Amanda Klinger's Blog

This class has helped me tremendously in locating and evaluating online resources for future use in the classroom.  I have the beginnings of several wonderful units for the social studies classroom. Using websites that I have found particularly helpful such as Edsitement, pbs.org, ReadingQuest, and ReadWriteThink I have aquired lesson plans about World War II, The Oregon Trail, and Native Americans and the involvement in our history.  I have collected strategies that can be used in both the social studies and English language arts classrooms such as word splashes and opinion – proof charts.  The first I would used to introduce a unit on a variety of topics and the second I would use in either a social studies or language arts classroom when preparing for a debate or composing an argumentative essay.  Both are a great way to integrate these two subjects.  I have learned a great deal about literature circles, blogging and using technology in general in my classroom.  I believe these are all things that I will use in the future.  My students will find it much more engaging, and I will enjoy this style of instruction much more as well.

Overall, this course has forced me to find resources that I would have probably never searched for on my own.  At least not until I was in the classroom and had a need for it.  Now, I have a stock pile of interesting lessons, activities and websites that I have already compiled.  They are all just ready and waiting for me when I need them.  I want to challenge myself to continue finding more activities and resources and adding them to my blog.  I think that this will be a great way for me to continue organizing the information I find in a usable fashion.  I want to continue finding more resources for the units I have already begun researching and to also begin preparing others that I may wish to use in the future.  I’m glad that I took this course because I’m much more comfortable blogging and using technology because of it. I feel more confident in using these resources in my classroom and instructing my students in the use as well.  In this day and time, we as educators must remain current in order to keep our students interest.  Using technology and interactive instruction is an excellent way to do so.

Vocabulary Instruction Response

I agree with the premise of the article and think the concept would be even stronger in a middle school where the teachers are divided in to teams. In this setting teachers are already used to pairing concepts, so the foundation of a vocabulary study would be reinforced in each class. Back to the article, the more exposure the students have the better it is for anything they are studying. If vocabulary is presented in multiple ways over a brief span of days they are going to gain a better understanding more readily. The brain remembers through activities. Various activities including the naming of synonyms and antonyms will help the students learn rather than cram as they would without enough reinforcing activities. Graphic organizers even give the students visual representations they can key off on to help learn the words in a unit.

The most important idea overall is to make sure that the words are related. Choose words from the same story that deal with settings or development of the character, or words from a specific region being studied in social studies. If the words have a relationship to each through roots or definitions, the students will become better prepared for any assessment given to them.

http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=743

Women Aviators in World War II

This lesson exposes students to life on the home front of WWII. The woman’s role in America is explored through the first activity which sheds light on the shift in workplaces that began with WWII. Primary source posters can be accessed and displayed for the students to gain an understanding of the advertisements used at the time. The second activity pays attention to the Women Airforce Service Pilots. These women get very little coverage in tradition WWII material and should be recognized for their role at the time. Their role is significant because they began to break through the military’s unwritten gender bias in the cockpit. Like the Civil Rights movement for the equality of race, these women served as an inspiration for the advancement of women in other realms of society. I like that the students get to see period material and are also incorporating the use of technology through a guided list of websites.

http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=323

On The Oregon Trail

I would use this lesson plan in an 8^th grade classroom. I like how the lesson has the ability to utilize technology that may be available in the school so students can do some guided group research. The best part of the lesson is how it places the students in the shoes of those that experience the journey in to the Oregon Territory. I also find it to be effective as it engages the students’ creativity after gathering research. It is fitting that the presentation be followed by a critique where the class identifies what embellishments were made to the pure facts of the event. Many of our students are willing to believe most anything they see or hear without questioning what liberties the authorities have taken.

Multigenre Paper

Moulton’s article on the multigenre paper states that research papers do not have to be “traditional” and bore both the student and teacher. The alternative to a 5 page monstrosity that does not have a continuous flow because of the students’ patchwork assembly of research takes a much more creative approach. Students must still do the research, but now will demonstrate their knowledge with some imagination. The teacher can designate a time period and place in history leaving the students free to choose a person, place, or event to explore. After they gather their research they then create a series of works that comprise their findings. For example, an advertisement about great rolling lands in the plains states could be part of a student’s project about the westward expansion. The overall outcome should get students excited about doing an individual or group research project while making the presentations an interesting compliment to classroom learning.

The only draw back to this kind of activity lies in the means of grading on a standard scale. Should there be minimums set to the total number of artifacts or genres? Can the students duplicate a genre for another artifact? How do you come up with a fair basis for grading someone that composed a song to perform for the class and a student that drew a stick figure village? The quality of each work is inherent, but you know the second student reached the limit of their artistic ability. Scales based on a clearly defined rubric that the students are aware of before the activity is to be completed seem like the best option.

3 questions

How can we be sure that the students are still doing their work in an honest way?

Does a teacher draw a limit on what the artifacts can be created so that some students aren’t turning in iMOVIES while some others hand over all self drawn and written objects?

How many artifacts create enough evidence that the student has still completed as much research as writing a full length paper?

“I” Poem Response

Kucan’s article on the “I” poems raises many significant points that to support a change from the old practice of reading a piece of literature, discussing it, taking a test and then moving to the next underappreciated work. Her main focus is that writing aids the students’ understanding of the literature. Whether completed before reading in a background exploration, or after in a summative reflection, the “I” poem can be simple tool teachers can use with their students.

The poems can address all parts of the literary experience aside from the obvious: characters. The setting and events can share their points of view through the “I” poem. Trees can tell of how the wind or the lumberjack has changed their existence alongside the plight of ball hit from a baseball bat. These poems can rhyme or be free verse since the content overshadows the form. For students that need a little more prompting, the “I” poem can be modified to an “I am” where they are triggered by different verbs.

The greatest token to take away is that a second and third exposure to the reading can bring new ideas to light and take understanding to a deeper level. Students have done more than merely seen words on a page, but have created something through their own comprehension of the work.

3 questions

What other types of poems can be used in a similar context?

Should/could this be the only activity used if the reading is short?

How would a Lit Circle assignment work if each group made an “I” poem on their story and that’s what how they shared the information with the others?

Title your post: Strategy Number Four

Your Name:  Amanda Klinger

Name of Strategy:   Discussion Web

Source (Where did this come from?):   Instructional Strategies for Social Studies (Georgetown ISD)

Link to the Strategy: http://www.georgetownisd.org/gisd/ccorner/socstudies/InstructionalStrategiesforSocialStudies.asp

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:   This is a during reading activity that helps students organize the concepts presented and viewpoints set forth in a text that has two opposing ideas.  Students should individually read the text with the intention of creating the web.  Students should then be paired up with another student and create the web using the strongest possible arguments for both sides.  Once the web is completed each pair should join another pair and these students should come to a consensus about the issue and record it below their webs.  These should then be shared with the whole class.  Students should then write personal responses to a focus question about the same topic.

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

This can cover any goal or objective in the social studies curriculum, and also addresses the use of organization, understanding argument and synthesis of text in the English Language Arts curriculum which are goals 3, 4 and 5.

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

I think this will work because it is easily accessible to all students.  There is no right or wrong answer and students are allowed to work in pairs before coming to a conclusion about the issue.  Therefore they feel less stress in their own opinion.  I think it will help my students learn by becoming more organized thinkers and being able to see the arguments visually represented will help them to be better prepared to discuss them.  It allows students the ability to compare and contrast the arguments.  I think students will be able to apply this type of organizer and thinking to their everyday lives and will become more prepared to make decisions and come to conclusions about their opinions and important issues.

Title your post: Strategy Number Three

Your Name:  Amanda Klinger

Name of Strategy:   Word Splash

Source (Where did this come from?):   ReadingToLearn (worldaffairs.org)

Link to the Strategy: http://www.worldaffairs.org/globalclassroom/curriculum/ReadingToLearn2.pdf

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:   This is used as a pre-reading exercise to introduce a new text, unit, or concept.  It was created for use in the social studies classroom, however, I think you could use it in science as well.  The teacher chooses 20-25 words that relate to people, places, ideas, or concepts and scatters or “splashes” them onto a page.  Each student is then given a copy of this page and is instructed to draw lines between words that they feel are related.  On the line students should write a statement about how the words are related.  Once students have done this individually students should pair up or work in groups to share their word splashes.  Each group should discuss the splashes and students should revise theirs if they feel differently after working with their partners.  After the groups have had time to discuss they should share theirs with the class.

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

This activity is formulated for social studies and could be used to cover any goal or objective in that specific standard course of study.  I believe it could also be used to cover many goals and objectives in science.  It is related to language arts through the use of vocabulary and writing.  This would be Goal 6 in the English Language Arts Standard Course of Study.

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

I believe this will work because it will make students think about the new concepts and vocabulary before the unit is ever begun.  It will help them have a base knowledge of terms before they begin reading multiple texts and having daily discussions.  They will feel more prepared to use the terminology in both class discussions and their own writing.  Through the think, pair, share strategy students do not feel as nervous about their answers and the revision process is valued.  Students are able to revise their work even after the unit is completed and it is therefore an ongoing process.  Students will be able to look at the progression of learning over time.  I believe it will help students continually think about the connections between people, places, events and other concepts throughout the unit and create more mental maps in their heads.

Title your post: Strategy Number Two

Your Name:  Amanda Klinger

Name of Strategy:  Do Now

Source (Where did this come from?):  Pennsylvania Department of Education (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening)

Link to the Strategy: http://www.pde.state.pa.us/reading_writing/cwp/view.asp?a=196&q=98017

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:

Do Now’s are centered around a question or statement that students hear or read often at the beginning of class.  The students are asked to respond thoughtfully to the question or statement without fear of being “wrong.”  This could be used to ease the transition into class and warm up the brain, introduce a new unit or text, or to review from the previous day.

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

This activity can cover a wide spectrum of objectives in the standard course of study.  I believe that it could be used in any discipline or content area for a multitude of reasons.  It especially addresses Goal 6 in the English Language Arts Standard Course of Study for sixth, seventh and eighth grade which states that students understand and use the conventions of grammar and language.  Writing without penalty will help students to become more confident writers.  Also, writing for many purposes in many disciplines emphasizes the importance of having this skill.

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

I think this strategy will work because it is quick and relatively “painless” for the students.  It is a writing task that does not seem intimidating.  Even the most reluctant writers will be able to produce a few sentences if the question or statement is enticing enough.  This strategy helps students learn through practice and active thinking.  They are learning to be better writers by doing it frequently and they are learning about all of the other disciplines through the questions or statements and the thought process that must be in place in order to answer.

Title your post: Strategy Number One

Your Name:  Amanda Klinger

Name of Strategy:  Opinion – Proof Chart

Source (Where did this come from?):  Reading Quest Strategies (Readingquest.org)

Link to the Strategy: http://www.readingquest.org/strat/opinion.html

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:

This is a tool that students can use when they are writing persuasive essays, preparing for a debate, creating a historical based assignment, or oral presentation.  Students use two column notes to provide factual back-up for their opinions.  In one column the students list their opinions (whether teacher assigned or self-selected) and in the other list the proof they have found in a particular text (reading, video, webpage, etc).  This allows students to learn to use facts to make their opinions more stable arguments.

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

Goals 2, 3, and 4 in the English Language Arts standard course of study for sixth, seventh or eighth grade are all addressed through this activity.  Goal 2 states that students should learn to evaluate information from a variety of sources, Goal 3 states that students should understand the foundation and use of an argument, and Goal 4 states that the student will be able to create criteria to evaluate print and non-print sources.  This organizer can help students prepare arguments, but also to align opinions stated in the text with the evidence an author presents.  This will help students understand what an effective argument is, and if a text is reliable.

This tool addresses any social studies standard and many science standards as well.

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

This strategy will work because it is easily understood and accessible to all students.  It helps to organize their thoughts and create more sound arguments.  Students can easily refer back to their chart when composing their papers and preparing for debates or other assignments which will give them more confidence in their writing and allow them to better organize their assignments.