Standard Six | Reading, Writing, and Oral Communication
The competent teacher has foundational knowledge of reading, writing, and oral communication within the content area and recognizes and addresses student reading, writing, and oral communication needs to facilitate the acquisition of content knowledge.
Artifacts
Spring 2012 | Musical Emotions Project
Performance Indicator
P) Integrates reading, writing, and oral communication to engage students in content learning
Knowledge Indicator
B) Understands that the reading process involves the construction of meaning through the interactions of the reader's background knowledge and experiences, the information in the text, and the purpose of the reading situation
Performance Indicator
P) Integrates reading, writing, and oral communication to engage students in content learning
Knowledge Indicator
B) Understands that the reading process involves the construction of meaning through the interactions of the reader's background knowledge and experiences, the information in the text, and the purpose of the reading situation
musical_emotions_project_rubric.docx | |
File Size: | 71 kb |
File Type: | docx |
tfamusicalemotionsprojecthandout.docx | |
File Size: | 94 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Spring 2012 | Found Poem
Performance Indicator
N) Teaches students to analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and summarize information in single texts and across multiple texts, including electronic resources
Performance Indicator
N) Teaches students to analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and summarize information in single texts and across multiple texts, including electronic resources
3-15jlcfoundpoemhandoutandexample.docx | |
File Size: | 72 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Reflections
Spring 2012 | Musical Emotions Project
This Musical Emotions project requires students to “read” and analyze a song, write critically about it, and orally give their findings to the class, therefore helping them grow in all three aspects of communication that this standard is concerned with. Additionally, the project engages students on a personal level as well. The project was given at the end of reading Things Fall Apart. It asks students to pay attention to their own emotions as we read the novel’s climactic and unexpected ending, and then find a song representing those emotions. Students were to bring in the song to class, write a paragraph of at least 250 words explaining the ways their emotions connect to the song, and play their song and present their paragraph to the class.
As an educator, this project taught me a lot about the amount of overall organization and preparedness that’s required in order to avoid the pitfalls that can come with relying on technology in school. The vast majority of students had no problems bringing their music in a playable format to school. Some, however, needed me to help them get MP3’s from videos on YouTube, get the song on a flash drive, etc. Transition time between presentations could also be long as we dealt with technology snafus that came up. Technology is so worth using in the classroom, but it is difficult to make the process streamlined enough to be truly meaningful to the students! I now have a more realistic understanding of the time it actually takes to require technology use as part of students’ learning experience in school.
Spring 2012 | Found Poem
This Found Poem in-class activity helped students understand more deeply the characters in The Joy Luck Club by engaging deeply with the exact words of the text. Each student’s task was required to portray some truth about a character of their choice by quoting and arranging at least 10 lines of the text into a poem. Students were therefore challenged to really examine and comprehend the lines of the novel, as well as have the creativity to rearrange the lines into a form telling their readers something about the character. Students also had to write 2-3 sentences explaining what they meant their Found Poem to illuminate about the character. Requiring this final explanatory step ensures that students have actually chosen their lines in an analytical manner and can summarize the point they’re trying to get across.
This activity went over extremely well with students – I may use it again as we get further into the novel, perhaps expanding its scope to deal with two characters and their interactions. Before the activity, students had been introduced to a lot of characters very quickly and were having difficulty keeping them straight. Writing these poems allowed them to really understand one of the characters, at least – and if students share their work, as a class we can keep track of essential truths about each of them. I was impressed with the students’ creativity and motivation as they completed this activity. I’m beginning to realize that requiring creativity in assignments is a great way to keep my honors students motivated – especially if I show them a high-caliber example beforehand. Then, they automatically want to challenge themselves to produce high-quality work as well. A totally unexpected behavior management technique!
This Musical Emotions project requires students to “read” and analyze a song, write critically about it, and orally give their findings to the class, therefore helping them grow in all three aspects of communication that this standard is concerned with. Additionally, the project engages students on a personal level as well. The project was given at the end of reading Things Fall Apart. It asks students to pay attention to their own emotions as we read the novel’s climactic and unexpected ending, and then find a song representing those emotions. Students were to bring in the song to class, write a paragraph of at least 250 words explaining the ways their emotions connect to the song, and play their song and present their paragraph to the class.
As an educator, this project taught me a lot about the amount of overall organization and preparedness that’s required in order to avoid the pitfalls that can come with relying on technology in school. The vast majority of students had no problems bringing their music in a playable format to school. Some, however, needed me to help them get MP3’s from videos on YouTube, get the song on a flash drive, etc. Transition time between presentations could also be long as we dealt with technology snafus that came up. Technology is so worth using in the classroom, but it is difficult to make the process streamlined enough to be truly meaningful to the students! I now have a more realistic understanding of the time it actually takes to require technology use as part of students’ learning experience in school.
Spring 2012 | Found Poem
This Found Poem in-class activity helped students understand more deeply the characters in The Joy Luck Club by engaging deeply with the exact words of the text. Each student’s task was required to portray some truth about a character of their choice by quoting and arranging at least 10 lines of the text into a poem. Students were therefore challenged to really examine and comprehend the lines of the novel, as well as have the creativity to rearrange the lines into a form telling their readers something about the character. Students also had to write 2-3 sentences explaining what they meant their Found Poem to illuminate about the character. Requiring this final explanatory step ensures that students have actually chosen their lines in an analytical manner and can summarize the point they’re trying to get across.
This activity went over extremely well with students – I may use it again as we get further into the novel, perhaps expanding its scope to deal with two characters and their interactions. Before the activity, students had been introduced to a lot of characters very quickly and were having difficulty keeping them straight. Writing these poems allowed them to really understand one of the characters, at least – and if students share their work, as a class we can keep track of essential truths about each of them. I was impressed with the students’ creativity and motivation as they completed this activity. I’m beginning to realize that requiring creativity in assignments is a great way to keep my honors students motivated – especially if I show them a high-caliber example beforehand. Then, they automatically want to challenge themselves to produce high-quality work as well. A totally unexpected behavior management technique!