Chapter 7: Activating Prior Knowledge and Increasing Motivation

"Sometimes, problems with motivation arise from complicated dilemmas that arise from different values around education at home and at school." (pg 194) Children who come from families who are poor sometimes do not have access to research books or the Internet at home. Their parents may have an elementary/junior high education, so the parents may not know how to motivate the children to learn because they were never motivated as a child attending school. The parents may fear that the "educated" teacher may try to influence their child to succeed in life and it will cause conflict within the family because the student may feel he/she is better than their parents. Another aspect is that students in High School may feel they need to drop out of school so they can get a job and help their parents financially. Parents may feel that this may be the best solution to their financial woes, but it is usually just a short-time solution because down the road, the student will find out that they should have stayed in school and received an education because the fast food employment does not provide an income that supports a family's needs.
Anticipation Guides: I think anticipation guides are a great tool in the classroom. It gets the students interested in what they will be reading, writing, or listening to in the lesson. The students are able to see what they know about a particular subject, and determine what they want to find out about the subject in the lesson coming up.
K-W-L charts: KWL charts a activate student's prior knowledge by seeing what the students know, what they want to know, and after the lesson is taught, they write what they learned in the lesson. I think KWL charts work well in elementary classrooms because they get students interested in what is coming up in the lesson. It also allows students to hear what other students know about a particular subject.

Conley's 1 page Lesson Plan

Lisa McBeth
Mini Lesson Plan
6th Grade Language Arts
Curriculum Standard:
3. The student will express, communicate, evaluate, or exchange ideas effectively.
e. The student will compose persuasive text clearly expressing a main idea with supporting
details, utilizing effective word choice and organization for a specific purpose and
audience. (DOK 3)
1) Letters
Big Idea
Students need to know how to exchange ideas in an organized and persuasive manner.
Preparation
Read the children's Literature book "Freedom on the Menu" by Carole Boston Weatherford.
Ask students how they would feel if they went into a restaurant and were denied service.
Give students a scenario about walking into the local theater and being told you cannot enter because you are not the acceptable race.
Write a formal business letter to the manager of the theater asking him/her to change the rules .
Guidance
Students brainstorm acceptable reasons for change in the rules.
Students write a rough draft of their letter.
Student's ask peers to read over their rough draft and offer suggestions.
Teacher walks around the room and provides help when needed.
Application
Go over the parts of a business letter with students.
Offer tips on how to write a persuasive letter in a business-like manner.

Assessment:
The final copy of the student's letters will be the assessment. I would provide the students a checklist before they start writing their rough draft. The checklist would contain items such as correct grammar usage, correct spelling, and the parts of a business letter must be correct.


Source: English-Language Arts Content Strands for Mississippi Public Schools.

Chapter 5-Content Area Literacy:Teaching Today's Learners

On page 125 of the text book it says, A growing trend is for classrooms to embrace texts from popular culture, including Internet Web pages, trade books, music, movies, and other media, magazines, and newspapers (Morrell, 2004). When I took Adolescent Literature in college, I learned about using graphic novels and comic books to entice students to read. The instructor also taught us that we should bring in different genres of literature and use newspapers and magazines as well to get students interested in reading. With computers and Internet in the classrooms, teachers do not actually have to bring in a hardcopy of a magazine or newspaper because students can access them on the Internet. Trade books are a great asset to use to teach different concepts. Teachers can read the book to the students no matter what grade they are in. Think about it, even we as adults still like to be read to, especially if it is an interesting book. Teachers can bring in various songs and music styles, and clips of movies to use to teach certain concepts. Teachers just have to open their creative thinking skills and find interesting ways to bring literacy skills to life in their students.

Digital texts are more and more common in schools today (page 132). Teachers are using digital texts in a variety of ways. Many teachers have their own class web page. I think this is a neat way for parents and students to keep up with what is happening in the classroom. The teacher can post upcoming assignments, lunch menus, field trip dates, etc. Another way teachers are using digital texts is by class blogs. Blogs are a great way for students to get other student's viewpoints about particular subjects. Check out this blog site by a teacher in Georgia. Her students blog about various English assignements. It is a neat blog so here is the address http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=17192.
Teachers are also using PowerPoints to bring about lessons. PowerPoints are a wonderful tool because they help a student view the main points in a chapter.

Carefully assess student's experience and understandings of assignments and tasks that accompany texts (page 152). Teachers should always observe students as they read to see if they are having difficulties. If the teacher sees students with a strange look on their face or their hands raised, then she/he needs to offer the student assistance to help the child understand. The teacher may even have to alter the lesson or teach some new vocabulary words so that the student can have a better understanding of what he is reading. Teachers must be prepared to think quickly and creatively so that students learn.

Lisa McBeth-Chapter 4

"One of the most readily available ways of learning about students is through conversation." Conversation between students and the teacher is important because sometimes students do not have much adult conversations, especially if their parents work late and are not home much. Conversation also allows the teacher to evaluate the student's prior knowledge of a subject. Conversation also can help the teacher see the areas in which a student needs further teaching. Conversation builds community in the classroom, which is very important.

"Reading interests involve preferences for reading different kinds of reading materials." There should be a variety of reading materials in a classroom, especially in junior high and high school. Comic books, newspapers, teen-magazines, etc. can be used to inspire students to read. Students need to know how to read so they can get through life.

"A primary goal of portfolios is to involve students in evasluating their own work." Students get to choose their best work to have in the portfolio which allows them input on what is assessed. I think thei is great because some students may do well in some assignments but not in others. By using portfolios, students feel involved, which also builds community and confidence.