Hello again, Friend!
Today was section review for Literature as Historic Documents and The Star-Spangled Banner. It was very encouraging! I had thought that at least half of the students overall had been ignoring the DVD yesterday, and when I started by asking "What did you learn from yesterday's DVD?", I was surprised at the different responses! It was almost as if those students who seemed to pay the least attention got the most information. This led to a lot of very good discussion and questions from the students on the material, and fed into the overall review very effectively.
During the review of what constitutes Original Source Documents, I was able to show the students that every day, they each generate informational public records that are original documents in and by themselves. They were particularly surprised to learn that the letters they wrote to President Obama will become Original Historical Documents and that they will become a part of the Obama Presidential Library one day.
Also reviewed the format for tomorrow's quiz: 5 matching, 10 fill in the blanks, 5 multiple choice and a short essay, with extra credit questions available. I explained to them that if anyone gets less than a 100 on the test, it is because they chose to.
More soon!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
February 18, 2009
Welcome back!
Day two of the lesson plan. Today I showed the classes the History Channel's War of 1812 segment on the Star Spangled Banner as an alternative lesson for the students. This gave a brief history lesson on the writing of the poem, the burning of Washington City and the Battle for Baltimore as well as the Defense of Ft McHenry. Actually less emphasis on the bombardment than the rest of the events! Gave a lot of information on the Flag itself, and the students seemed to enjoy learning about this aspect of their history.
In English class...go figure!
Love being able to bridge the different courses this way...
More soon!
Day two of the lesson plan. Today I showed the classes the History Channel's War of 1812 segment on the Star Spangled Banner as an alternative lesson for the students. This gave a brief history lesson on the writing of the poem, the burning of Washington City and the Battle for Baltimore as well as the Defense of Ft McHenry. Actually less emphasis on the bombardment than the rest of the events! Gave a lot of information on the Flag itself, and the students seemed to enjoy learning about this aspect of their history.
In English class...go figure!
Love being able to bridge the different courses this way...
More soon!
February 17, 2009
Welcome back, Friend!
All in all a great day and a great experience! Started a four day unit with all of Mrs. Taylor's classes on Literature as Historical Documents, with a special emphasis on when poetry can be used as an original historical source document. First period I felt as if I were completely unprepared, did not think I gained the students attention while reviewing what Literature is, explaining what historical documents are, describing historical fiction as opposed to fiction set in an era, and the rare cases when historical fiction MAY be original documents (basically, only the names are changed, and everything is verifiable with other sources). Despite my misgivings on the reception, Mrs. Taylor says I did as well as possible with the first period class because they were coming back from a long weekend due to Presidents Day. The poem I used to demonstrate poetry as historical document was The Star Spangled Banner, and I introduced it by playing a CD of Jimmi Hendrix's rendition as played at Woodstock. That seemed to wake people up!
Have set seven focus questions for the week's study, partially review, partially new materials:
1) What is Literature?
2)What are some different literary forms?
3) What is an Original Historical Document (OHD)?
4) What are some examples of an OHD?
5) What is Historical Fiction?
6) When can Historical Fiction be examples of OHDs?
7) When can a poem be an OHD?
Mrs. Taylor reviewed the lesson plan I wrote for this section as part of my FOED 1010 and 2010 classes, and approved the use prior to the end of last week. She has allowed me to assign home work projects and I am writing a quiz for assessment. Mrs. Taylor has also allowed me to give a voluntary extra credit assignment for any student who wishes to improve their marking period grade by 2 points.
The home work project, due Friday the 20th, is for each student to write his or her own original historical poem about any event or incident that they personally witnessed or experienced. Mrs. Taylor expanded it to allow 'witnessing' the event to include through the media, which allows for 9/11, Katrina, the inauguration of President Obama, and much more. She has also said that it can be as personal as a family birth or loss. I have given the students complete freedom as far as form and content.
The extra credit assignment is an essay of at least 3 paragraphs, typed and double spaced, on "What the Star Spangled Banner Means to Me" from the student's viewpoint. First drafts are due by Tuesday the 24th, and Mrs. Taylor and I will be submitting them (unless asked not to) to NPR for possible inclusion in one of the programs on National Radio.
The review/introduction was lecture style, with my writing the focus questions on the board and asking "What is..." questions before giving definitions, and discussing examples the students have read in the past, although much of this segued into movies based on the books I was trying to discuss. Hard to believe how many of the students did not realize that "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was a book first. When I asked for an example of a poem as HOD, I then played the CD and handed out copies of the original as found on the Star Spangled Banner website. We then did a detailed examination of the poem to find what factual information we could determine, using "How do we know?" questions as a guide in the analysis.
I will be asking Mrs. Taylor to post comments on her observations to this blog. This will definitely help me in assessing how I did.
More soon!
All in all a great day and a great experience! Started a four day unit with all of Mrs. Taylor's classes on Literature as Historical Documents, with a special emphasis on when poetry can be used as an original historical source document. First period I felt as if I were completely unprepared, did not think I gained the students attention while reviewing what Literature is, explaining what historical documents are, describing historical fiction as opposed to fiction set in an era, and the rare cases when historical fiction MAY be original documents (basically, only the names are changed, and everything is verifiable with other sources). Despite my misgivings on the reception, Mrs. Taylor says I did as well as possible with the first period class because they were coming back from a long weekend due to Presidents Day. The poem I used to demonstrate poetry as historical document was The Star Spangled Banner, and I introduced it by playing a CD of Jimmi Hendrix's rendition as played at Woodstock. That seemed to wake people up!
Have set seven focus questions for the week's study, partially review, partially new materials:
1) What is Literature?
2)What are some different literary forms?
3) What is an Original Historical Document (OHD)?
4) What are some examples of an OHD?
5) What is Historical Fiction?
6) When can Historical Fiction be examples of OHDs?
7) When can a poem be an OHD?
Mrs. Taylor reviewed the lesson plan I wrote for this section as part of my FOED 1010 and 2010 classes, and approved the use prior to the end of last week. She has allowed me to assign home work projects and I am writing a quiz for assessment. Mrs. Taylor has also allowed me to give a voluntary extra credit assignment for any student who wishes to improve their marking period grade by 2 points.
The home work project, due Friday the 20th, is for each student to write his or her own original historical poem about any event or incident that they personally witnessed or experienced. Mrs. Taylor expanded it to allow 'witnessing' the event to include through the media, which allows for 9/11, Katrina, the inauguration of President Obama, and much more. She has also said that it can be as personal as a family birth or loss. I have given the students complete freedom as far as form and content.
The extra credit assignment is an essay of at least 3 paragraphs, typed and double spaced, on "What the Star Spangled Banner Means to Me" from the student's viewpoint. First drafts are due by Tuesday the 24th, and Mrs. Taylor and I will be submitting them (unless asked not to) to NPR for possible inclusion in one of the programs on National Radio.
The review/introduction was lecture style, with my writing the focus questions on the board and asking "What is..." questions before giving definitions, and discussing examples the students have read in the past, although much of this segued into movies based on the books I was trying to discuss. Hard to believe how many of the students did not realize that "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was a book first. When I asked for an example of a poem as HOD, I then played the CD and handed out copies of the original as found on the Star Spangled Banner website. We then did a detailed examination of the poem to find what factual information we could determine, using "How do we know?" questions as a guide in the analysis.
I will be asking Mrs. Taylor to post comments on her observations to this blog. This will definitely help me in assessing how I did.
More soon!
Friday, February 13, 2009
February 13, 2009
Hello Friend!
Who says Friday the 13th is unlucky? I was asked to substitute for Mrs Wolff, 9th and 12th grade Honors and AP English, at Riverdale. The majority of the students recognized me from working with Mrs Taylor next door, so no problems as far as discipline.
The Honors classes had their section test on Macbeth, while the AP classes had the option of silent reading or oral reading by cast. The students chose one of each, and I read a small part of Macbeth's lines when the class realized the student who should have been reading the part was not there. All in all, a great day!
More soon!
Who says Friday the 13th is unlucky? I was asked to substitute for Mrs Wolff, 9th and 12th grade Honors and AP English, at Riverdale. The majority of the students recognized me from working with Mrs Taylor next door, so no problems as far as discipline.
The Honors classes had their section test on Macbeth, while the AP classes had the option of silent reading or oral reading by cast. The students chose one of each, and I read a small part of Macbeth's lines when the class realized the student who should have been reading the part was not there. All in all, a great day!
More soon!
February 11 and 12, 2009
Greetings once more!
After Tuesday's classes, Mrs Taylor advised me that Thursday the 12th would be continuation of the review for Friday's section test. In light of this, we decided that it would be an excellent chance for me to do some of my SPED observations.
Let me take this opportunity to thank Mr. Don Bartch, vice-principal at Scales Elementary School. He placed me in contact with Mrs. Lynn Reynolds, who is a Special Education teacher at Scales, and she has generously opened her classroom to me for observations.
The students in her class range from K through 4th grade. These children each spend at least 30 minutes a day in full inclusion with a regular ed class, and receive both group instruction and one on one IEP instruction with Mrs. Reynolds or one of her two assistants. The disabilities represented in the class range from severe cerebal palsey to ADHD with co-disabilities of defience disorder, with emotional disorders and autism present in some students as well.
Wednesday was gym day, which allowed the students to have supervised self-directed play and exercise. I was only able to observe for one hour on this day.
Thursday's special activity was music. I am not certain what I expected with a class that is almost half non-verbal, but I thought that the music teachers and the aids did a wonderful job. This was a fantastic example of co-operative teaching across multiple disciplines! The teachers passed out and collected in turn bean bags, percussion sticks and marachas. The bags and sticks were color coded, and the students selected their favorites. Each item had an associated song, and the students who are verbal sang along with the recording and the teachers while all the students followed the action instructions in the songs. Particularly touching was how some of the students with full mobility helped those without mobiltiy participate and included them in the music play/learning. Activity lessons included reinforced body recognition (placing the bean bag against the arm, leg, foot, head, etc.), fine motor skills ('sawing' and rapping percussion sticks to beat), color recognition, and counting.
I was allowed to participate in the one on one teaching with Mrs. Reynolds. She explained the goals guide for each of the IEPs for the students we worked with, as well as a brief discription of the child's handicap. I was able to witness both the great joy of seeing these special children doing wonderfully in their individual areas, and the frustration of working with a child who is ED and defiant. I do not know if I could handle this day after day.
More soon.
After Tuesday's classes, Mrs Taylor advised me that Thursday the 12th would be continuation of the review for Friday's section test. In light of this, we decided that it would be an excellent chance for me to do some of my SPED observations.
Let me take this opportunity to thank Mr. Don Bartch, vice-principal at Scales Elementary School. He placed me in contact with Mrs. Lynn Reynolds, who is a Special Education teacher at Scales, and she has generously opened her classroom to me for observations.
The students in her class range from K through 4th grade. These children each spend at least 30 minutes a day in full inclusion with a regular ed class, and receive both group instruction and one on one IEP instruction with Mrs. Reynolds or one of her two assistants. The disabilities represented in the class range from severe cerebal palsey to ADHD with co-disabilities of defience disorder, with emotional disorders and autism present in some students as well.
Wednesday was gym day, which allowed the students to have supervised self-directed play and exercise. I was only able to observe for one hour on this day.
Thursday's special activity was music. I am not certain what I expected with a class that is almost half non-verbal, but I thought that the music teachers and the aids did a wonderful job. This was a fantastic example of co-operative teaching across multiple disciplines! The teachers passed out and collected in turn bean bags, percussion sticks and marachas. The bags and sticks were color coded, and the students selected their favorites. Each item had an associated song, and the students who are verbal sang along with the recording and the teachers while all the students followed the action instructions in the songs. Particularly touching was how some of the students with full mobility helped those without mobiltiy participate and included them in the music play/learning. Activity lessons included reinforced body recognition (placing the bean bag against the arm, leg, foot, head, etc.), fine motor skills ('sawing' and rapping percussion sticks to beat), color recognition, and counting.
I was allowed to participate in the one on one teaching with Mrs. Reynolds. She explained the goals guide for each of the IEPs for the students we worked with, as well as a brief discription of the child's handicap. I was able to witness both the great joy of seeing these special children doing wonderfully in their individual areas, and the frustration of working with a child who is ED and defiant. I do not know if I could handle this day after day.
More soon.
February 10, 2009
Welcome back, friends!
Today was section review day. While Mrs Taylor conducted reviews of the last six weeks in preparation for the upcoming section test, I was given the task of reading and reviewing the sonnets from all the classes. Again, I am impressed with the writing and creativity all the students displayed.
Question: How does one assign a grade to an assignment that is so open to personal interpretation? Do you simply assign a pass (completed)/no pass (not completed)? If so, what do you do to recognize the most talented while encouraging all the students to continue and improve?
Today was section review day. While Mrs Taylor conducted reviews of the last six weeks in preparation for the upcoming section test, I was given the task of reading and reviewing the sonnets from all the classes. Again, I am impressed with the writing and creativity all the students displayed.
Question: How does one assign a grade to an assignment that is so open to personal interpretation? Do you simply assign a pass (completed)/no pass (not completed)? If so, what do you do to recognize the most talented while encouraging all the students to continue and improve?
February 3 and 5, 2009
Hello friends,
Classes this week are being taken up by standardized testing, so no in-class work was being done.
Classes this week are being taken up by standardized testing, so no in-class work was being done.
January 29, 2009
(NOTE: For some reason, the original entry of this post did not post. Have I mentioned I hate technology?)
Hello again!
Today has to have been my favorite since the start of the EXL experience so far! Mrs Taylor and I were able to take time to go over the materials to be introduced and the assignments that are to be given, and then she turned the teaching over to me for 'our' two classes! I was able to introduce the students to Sonnets, explained the three styles and differences (Italian, English, and Shakespearean), go over rhyme schemes, and assign the class work. The students were each to write an original sonnet, and they could use any of the three forms or create their own rhyme scheme. The amount of talent these young people display is remarkable! I will be posting a number of these from each class soon so that you may read and judge them for yourself.
Hello again!
Today has to have been my favorite since the start of the EXL experience so far! Mrs Taylor and I were able to take time to go over the materials to be introduced and the assignments that are to be given, and then she turned the teaching over to me for 'our' two classes! I was able to introduce the students to Sonnets, explained the three styles and differences (Italian, English, and Shakespearean), go over rhyme schemes, and assign the class work. The students were each to write an original sonnet, and they could use any of the three forms or create their own rhyme scheme. The amount of talent these young people display is remarkable! I will be posting a number of these from each class soon so that you may read and judge them for yourself.
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