CCSS activity 2- source 2

Source: Valarie Strauss's "Common Core's odd approach to teaching Gettysburg Address"
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/11/19/common-cores-odd-approach-to-teaching-gettysburg-address/

Again, I choose this article because the title grabbed my attention.
I kind of thought this article might be similar to one of those CCSS youtube videos with the sketches.

As I began reading I instantly felt overwhelmed with the wording of the standards.
I am sure this is something that is intimidating for many people even professionals. It took me several times reading the sentences over and over to comprehend the idea behind the standard.

Once I comprehended what the standard was calling for my next thought was for an activity to demonstrate understanding of "“close reading” of the address “with text-dependent questions”.
The idea is that students will be able to use textual evidence to draw a conclusion about what the text is describing without using the word. To meet this standard I came up with this activity:

Goal: Students will be able to recognize this description as The Gettysburg Address 

ask: "What is being described in this paragraph?"

"A long time ago people whose skin was black were "owned" by people whose skin was white.

the people with white skin did not respect the people with black skin and treated them very badly. Alot of black people were hurt and sad for a very long time.

Then one day a very important man said that the people with white skin can not treat the people with black skin like this anymore, because it was wrong. 

Well the white people in the north of America followed this law even though some did not like it.

White people in the south of America did not like this new law and wanted to get rid of it altogether.

So the people of the north fought the people of the south. 

It was really bad and alot of American familys suffered.

 because were supposed to be the same team. "

....Like it is stated in the article a gave a detailed summary of events depicting The Gettysburg address without giving it away by using specific terms such as civil war or Abraham Lincoln.

Getting back to my response..I noticed this aritcle also touching base on instructional shifts.
Which means this term is being reinforced yet again though this series of CCSS activities.
The differentiated use of these terms and concepts leads me to see the connections of how all these aspects of the CCSS are intertwined with each other.

To finalize, I loved the quote "developing students’ prowess at drawing knowledge from the text itself is the point of reading" because I feel it nicely sums up the meaning behind this standard.

CCSS activity two- source 1

Source: Kathleen Porter-Magee's "Implementing Common Core with Struggling Readers"
http://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/common-core-watch/implementing-the-common-core-with-struggling

I choose this source first because the title caught my eye, being a special education major I am more interested in how to get struggling students to meet CCSS.

As i began reading the articel I relazed the auothur is also a blogger.
I felt a sense of hosititlity to CCSS when she refers to it as having "rigor demands".
When she says "my support for the Common Core literacy standards stems from three things" she lists the three key shifts for teaching common core that I incorporated into my blog for CCSS activity one.
This was reinforcing for me because here I am being exposed to those key shifts again and allows me to see those shifts used in a different context.

Kathleen makes an interesting point, which I took as opposing standardized testing, when she says research shows "an individual’s reading level ebbs and flows depending on the content covered, the vocabulary used, the syntax, and on". To summarize in my own words: a student's reading level could be based on their level of interest in the material, lack of interest will result in lack of comprehension.

I liked how Kathleen introduced me to a new term "educational malpractice". I never heard that before, but I feel like it is the same as setting student up for failure.

In response to Kathleen's questions at the end I would like to suggest focusing on the importance of how teachers can leave "breadcrumb trails" for students that may have difficulties. Teachers can do this by setting up questions leading students to an appropriate response, also arranging questions so it promotes students to think critically and incorporate problem solving skills.
When she asks how to "focus on knoweldge building in a ever minute counts school" I would suggest using every oppurtunity for incidential teaching by relating any indicdent or discussion that may relate to the text. Teachers could also tie aspects of text into other lesson plans to show how the text can be associated through various lessons in attempt to spark connections and associations between all subjects.

CCSS activity one

Anchor standards

Three shifts used to teach and meet standards-

-          Regular practice with complex texts and their academic language

-          Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from texts, both literary and informational

-          Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text

The instructional shift between the anchor standard for grade one and the anchor standard for grade three is related to focus and content area. In grade one the anchor standard (in my own words) is to read and make inferences (predictions) based on what you read. In grade three the anchor standard is to summarize what you read and based on that, tell why things happened the way they did, and identify any changes that occurred throughout the reading. So from grade one to grade three the anchor standards instructional shift is going from making predictions to identifying defining traits in the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3
Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

As grade three anchor standard is focused on analyzing how characters, events and changes effect the plot of a story, grade five anchor standard is focused on identifying the key parts of the text that make these changes in plot occur, for example a specific quote from the text. So in third grade you learn to identify how each aspect of the text affects the plot, than in fifth grade learn to analyze these specific aspects by using textual evidence. Basically, the instructional shift between third grade and fifth is from identifying problems, changes, behaviors, to analyzing specifically how and why they occurred and  piecing these together to fit into the text as a whole

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.5
Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

References

 http://www.corestandards.org/other-resources/key-shifts-in-english-language-arts/ 

***Summary**** 

For this assignment I was somewhat unclear about what to do but after watching the video on youtube this is what I came up with....

My train of thought was to pick three anchor standards, from three different grade levels and describe the instructional shifts in between the grades.

I started at grade one's anchor standard for literacy and described the instructional shifts to grade three's.

I repeated this process for grade three's anchor standard to grade five's.

I also included the three "key shifts" used to teach common core because as they say, common core "can not be isolated". 

In the end I feel like this assignment was worth while because as Dr. Mcvery stated in the youtube video it gave me the opportunity to play around with CCSS a little bit more and gave me the chance to analyze and utilize these standards for an assignment.

writing 4- final narrative

In my last blog, I was at the beginning of writing my narrative piece.
I mentioned I was torn about what specific experience to write about for the memoir genre.
Then I thought.... who says a memoir has to be about one specific experience.
In fact, dictionary.com says a memoir is "an account of one's personal life and experiences"...note experiences, plural.
So came my decision to include both the experiences I was torn to pick from. 

Based on this decision, I laid the "framework" or "landscape" for this narrative piece, my memoir.
The other decision I had to make was how I wanted to tell my story, what perspective should I go with (taking into consideration it is a narrative), third person,? What time frame...then or now?
This decision was a little more difficult to come to, so I did what I always do, my writing process...
This begins with me typing out all my thoughts, ideas, and subjects I want to include. I call this "word vomit".
From there, I organize this "word vomit" by grouping the ideas and subjects together, the idea is that these groupings eventually turn into praragraphs.
I use this for the basis of my thesis. 

When I got to this point I was able to shape a perspective which I feel tells my memoir best.
I am happy with the way it came out, I feel as though my narrative piece in the memoir genre meets the characteristics of the genre by depicting my memorable experiences, and relates how they influenced me.

writing 3- begining narrative

 (To begin this blog I would like to mention I hope my readers keep in mind that even though they see the date posted on 11/26 I started this blog as a draft as I began my narrative piece. Given the weather and the day off of classes I am using today as a EDU 307 "catch up day". Also, I hope all my readers enjoy there Thanksgiving break as I am sure it is much needed for all of us.)

As I begin my narrative piece for the menoir genre I am somewhat torn on what to write about, so if any of my readers would like to leave comments and let me know what they would find more interesting please feel free to do so....

My two choices are both experiences that I feel have changed my life, and they both took place around the same point in time, at the beginning of middle school. A rough time developmentally for children as we transition from little kids into preteens. At this time we must keep in mind changes in hormones, expectations, and so on.

First choice: To write a memoir about my experince going through the process of special education, this began when I transferred districts going into fifth grade. This experience includes being identified, evaluated, observed, having an IEP, PPTs, and recieving services in school. I felt this was a unique topic to write a memoir on because I could reflect on how it influences me as a future special education teacher.

Second choice: To write a memoir about my experience being diagnosed with type one diabetes in seventh grade. I thought it'd be an interesting topic to write a memoir on because it is something that drastically changed my life because of the responsibility and everything I had to learn to keep my self healthy.

Any opinions?

Does collaborative learning support literacy?

Does collaborative learning support literacy?
A simple answer to that question: yes.

How do I know?
After our experiences in class, working in groups for reading and writing workshops,not only did I get a lot of great input from my peers at a college level, but it brought back a lot of memories from grade school working in small groups with peers in these reading and writing workshops.
Now as an adult and a future teacher I feel stronger about how collaborative learning supports literacy. I was never the best student when I was little so reading and writing workshops were intimidating for me, but now as college senior I can see how I have come a very long way in my education. Learning collaboratively supports literacy learners by allowing students to gain more ideas, hear different perspectives, and receive constructive criticism on their work from their peers.
A big way collaborating helps writers is...if you are in a group you get to hear from your audience....instead of just seeing the piece from your own perspective As a writer you want to captivate your audience and satisfy them with your writing so hearing their feedback can help you do that. 
Working collaboratively in reading groups helps to support literacy learning because maybe you are in a reading group with someone who helps you realize you missed a key aspect in the plot. Or maybe you are in a reading group with someone who role play with in order to comprehend the material.
It's like the great saying goes..."Two minds are better than one". Collaborative learning supports literacy. 

Writing 2- Finalizing Info essay

 As we begin a new week, after a very chatoic last week and weekend I am happy to say I am finally getting the opportunity to get back on track for EDU 307. After I got done finalizing my informational essay last week I kinda put a few things aside for this course and am in the procsess of playing catch up as I am sure we all are in one way or another. So with that said I hope everyone is managing ok.

In regards to my informational essay, I am happy with the way it came out. I feel as though I provided adequate information about the genre by defining it, stating why it is important to teach it, classroom activities to teach reading and writing. I meet my two targeted areas for growth, which were reinforcing the importance of the message in a memoir and coming up with meaningful classroom activities to teach.

What I found unique about this assignment was creating two separate documents to show revisions. Usually my "rough drafts" are a bunch of unorganized word vomit that is more in the format of stanzas then paragraphs. As I go through my ideas I group them into an outline and form a solid thesis, then organize my paragraphs according to that.

I think I made a meaningful genre choice, and doing this assignment made me excited to begin writing my own. So stay tuned to see what I will be writing my memoir on for the narrative piece.....

Writing 1

I feel like I have not blogged in awhile, I've been so busy with other course work as I am sure the rest of you have.
This will begin a series of four blogs reflecting on my writing process. The assignment is to first write an informative essay on a genre, then write a piece in that genre. In the informative essay I must define the genre, explain why it is important to teach, and come up with classroom actvities that will teach students to read and write in this genre.
The genre I choose is memoir. I choose this genre because I have a passion for learning from expereinces and people's different perspectives which are major aspects in memoirs.
Today in class we started conferencing with our rough drafts (or in my case- rough outline, lol) of our informative essay. I feel as though it was a very valuable use of time. I found my peers to be very helpful with ideas for the memoir genre and also helped me to better understand the genre. There were three total members in my group and we all choose a different genre. We all gave and received valuable feedback and ideas for our upcoming papers. I was definitely more interested and productive in our writing conferences then our book club meetings so I think I will enjoy them more and hopefully help out my peers as they help me in these conferences through this genre writing process.

Book Club 4

This was our book club's final meeting and was focused on chapters 31 to the end of the book. Again, we had a member missing so we did not get to see how she feels about the end of the book.
I found that we all noticed how the end of the book really tied together a lot of lose ends in the story and ended in a very positive way. Our book club made connections to the many aspects of education such as inclusion and special needs that they discussed in the book
As a reflection- I cant say this experience sparked my interest in joining any other book club. I do enjoy reading, but prefer to keep it to myself. I can understand why people join books clubs though, maybe the same reason adults join a book club as if a young student in a readers workshop...sometimes reading things together and discussing the text in a group helps you to gain a better understanding or see different opinions/perspectives.
I did enjoy this book, as did our entire book club. I feel as though it was a great choice for our book club because we are all special education majors and we were able to tie in a lot of aspects of the special education field to Caitlin's journey through the book. Most of all, we were able to see how Caitlin benefited from special education related services and how she overcame a very difficult situation.
Being a part of a reader's workshop re-exposed me to the benefits of a reader's workshop, by discussing the text, hearing other's perspectives, thoughts and opinions. It has been a very long time since I have discussed a book in a setting like this. I am interested to see the comparison/contrast we will make to writing workshops now.

Book club 3

Yesterday was our third book club meeting. We had one member missing. Our assigned reading for this meeting was chapters 21-30.

In these chapters Caitlin's social worker was out to attend to her sister's troubled pregnancy. Caitlin and her dad attend as fund raiser which makers her feel very uncomfortable in a crowd full of people but it was here that she is intrigued by a character artist and is convinced to draw her first character which she fails to draw the person's eyes. She is continuing to "find closure" and wants to do this by finishing Devon's chest. She is adamant about going to Lowe's to retrieve the items on Devon's list. This really upsets her father and he isn't able to bring himself to do this. After Caitlin's relentless efforts he finally agrees to work on it and starts to think it might be a good idea. The start of their project is disrupted by another shooting on the news. In chapter 30 Caitlin attempts to make friends at lunch and is teased, triggering behaviors and being a negative experience.

In our meeting we focused on these main events and discussed Caitlin's perspective. We made connections to her behaviors and the events taking place. While also discussing our own perspective and thoughts. Some members of our book club feel as though Caitlin's father does not understand her, while I disagree and feel as though he has been very patient and understanding of her while they are both dealing with an overwhelming amount of grief and that he is doing a lovely job of doing so. I put myself in his perspective of a single father to a young girl with autism who just lost his son in a school shooting and his wife to cancer a few years ago. I applaud him, even during moments of weakness. It seems as though at only our third book club meeting it has become routine and somewhat dull. It leads me to wonder what a larger book club, with a more intensive story, or a book club for hobby would be like....Maybe a book club that is based on politics and there is a debate- or a book club that exposes others to a new culture- or a book club based on a successful recovery that unifies other survivors of an accident, war or illness.

Book Club 2

Today was our second book club meeting. I would say it went smoother then the first because we were all more on the same page as how to facilitate the meeting and what to expect.

This meeting was focus on the content of chapters 11-20 of Mockingbird.

In these chapters Caitlin becomes hyper focused on researching facts about the heart, after we find out she knows Devon got shoot in the heart and is aware of gory details, also recalls what the doctor said "there's nothing we could do".
Caitlin loves to read and is at an above average reading level, she says "books are easy, they don't have feelings". After her research she climbs into Devon's unfinished chest and start to mimic functions of the heart from inside the chest.
She also becomes hyper focused with "finding closure" and wants to try to "figure it out". She goes into Devon's room for the first time, into her "safe spot/cozy corner", she expereinces the feeling of memories and finds a list Devon left of thigns he had not finished before the shooting.
She decides she needs to finish this list, and that maybe it would bring her closure, which she is still unsure about.
Meanwhile she is in a position where trying to make friends and working diligiantly at it during recess. We see the begining of her beliving she developed a "friendship" and experiences jealousey over a book buddy siuation. Her social worker is also trying to expose her to empathy. She is very overwhelemed, also trying to chomprehend her father's feelings which ties in with empathy.

During our book club meeting we focused on the key points she is dealing with such as juggeling feelings of grief, jeaslousy, empathy, pressure of making friends and finding closure.
We analyzed these feelings through Caitlin's unique perspective due to her autism.
I believe that a great deal of this book reinforces the idea of communication through behaviors in children with autism, and how we as teachers must learn to read the attempt at communication (which is something I will remember to mention at our next book club meeting).

Book club 1

Yesterday was my first "book club" meeting. I have never been in a book club so this was a new experience for me. I assumed the obvious..... we would agree to read to a certain point and then refelct on it during our meeting, and that's how it went. So for our frist meeting we agreed to read chapters 1-10 of Mocking bird, by Kathryn Erskine, and reflect on it. Well when I began the book I was so into it that I could not put it down and ended up reading the entire thing straight through. Some of the other girls said they felt the same way and some also read ahead. So one girl made a point that it was kinda weird because we were all at different points in the book. We still just decided to focus on chapters 1-10. We all really liked the book but it seemed that we all perceived parts of the book in different ways, which is fine. So my first experience of a book club meeting was pretty much what I expected but with a little awkwardness honestly.
But like I said above, the book was great! So let me tell you a little about it based on chapters 1-10 that were assigned for this first book club meeting....
This book, Mockingbird, is written from the perspective of Caitlin, a young girl with autism, who just lost her older brother in a school shooting, after also loosing her mother in the previous few years to cancer. Because this is written from Caitlin's perspective we have such a strong insight and connection to her instantly. We see how she tries to process through the grief and huge change in life from loosing her brother, how she is aware of the distress in her father and is trying to cope with that all while having the normal pressure of being a young girl with autism in a public school.
Key parts of chapters 1-10 that were discussed in our meeting was how overwhelmed she must be, how she is coping and expressing herself through the writing and behaviors, and her focus on the literal meaning of words. Such as "soon" and "next year". Which is a classic autism trait.

PS- I am not sure how specifically I should go into details of the book based on the fact that many readers of this blog may not have read the book and because I am under the impression these book club blogs should reflect more on the actual book club meetings and not so much the content in which it is based on (that being the book). But if my blog readers have not read Mockingbird, then I hope my brief summary gave you a general idea of what our book club meeting was about.

My vision of a reader's workshop

My vision of a reader's workshop in my classroom would start with the entire class in the meeting area, as the teacher I would conduct a "mini lesson" which would include me introducing the book very excited, reading through the book while role modeling, and putting emphasis on specific things I would like the students to pick up on, like characters, their emotions, the setting and transitions in story.
During my reading time I would pause to encourage students to find out what we know, make connections and inferences, "what do you think is going to happen?" When I am done reading the book I would invite any students to share any questions, comments or connections they had with the book. Also review the main points.
To continue reader's workshop, after our mini lesson students will go back to their seats to independently read through the book. This is the "independent reading" part of workshop.
When they are finished they will break into small groups for "conferencing". During this conferencing time students will again discuss how they felt about the book, if there was anything new they came across after they just re-read it or any questions they had. Each group will be given a "focus question" to discuss. This question will be open ended and require the student to think critically. If the class read the book "Cinderella" a focus question would be something like "What are some ways Cinderella could stand up for herself to her evil stepmother and step sisters?" Students will discuss their answers and feed off each other's. The answer to this question is not on paper therefore they will be thinking critically, and using their group discussion to form a logical response.
After student are done discussing their focus question they will "journal" their responses based on their own thoughts, opinions, evidence from the reading, and group discussion.
After they are done journaling each group will sit together in the meeting area and will share their focus question and their reaction to it with the class. The rest of the will have the chance to add any comments and all groups will have a turn to share. Each focus question will be focused on major aspects in the book.

How to support all learners

In this blog we will focus on how to support all types of learners in a literacy classroom. Lets start by identifying the three main types of learners.... We have visual, audiotry and kenesthetic learners.

For our visual learners, a good way of getting them to fallow along with the book and comprehend what they are reading is to use pictures along with the sequence of the story. Lets say the class is broken down in small groups and there is a group of visual learners. The teacher gives them the activity of reading the book together, and after every page they use provided pictures to "map out" what is going on in the story. On the first page n the book Henry ate a cookie. The group must identify the activity on page one, select the picture representation and places it first in line. On page two Henry's friend comes over and wants a cookie too, so Henry gives him one and they are enjoying them together. Again, the group summarizes the main point of page two, identifies it with the picture and places it second in line, so on and so forth.... Sequencing and identifying main points are big components of literature. You can eventually incorporate more difficult questions by asking them "when did the problem occur?" and have them answer using their picture sequence.  

Another time of learner is an auditory learner. These learners are great readers because they are able to absorb the material in a simple form, by being read to out loud. Once they hear the material they are processing it in their head and usually do not get "lost" or need visuals because they are fallowing along and perceiving information just by listening. Although, to some this may seem like a very difficult way to learn. There is usually far less auditory learners in a class then any other. These are the students that enjoy and are successful at reading out loud, which is how I would facilitate these types of learners in a small group. They could either take turns reading out loud of fallow along with a book on tape. They can give an auditory description or summary amongst their group at the end of each page.

We will also have kenesthetic learners in our classrooms. These learners perceive best when they put the readings into action and are able to physically experience what they read. These are the students that will be put into small reading groups and their activity will be too summarize the read material by acting it out, processing through the events on each page. You could have each student play the role of each character. This way the students are incorporating the skills of summarizing, applying it to real life (by acting it out) and of course teamwork.

My perfect classroom

As a future special education teacher I am not going to have your "typical classroom" there are many neat things available for special education students to benefit from. So if I was blessed with unlimited resources to design my perfect classroom that will stimulate my students and provide a learning atmosphere here is what I would include....
A smart board for advanced technological and interactive learning.
A huge sensory center with a sand table, water table, play dough table and a miscellaneous table for the sensory activity of the day which could be magnets, rice or ice.
A motor center with huge gym mats, platform swings, a rock wall, trampoline and cardio equipment for when the students need a gross motor break or to get some energy out.
A flourished art center with easels, huge storage area for all art supplies labeled by picture and word so the students will associate them with the art supply. This center would be decorated by students own work.
A quiet, reading, calming center where students can go if they are feeling over stimulated or need a break which would include a book shelf, pillows, bean bags and also a fish tank.
A huge wall mirror to use for self awareness, or role modeling. I think mirrors can provide a different perspective of oneself that some aren't used to. Mirrors can also be used to encourage self confidence or compare/contrasting.
I would have live plants scattered all over the room and it would be the students responsibility to take care of them.
I would want a full functioning kitchen where we can do cooking projects. Cooking projects not only promote self help and independence skills but also incorporate math skills (time and measuring), social skills (working together as a team) and also patience.
Finally, each individual in the class, including the teacher, will have their own work area. It will be a designated place for direct instruction or "book work", an area to keep their work in progress and belongings organized. Each person having their own space will also provide them with a sense of self and their own "home base" in their classroom. I feel this is a very important aspect of a classroom.

My first memory of language arts

My first memory of language arts was how I didn’t really understand the name. why was it called language arts I thought. I liked just calling it reading or writing. They were certainly two different things to me….which leads to my mixed memories and feelings towards language arts as a whole. I am diagnosed with ADD and weak auditory processing skills and had an IEP all through school. This brings up the unpleasant memories I have of the reading aspect of language arts. I remember sitting in class while the teacher or students would take turns reading aloud while everyone fallowed along in their books. Well that was the worst for me. I never felt like I was able to keep up or stay focused on fallowing along and usually felt lost, because of the auditory dictation and trying to keep up I did not comprehend anything. Writing on the other hand was a release for me. I have always felt as though it came easy for me to express myself through writing, probably because I always have so many thoughts in my head. I liked writing things with a beginning middle and end. I thought it was so cool when we first started learning about introduction, body and conclusion paragraphs. Still to this day I find myself learning and growing as a writer. My English class last fall certainly played a role in that. Now as an adult student I am fully aware of the relationship between reading and writing, what we know as “language arts” or “literacy” and the importance of grasping both aspects to be a successfully literate person.