A primary objective for both 7th and 8th grade Language Arts classes this year is an appreciation for various ways people choose to communicate. Two activities today helped underscore this objective.
As a Steinbeck fan, I am always happy to use his books with students. The 7th graders are reading The Pearl, and as a way to briefly summarize before moving ahead, they wrote headlines for the first chapter. Their creativity was excellent - some of my favorites were 'Song of Evil Overcomes Song of Family', 'Doctor: Friend or Foe?', and the tabloid-y 'Doctor Disses Patient'. Being succinct is not always easy, but they were still able to communicate the gist of the chapter successfully.
The 8th graders are reading Of Mice and Men, and their job was to text a conversation between Lennie and George. Texting is a process they are quite comfortable with, and were able to see the parallels to dialogue while having fun in the process.
TTFN ;)
Showing posts with label language arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language arts. Show all posts
Friday, October 2, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Student Bloggers
One of the Language Arts requirements for my 7th and 8th graders this year will be to contribute to a class literacy blog. Unlike many assignments, they actually seem eager to do it.
There are several desired features:
- students will be writing for authentic publication
- each poster will have two peer editors to work with, so there will be practice with proofreading and constructive criticism
- because they will have considerable flexibility in topics, students may discover new areas of interest they would not have otherwise explored
- we will have an archival record of the growth and progress of the classes
Digital natives are typically quite comfortable with technology, and Blogspot provides a great free service - it makes sense to tap into these two realities to promote literacy. Once the sites are active, I will publish links.
There are several desired features:
- students will be writing for authentic publication
- each poster will have two peer editors to work with, so there will be practice with proofreading and constructive criticism
- because they will have considerable flexibility in topics, students may discover new areas of interest they would not have otherwise explored
- we will have an archival record of the growth and progress of the classes
Digital natives are typically quite comfortable with technology, and Blogspot provides a great free service - it makes sense to tap into these two realities to promote literacy. Once the sites are active, I will publish links.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Some People Call it . . .
Language Arts, English, and Reading are often used interchangeably when discussing that block of literacy instruction that takes up a good chunk of a middle-schooler's day. I suspect that people tend to use the term most familiar to them.
Personally, I prefer Language Arts because I see a diverse set of goals for the class. Certainly, there is plenty of reading and writing and literature. But I believe it is also critical to help students develop good listening and speaking skills, to be able to process verbal information and speak with clarity in formal and informal situations.
When I polled students the other day, they believed that success in 70% to 95% of their school day depends on good listening. And while I will become more acquainted with their writing, the lion's share of what I have learned about my students so far has come through verbal interaction.
So call it what you will . . . as long as speaking and listening are components of language emphasized in the class. These are skills, and like other skills they can be strengthened or they can atrophy. To me, it's a clear choice.
Personally, I prefer Language Arts because I see a diverse set of goals for the class. Certainly, there is plenty of reading and writing and literature. But I believe it is also critical to help students develop good listening and speaking skills, to be able to process verbal information and speak with clarity in formal and informal situations.
When I polled students the other day, they believed that success in 70% to 95% of their school day depends on good listening. And while I will become more acquainted with their writing, the lion's share of what I have learned about my students so far has come through verbal interaction.
So call it what you will . . . as long as speaking and listening are components of language emphasized in the class. These are skills, and like other skills they can be strengthened or they can atrophy. To me, it's a clear choice.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Upcoming Projects
Students return in one week so I want to be sure to complete the prep work on several web-based projects. The availability of so many free sites makes it easy to experiment, but I want to be sure the project pays real educational dividends, rather than simply being technological fluff.
For each of my Language Arts classes, we will be maintaining a literacy blog. Each week, two students will be assigned to post to the blog on a topic relating to literacy and our work in class. Each poster will be assigned two peer editors who will have to check their work before posting. This will tap into authentic writing and editing/proofreading skills, as well as provide an opportunity for students to publicly express their ideas, create a working portfolio of the group's growth, and provide parents the opportunity to have perspective on our work.
In Social Studies, I have created a wiki for each class. New pages will be created for each unit of study and students will use them to strengthen understanding and create their own study guides. Some of the posting to the site will be done in class (thank you, SmartBoard) but the majority will be done by the students on their own time. I am curious to see if they embrace the opportunity to develop their own study aids.
As these projects take root, I will provide updates and links. To protect their privacy, all students will be required to create an alias before contributing.
For each of my Language Arts classes, we will be maintaining a literacy blog. Each week, two students will be assigned to post to the blog on a topic relating to literacy and our work in class. Each poster will be assigned two peer editors who will have to check their work before posting. This will tap into authentic writing and editing/proofreading skills, as well as provide an opportunity for students to publicly express their ideas, create a working portfolio of the group's growth, and provide parents the opportunity to have perspective on our work.
In Social Studies, I have created a wiki for each class. New pages will be created for each unit of study and students will use them to strengthen understanding and create their own study guides. Some of the posting to the site will be done in class (thank you, SmartBoard) but the majority will be done by the students on their own time. I am curious to see if they embrace the opportunity to develop their own study aids.
As these projects take root, I will provide updates and links. To protect their privacy, all students will be required to create an alias before contributing.
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