Blog Fourteen

Reflection

 On signing up for this course, I never bargained for the challenging journey ahead of me. As the weeks progressed, I felt frustrated because much of the concepts and information was foreign to me. I did not experience such concepts of teaching literature at school and found it difficult to imagine how these concepts could be applied in the literature classroom.

Through this portfolio, I was slowly able to understand the concepts of Teaching Adolescent Literature. I began to realize the importance of this course and perhaps, the difference it would have made in my literature classes at secondary school, had my teachers adhered to these concepts. I can now see the value of connecting personal experiences to literature and being able to respond to literature in a personal manner. The knowledge and understanding that I gained through completing this portfolio is one of a kind. When I do commence teaching at a secondary school, I will without question, apply all what I have learned to ensure that my students get to experience and enjoy literature in such ways that will move them one step further to becoming aesthetic readers.

Blog Thirteen

Lesson Plan: Using Role Play

Subject: English Literaturre

Topic: Characterization

Strands of language

Arts to be employed in: reading, writing, listening, speaking

Duration: 80 minutes

Class: Form three

Age: 14-15

Objectives: students should be able to

1.     Use role-play to deduce the rules that govern all relationships(families)

2.     From the role-play students are to deduce the consequences for breaking rules

3.     Recognise the importance of effective communication by identifying the reasons for the miscommunication between Margaret and her father, Mr. Cruickshank

4.     State clearly, possible methods for resolving conflict with families

Instructional strategies

To be employed: role-play, guided questions

Materials/media: basic props (hats, scarf etc), text: Harriet’s Daughter, journals, slips of paper in plastic bag

Introduction: scenario: ‘You have come home late on a school night without informing your parents. Upon arrival, your parents ask for an explanation’.

Procedures:

1.     Students will form groups of three.

2.     Students will be given the guidelines for developing their role-play. In the guideline students will be given the instructions to plan their role-play. Students have five minutes to prepare their presentations.

3.     Students will dip for the order of the presentations.

4.     Students will end their planning when the first group presents because they will be instructed to take notes during each presentation paying particular attention to the problem, the causes of the problem, how each person (parent and child) behaved and the solution to the problem.

5.     Students will perform their role play within a three minute duration.

6.     As a class students will engage in a guided discussion based on the points identified in step five, immediately after performances.

7.     Students will then be instructed to turn to the section in the novel where Margaret is confronted by her father after her late arrival from school.

8.     Students will read the section aloud.

9.     The teacher pauses at strategic points to ask students questions such as:

Ÿ  What would you have done if you were Margaret?

Ÿ  Why do you think Margaret saw nothing wrong with her behaviour?

Ÿ  Why do you think Margaret’s father was upset?

Ÿ  How else do you think Margaret’s father could have dealt with her?

Ÿ  How do think Margaret felt after her father’s scolding?

Ÿ  If you were Margaret would you have continued her behaviour?

Ÿ  Have you ever been in a situation similar to Margaret?

Ÿ  What was your reaction?

Ÿ  How did you feel about upsetting your parents?

Conclusion: Students will be asked to write a letter in their journals addressed to the character Margaret OR Mr. Cruickshank expressing their feelings about the characters reactions in the situation where Margaret came home late from school. They must focus on the problem, how the problem was handled and the appropriateness of the strategy used to deal with the problem.

Evaluation: Students’ performances and journals will be assessed with the use of a rubric.

Blog Twelve

Evaluating the Reading Strategy: Collaborative Strategic Reading

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) developed by Klingner and Vaughn (1998), is an excellent strategy which can be used before, during and after reading. It can work well in classrooms made up of mixed ability students and can help to improve the reading comprehension skills of students. It allows students to work together in groups which will improve their team skills and to also determine their individual learning achievements through the use of the CSR learning logs.

Students are also allowed to make predictions and form personal responses to the literature which makes the experience more fun and interesting in the CSR. They can discuss the literature in a ‘life-filled’ fashion that will only probe them to read more. Students get to discuss their thoughts about the different aspects of the literature and to also hear the thoughts of others. They also gain the opportunity to clarify any misconceptions they may have about the literature in a non-threatening environment. In small groups of four, even the shyest students will experience an urge to speak up and express their ideas to the rest of their group members. Although it may take time to implement the CSR, using this strategy will definitely be of most benefit to the students in the Literature classroom.

Blog Eleven

Using Strategy for Reading: Collaborative Strategic Reading

                                                                 

                                                                        

In an attempt to make use of Collaborative Strategic Reading in the ninth grade classroom, I will use the novel ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ by Harper Lee to teach characterization. The character to be focused on for this lesson is Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley.

In chapter thirty, Scout who is the protagonist of this novel, finally understands the circumstances surrounding Boo Radley, which has made him a recluse who never leaves his house. Boo is the result of his immediate setting- an intelligent individual, emotionally damaged by his cruel father. Boo also represents a ‘mocking bird’ in the story, as he is a good person injured by the evil of mankind. I will now discuss how I will get students to think at such a high level using the CSR strategy.

The class will commence with an introduction of the topic to be covered for the day which is ‘Symbol in Boo’. Students will then be assigned to groups of four made up of students of varying ability. Students will be allowed to choose their roles for the day. The possible roles are:

1. Leader- tells the group what to read and what strategy to use next.

2. Clunk Expert- Uses clunk cards to remind the group of the steps to follow when trying

                            to figure out the meaning of their clunks.

3. Gist Expert- Guides the group towards getting the gist and determines that the gist

                          contains the most important ideas.

4. Announcer- Calls on group members to read a passage or share an idea.

 Cue Cards which outline procedures to be followed in the cooperative learning group and responsibilities of each role in the group will also be provided.

Example of Cue Card for the role of leader:

Figure 1: CSR Leader’s Cue Card
Before Reading	During Reading	After Reading
Preview Today’s topic is _____. Let’s brainstorm everything we already know about the topic and write it on your learning logs. Who would like to share their best ideas? Now let’s predict. Look at the title, pictures, and headings and think about what you think we will learn today. Write your ideas in your learning logs. Who would like to share their best ideas?	Read Who would like to read the next section? Click and Clunk Did everyone understand what we read? If you did not, write your clunks in your learning logs. [If someone has a clunk] Clunk Expert, please help us out. Get the Gist It’s time to Get the Gist. Gist Expert, please help us out. Go back and repeat all of the steps in this column over for each section that is read.	Wrap up Now let’s generate some questions to check if we really understood what we read. Remember to start your questions with who, when, what, where, why, or how. Everyone, write your questions in your learning logs. Who would like to share their best question? In your learning logs, let’s write down as much as we can about what we learned today. Let’s go around the group and each share something we learned. Compliments and Suggestions The Encourager has been watching carefully and will now tell us two things we did really well as a group today. Is there anything that would help us do even better next time?
Adapted from Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2000). Professional development guide: Enhancing reading comprehension for secondary students-part II. Austin, TX: Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts.

A CSR Learning Log sheet will also be given to each student.

Figure 2: CSR Learning Log
Name:_______________________________	Date:_______________________________
Brainstorm: What do you already know about this topic?	Predict: What do you think you will learn by reading this passage?
Clunks: Please list your Clunks.
The Gist (main idea): Write the Gist of the section you read.
Make questions: Make questions about main ideas.	Review: Write something important they learned.
Adapted from Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2000). Professional development guide: Enhancing reading comprehension for secondary students-part II. Austin, TX: Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. For use in the classroom, this figure should be expanded to fill an entire page.

The groups will discuss amongst themselves, headed by the leader, all the knowledge they have already acquired about Boo Radley before beginning to read the chapter. The Announcer will then call on members of the group to begin reading. The Clunk Expert and Gist Expert will take up their chosen roles and begin to document any difficult aspects as well as main ideas they encounter during reading. The students will then Wrap up after they have generated questions and reviewed the main ideas. The students will also document their groups discussions on their individual CSR learning logs. The whole class will then engage in a whole class Wrap up discussion guided by the teacher. The findings of each group will be discussed and used to engage students in critical thinking,  until they are able to understand the character of ‘Boo’ and his ‘symbol’ (i.e. a mocking bird) in the novel. Students will also be encouraged to relate Boo to their own personal lives and to consider how they would deal or cope with the same settings surrounding Boo. By doing this, the students get the chance to ‘Find Oneself in the Story’.

Source:

http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=424

Addition to Blog Ten

The Two Instructional Elements found in CSR.

The Element of Reciprocal Teaching

The Element of Cooperative Learning

Blog Ten

Strategy for Reading: Collaborative Strategic Reading

            According to Bremer, Vaughn, Clapper and Kim(2002), Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a reading strategy that combines the two instructional elements of Modified Reciprocal Teaching (Palincsar and Brown,1984) and Cooperative Learning (Johnson and Johnson,1987).  CSR currently consists of four comprehension strategies that students apply before, during and after reading in small cooperative groups. Preview, Click and Clunk, Get the Gist and Wrap Up are the four strategies that make up the first of two phases for implementing CSR.

Phase One: Teaching the Four Strategies

1.      Preview

Preview is used before reading the text for the lesson. It is the strategy that activates the students’ prior knowledge. It consists of brainstorming and making predictions about what they will read to generate their interest. The teachers probe students to determine what they know about the topic and what they think they will learn from reading the text.

2.      Click and Clunk

Click and Clunk is the second strategy and teaches the students to monitor their understanding during reading, and to make adjustments when they realize they have failed to understand the text. A ‘Click’ is described by the teacher as good understanding of an aspect of the literature while a ‘Clunk’ is the opposite of a ‘Click’.

3.      Get the Gist

Getting the Gist is also a strategy which deals with helping students to identify the main ideas during reading. It helps the students focus on important ideas rather than unnecessary details and can be acquired through the use of questioning.

4.      Wrap Up

The fourth strategy of CSR occurs after the text has been read. In this strategy, the students engage in generating questions about the texts and reviewing what was learnt in the lesson. The teacher also encourages students to generate some questions that require answers that involve higher-level thinking skills rather than just recall. Students then write down what was learned in their learning logs.

Phase Two: Cooperative Learning Group or Student Pairing

 Once students have learned the four strategies and have developed proficiency in applying them in teacher –led activities, they are now ready to apply CSR in their peer-led cooperative learning groups. During the cooperative activity, the teacher’s role is to circulate among the groups, clarifying clunks, modeling strategy usage, modeling cooperative learning techniques, redirecting students to remain on task and providing assistance to students (Bremer et al, 2002).


Websites with more information about this strategy:

www.dldcec.org/pdf/teaching_how-tos/using_collaborative.pdf

www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/buildingreading.cgi?l...15

nepc.colorado.edu/.../Vaughn%26Klingner_TeachingReadingComprehensionthroughCSR.pdf

Source:
http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=424

 

Blog Nine

Stages of Literary Appreciation :Reflection

            My literature teacher drags into the classroom with the novel of focus swinging at her side. She lifelessly greets the class, which makes me glance at my watch to start subtracting the number of minutes I must endure this anticipated episode of misery from the present time. She sits at the side of the teacher’s desk and crosses her legs – a location and position she will remain in for the rest of the lesson.

            We are then instructed to open our novels and one student is randomly selected to begin reading aloud. Readers are changed constantly in an attempt to ensure that we are paying attention. After some reading has occurred, another set of random selection begins to answer questions based on what was just read. Thankfully, the bell which signals end of class rings and saves us from ‘death by boredom’ for now, as this routine will continue in the next literature lesson.

            Had my literature teacher considered the stages of literary appreciation, she would have realized that we were at the level of ‘Finding Oneself in a Story’. She would have taken into account the fact that we were becoming discriminatory readers and are no longer satisfied with knowing only what happened. She would allow us to discuss why events in the literature happened and connect the happenings to our own personal experiences. She would assist us in our quest to finding out about ourselves by planning lessons that allowed us to talk and interact with our peers. She would also select texts that are right for our level in the stages of literary appreciation.

            As a teacher, my selection of texts will include realistic fiction, contemporary problem novels or wish-fulfilling stories and will all be Young Adult Literature. These texts are suitable for their age and level in the stages of literary appreciation. These books will be of interest and relevance to my students, as they will read about lives of characters which may be similar to their own. I will also allow students to respond to the novels based on their personal experiences through group work and response journals, in an attempt to get them to justify why characters behave a certain way and why events happen in the texts. I will allow them to speak about their likes and dislikes of the literature and develop activities that encourage them to engage in critical thinking. I will also ensure that whatever activities I use in the classroom will be student-centred rather than teacher-centred in nature. I will present the literature in a manner that brings it to life in order to captivate students and perhaps encourage them to read more in their mission to find themselves in literature.

            In order for students to appreciate literature, it is up to us teachers to ensure that we can meet their needs at the correct level in the stages of Literary Appreciation. By making the students experience pleasure and profit from their reading, viewing and listening, we will be moving a generation one step closer to becoming adults who are intellectually stimulated to read for personal fulfillment and pleasure.

Blog Eight

Stages of Literary Appreciation

            According to Donelson and Nielsen (2001), Literary Appreciation is the ‘ability to gain pleasure and understand literature’ as well as ‘to understand the value and importance of literature’. They continue by stating that ‘to esteem, honour, respect and admire the beauty and complexity of literature’ reflects Literature Appreciation. There are seven stages of literary appreciation. These stages are an approximation of the different levels of ‘how individuals develop personal attitudes and reading, watching, and listening skills that are a necessary part of literary appreciation’ (Donelson et al, 2001). It is important to note that people do not simply go though these seven stages of literary appreciation, but rather continuously add on so that each new level becomes a new way to gain pleasure and understanding of literature. Let us now briefly examine these stages.

            At level one of the stages of literary appreciation, the child is ‘Understanding that Pleasure and Profit Comes from Literature’. This stage is from birth to Kindergarten (ages zero to five). The child enjoys nursery rhymes, folktales, picture books and television programs, which provides the child interaction with literature. The child has favourite read aloud books and memorizes favourite stories for pretend reading later. He ‘reads’ signs and enjoys listening to adults read. The literature experience at this stage is one that is social, as the child gains opportunities for ‘talking stories’ and ‘grand conversations’.

            ‘Learning to Read’ is the second level the child adds on to his stages of Literary Appreciation. At primary grades (ages six to eight), the child learns to decode and develops an attention span. School reading texts, Easy-to-Read books, signs and other real-world messages help to make the development of literacy in the child possible. He takes pride in reading to parents and also enjoys reading alone. The child is considered to be in a stage of ‘unconscious enjoyment’ and may become addicted to one particular book or character.

            The third level in the stages of Literary Appreciation is known as ‘Losing Oneself in a Story’. In the late elementary stages of school (ages nine to eleven), the child becomes fascinated with series books, fantasies, animal stories and just about any literature one can disappear into when reading. The child at this stage reads when engaged in other activities, such as travelling and really enjoys reading from a particular genre or author. It is at this stage that the child uses reading as a means of escaping.

            In Junior High (ages twelve to fourteen), the adolescent adds on level four to his Literary Appreciation. At this stage, the adolescent engages in ‘Finding Oneself in a Story’. He begins to be discriminatory and prefers realistic fiction, contemporary problem novels and wish-fulfilling stories. The adolescent no longer wants to simply know what happened; he wants to know why it happened. He uses reading as an escape from social pressures and wants to find out about himself in the process. In addition, he may also become curious about other sides of life, such as the bizarre and grotesque.

The fifth level in the stages of literary Appreciation is known as ‘Venturing Beyond Self’. At this level, the adolescent is at high school (ages fifteen to eighteen) and enjoys science fiction and social issues fiction. The adolescent goes beyond his egocentrism and looks at the larger circle of society. This stage is more about emotional, intellectual and physical development instead of advanced reading skills. The reading that the adolescent engages in, is beyond school assignments and allows focus on his psychological needs in relation to society.

The sixth and seventh levels that young adults add on to their Literary Appreciation are known as ‘Reading Widely’ and ‘Aesthetic Appreciation’ respectively. At college and beyond (ages eighteen until death), the young adult enjoys best-sellers, acclaimed novels, classics, drama, plays, poems and films as well as talking to their peers about their experiences with literature. The young adult now reads using his developed skills and attitudes necessary to enjoy literary experiences at all the previous levels, and understands the beauty and artistic value of literature enough to read aesthetically.

There are seven stages of Literary Appreciation. The development of Literature Appreciation begins long before one is able to read and continues throughout adulthood until death.

Sources:
www.unc.edu/.../Stages%20of%20Literary%20Appreciation%20-%20Literature%20for%20Today's%20Young%20Adults.pdf

Blog Seven

‘Readers as Writers, Writers As Readers’

            Reading and Writing processes occur as part of the same activity. As we are readers, we find ourselves paying close attention to the techniques used by writers in the literature we read, which is known as ‘reading like a writer’. Similarly, because we are writers, we need to write with an audience in mind. This is known as ‘writing like a reader’. Let us now examine the concepts of ‘readers as writers’ and ‘writers as readers’.

            When reading like a writer, one takes into consideration several different aspects of the writing. The reader tries to understand what the writer is writing about and what he wants to reveal to us, his readers. We pay close attention to the details the writer uses, as well as the purpose for which the writer composes his piece. As readers, we take into account the writer’s organization and flow of ideas from one to the next. We consider the strategies used by the writer to keep us interested and the effectiveness of the conclusion chosen by the writer to complete his literature piece.

            When one reads as a writer, he gets to know the writer’s personality and the emotions felt by the writer towards the topic. The technicality of the language used by the writer to make the writing more effective can also be seen when we read as writers. The flow of language in the writer’s literature and the way conventions are used by the writer are all considered when we read like a writer.

            Writing as readers on the other hand, deals with the opposite stand of readers as writers. This time the writer takes into account the reader’s perspective. The writer composes a piece of literature with the audience in mind. The writer tries to think like his readers in order to determine what would appeal to them. The writer thinks of how his literature can receive the responses from the readers that he desires and what may prove to be too challenging for the readers’ comprehension.

            As teachers, it is our responsibility to help students read as writers and write as readers. It is our responsibility to stimulate students’ interests by allowing them to select text they would like to read and by guiding them through the writer’s craft. We must allow them ample amounts of time to respond to the literature, through the use of discussions or response journals. In doing so, we would also be engaging them in critical thinking, which can develop both their reading and writing skills. Students need to be allowed to write about (and rewrite) the literature, connecting it to their personal experiences, as well as to voice their feelings towards the literature. Students should be allowed to take ownership of their reading and writing processes.

Sources:
http://website-in-a-weekend.net/creating-content/reader-write/

 

http://www.ttms.org/say_about_a_book/read_like_a_writer.htm