Course Reflection

Although I felt like many of the resources I sifted through for this course were geared more towards ELA/SS, I was able to find several great ideas, and have already been able to use one of them. With my 8^th grade science class I’m teaching, I used the 3-column notes (graphic organizer) I found for one of the teaching strategies blogs I wrote. We were doing a unit on chemical reactions, and the students had been doing a lot of labs, but not a lot of note taking. I was trying to think of the most effective way for them to take notes and it actually be useful, when I remembered the 3-column notes. We filled them out in class discussion, so students were able to ask questions. We used the text books, prior knowledge, and informed guesses at first, and then students found good descriptions of the terms that made sense to them (in their own words). Students drew a picture or diagram for each term, also. I was excited to actually put one of the teaching strategies to use.

 

I got several useful strategies from this site:

http://www.mandygregory.com/How%20To%20Reading%20Strategies.htm

 

ReadWriteThink is also a great tool with wonderful resources, including lesson plans:

http://www.readwritethink.org/

 

The Delicious bookmarking site (referenced in the Pirate Workshop) has already been useful to me. I used it in a unit I wrote for one of my classes, and I also use it now for my own purposes:

http://delicious.com/

 

YouTube has also been fantastic. I’ve used it in my internship with my 8^th grade classes, showing them videos of sulfur exploding when coming in contact with water (which they thought was awesome), and Bill Nye clips about chemical reactions:

http://www.youtube.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/SpiralOut11235

 

I will definitely continue finding resources as I continue teaching. I have found some great sites throughout this course that I will definitely remember later on. However, I don’t know if I will continue writing in this particular blog. I will probably use classroom blogs when I have my own classroom, though.

 

Lesson 2 – C-E-L-L-O

A Professional Development Initiative for Developing Approaches to Vocabulary Instruction With Secondary Mathematics, Art, Science, and English Teachers

This is the all-famous Jello Cell lesson. Students would be learning about cells and their components, properties and functions. Students use gelatin and pieces of fruit to make cell models of animal cells and/or plant cells. They will be able to describe the cells, organelles, functions, and tell the differences between plant and animal cells. For this lesson, I would have introduced key vocabulary and talked about important terms in a class discussion format. Then the students would do research in their text books and online to find out how to make their models. Students would pair up to build their cell models. Each pair would present to the class when they were finished. The lesson online includes discussion questions for the class, as an “explanation phase” (the 5 E’s format). The suggested evaluation is for students to come up with three questions that could be answered by looking at their cell model. I would probably also include a rubric for the cell models, which I would let the students see before-hand so they would know what I’m looking for in their models. This would be a great lesson plan for 8^th grade science because it would be fun, and allow for creativity while learning new terms and the functions of cells.

 

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/cello/

Lesson 1 – Astronomy Poetry

Astronomy Poetry is a great lesson plan I found for 6^th grade science on ReadWriteThink. Students write poetry, and choose ten pieces to publish. Then they use the Printing Press (which is SO COOL!) to make a poem book. The Printing Press on ReadWriteThink gives students a format to work with so they can focus on the content instead of trying to get everything lined up just right and getting it all to fit where it is supposed to be, in the correct order, etc. Students deal a lot with vocabulary, and since they write poetry about astronomy, they will become more familiar with the terms and concepts related. Students share poems in small groups and then choose one to share with the entire class. This project would go hand in hand with an astronomy unit. The Printing Press would also be a great tool for other projects throughout the year.

 

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=417

Vocabulary Article and Related Sites

A Professional Development Initiative for Developing Approaches to Vocabulary Instruction With Secondary Mathematics, Art, Science, and English Teachers was an article that had a great many ideas for teaching vocabulary in content areas. Instead of just writing down terms and definitions, students do activities with the words: writing poems, finding common roots, having literature circles, finding synonyms and antonyms, and doing multigenre projects. Although vocabulary is often just associated with ELA, I know that in my content areas of math and science, new terms are introduced all the time. Just because it isn’t Language Arts doesn’t mean students don’t need to learn the terms in creative and meaningful ways.

 

For the Oceanography ABC Book Lesson, students research different parts of the ocean and animals that live in the ocean. They use internet and books to find information. Though this lesson is geared toward 4^th and 5^th grade, it could easily be adapted for 8^th grade science (hydrosphere).

http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/valencia/oceanabcbooks/teacherabcbooks.html

 

The Estuary Lesson Plan (cited below) uses poetry to help students learn and research estuaries. An activity like this would be great for 8^th grade science when learning about the hydrosphere. There are several handouts included with examples of “I Am” poems. Also in the link are questions for journaling, a rubric for the poems, and extensions the class could do (including students getting involved in the community).

http://www.ltl.appstate.edu/carol/unit4/Spirit%20Lesson%201-1.pdf

The Multigenre Paper: Increasing Interest, Motivation, and Functionality in Research

A college professor, Margaret R. Moulton, of secondary English education asked her students to write a multigenre research paper. Most of them had never written one before, so they had to learn about what it was and what was expected. The students had to choose a topic to research, such as a famous person or group. Then they chose eight genres in which to express the information they had found. Among the genres were poems, obituaries, sheet music, quotes, newspaper feature articles, games, school essays, dialogue, etc. The students really got into the project and learned so much just because it was different from the run-of-the-mill traditional research paper. Many of the students suggested the project for high school teachers they knew to use. One of the students stated, “I found that the most strenuous work was the exploration that took place in my mind.” I thought this quote was great proof of the effectiveness of the project. Students weren’t bogged down with trying to get all the facts in order and come up with sentences to write in between quoted material; they were exploring and being creative. I could easily see this being a great project in a middle school science classroom, and I hope that I’m able to utilize it in the future.

 

Questions:

1. In a middle school classroom, should students work individually or in pairs/groups on a project such as this? Or does it depend on the classroom make-up?

2. How long should a project like this last?

3. If students don’t have internet access or a way to get to the public library, will they have to do the entire project at school while other students get it done at home?

“I” Poems: Invitations for Students to Deepen Literary Understanding

Students use the “I” poems as a learning tool before and after reading a book or some other text. The author, Kucan, and her students were going to read Sarah, Plain and Tall. To get an idea of the setting, students wrote “I” poems related to elements of the setting(s) in the novel. This way, when students began reading the book, they were already familiar with the setting and could already relate to the novel. The poems students would write after reading a book would be similar, but be more based upon the main character(s). Kucan gave several examples in the article of poems students had written after reading different stories. The poems were well thought out, and displayed what the students had learned and understood from the book. I think this activity would help give the students ownership in the novel and their work surrounding the reading of the novel.

 

Questions:

 

1. I could see the “I” poem being a great tool for science. Could I find a good way to implement it in mathematics?

 

2. How would you make a good rubric for this activity without putting limits on it?

 

3. Is the “I Am” format better than the freedom of just the “I” poem? Would it depend on the students in your class?

Instructional Strategy 4 – Fletch

Katie Fletcher

Graphic Organizers

“The How To Reading Strategies”

http://www.mandygregory.com/How%20To%20Reading%20Strategies.htm

A graphic organizer is a strategy to use during reading. Students gain information while reading text, and pick out details and important information to put in the graphic organizer.

Animal	What they eat	Where they live	Animal Size	Interesting Features and Facts
Great White Shark
Saltwater Crocodile
Sea Anemone
Jellyfish

 

NCSCOS – Science

1.05 Analyze evidence to:

• Explain observations.
• Make inferences and predictions.
• Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.

1.07 Prepare models and/or computer simulations to:

• Test hypotheses.
• Evaluate how data fit.
• Make predictions.

1.08 Use oral and written language to:

• Communicate findings.
• Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
• Describe strengths and weaknesses of claims, arguments, and/or data

1.10 Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:

• Scientific text.
• Articles.
• Events in the popular press.

 

This strategy will work because as students read, they will be looking for important information to put in their graphic organizers. Therefore, they will be reading carefully to find specific content instead of just reading without retaining.

 

Instructional Strategy 3 – Fletch

Katie Fletcher

Anticipation Guide

“The How To Reading Strategies”

Link to the Strategy: http://www.mandygregory.com/How%20To%20Reading%20Strategies.htm#Anticipation%20Guide

Before reading about a new topic, the teacher selects several true/false questions for the students to answer. Students then make guesses based on what they already know, and it gets them thinking about the subject.

1.05 Analyze evidence to:

• Explain observations.
• Make inferences and predictions.
• Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.

1.10 Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:

• Scientific text.
• Articles.
• Events in the popular press.

 

This strategy will work because when the students answer the true/false questions, they will begin thinking about the topic before they read. Then while they are reading, they will recognize the things from the true/false questions that they answered, and determine whether or not they were correct and why. This will cause the students to connect more with the text, and help them to look for particular ideas within the text.

Instructional Strategy 2 – Fletch

Katie Fletcher

Pantomime

103 Things to Do Before/During/After Reading

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/82

For this strategy, a student or several students will act out what they read. For example, if students were reading text about the orbits of planets around the sun, students could pretend to be those celestial objects and demonstrate the orbits.

NCSCOS – Science:

1.05 Analyze evidence to:

• Explain observations.
• Make inferences and predictions.
• Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.

1.07 Prepare models and/or computer simulations to:

• Test hypotheses.
• Evaluate how data fit.
• Make predictions.

1.10 Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:

• Scientific text.
• Articles.
• Events in the popular press.

 

This strategy will work because it is engaging and fun, while based on scientific text. Students will take what they read, interpret it and represent it in their pantomimes. Students who are kinesthetic learners, as well as visual learners, will benefit from this strategy because they will be able to move around and act things out, or see their classmates act things out. It also makes the information much more meaningful to students, and they will remember it better because they were actively involved.

Instructional Strategy 1 – Fletch

Katie Fletcher

Interactive Notebook

Source: Greece Central School District

http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/interactivenotebook.htm

The interactive notebook is to be used before, during, and after reading. The paper is split down the middle; on the right side are notes taken in class, and on the left side are descriptions, pictures, and representations that help students connect to and remember what they have learned. Students will: summarize information by determining what is important and not important, compare and contrast texts, and make connections with them. This is an example of an interactive notebook:

For the NCSCOS – Science:

1.01 Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations.

1.02 Develop appropriate experimental procedures for:

• Given questions.
• Student generated questions.

1.05 Analyze evidence to:

• Explain observations.
• Make inferences and predictions.
• Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.

1.06 Use mathematics to gather, organize, and present quantitative data resulting from scientific investigations:

• Measurement.
• Analysis of data.
• Graphing.
• Prediction models.

1.07 Prepare models and/or computer simulations to:

• Test hypotheses.
• Evaluate how data fit.
• Make predictions.

1.08 Use oral and written language to:

• Communicate findings.
• Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
• Describe strengths and weaknesses of claims, arguments, and/or data

1.10 Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:

• Scientific text.
• Articles.
• Events in the popular press.

This strategy will work because students will have to make connections with the text in order to write about, draw, and describe it. Students create their own methods of remembering things (such as the acronym in the example). Since students take notes from class in the other column, they will be able to make connections between their class notes and the tools they create in the left column; this way, students have more than one resource and can gain a better understanding of the content.