This document provides an overview of a 10-session lesson plan to introduce students to literature circles. The plan models the four main roles that students take on in literature circles: Discussion Director, Vocabulary Enricher, Literary Luminary, and Checker. Each role is demonstrated by the teacher and practiced by students. By the end of the introduction, students are prepared to participate independently in literature circles to discuss books they have chosen.
This document discusses strategies for developing literacy in students. It emphasizes the importance of creating a print-rich environment and getting to know students' interests to engage them. The author discusses administering assessments, selecting texts, and creating lesson plans incorporating critical and response perspectives to improve comprehension. Interactive activities like playing a space song and using a KWL chart to explore concepts are recommended.
This document summarizes a presentation on transformative learning. It discusses how transformative learning focuses on helping students gain greater control over their own purposes, values and decision making. It also describes an experiment where a professor took a mentoring role instead of an authoritative one, and students determined course content and assessment. Students initially resisted this approach but became more engaged. The presentation concludes that transformative learning may promote higher-level thinking but more research is needed to evaluate outcomes.
9 26-2011 content of ss, objectives, mi, pbl (rev 9-25-2011)DrHelenBond
The document outlines key theories and methods for teaching social studies, including constructivism, the banking model of education, and anticipatory sets. It discusses using methods like the expanding environment approach, Bloom's taxonomy, and the 10 themes of social studies to guide lesson planning. Sample lessons integrate themes like culture, time and change, and geography.
1. The document describes four examples of teachers going beyond traditional practices to teach for understanding. In the examples, teachers ask students to apply geometry concepts to design a floor plan, connect literature to personal experiences of justice, teach peers about animal mimicry, and motivate students to synthesize ancient Egypt learning through a tabloid format.
2. The author argues that teaching for understanding, where students think through concepts rather than just memorize, is becoming more common and supported by research showing many students do not truly understand what they are taught. Understanding is necessary for students to apply knowledge and skills effectively.
3. The document discusses what understanding is, using the example of understanding Newton's laws of motion to predict the unsuccessful outcome of a
This document is a research proposal that aims to study the effects of embedding specific literacy strategies within a science curriculum. The researcher hypothesizes that this will increase students' ability to demonstrate understanding of science concepts. The proposal provides background on the problem of students at a middle school struggling with science concepts. It then reviews literature supporting the integration of literacy into science instruction to develop scientific literacy. The proposed study will focus on strategies like summarizing, note-taking, previewing text, generating questions, and developing vocabulary and measure their impact on student understanding through assessments.
Manzone h read64067_action_researchpaperfinaldrafthilgreen2
This study examined the impact of literature circles on reading comprehension and student interest in 48 fourth grade students. The students were split into a control group that received traditional reading instruction and an intervention group that participated in literature circles. Pre and post-tests found no significant differences in vocabulary or comprehension scores between the two groups. However, qualitative data supports that literature circles can increase student motivation and engagement in reading by allowing student choice and flexible grouping. The literature review found that literature circles promote critical thinking skills when students collaborate in discussion of self-selected texts.
This document provides an overview of a 10-session lesson plan to introduce students to literature circles. The plan models the four main roles that students take on in literature circles: Discussion Director, Vocabulary Enricher, Literary Luminary, and Checker. Each role is demonstrated by the teacher and practiced by students. By the end of the introduction, students are prepared to participate independently in literature circles to discuss books they have chosen.
This document discusses strategies for developing literacy in students. It emphasizes the importance of creating a print-rich environment and getting to know students' interests to engage them. The author discusses administering assessments, selecting texts, and creating lesson plans incorporating critical and response perspectives to improve comprehension. Interactive activities like playing a space song and using a KWL chart to explore concepts are recommended.
This document summarizes a presentation on transformative learning. It discusses how transformative learning focuses on helping students gain greater control over their own purposes, values and decision making. It also describes an experiment where a professor took a mentoring role instead of an authoritative one, and students determined course content and assessment. Students initially resisted this approach but became more engaged. The presentation concludes that transformative learning may promote higher-level thinking but more research is needed to evaluate outcomes.
9 26-2011 content of ss, objectives, mi, pbl (rev 9-25-2011)DrHelenBond
The document outlines key theories and methods for teaching social studies, including constructivism, the banking model of education, and anticipatory sets. It discusses using methods like the expanding environment approach, Bloom's taxonomy, and the 10 themes of social studies to guide lesson planning. Sample lessons integrate themes like culture, time and change, and geography.
1. The document describes four examples of teachers going beyond traditional practices to teach for understanding. In the examples, teachers ask students to apply geometry concepts to design a floor plan, connect literature to personal experiences of justice, teach peers about animal mimicry, and motivate students to synthesize ancient Egypt learning through a tabloid format.
2. The author argues that teaching for understanding, where students think through concepts rather than just memorize, is becoming more common and supported by research showing many students do not truly understand what they are taught. Understanding is necessary for students to apply knowledge and skills effectively.
3. The document discusses what understanding is, using the example of understanding Newton's laws of motion to predict the unsuccessful outcome of a
This document is a research proposal that aims to study the effects of embedding specific literacy strategies within a science curriculum. The researcher hypothesizes that this will increase students' ability to demonstrate understanding of science concepts. The proposal provides background on the problem of students at a middle school struggling with science concepts. It then reviews literature supporting the integration of literacy into science instruction to develop scientific literacy. The proposed study will focus on strategies like summarizing, note-taking, previewing text, generating questions, and developing vocabulary and measure their impact on student understanding through assessments.
Manzone h read64067_action_researchpaperfinaldrafthilgreen2
This study examined the impact of literature circles on reading comprehension and student interest in 48 fourth grade students. The students were split into a control group that received traditional reading instruction and an intervention group that participated in literature circles. Pre and post-tests found no significant differences in vocabulary or comprehension scores between the two groups. However, qualitative data supports that literature circles can increase student motivation and engagement in reading by allowing student choice and flexible grouping. The literature review found that literature circles promote critical thinking skills when students collaborate in discussion of self-selected texts.
The document discusses various methods of arriving at an understanding of Christianity and its relationship with science. It examines religious explanations for the origin of the universe and human life, as well as scientific explanations such as the Big Bang theory and evolution. Both perspectives are presented, along with arguments for and against each view. The document aims to provide a balanced overview of the key issues in the debate between religion and science regarding origins.
Science is the process of gaining knowledge through scientific inquiry, which involves posing questions, developing hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and communicating results. A hypothesis is a proposed explanation that can be tested, while a scientific theory is a well-supported explanation that has withstood repeated testing but may later be modified or abandoned if evidence does not support it. Scientific laws describe observable patterns or relationships but do not explain why something occurs.
The document outlines three major theoretical paradigms in the study of religions: 1) The origin of religions from the late 1700s to early 1900s, which included social evolutionism and scientific racism. 2) The function of religions from the early 1900s to 1960s, including functionalism and structural functionalism. 3) The meanings of religions from the 1960s onward, including symbolic and interpretive approaches, feminism, and post-structuralism.
Forte geertz symbols rituals and faith based behavior nov 8 14 pptSalisbury University
Clifford Geertz's symbolic anthropology approach views religion as a cultural system embodied through symbols and expressed through rituals. It provides an interpretive framework for understanding the meanings, motivations, and worldviews derived from religious symbols and rituals by members of a faith group. Key concepts include sacred symbols, rituals, ethos/dispositions, and the use of religion to address problems of meaning and restore order in the face of chaos. Social workers can apply this approach by interpreting clients' religious symbols and rituals to better understand their perspectives and how their faith provides meaning.
Here are the key points about learners' characteristics that are relevant to science teaching:
1. Learners develop holistically - their cognitive, physical, social, emotional development are intertwined. Teachers should foster whole development.
2. Learners grow at different rates. Teachers should accommodate individual differences in abilities and development.
3. Learners learn best through active involvement with hands-on, concrete experiences. This aligns with constructivist views of learning as active construction of understanding.
4. Learners are naturally curious and motivated when learning is meaningful and interests/needs are considered. A relaxed environment fosters learning better than a highly structured one.
5. Learners have different
The document discusses science, scientific inquiry, and the scientific method. It defines science as systematic knowledge derived from observation, study, and experimentation to determine principles. It outlines six key principles of scientific inquiry and describes the scientific method as a process of gathering observable evidence through experimentation and observation to form and test hypotheses. The document also defines religion and lists some common traits of religions, including beliefs in supernatural beings, sacred objects and rituals, moral codes, religious feelings, prayer, a world view, and a social group bound together by shared beliefs.
This document discusses several key topics related to the sociology of religion:
1) It defines religiosity and the different ways people can express or experience religion.
2) It outlines Ernst Troeltsch's typology of religious organizations as ecclesia, church, sect, and cult. It then describes the characteristics of each type.
3) It discusses some of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology on how religion affects society and individuals, such as the functionalist, conflict theory, and rational choice perspectives. Religion can both unite and divide society.
The document discusses the importance of incorporating writing into college courses. It suggests that assigning writing, whether formal or informal, increases student engagement more than any other course characteristic. It provides examples of learning objectives, assignments, and ways to include informal and formal writing experiences in courses across disciplines. The goal is for students to develop content knowledge and communication skills through various writing opportunities with feedback.
This document discusses the importance of teaching non-fiction writing genres in schools. It notes that non-fiction writing has traditionally been neglected compared to fictional writing. The document advocates using a "genre theory" approach where teachers explicitly teach common non-fiction genres like reports, explanations, procedures, etc. and their defining structural elements. The purpose of a text helps determine its generic structure. The document provides the example of instruction texts typically having the structure of stating the goal, listing materials, and providing steps. It encourages teachers to help students understand these common non-fiction genres and scaffold their writing within these established structures.
Assessing Writing In Undergraduate Biology Coursework A Review Of The Litera...Katie Robinson
This document summarizes a literature review of writing practices and assessment in undergraduate biology coursework. The review analyzed 59 articles published between 2000-2015 in peer-reviewed biology and science education journals. The review found that the articles generally agreed on the importance of developing scientific writing skills for biology students. It assessed what genres of writing were emphasized, how writing was assessed, and whether the articles cited WAC scholars. The review sought to understand the current conversations in the biology field regarding writing instruction and how they align with best practices identified by the WAC community.
This document discusses rethinking approaches to teaching study skills. It presents three models: the study skills model which focuses on surface features and skills transfer; the academic socialization model which focuses on acculturating students into disciplinary discourses; and the academic literacies model which views literacy as social practices negotiated within institutions of power and identity. The academic literacies model has implications for more inclusive, emancipatory approaches interrogating dominant academic cultures and power relations. Dialogic frameworks are suggested to encourage negotiation of academic identities and practices.
This document summarizes an article about art teachers conducting action research. It discusses how three art teachers conducted educational action research projects for their Master's degrees. While art teachers are introduced to qualitative and quantitative research methods, they often choose action research due to their background in art and teaching. The document analyzes the differences between practitioner research in education and practice-based research in art, noting they use different methods and aims. It provides context on the development of art education and differences from other fields in its emphasis on studio practice and image-based learning outcomes.
Li (Jerry) Xie Dimensions of Diversity_ Capstone Project.pptxJerryXie21
The document discusses a capstone project for a course on dimensions of diversity. It includes an instructional portfolio and reflection on concepts learned, with the goal of demonstrating mastery of course goals related to teaching English language learners, including understanding policies and cultures impacting ELL education and implementing research-based strategies.
This document provides examples of writing prompts and activities that teachers can use to incorporate writing into math and science classes. It discusses the benefits of writing in building disciplinary literacy and learning. Some key points:
- Writing makes thinking and learning in math and science visible, helps students solve problems and gain clarity. It improves retention of content.
- Prompts can start simply, asking students to reflect on their feelings about a topic, then progress to having students explain concepts or summarize group work.
- Interactive notebooks/blogs allow students to record notes on one side and reflections on the other, modeling how scientists take notes.
- Journals provide a low-stakes way for students to work through problems
Li (Jerry) Xie Dimensions of Diversity Capstone ProjectKelseyShroyer
The document discusses strategies for teaching English language learners, referencing theories like Krashen's comprehensible input hypothesis. It proposes teaching language through content by providing scaffolded instruction and language objectives. Examples are given for teaching vocabulary through preview, explanation, and review in a reading class while integrating traditional Chinese learning strategies.
The Question is the Answer: Making the Language Arts Classroom Meaningful wit...darinjohn2
Ashley Jorgensen, Price Laboratory School, UNI
This presentation will focus on developing a curriculum built around inquiry-based units of instruction in a secondary language arts classroom. Audiences will have the chance to see evidence of how the use of essential questions can lead students into a process of inquiry, giving them the skills they need to think critically, question the world around them, and broaden and deepen their perspectives by connecting with others. Audiences will embark on a journey that takes them through a course entitled, ‘The American Teenager,’ and see the activities, assessments, and instructional strategies that transformed this course from a traditional study of American Literature to a course that is relevant, engaging, and challenging for teenagers in the 21st century. Through essential questions like ‘How do societal expectations impact our identity?’, ‘What are the costs and benefits of conformity?’ and ‘Is the American Dream a reality for all?’, this course blends classic and contemporary, and combines writers like Sherman Alexie with The Breakfast Club, Henry David Thoreau with text messaging, and Catcher in the Rye with Jay-Z. Audiences will gain important techniques for creating a classroom built around student-led discussions, including Socratic Seminars and blogging, as well as see examples of competency based assessments fully aligned with the Iowa Core Curriculum and National Common Core Standards.
68 En glish Journal 103.4 (2014) 68– 75wanted to write a.docxtaishao1
68 En glish Journal 103.4 (2014): 68– 75
wanted to write a darn story/poem/play) never
meant to convey. Some students fall in between—
either trusting teachers to have a reliable method,
or not particularly caring how we do it. While I
don’t mind being thought to possess some magical
second sight, these (mis)perceptions all disturb me
because I care more about students’ mastering the
hows than about any of the whats, more that they
can interpret a text than that they can recall the
literacy motif in The Tempest.
Like most En glish teachers, I often use ap-
prenticeship to build students’ interpretive skills,
using class discussions and modeling to offer “sup-
ported interaction with people [namely, me] who
have already mastered the Discourse” of En glish
studies (Gee, “Literacy” 7). James Paul Gee distin-
guishes apprenticeship from learning, which en-
tails meta- level language and cognition as students
recognize and have language for the knowledge
they are acquiring (“What”). Apprenticeship is ef-
fective in many ways, but it asks students to fake
their way through literary analysis by groping for
the kinds of language and thinking they have heard
from (perceived) genuine literary analysts (e.g., the
teacher and perhaps savvy classmates). This im-
provisation using inadequate materials, which Gee
calls “mushfake,” David Bartholomae calls “invent-
ing the university,” and my students call “fake it ’til
you make it,” goes only so far in developing critical
and analytical reading skills. My students deserve
to be explicitly taught the distinctive practices of
En glish studies in a way that adds learning to ap-
prenticeship by offering meta- level language and
thinking beyond literary terms and the like.
n recent years, professional influ-
ences on all sides have pressed me to
put my students in the driver’s seat,
making them more active in their
own learning, giving them more voice and choice
in their work, and developing skills that will ben-
efit them well beyond my classroom. And I’ve done
pretty well, I think— I’ve increased the emphasis
on research; created flexible, problem- based assign-
ments with multimodal products; improved the bal-
ance between writing and literature. But the better
I felt about how my writing instruction addressed
21st- century skills, the worse I felt about my litera-
ture instruction. My students came to understand
texts and explain the meaning they found there, but I
knew something was missing. The skills they gained
in using textual details to make meaning seemed to
start after that key first step: deciding which textual
elements were notable. I had to admit that most of
the time, I gathered (or pointed the way to) the raw
materials— passages, images, and patterns— and
then my students constructed meaning from them.
But that’s not enough; if I’m committed to teaching
the skills of literary study in addition to the content,
I have to go all the way.
Students’ .
This document summarizes the author's journey in developing an inquiry stance in their literacy classroom over the course of a semester. The author reflects on how readings on theorists like Dewey, Rosenblatt, Freire, and hooks have shaped their understanding of inquiry and critical literacy. The author discusses wanting to move beyond just reflection to engaging in praxis through critically examining their own teaching practices using action research. The author aims to create a learning environment focused on student questions where all voices are valued and that challenges dominant narratives through questioning.
This document provides a book review of "Philosophy of Education - by Arnstine" by Elsina Sihombing. It begins with an introduction to the book and author. The review provides a summary of several chapters, including Chapter 1 which discusses methods of education, and Chapter 2 which focuses on learning and disposition. The reviewer analyzes key points around aims of education and differences between teacher-centered and student-centered philosophies. The review examines how Arnstine's work relates to ideas from philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
This document provides an overview of a lecture on curriculum theory. It discusses different conceptions of curriculum, including curriculum as the explicit, planned lessons and objectives, as well as the implicit and null curriculums which refer to the unintended learning of values and attitudes and ideas that are excluded. It also examines different approaches to curriculum, such as the academic idealist, techno-rationalist, learner-centered, and social reconstructionist perspectives. The lecture emphasizes that curriculum constitutes particular ways of reasoning and standards at the expense of others, and functions both to reproduce and transform society and culture.
Academic Essay Writing As Imitative Problem Solving Examples From Distance L...Wendy Hager
The document summarizes a study that analyzed 22 academic essays written by Open University students in the UK. The study aimed to understand how students use source texts to write essays. It mapped the order that novel concepts were introduced in the student essays against the order in the source textbooks. It found high correlations between 0.8 and 0.98, demonstrating students closely imitated the argument structure of the source texts. This suggests students used a form of "imitative problem solving" when writing essays, relying heavily on the structure and content of the source materials provided.
The document discusses various methods of arriving at an understanding of Christianity and its relationship with science. It examines religious explanations for the origin of the universe and human life, as well as scientific explanations such as the Big Bang theory and evolution. Both perspectives are presented, along with arguments for and against each view. The document aims to provide a balanced overview of the key issues in the debate between religion and science regarding origins.
Science is the process of gaining knowledge through scientific inquiry, which involves posing questions, developing hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and communicating results. A hypothesis is a proposed explanation that can be tested, while a scientific theory is a well-supported explanation that has withstood repeated testing but may later be modified or abandoned if evidence does not support it. Scientific laws describe observable patterns or relationships but do not explain why something occurs.
The document outlines three major theoretical paradigms in the study of religions: 1) The origin of religions from the late 1700s to early 1900s, which included social evolutionism and scientific racism. 2) The function of religions from the early 1900s to 1960s, including functionalism and structural functionalism. 3) The meanings of religions from the 1960s onward, including symbolic and interpretive approaches, feminism, and post-structuralism.
Forte geertz symbols rituals and faith based behavior nov 8 14 pptSalisbury University
Clifford Geertz's symbolic anthropology approach views religion as a cultural system embodied through symbols and expressed through rituals. It provides an interpretive framework for understanding the meanings, motivations, and worldviews derived from religious symbols and rituals by members of a faith group. Key concepts include sacred symbols, rituals, ethos/dispositions, and the use of religion to address problems of meaning and restore order in the face of chaos. Social workers can apply this approach by interpreting clients' religious symbols and rituals to better understand their perspectives and how their faith provides meaning.
Here are the key points about learners' characteristics that are relevant to science teaching:
1. Learners develop holistically - their cognitive, physical, social, emotional development are intertwined. Teachers should foster whole development.
2. Learners grow at different rates. Teachers should accommodate individual differences in abilities and development.
3. Learners learn best through active involvement with hands-on, concrete experiences. This aligns with constructivist views of learning as active construction of understanding.
4. Learners are naturally curious and motivated when learning is meaningful and interests/needs are considered. A relaxed environment fosters learning better than a highly structured one.
5. Learners have different
The document discusses science, scientific inquiry, and the scientific method. It defines science as systematic knowledge derived from observation, study, and experimentation to determine principles. It outlines six key principles of scientific inquiry and describes the scientific method as a process of gathering observable evidence through experimentation and observation to form and test hypotheses. The document also defines religion and lists some common traits of religions, including beliefs in supernatural beings, sacred objects and rituals, moral codes, religious feelings, prayer, a world view, and a social group bound together by shared beliefs.
This document discusses several key topics related to the sociology of religion:
1) It defines religiosity and the different ways people can express or experience religion.
2) It outlines Ernst Troeltsch's typology of religious organizations as ecclesia, church, sect, and cult. It then describes the characteristics of each type.
3) It discusses some of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology on how religion affects society and individuals, such as the functionalist, conflict theory, and rational choice perspectives. Religion can both unite and divide society.
The document discusses the importance of incorporating writing into college courses. It suggests that assigning writing, whether formal or informal, increases student engagement more than any other course characteristic. It provides examples of learning objectives, assignments, and ways to include informal and formal writing experiences in courses across disciplines. The goal is for students to develop content knowledge and communication skills through various writing opportunities with feedback.
This document discusses the importance of teaching non-fiction writing genres in schools. It notes that non-fiction writing has traditionally been neglected compared to fictional writing. The document advocates using a "genre theory" approach where teachers explicitly teach common non-fiction genres like reports, explanations, procedures, etc. and their defining structural elements. The purpose of a text helps determine its generic structure. The document provides the example of instruction texts typically having the structure of stating the goal, listing materials, and providing steps. It encourages teachers to help students understand these common non-fiction genres and scaffold their writing within these established structures.
Assessing Writing In Undergraduate Biology Coursework A Review Of The Litera...Katie Robinson
This document summarizes a literature review of writing practices and assessment in undergraduate biology coursework. The review analyzed 59 articles published between 2000-2015 in peer-reviewed biology and science education journals. The review found that the articles generally agreed on the importance of developing scientific writing skills for biology students. It assessed what genres of writing were emphasized, how writing was assessed, and whether the articles cited WAC scholars. The review sought to understand the current conversations in the biology field regarding writing instruction and how they align with best practices identified by the WAC community.
This document discusses rethinking approaches to teaching study skills. It presents three models: the study skills model which focuses on surface features and skills transfer; the academic socialization model which focuses on acculturating students into disciplinary discourses; and the academic literacies model which views literacy as social practices negotiated within institutions of power and identity. The academic literacies model has implications for more inclusive, emancipatory approaches interrogating dominant academic cultures and power relations. Dialogic frameworks are suggested to encourage negotiation of academic identities and practices.
This document summarizes an article about art teachers conducting action research. It discusses how three art teachers conducted educational action research projects for their Master's degrees. While art teachers are introduced to qualitative and quantitative research methods, they often choose action research due to their background in art and teaching. The document analyzes the differences between practitioner research in education and practice-based research in art, noting they use different methods and aims. It provides context on the development of art education and differences from other fields in its emphasis on studio practice and image-based learning outcomes.
Li (Jerry) Xie Dimensions of Diversity_ Capstone Project.pptxJerryXie21
The document discusses a capstone project for a course on dimensions of diversity. It includes an instructional portfolio and reflection on concepts learned, with the goal of demonstrating mastery of course goals related to teaching English language learners, including understanding policies and cultures impacting ELL education and implementing research-based strategies.
This document provides examples of writing prompts and activities that teachers can use to incorporate writing into math and science classes. It discusses the benefits of writing in building disciplinary literacy and learning. Some key points:
- Writing makes thinking and learning in math and science visible, helps students solve problems and gain clarity. It improves retention of content.
- Prompts can start simply, asking students to reflect on their feelings about a topic, then progress to having students explain concepts or summarize group work.
- Interactive notebooks/blogs allow students to record notes on one side and reflections on the other, modeling how scientists take notes.
- Journals provide a low-stakes way for students to work through problems
Li (Jerry) Xie Dimensions of Diversity Capstone ProjectKelseyShroyer
The document discusses strategies for teaching English language learners, referencing theories like Krashen's comprehensible input hypothesis. It proposes teaching language through content by providing scaffolded instruction and language objectives. Examples are given for teaching vocabulary through preview, explanation, and review in a reading class while integrating traditional Chinese learning strategies.
The Question is the Answer: Making the Language Arts Classroom Meaningful wit...darinjohn2
Ashley Jorgensen, Price Laboratory School, UNI
This presentation will focus on developing a curriculum built around inquiry-based units of instruction in a secondary language arts classroom. Audiences will have the chance to see evidence of how the use of essential questions can lead students into a process of inquiry, giving them the skills they need to think critically, question the world around them, and broaden and deepen their perspectives by connecting with others. Audiences will embark on a journey that takes them through a course entitled, ‘The American Teenager,’ and see the activities, assessments, and instructional strategies that transformed this course from a traditional study of American Literature to a course that is relevant, engaging, and challenging for teenagers in the 21st century. Through essential questions like ‘How do societal expectations impact our identity?’, ‘What are the costs and benefits of conformity?’ and ‘Is the American Dream a reality for all?’, this course blends classic and contemporary, and combines writers like Sherman Alexie with The Breakfast Club, Henry David Thoreau with text messaging, and Catcher in the Rye with Jay-Z. Audiences will gain important techniques for creating a classroom built around student-led discussions, including Socratic Seminars and blogging, as well as see examples of competency based assessments fully aligned with the Iowa Core Curriculum and National Common Core Standards.
68 En glish Journal 103.4 (2014) 68– 75wanted to write a.docxtaishao1
68 En glish Journal 103.4 (2014): 68– 75
wanted to write a darn story/poem/play) never
meant to convey. Some students fall in between—
either trusting teachers to have a reliable method,
or not particularly caring how we do it. While I
don’t mind being thought to possess some magical
second sight, these (mis)perceptions all disturb me
because I care more about students’ mastering the
hows than about any of the whats, more that they
can interpret a text than that they can recall the
literacy motif in The Tempest.
Like most En glish teachers, I often use ap-
prenticeship to build students’ interpretive skills,
using class discussions and modeling to offer “sup-
ported interaction with people [namely, me] who
have already mastered the Discourse” of En glish
studies (Gee, “Literacy” 7). James Paul Gee distin-
guishes apprenticeship from learning, which en-
tails meta- level language and cognition as students
recognize and have language for the knowledge
they are acquiring (“What”). Apprenticeship is ef-
fective in many ways, but it asks students to fake
their way through literary analysis by groping for
the kinds of language and thinking they have heard
from (perceived) genuine literary analysts (e.g., the
teacher and perhaps savvy classmates). This im-
provisation using inadequate materials, which Gee
calls “mushfake,” David Bartholomae calls “invent-
ing the university,” and my students call “fake it ’til
you make it,” goes only so far in developing critical
and analytical reading skills. My students deserve
to be explicitly taught the distinctive practices of
En glish studies in a way that adds learning to ap-
prenticeship by offering meta- level language and
thinking beyond literary terms and the like.
n recent years, professional influ-
ences on all sides have pressed me to
put my students in the driver’s seat,
making them more active in their
own learning, giving them more voice and choice
in their work, and developing skills that will ben-
efit them well beyond my classroom. And I’ve done
pretty well, I think— I’ve increased the emphasis
on research; created flexible, problem- based assign-
ments with multimodal products; improved the bal-
ance between writing and literature. But the better
I felt about how my writing instruction addressed
21st- century skills, the worse I felt about my litera-
ture instruction. My students came to understand
texts and explain the meaning they found there, but I
knew something was missing. The skills they gained
in using textual details to make meaning seemed to
start after that key first step: deciding which textual
elements were notable. I had to admit that most of
the time, I gathered (or pointed the way to) the raw
materials— passages, images, and patterns— and
then my students constructed meaning from them.
But that’s not enough; if I’m committed to teaching
the skills of literary study in addition to the content,
I have to go all the way.
Students’ .
This document summarizes the author's journey in developing an inquiry stance in their literacy classroom over the course of a semester. The author reflects on how readings on theorists like Dewey, Rosenblatt, Freire, and hooks have shaped their understanding of inquiry and critical literacy. The author discusses wanting to move beyond just reflection to engaging in praxis through critically examining their own teaching practices using action research. The author aims to create a learning environment focused on student questions where all voices are valued and that challenges dominant narratives through questioning.
This document provides a book review of "Philosophy of Education - by Arnstine" by Elsina Sihombing. It begins with an introduction to the book and author. The review provides a summary of several chapters, including Chapter 1 which discusses methods of education, and Chapter 2 which focuses on learning and disposition. The reviewer analyzes key points around aims of education and differences between teacher-centered and student-centered philosophies. The review examines how Arnstine's work relates to ideas from philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
This document provides an overview of a lecture on curriculum theory. It discusses different conceptions of curriculum, including curriculum as the explicit, planned lessons and objectives, as well as the implicit and null curriculums which refer to the unintended learning of values and attitudes and ideas that are excluded. It also examines different approaches to curriculum, such as the academic idealist, techno-rationalist, learner-centered, and social reconstructionist perspectives. The lecture emphasizes that curriculum constitutes particular ways of reasoning and standards at the expense of others, and functions both to reproduce and transform society and culture.
Academic Essay Writing As Imitative Problem Solving Examples From Distance L...Wendy Hager
The document summarizes a study that analyzed 22 academic essays written by Open University students in the UK. The study aimed to understand how students use source texts to write essays. It mapped the order that novel concepts were introduced in the student essays against the order in the source textbooks. It found high correlations between 0.8 and 0.98, demonstrating students closely imitated the argument structure of the source texts. This suggests students used a form of "imitative problem solving" when writing essays, relying heavily on the structure and content of the source materials provided.
This document discusses critical reading strategies and how to teach critical reading skills to students. It begins by defining critical reading as an active process of constructing knowledge from a text rather than just reading receptively for information. It then discusses how critical reading involves questioning a text, considering the author's assumptions and intentions, and engaging with difficulties in a text rather than giving up. The document provides concrete strategies for teaching critical reading, such as close reading exercises, asking questions of the text, making inferences and interpretations, and discussing readings in class. It uses an early Irish tale as an example and outlines a three-day process for teaching students to critically analyze the tale.
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This document analyzes the discursive transitions in science education from primary to secondary levels as reflected in science textbooks. The analysis uses a framework that examines three dimensions - classification, formality, and framing - to identify eight modalities of pedagogic discourse. These modalities will be used to map the transition between primary and secondary textbooks by analyzing characteristics related to classification, formality, and framing in both the linguistic and visual modes. The emerging path will then be discussed in terms of its pedagogic implications.
The document discusses several topics related to teaching English studies and composition, including:
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2) Creating assignments that help students understand academic discourse and locate themselves within the university structure.
3) The debate around collaborative learning and whether consensus should be the goal in classroom discussions.
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The document describes an authentic literacy activity conducted by a second grade science class. The class received a letter from the director of a local nature center asking the students to create an informational brochure about pond life to distribute to visitors. The students worked in groups to research pond life questions, answer them using science texts, and write a draft brochure. Their final brochure was printed and displayed at the nature center to inform visitors. The document argues that authentic literacy activities like this one provide real-world contexts that enhance students' reading and writing skills compared to typical school-focused activities.
Authentic Literacy Activities For Developing Comprehension And WritingKate Campbell
The document describes an authentic literacy activity conducted by a second grade science class. The class received a letter from the director of a local nature center asking the students to create an informational brochure about pond life to distribute to visitors. The students worked in groups to research pond life questions, answer them using science texts, and write a draft brochure. Their final brochure was printed and displayed at the nature center to inform visitors. The document discusses how this activity exemplifies authentic literacy.
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Composition in Scientific Inquiry: SeuratSpots, Disco Balls, and the Making of Meaning in Science
1. Composition in Scientific Inquiry:
SeuratSpots, Disco Balls, and the
Making of Meaning in Science
Dr. Kim Jaxon & Dr. Leslie Atkins
California State University, Chico
CCCC March 2014
Thursday, March 20, 14
Kim Jaxon, Assistant Professor in Composition & Literacy at Chico State. My colleague, Leslie is a physics and Science Education professor. We also work with a biologist and Science Ed professor Irene Salter
on this NSF funded project. For the past two years, we have rotated through team teaching or taking the research lead in the course in alternating semesters. Background: NSCI 321, Scientific Inquiry, is a course
Leslie originally created for future elementary school teachers. Not many science majors, but a few. The course is truly scientific inquiry...not about answers but about asking questions and pursuing curiosities
as scientists would do. Last few semesters, we’ve studied color, light and the eye. Often start semester with the question: “Is every color in the rainbow?”
2. NSCI 321: Scientific Inquiry future elementary school teachers
Thursday, March 20, 14
Lots of writing structures: notebooks, whiteboards, silent science, homework, exams (take home and group), reading, peer response, gallery walks. Large activity space. Room has
lasers, maglites, rulers, lenses, microscopes, etc. Write all the time; every day.
We’ll talk about the influence of composition pedagogy in this course and show an example of how writing is used to support students pursuing science related questions. We
fully embrace the work of composition scholars before us who argue for students rights to their own language and meaning making, even though this idea may be a bit
foreign in science classes.
4. Sir Charles Darwin Alexander G. Bell
Thursday, March 20, 14
They scribble on chalkboards; construct representations; annotate graphs and photos; jot ideas in notebooks; try on, revise, and reject those ideas; send emails; scrawl notes in the margins of papers;
write grants; draft conference proceedings; put together presentations; and, if all goes well, tidy up this work into a publishable journal article —
5. Albert EinsteinLinus Pauling (on the structure of hemoglobin)
Thursday, March 20, 14
all in a living, iterative process of idea-development. In this way writing in the sciences is not just a means to communicate knowledge, but a way to build knowledge within the scientific community; it
generates, persuades, critiques, challenges, and defends ideas in conversation with other scientists.
6. Manhattan Project NotebookLinus Pauling (on the crystal structure of bottinoite)
Thursday, March 20, 14
Science does this using a specialized language (a scientific discourse), with its own vocabulary and organization that is embodied by a community of scientists working together to make sense of the
natural world, communicate those ideas, and construct arguments in defense of them (Latour & Woolgar, 1979).
7. Discourses: “...ways of behaving, interacting, valuing,
thinking, believing, speaking, and often reading and
writing.”
Gee, Social Linguistics and Literacies: Ideology in Discourses
Thursday, March 20, 14
In terms of the literacy practices that make up scientific discourse, Gee argues that the use of reading and writing is always connected to a larger set of discourses, which are never simply a
matter of vocabulary and syntax, but “ways of behaving, interacting, valuing, thinking, believing, speaking, and often reading and writing” (Gee, Social Linguistics and Literacies, 41). Writing, in a
huge variety of forms, is an essential, inextricable part of the discourse of a scientist.
8. Thursday, March 20, 14
Historically, the approach, at most universities, has been to delegate the responsibility for teaching “academic writing” to English or Composition departments. An instructor in science, then,
may assign tasks that require writing but often does not provide any explicit attention to teaching writing: the belief is that writing is a skill that is learned in one class, put in a student’s pocket, and
taken out when there is a need “to write.” In fact, many faculty outside the field of composition expect that the ubiquitous “freshman comp” course will solve the writing problems found in students’
texts, teach students “to write,” and prepare students with “the basics” so they are ready to write in any discipline. The physics instructor, in such folk theories of writing, teaches “content” that
populates students’ well-written essays; the writing skills, it is imagined, are taught elsewhere.
9. Learning to write is not a generic skill, widely applicable in
a range of disciplines and settings, but 1) must be taught
within the community of practice that uses writing, and 2)
is an ongoing process, learned over and over again as
people encounter and solve problems that call for writing.
Thursday, March 20, 14
Unfortunately, years of research in composition and literacy leads us to an understanding that learning to write is simply not that tidy. Learning “to write” means understanding the ways in which a
particular community uses inscriptions to make meaning. Therefore, “learning to write” is not a generic skill, widely applicable in a range of disciplines and settings, but 1) must be taught within the
community of practice that uses writing, and 2) is an ongoing process, learned over and over again as people encounter and solve problems that call for writing. A student can successfully complete a
first-year writing course, but the practices learned in that course are not easily transferred to other contexts.
10. “To try to teach students to improve their writing by
taking a [general writing skills course] is something like
trying to teach people to improve their ping-pong,
jacks, volleyball, basketball, field hockey, and so on by
attending a course in general ball-using. Such a course
would of necessity have a problem of content. What
kinds of games (and therefore ball-use skills) should
one teach? And how can one teach ball-using skills
unless one also teaches students the games, since the
skills have their motive and meaning only in terms of a
particular game or games that use them?”
Russell, “Activity Theory and Its Implications for Writing Instruction”
Thursday, March 20, 14
David Russell, in “Activity Theory and Its Implications for Writing Instruction,” uses an Activity Theory framework to explore the problem of teaching writing as a generalized skill and ultimately argue
for more institutional support for Writing Across the Curriculum programs. As part of his argument, Russell compares the analogy of teaching a course on ball-using skills to our traditional approach to
teaching writing in the university: quote
For Russell, and other literacy and composition scholars, the purpose and goals associated with writing in a discipline only make sense within the activity system of that discipline. Again, as Russell
argues in relation to evaluation of writing, “...ways of using a ball that worked well in one game (volleyball, for example) would bring disaster in another (such as soccer)” (10). Similarly, what worked
well in a composition course (the kinds of statements that require support; what support “counts;” how sources are embedded within an argument, etc.) would “bring disaster” to another discipline, such
as science, with its own ways of crafting an argument with claims, data, citations, and models. Teaching students to write well in science class is, then, something that can only be taught in science class.
11. “...lose more than we gain by preempting their control and
allowing our own Ideal Texts to dictate choices that
properly belong to the writers.”
“...undervalue[s] student efforts to communicate what they
have to say in the way they wish to say it.”
Brannon & Knoblauch, “On Students’ Rights to Their Own Texts: A Model of Teacher Response”
Thursday, March 20, 14
More than thirty years ago, the field of composition began to focus attention on the role of student agency in writing instruction and argue for students’ rights to their own language (Sommers,
1982; Brannon & Knoblauch, 1982; Straub, 1996). Rather than assignments and feedback designed to correct student ideas, fix student grammar, impose particular structures, or enforce strict
conventions, it is argued, faculty “lose more than we gain by preempting their control and allowing our own Ideal Texts to dictate choices that properly belong to the writers” (Brannon & Knoblauch,
159). When these choices about the structure and content of student texts are made by the instructor, and not the student, it “undervalue[s] student efforts to communicate what they have to say in the
way they wish to say it” (Brannon & Knoblauch, 159).
The implication for the teaching of writing within the disciplines is that students’ ideas and their efforts to communicate those ideas must be taken seriously, and further, it is assumed that
students, like any writer, intend to make meaning when they write. The challenge in responding to student texts does not lie in determining whether students have a right to try on and play with ideas or
to make their own choices in their writing, but how to respond to student texts in a way that both preserves student agency and furthers their development as nascent scientists. One strategy regularly
employed by composition faculty is to create a classroom where students are asked the same questions we would ask of any colleague who needed feedback on a draft: What is the purpose and who is
the audience for this text? Where is this draft in the writing process? What kind of feedback is needed? The student writer often knows what kind of feedback she needs, especially when she views her
writing as intentional and worthy of being taken up as a serious attempt at constructing and communicating scientific ideas.
13. Thursday, March 20, 14
In the design of structures and activities, we pay particular attention to the ways in which multimodal composing—informal science notebooks, diagrams on whiteboards, images shared online, and
conversations around these inscriptions—model and reflect the composing practices of scientists.
14. Thursday, March 20, 14
In doing so, we are interested in how students are developing as “science writers,” (that is, attending to whether students are adopting the specific practices that scientists use to construct texts),
rather than focusing on improving students’ “science writing” (that is, attending to pieces of writing as evidence for improvement). This distinction is important, and again, one that composition studies
takes as its focus: support the growth of the writer as a way of improving the writing.
15. Thursday, March 20, 14
We offer an example in which students are constructing models to explain their observations of pinhole cameras. As one group considered how, for example, the image of a tree “fit” through the pinhole,
they began thinking of the tree not as a whole, but made of tiny points of color, each of which sends a ray into the pinhole.
16. Thursday, March 20, 14
These points students described as “SeuratSpots” because of the similarity to the Impressionist painting style. The model played a central role in further discussions of light and images in our class,
including our descriptions of images and focus. Cassandra, a student in the course, first introduced the concept of SeuratSpots as a way to describe what she thought might be happening on an iPhone
screen. Over the course of the semester, students take up and refine her idea many times in the service of explaining their own ideas about light and focus.
“SeuratSpots” is not a term or explanatory model used across scientific communities to understand focus; however, it is representative of the way scientists construct models to explain phenomena.
Unlike science classes where students memorize terms or follow a lab report template, students in the Scientific Inquiry course take on the habits and ways of being scientists: they construct models and
definitions to support the groups’ understanding of an idea.
17. Thursday, March 20, 14
There are a variety of structures that support the development of students’ ideas and the “take-up” of those ideas for use by the class. One structure is the role of instructor feedback, particularly early in
the course, that makes it clear that students’ ideas are valued. The science instructor (Atkins) does not focus her feedback on “fixing” the sentences or the ideas, but instead she focuses attention on
asking clarifying questions (real questions she has about students’ ideas), valuing their questions, and taking up students’ terminology as a worthy way to talk about concepts in the class session.
18. While this may seem ridiculous, I would like to explore
this inquiry through an exploration of technology
screens. For example, a computer monitor or television
can only depict the colors red, green, and blue in each
pixel; however, we are clearly able to see each color on
the monitor. This is created through proximity of pixels
(like a painting by Seurat!) The rainbow may in fact be
like a giant pointillism canvas filled with an infinite
number of dots. --Cassandra (student)
--THIS! THIS IS A QUESTION! Your group started
looking at iPhone screens today, right? I'd love to see
you do more with this. Like: why red/green/blue? How
does a TV screen show a rainbow if it's only using red/
green/blue? --Leslie (Instructor)
Thursday, March 20, 14
Here’s an excerpt from Cassandra’s response to the first homework assignment (which asked students to address the question: “Is every color in the rainbow?”). Cassandra adds this idea at the
end of the assignment. The instructor’s comments are in italics.
There are many ways to respond to Cassandra’s writing. The assignment did not ask for such speculation, and instead called for students to make and defend a claim regarding color. The phrasing “while
this may seem ridiculous…” and the exclamation point in her parenthetical comment are not typical of scientific texts, and an instructor could identify for the student that this kind of language is not
appropriate for science assignments. The redundancy in the first sentence (“explore...through an exploration”) is also not the focus of Leslie’s comment. The idea Cassandra offers—that a rainbow may
be a “pointillism canvas” that gives the illusion of colors not actually present—is, in fact, the opposite of what a rainbow is doing (separating white light into its constituent wavelengths); the instructor
could address this and discourage the student from pursuing this line of reasoning. Alternatively, the instructor could suggest recommended readings that address the students’ misconception or provide a
template for writing that would have avoided such idiosyncratic writing and ideas. All of these possible responses, Brannon and Knoblauch argue, “[tend] to show students that the teacher's agenda is
more important than their own, that what they wanted to say is less relevant than the teacher's impression of what they should have said” (158). Instead of “fixing” Cassandra’s ideas and writing, the
instructor shows enthusiasm for this student’s ideas, attending to the nascent attempts to model color. The comment shows that the idea is indeed not ridiculous at all. The instructor recognizes that the
idea is one that the students have already (since submitting the assignment) begun to pursue and she can imagine the variety of questions that their pursuit raises.
19. Image from a student’s notebook adopting Cassandra’s pointillism
ontology of images.
“all SeuratSpots make one set of overlapping
round blobs”
Thursday, March 20, 14
Over time, the idea that Cassandra articulates here—that the colors we see are created by the “proximity” of adjacent colors—will be supported by Cassandra’s group through their inquiry, models, and
descriptions of technology screens. They puzzle over why red and green in proximity appear yellow for lights and brown for pigments. The idea primarily stays within their group as they reason through
color mixing questions. In our next unit on light, beginning with the pinhole camera, the idea of pointillism continues to be a productive way of modeling images, and other students begin adopting
Cassandra’s language. In Jonathan’s notebook (one of Cassandra’s lab partners from the color unit), we see him using her term “SeuratSpot” as he reasons through the “blurriness” associated with a
large hole
20. Kait: But you have multiple light rays
coming off from the same SeuratSpot.
Amy: ...but they're not actually coming
off of like, the exact same spot. Because
a light ray can't like, break. So it's like
two light rays that are really really close
to each other...
Trevor: That's the problem though -
because it's one single spot and it's got
light rays going in all those directions.
It's not a bunch of little spots sending
out a bunch of light rays.
Kait: It's the same exact spot.
Amy: But light doesn't do that.
Thursday, March 20, 14
As we move on to consider the structures in the eye—many months after Cassandra’s original conjecture—class debate considers how it is that images appear in focus. The debate concerns the
following question: does each “SeuratSpot” reflect a ray in one direction, (and a collection of spots send rays in multiple directions), or does each SeuratSpot diffusely reflect light in all directions?
21. “SSRP” for “Seurat Spot Reunification Point.”
Thursday, March 20, 14
Students remain divided; among those who believe rays leave a single SeuratSpot, they come to define a “focal point” as follows: “a point of convergence. As for our eye it is a point where all of the light
rays from a single SeuratSpot are angled back to a single SeuratSpot, this focal point being on our retina.” They label their diagram “SSRP” for “Seurat Spot Reunification Point.”
22. “I never thought of writing down observations as composing. I don't
remember ever really writing in my other science classes. Of course I
wrote down data and occasionally my hypothesis, but we didn't have
papers or journals where we had to explain what was happening.” –
Rachel
“Writing in this class has been very different than other classes. Most
other science classes require very little original thinking. This was really
the only class where I had to put my 100% authentic, personal
theories and ideas into writing.” –Cory
“[Writing] differs from what I have done in my past science class mainly
because in my other science classes we usually had some form of
resource, whether it was a textbook or workbook, or handouts. In this
science class, it was our notebooks, and discussing the topics with
our groups and classmates, and testing our ideas to see if it made
sense. I have learned that the writing practices we did in class were
meant for us to think in a deeper level.” –Barbara
Thursday, March 20, 14
The students’ reflections, and post-course interviews we did with students, demonstrate that students are able to articulate how these diverse forms of writing support their scientific thinking. Students
understand that these forms of writing serve different purposes in the course, but taken together, the writing tasks all contribute to the refinement and sharing of scientific ideas.
23. Thursday, March 20, 14
By allowing students the right to their own ideas and texts as they construct scientific ideas (as highlighted above, the questionable idea that the colors in a rainbow are a pointillism-like
collection of colors that can be investigated using a pixilated screen) and engaging with those ideas in scientific ways—through investigations described in lab notebooks, conversations captured on
whiteboards, debates that force questions of precisely defined terms—we find that students come to employ sophisticated writing practices in the service of scientific inquiry. Rather than ‘fixing’ the
content or structure of students’ writing, it is through engaging with their ideas that we can support the development of students as scientific writers.