As you complete DRAs on your classes, please send me the updated Guided Reading levels so that I may update the library database. Thanks!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Library Schedule
Look for an email for the library schedule for the rest of the month. You may notice that Mrs. Harwell's name appears many times on the schedule. Maggie, Katherine, and I will be going to the fourth grade classrooms a couple of days a week to conference with students on their writing during Writers Workshop. I have scheduled this time into the calendar. Thank you for your understanding of our time spent with these students to help them which will reflect positively on our school which we ALL support! :)
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Fairy Tales, Tall Tales, and Folk Tales- Oh My!
What is the difference between a fairy tale and a folk tale? This question came up during a Lunch and Learn session, and I thought all grade levels could benefit from some information on the subject.
Folk tales (or folk lore) are defined as "all forms of narrative, written or oral which have come to be handed down over the years." It is the comprehensive, umbrella term for a story handed down through time by word of mouth. They are part of oral tradition, are culturally influenced, often are based on human behaviors, and have survived through hundreds of years. They were a way to bring news from one village to the next, and used to teach lessons to their children and to help understand the customs of their village. Collections of fairy tales have been collected by known authors such as the brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, but the authors of the individual tales are unknown. Literary fairy tales are the tales created by known authors such as Hans Christian Anderson. Fairy tales, tall tales, legends, myths, pourquoi tales, and trickster tales are all considered folk lore.
Traits of fairy tales include a magical element and show both ends of the spectrum: rich and poor, good and evil, reward and punishment. They are enchanted places where all things are possible and end happily. The magical element can include fantastic creatures such as a troll, unicorn, or ogre, or animals personified. Things often happen in threes, happen to royalty, and are a result of a spell or curse.
Legends are stories from the past that are believed to have happened to a historical figure. They are associated with a particular place and time in history. They often tell of the adventures of a hero or an incident that has grown with storytelling to have a larger than life quality.
A myth is a sacred story from the past. It may explain the origins of the world and/or life, or explain moral values in human terms. They give a scientific basis for certain human failings or explanations of events not understood scientifically. They are religious in their origin and function to relate the relationship between gods or powers and the human world.
Fables are brief, didactic tales in which animals or the elements speak as humans. These usually teach a moral lesson.
Tall tales are characterized by exaggeration and are mainly derived from American culture. They include a larger-than-life hero and exaggerated details.
Trickster tales are tales with a mischievous or foolish main character who outwits or tricks another character with cunning and subversive humor to compensate for a physical weakness.
Pourquoi tales are tales that illustrate how or why things exist in nature, like Why Do Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears or How Did the Leopard Get His Spots.
Folk tales are housed in 398.2 (social sciences) Dewey section of the library due to their cultural influences and the representations of a country or culture.
(summarized from LM_NET archives)
Hope this helps!
Folk tales (or folk lore) are defined as "all forms of narrative, written or oral which have come to be handed down over the years." It is the comprehensive, umbrella term for a story handed down through time by word of mouth. They are part of oral tradition, are culturally influenced, often are based on human behaviors, and have survived through hundreds of years. They were a way to bring news from one village to the next, and used to teach lessons to their children and to help understand the customs of their village. Collections of fairy tales have been collected by known authors such as the brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, but the authors of the individual tales are unknown. Literary fairy tales are the tales created by known authors such as Hans Christian Anderson. Fairy tales, tall tales, legends, myths, pourquoi tales, and trickster tales are all considered folk lore.
Traits of fairy tales include a magical element and show both ends of the spectrum: rich and poor, good and evil, reward and punishment. They are enchanted places where all things are possible and end happily. The magical element can include fantastic creatures such as a troll, unicorn, or ogre, or animals personified. Things often happen in threes, happen to royalty, and are a result of a spell or curse.
Legends are stories from the past that are believed to have happened to a historical figure. They are associated with a particular place and time in history. They often tell of the adventures of a hero or an incident that has grown with storytelling to have a larger than life quality.
A myth is a sacred story from the past. It may explain the origins of the world and/or life, or explain moral values in human terms. They give a scientific basis for certain human failings or explanations of events not understood scientifically. They are religious in their origin and function to relate the relationship between gods or powers and the human world.
Fables are brief, didactic tales in which animals or the elements speak as humans. These usually teach a moral lesson.
Tall tales are characterized by exaggeration and are mainly derived from American culture. They include a larger-than-life hero and exaggerated details.
Trickster tales are tales with a mischievous or foolish main character who outwits or tricks another character with cunning and subversive humor to compensate for a physical weakness.
Pourquoi tales are tales that illustrate how or why things exist in nature, like Why Do Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears or How Did the Leopard Get His Spots.
Folk tales are housed in 398.2 (social sciences) Dewey section of the library due to their cultural influences and the representations of a country or culture.
(summarized from LM_NET archives)
Hope this helps!
Designing Curriculum Through Essential Questions
To elaborate on the previous post of teaching in an information and technology-rich environment, and getting away from the lecture/text mentality, I thought it would be helpful to explain a bit on writing curriculum, starting with essential questions. An essential question is basically what you want the students to examine and learn from the unit being taught- the most important concepts from which students will derive the most meaning. It gives students the purpose of their learning and helps to focus tasks and projects on the essential learning. Many teachers begin a lesson or unit with an "objective:" students will learn the three branches of government as organized on the US Constitution. However, by focusing instruction beginning with an essential question, the teacher is instead provoking thought and encouraging investigation and inquiry from students. Imagine the difference beginning with "How is the Constitution the backbone structure of America?" rather than the previous objective. Which do you think a student would be more excited over: "Students will learn to recognize personal responsibility to their community," or "What do I owe my community...Or do I?" Essential questions can be simple and still be thought provoking. "What is snow?" "What flies?" can elicit questions from students such as "Is artificial snow still snow?" and responses such as time and ideas in addition to birds, butterflies, and squirrels (ever seen Rocky and Bullwinkle?!).
Tips for writing essential questions:
1. Each child should be able to understand the question
2. The language of the questions should be written in broad, organizational terms
3. The question should reflect your conceptual priorities (you are limited in time; this helps organize what you want students to think about, write about, speak about, and develop)
4. Each question should be distinct and substantial (it should cue students to the set of activities they will be examining)
5. Questions should not be repetitious
6. The questions should be realistic given the amount of time allocated for the unit or course
7. There should be a logical sequence to a set of essential questions
8. The questions should be posted in the classroom
(Above is summarized from Mapping the Big Picture: Integrating Curriculum and Assessment by Heidi Hayes Jacobs)
Let me give an example on how this works:
You check the science pacing guide and realize you are woefully behind and there is a school visit in two weeks. You have two weeks to teach the water cycle, so you check the text to see how many sections students will have to read each day to get the information. Oops. There's no way. Who designed these pacing guides anyway? They obviously aren't a classroom teacher! OK. Plan B. You check the formative to see what the students are expected to know after you teach the unit (No, this isn't cheating. It is important to know the priorities and expectations). Students will need to know about precipitation, evaporation, and condensation, aquifers, reservoirs, tanks and wells, percentages of different types of water... You could spend a few days on each topic and just "teach" each concept, but then there is no structure to the random activities or topics and students may not be able to relate them together. You need something to organize your tasks and get the kids excited about the topic so that you can get started right away. You look back at the objective written on your lesson plans: "students will know the three steps of the water cycle and the importance of water in our society." Hmmm... you're not sure this is what you thought of when contemplating getting the kids excited. But water has been in the news lately from the droughts in Georgia, to hurricane season, to tsunamis, to acid rain, heavy snows during the Green Bay-Seattle playoff game... You think it's interesting and important... Bingo! "Why is the water cycle important?" You now have your essential question.
You then spend a couple of days having the students explore a variety of resources to generate some background knowledge and develop curiosity. They watch a brainPOP cartoon on the water cycle, look at the non-fiction books you checked out from the library, view an overview of the water cycle from an excerpt of a video downloaded from Safari Montage, play some of the water cycle activities from the student section of the library website... Students then come up with questions of their own about the water cycle. You spend a few days doing some activities to answer their questions like creating models of an aquifer in a plastic cup with some aquarium gravel, sand and modeling clay, and taking them outside to simulate with their bodies water molecules getting through rocks, sand, and clay, and making a terrarium with some plants and a 2-litre bottle to show the water process and its effects on the plants without having to water them, and a Reader's Theatre version of the book A River Runs Wild. You incorporate the vocabulary from the text book into each of the activities so that students are familiar with the terms. During Readers Workshop, you find some leveled readers that PTA purchased, you bring in other genres like the periodical, Kids Discover- the issue on water, you find the newspaper articles on the drought in Georgia showing the photos of Lake Lanier (their primary water source) before and after... In Writers Workshop students write on the water cycle based on the genre being taught at the time. If it is report writing, students can write on the three stages of the water cycle of the effects of water pollution. If it is procedural writing, students can write on how to give plants water without having to actually water them (remember that terrarium activity?) or steps to reduce water consumption and save water. If it is persuasive writing, students can write on whether we should share water from our aquifer with Georgia or the importance or not of the melting of the polar ice caps. If it is narrative writing, students can write a story about a day they were caught in the rain or a retelling of Frosty the Snowman when he melted and came back to life. Students then can pick an activity for a summative assessment to answer the essential question: "Why is the water cycle important?" Some students create a poster, a few loved the Reader's Theatre activity and worked as a group to write their own play, one created a rap and performed it for the class, one created a comic strip using Comic Life on the Mac, some wrote a traditional report, one did a podcast, while still others created a power point.
Lo and behold, the school visit team stops by your room (of course) and they notice a class full of engaged students actively involved in the learning process. They are impressed, your students are happy, and life is good. The students don't even mind taking the formative assessment because they actually know and remember all the content!
I have many professional development books on inquiry, questioning, and curriculum if you would like to learn more. Just stop by your school library!
Tips for writing essential questions:
1. Each child should be able to understand the question
2. The language of the questions should be written in broad, organizational terms
3. The question should reflect your conceptual priorities (you are limited in time; this helps organize what you want students to think about, write about, speak about, and develop)
4. Each question should be distinct and substantial (it should cue students to the set of activities they will be examining)
5. Questions should not be repetitious
6. The questions should be realistic given the amount of time allocated for the unit or course
7. There should be a logical sequence to a set of essential questions
8. The questions should be posted in the classroom
(Above is summarized from Mapping the Big Picture: Integrating Curriculum and Assessment by Heidi Hayes Jacobs)
Let me give an example on how this works:
You check the science pacing guide and realize you are woefully behind and there is a school visit in two weeks. You have two weeks to teach the water cycle, so you check the text to see how many sections students will have to read each day to get the information. Oops. There's no way. Who designed these pacing guides anyway? They obviously aren't a classroom teacher! OK. Plan B. You check the formative to see what the students are expected to know after you teach the unit (No, this isn't cheating. It is important to know the priorities and expectations). Students will need to know about precipitation, evaporation, and condensation, aquifers, reservoirs, tanks and wells, percentages of different types of water... You could spend a few days on each topic and just "teach" each concept, but then there is no structure to the random activities or topics and students may not be able to relate them together. You need something to organize your tasks and get the kids excited about the topic so that you can get started right away. You look back at the objective written on your lesson plans: "students will know the three steps of the water cycle and the importance of water in our society." Hmmm... you're not sure this is what you thought of when contemplating getting the kids excited. But water has been in the news lately from the droughts in Georgia, to hurricane season, to tsunamis, to acid rain, heavy snows during the Green Bay-Seattle playoff game... You think it's interesting and important... Bingo! "Why is the water cycle important?" You now have your essential question.
You then spend a couple of days having the students explore a variety of resources to generate some background knowledge and develop curiosity. They watch a brainPOP cartoon on the water cycle, look at the non-fiction books you checked out from the library, view an overview of the water cycle from an excerpt of a video downloaded from Safari Montage, play some of the water cycle activities from the student section of the library website... Students then come up with questions of their own about the water cycle. You spend a few days doing some activities to answer their questions like creating models of an aquifer in a plastic cup with some aquarium gravel, sand and modeling clay, and taking them outside to simulate with their bodies water molecules getting through rocks, sand, and clay, and making a terrarium with some plants and a 2-litre bottle to show the water process and its effects on the plants without having to water them, and a Reader's Theatre version of the book A River Runs Wild. You incorporate the vocabulary from the text book into each of the activities so that students are familiar with the terms. During Readers Workshop, you find some leveled readers that PTA purchased, you bring in other genres like the periodical, Kids Discover- the issue on water, you find the newspaper articles on the drought in Georgia showing the photos of Lake Lanier (their primary water source) before and after... In Writers Workshop students write on the water cycle based on the genre being taught at the time. If it is report writing, students can write on the three stages of the water cycle of the effects of water pollution. If it is procedural writing, students can write on how to give plants water without having to actually water them (remember that terrarium activity?) or steps to reduce water consumption and save water. If it is persuasive writing, students can write on whether we should share water from our aquifer with Georgia or the importance or not of the melting of the polar ice caps. If it is narrative writing, students can write a story about a day they were caught in the rain or a retelling of Frosty the Snowman when he melted and came back to life. Students then can pick an activity for a summative assessment to answer the essential question: "Why is the water cycle important?" Some students create a poster, a few loved the Reader's Theatre activity and worked as a group to write their own play, one created a rap and performed it for the class, one created a comic strip using Comic Life on the Mac, some wrote a traditional report, one did a podcast, while still others created a power point.
Lo and behold, the school visit team stops by your room (of course) and they notice a class full of engaged students actively involved in the learning process. They are impressed, your students are happy, and life is good. The students don't even mind taking the formative assessment because they actually know and remember all the content!
I have many professional development books on inquiry, questioning, and curriculum if you would like to learn more. Just stop by your school library!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Lunch and Learn!
The week of January 7-11, I will be hosting "Lunch and Learn" for all grade levels. Be on the lookout for an email as to what day your grade level will be meeting with Maggie and me. We will be covering developing Safari Montage playlists, science and social studies standards and ideas, and any needs you may have of me or the library. I will provide lunch, you provide whatever you would like to drink.
Technology Tuesdays are Coming!
Tuesday, January 8 will be the first of our weekly "Meet Your Mac" sessions. We will meet in the library after school at 3:15 and play- I mean learn- until they kick us out for ESOL training at 4:30. Since I'm not sure when we will get Office for Mac back on our laptops, I thought we should start out with a training on Pages from the iWork suite. The following Tuesdays will build on each other with programs from the iLife suite:
January 8: Pages
January 15: iPhoto
January 22: iTunes/Garageband
January 29: podcasts
February's schedule will be coming depending on your needs and wants. Come join in the fun!
January 8: Pages
January 15: iPhoto
January 22: iTunes/Garageband
January 29: podcasts
February's schedule will be coming depending on your needs and wants. Come join in the fun!
BrainPOP is here!
Yea!! Our school-wide subscription for brainPOP has gone through. Please see me for the username and password for both school use and home use. The URL for bainPOP is http://www.brainpop.com
Study Island
Mrs. Walker and I receive weekly reports of the students taking Study Island quizzes and their results. It is fascinating how the percentages match the FCAT percentages in math, reading , and science that Mrs. Walker showed us from students' past FCAT records. By using Study Island regularly until the FCAT in March, hopefully these numbers will improve. I received two reports over the holidays, and many students utilized the program over the break. I am excited by the numbers of students using the program, however, only a handful of teachers have made class lists of their students. It is through the class lists that you can see reports of your students' progress. Through the reports, you can see what each individual student is struggling with or on what they are excelling. Remember, you can make any number of class lists. You can divide your class by levels, reading groups, or make just one class list. Please take a moment to create your class list so that you can take full advantage of this program. I have entered all students, k-5 into the database. Thanks!
Ban Those Bird Units!
One of my favorite professional development books is David Loertscher's Ban Those Bird Units: 15 Models for Teaching and Learning in Information-rich and Technology-rich Environments. This book is invaluable for methods of teaching research projects that don't foster plagiarism and the simplistic, low-level thinking from a textbook/lecture culture. In the past, and unfortunately too often in the present, students were assigned a project that follow this pattern:
1. The teacher gives background information to a topic in the classroom
2. Students read the assigned section in the textbook pertaining to the topic and perhaps answer the corresponding questions at the end of the chapter
3. The teacher gives a worksheet for information gathering on the topic and sends the class to the library or the computer lab to find the answers.
4. Students then copy the information found from information sources onto their worksheets
5. The students then turn in the worksheet for a grade or copy the information from the worksheet into a "report."
OK. What have the students gained in this situation? They have learned how to cut and paste information found on the Internet. Was the site on their reading level? Is the textbook even on their reading level? These type of research activities are only a test of whether students can find facts and copy them from one place to another. While an important facet of information literacy is the location and access of sources (finding the facts), students must then think about and analyze this information in order to increase learning and achievement. When assigning projects, teachers must think of how students can analyze the information and then synthesize the information (do something with the information, put all the pieces together in a new way). (summary of introduction from Ban Those Bird Units by David V. Loertscher)
Luckily, we are teaching in an exciting time of vast choices of resources: digital, multimedia, human, and print. We have all the tools at hand to make teaching and learning fun, engaging, and relevant. We are teaching in a time of encouraged collaboration so we don't need to go it alone. Brainstorm together to find creative projects students can take advantage of in this information-rich, technology-rich environment.
I challenge you as teachers in an information and technology-rich culture to make a New Year's resolution to have high expectations for your students and redesign your projects for your classes into inquiry-based projects so that students are engaged and optimizing their learning through creative and contemporary synthesis of information. Change the pattern mentioned above to the following:
1. Teachers give background information on a topic by immersing students in a variety of resources on the topic including leveled readers, videos, field trips, podcasts, etc. Students then develop some background knowledge and a curiosity in the topic.
2. Students come up with connections and questions on the topic
3. Teachers analyze students' questions and come up with essential questions to guide students' research (essential questions are ones that require the student to develop a plan or course of action or questions that require the student to make a decision).
4. Students brainstorm range of sources to get information, find and locate their sources, engage the source, analyze the information to find the important information for their task
5. Students synthesize information by creating a storyboard with Comic Life on their Mac Books, a podcast, a blog or wiki, a video edited by iMovie, a newspaper, journaling, readers' theatre, a keynote presentation, etc.
You get the idea. Students are not just learning how to copy and paste information, but learning critical thinking skills and retaining their knowledge gained because they are engaged and interested! I believe we have the finest teachers in the county. Let's ensure that our students get the benefit of our talents by leaving behind the textbook/lecture culture and embracing the information and technology-rich environment! Looking forward to collaborating with you on these endeavors...
-Lucia
1. The teacher gives background information to a topic in the classroom
2. Students read the assigned section in the textbook pertaining to the topic and perhaps answer the corresponding questions at the end of the chapter
3. The teacher gives a worksheet for information gathering on the topic and sends the class to the library or the computer lab to find the answers.
4. Students then copy the information found from information sources onto their worksheets
5. The students then turn in the worksheet for a grade or copy the information from the worksheet into a "report."
OK. What have the students gained in this situation? They have learned how to cut and paste information found on the Internet. Was the site on their reading level? Is the textbook even on their reading level? These type of research activities are only a test of whether students can find facts and copy them from one place to another. While an important facet of information literacy is the location and access of sources (finding the facts), students must then think about and analyze this information in order to increase learning and achievement. When assigning projects, teachers must think of how students can analyze the information and then synthesize the information (do something with the information, put all the pieces together in a new way). (summary of introduction from Ban Those Bird Units by David V. Loertscher)
Luckily, we are teaching in an exciting time of vast choices of resources: digital, multimedia, human, and print. We have all the tools at hand to make teaching and learning fun, engaging, and relevant. We are teaching in a time of encouraged collaboration so we don't need to go it alone. Brainstorm together to find creative projects students can take advantage of in this information-rich, technology-rich environment.
I challenge you as teachers in an information and technology-rich culture to make a New Year's resolution to have high expectations for your students and redesign your projects for your classes into inquiry-based projects so that students are engaged and optimizing their learning through creative and contemporary synthesis of information. Change the pattern mentioned above to the following:
1. Teachers give background information on a topic by immersing students in a variety of resources on the topic including leveled readers, videos, field trips, podcasts, etc. Students then develop some background knowledge and a curiosity in the topic.
2. Students come up with connections and questions on the topic
3. Teachers analyze students' questions and come up with essential questions to guide students' research (essential questions are ones that require the student to develop a plan or course of action or questions that require the student to make a decision).
4. Students brainstorm range of sources to get information, find and locate their sources, engage the source, analyze the information to find the important information for their task
5. Students synthesize information by creating a storyboard with Comic Life on their Mac Books, a podcast, a blog or wiki, a video edited by iMovie, a newspaper, journaling, readers' theatre, a keynote presentation, etc.
You get the idea. Students are not just learning how to copy and paste information, but learning critical thinking skills and retaining their knowledge gained because they are engaged and interested! I believe we have the finest teachers in the county. Let's ensure that our students get the benefit of our talents by leaving behind the textbook/lecture culture and embracing the information and technology-rich environment! Looking forward to collaborating with you on these endeavors...
-Lucia
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