Learning Through Teaching Syllabus
Salem, NH
Tomasen M. Carey
Required Text: Comprehension Connections by Tanny McGregor
Class Dates and Topics:
September 25th: Histories and Metacognition. Who are we as readers and writers? How does that impact our teaching of reading and writing?
Model Bio Book Bag.
Assignment:
• Read article on Bio Book Bags and Chapters 1 and 2.
• Create your own bio book bag to share.
Classroom Invitation:
1. Using a digital camera, take a picture of what reading “feels” like. Write a sentence to go along with each photo. Post them outside your classroom.
2. Draw a sketch of a reader and write about your sketch. What does a reading look like? Sound like? Feel like?
October 9th: More Metacognition: Discuss readings and share Bio Book Bags in small groups.
Use Graphic organizer from book.
Demonstrate using paint chips to “monitor” your reading.
Assignment:
• Read Chapter 3 (and possibly another article from me)
Classroom Invitations:
1. Try one of the ideas from the reading with your students that deals with metacognition. Invite me in to come and observe!
2. Model Bio Book Bags with your students. Let them create their own bio book bags.
October 30th: Schema and Making Connections. Model “I am From” poetry discussing “reading like a writer” as a a think aloud.
Assignment:
• Read Chapter 5 in Comprehension Connections.
Classroom Invitations:
1. Try “I am From” Poetry with your students
2. Do a think aloud on schema using the book Roxaboxen. Track connections for your students in the hallway illustrating how one connection leads to another. Watch the connections grow throughout the school!
November 13th: Questioning. Identify the types of questions.
Model Passion Poster
Model Think Aloud using The Three Questions.
Assignment:
• Read Chapter 4 in Comprehension Connections.
• Create your own Passion posters. Will be used for questioning in our next class.
Classroom Invitation:
1. Model a think aloud using the book, The Three Questions to your class and post their questions about this book out in the hall.
2. Try something from our reading and invite me in to observe!
December 4th: More Questioning and a bit of Inferring: Put Passion posters up around the room. Ask everyone to go around the room and write questions or inferences on sticky notes on each poster. Discuss the implications of this poster and the other uses for it across the curriculum.
Assignment:
• Read article by Cris Tovani
Classroom Invitations:
1. Work on passion posters with your students. Post them outside your classroom encouraging other students to also put post it’s on your posters asking questions that cannot be answered with yes or no.
December 17th (Wednesday) : A day of Reflection and Celebration!!
Bring something you have tried this semester that you were happy with! Please also bring a letter to the class that outlines some of your thinking and reflections over the past semester. Please bring a copy for everyone to have their own!
Course Requirements: These requirements will be evaluated to determine final grades.
• Regular attendance and participation at group meetings, having all of the assigned reading completed and ready to discuss it in detail. (40%)
• Classroom Invitations (30%)
• Weekly blog entries on (http://thinkingitthroughsalem2.blogspot.com/) 20%
• One visitation in your school or within your district of a colleague. I will ask that you post your observation on our blog. There will be a special section on the blog specifically for visitations. (10%)
19 comments:
I think I have successfully opened a blog account.
Liz
This is my first blog...I think.
I think I did this successfully. It took me a while to create a password that would be accepted. Maybe i can get tech hours for this!
Carol
Here I am!
Here is the blog...I asked my students to write what they thought a reader looks like to them. I demonstrated the activity by drawing on the board (in my own stick figure way) the picture Tomasen had shown us. I explained the picture as well. Then I drew the man climbing the mountain and explained that. Then I drew what I had drawn in class and after they all stopped laughing, I explained that. As you can imagine, some of them got it, and some didn't. But the ones who did get it, were pretty amazing. Can't wait to show you.
Janet Mulligan
I'm in! I'm in! Sorry Carol, no tech hours! :) I did both activities with my class and they led to some very interesting conversations! My favorite is one of the students chose the "Chips Ahoy Cookie" from their ad...the one who looks nervous that someone is going to eat him...He said that's how he feels when reading....WOW!
Okay...I am here! I loved seeing your kids work, Michelle! Looks great! BTW...I will need to borrow some kids for some of these activities!! Let me know if anyone at North Salem or Haigh is interested!! :)
I have made it in the blog!!
Ellen
I did it...finally!
I'm in. (BTW it took me 3 tries to get the word verification right when opening my account!!! Whew! Those darn letters are too close together!) Janet, I'm curious to see what your 4th graders drew.
It worked, I'm here! I was actually able to get my class to draw pictures of a reader with their 5th grade book buddies. On the back of their own pictures, the 5th graders answered the question, "What does a reader do?" But, I did have to specify that they couldn't write, "Readers read." Once the 5th graders left, I interviewed my first graders to see what they thought a reader did. It was interesting to see the differences, as well as many similarities, between what fifth graders and first graders think readers do!
Nancy, you can borrow my kids anytime. I am just going to pick the ones you can have (kidding!)
Michelle, It might be pretty interesting to assign the "find a picture" project several times this year and see how/if their opinion of how reading feels changes at all.
This is my first blog also, and I got it on the first try. I have started by bio bag and I must say I have a lot in common with Tomasen.
Dolly
Hi,
Asked my kids how they feel when reading. The first answer was "reading feels like finding a pot of gold". :)
As others have said, "Here I am!" Too bad I can't be more creative than that!Does anyone else have trouble figuring out the letters in the "word verification"?
well Im here with the help from my friends. This may open a whole new place for me in cyberspace diana
I'm in...It was much harder than I thought it would be, but I am in...
I was a little skeptical about the value of the bio bag at first, but I must say that I really enjoyed putting it together. It helped me reflect on myself as a reader and how I have changed over the years.
It was also interesting to see how much many of us had in common with the literature we enjoy. There were also some intriguing surprises in people's repertoire.
It is difficult for me to talk about only one thing in the bag, so I will talk about what it represents. One of my favorite books is WOMEN OF THE SILK. This represents a chapter in my life when I started learning about China. My bag also had chinese symbols on it. I started studying China's history and culture in 2000and went on a 2 week tour in 2001. For a long time after that, all my reading focused on memoirs and historical fiction, by Chinese authors, about China and its people. These books opened up a whole new world for me. They also helped me to connect with my daughter in a special way. She majored in Chinese language and culture and studied for a semester in Beijing. She now works for the Department of Defense with a goal improving America's understanding of this unique culture. Through reading I can stay current and in touch with my daughter's career. I also get to bridge a gap with the people on the other side of the world, something we Americans often neglect to do.
Thanks for the opportunity.
Dolly
Hi,
I tried the paint cards to measure comprehension. I found that the children were very generous in their self assessments! After we did some reinforcements with the reading many reassessed their comprehension as not being quite as good as they thought. I think this explains why, on a first reading, many students don't feel they need to reread.
Dolly
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