then use these phrases when splitting up into small groups and using a different text that is familiar to all in the group to basically repeat the process of finding quotes and listing descriptive words/phrases. The final product will be shared with the class and they will create personality profiles.

There is another section/alternate use for this strategy that I might actually present to the class instead of the one I've mentioned. Personally speaking, it sounds more interesting, focused, and engaging.

Concept/Definition Mapping:

I think that this type of mapping would be good to help students that are in special education to learn the understanding of words. We could use this if we had a list of vocabulary words that we had to learn. In the chart we will find out What it is? What it is like? Also, what are some examples of it? We will do one together as a class, then they will get together with a partner to complete a map with a new word. Some students may draw from background knowledge to find their answers but some may need to use resources around the classroom to complete their chart. Once they have finished their chart they are to write in their own words a definiton of the word. The students should do a map for each of their words and use these to study for a test that they will have in a future.

I think that daily journal writing is an incredibly useful instructional strategy. Especially in the high school classroom, giving students a place where most, if not all, of their writing is done is easy and convenient. Daily journal writing gets students into the habit of writing everyday and can be used in many different ways. With daily journal entries you can incorporate free writing,pre- and post-writing activities, and longer essay-like assignments. It also allows students to formulate questions or better organize their thoughts about assigned literature or class discussion.

I believe that personal reflection is a very important part in the process of reading a novel or any other sort of work, especially with regards to some of the more difficult works students will read in high school. I also believe that personal reflection is not covered even nearly well enough in the classroom. It seems to me that too often students are given a list of important passages and themes to memorize for a test. The first instructional strategy that I have chosen, "Save the Last Word for Me" from the Buehl text, appears to be a good way circumvent this trend. In the strategy students are responsible for choosing at least five passages or concepts that they are interested in and would like to discuss. Over the course of several small group discussions, students will have a chance to explore those issues and build on each other's ideas. I must say that I have always enjoyed group activities such as this as they allow students a break from the usual classroom routine. Also, students tend to be more interested in the concepts that this strategy targets when they have the opportunity to explore them for themselves.

Anticipation Guides:

I chose to create a lesson plan using anticipation guides. Anticipation guides are great for all ages and I think they are a great resource for special education students because they allow students to use prior knowledge and they prompt the learner to look for key ideas and to reassess what they have learned. Prediction guides are also helpful because they prompt the learner to start thinking about a certain subject or passage. These are also simple activities that students with learning disabilities will be able to complete. I think it is important for the student to have an idea about what they will be reading or learning about. Giving students anticipation guides also helps boost their confidence in class discussions etc.