Introductions

Session 1

Welcome !

Please create a name card on the index cards.

Include: Your NameYour Content / Discipline

Your target grades

Create a Name Plate

Your NameYour Discipline (Content Area)

Target grade level

Contact InfoDoreen ArneyHome: 845-406-4532Cell: 845-893-7816Email: missarney1@optonline.netEmail: darney@liu.edu

Teaching Literacy Across the Curriculum:TED 550

COURSE TEXTS: Fisher & Frey’s Improving

Adolescent Literacy Bean & Baldwin’s Content-Area

Literacy

Class Attendance & Class Participation: 15%

You will be expected to be present, on time, and engaged in this course. Classroom participation is an integral part of this class. In addition to discussions, you will participate in work groups and in peer reviews of participants’ work. No more than 1 absence will be permitted.

Your cell phone should be off & out of sight during class…not on vibrate.

Some class assignments, including some on “Blackboard” nights will count in your class participation grade.

Laptops are for note taking and work-product sessions and may not be used during model lessons.

You will be expected to provide a peer review for each of the model lessons; your evaluations will be submitted to me first for your grade and your comments will be anonymously give to your peers.

Examinations (5%?)•In lieu of a final exam, there may be a final content

application project which will be valued at 5% of your grade.

Reading Checks, Quick Writes, Content Application Activities (10%)

•Quick writes are to be based on the readings, class activities, assignments, and field experiences as they relate to writing and literacy in your content area.

•For each class meeting, you will be expected to demonstrate understanding of reading assignments and class content in the form of short written assessments, content-appropriate activities, and reading quizzes.

•Some of these content-based activities will be done with partners or in small groups.

Instructional Design(20%)• Design a 3 2-lesson unit to also

include a pre- and post- assessment• These lessons will focus on

appropriate writing techniques for your discipline

• Please take out the packet provided to you and let’s review.

MICROTEACHING LESSON (15%)

•You will prepare a demonstration lesson for a mini-lesson of no less or more than 15-20 minutes.

•Dress and behave professionally.•You will provide a flash drive and lesson plan to submit before the

lesson begins (or bring your own digital video camera/device).

•This lesson may (and probably should) be an adaptation one of the 3 lessons in your instructional design project (a planned lesson abbreviated because of an assembly or 3-hour delay.

MICROTEACHING REFLECTIVE ESSAY (10%): Due 1 week after your presentation.

“Extra Credit”

Journals: Article Reflections: 10% You will read and write a reflection on three current articles (2010-present) addressing an issue in each of these areas (i.e., you must have one article in each category)• Implementation of Common Core Standards• Using literacy in your content area• Professionalism, classroom management, APPR, other

issues pertinent to educators

3 Paragraphs:• A brief summary of the article citing important lines• Interesting points / questions about the information

presented (include your own reflection on it. Do you agree or disagree with the author? What questions does it raise for you? How is it related to anything else you’ve read, heard, know, or discussed?)

• How will it affect or impact your teaching? (Will you use the information? How? In what ways? Or, why not?)

• You must submit the article with your reflection.• MLA or APA-typed format acceptable. • Ultimate deadline: 7.29.14

CONTENT TEXTS:* For some class sessions, you will be

alerted to PLEASE bring a copy of a textbook (or textbooks) related to your subject / content/ discipline to class. Have one available to you and check Blackboard for announcements or reminders.

TEACHING READING & WRITING ACROSS THE

CONTENT AREA

Introduction: Literacy» The progression of literacy achievement of

secondary school students is negative to say the least. At all levels from middle school to adulthood, the numbers conclude that adolescents’ literacy skills need improvement in many areas. This is a great challenge seeing as this ability will profoundly affect the trajectory of their adult lives.

The Writing Crisis (?)» Yahoo! News (AP) - 2005: “Poor writing costs taxpayers

millions”: graduates enter the workplace unable to communicate clearly on paper or even in emails; companies spend ¼ billion dollars in remediation.

» Carnegie Commission - 2006: “American students today are not meeting even basic writing standards, and their teachers are often at a loss for how to help them. In an age overwhelmed by information…we should view this as a crisis because the ability to organize information into knowledge – can be viewed as tantamount to a survival skill.

» Yep…there’s more….

» Chicago Tribune – 2002: 4/10 Illinois kids “can’t put together an organized, detailed essay that follows basic and spelling rules”.˃ By the way, the writing test on which these children did so poorly asked them to write about

in-line skating.

» NY Times – 2003: “Writing in Schools Found Both Dismal and Neglected”

Do you agree? Is there a crisis?Did you have to write in your non-ELA courses? (Sci, Math, SS?)

The National Standards» NCTM: “There are many different ways to encourage

students to think and talk about mathematics; informal writing activities can help students reflect on their understanding of mathematical concepts and encourage them to make connections among topics.” (2006)

» NCSS: The social studies program should be designed to increase the student’s ability to use the writing process and to classify, interpret, analyze, summarize, evaluate, and present information in well-reasoned ways that support better decision-making for both individuals and society.” (1994)

The National Standards» NSES: Secondary students should be able to “communicate

the problem, process, and solution. Students should present their results to students, teachers, and others in a variety of ways, such as orally, in writing, and in other forms – including models, diagrams, and demonstrations.” (2006)

NYS CCSS

» https://www.engageny.org/Partner up with someone in your content area. List the number of ways that WRITING is used REGULARLY in your content area according to your high school experiences and what you’ve observed in fieldwork.

“College & Career Ready”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0rRk9sER0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN33N_zPB4k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX7ddVUuf-E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDJTJTAXx7k

Reviewing the Regents

FOR THURSDAYGet thee to EngageNY

• Review a MODULE in your content area, particularly the grade level you wish to target for your UBD assignment. Take notes on what you see, questions and concerns you have, benefits you discern.

• You need your textbooks. You should read ch 1 in F&F for Thursday.

• You will need a textbook in your content area. If you are unable to acquire one, find a chapter of text online that you can print and use.

Writing

Writing to Learn Public Writing» Notes» Brainstorming» Jottings» Lists» Pro-con lists» To-do lists» Sketches» Doodles» Diagrams» Concept

mapping» Clustering

» Journaling» Response logs» Outlines» Instant

messages» Plans» Free writes

» Research papers» Lab reports

» Mathematical proofs

» Proposals» Biographies

» Historical accounts

» Legal analyses» Articles

» Editorials» Reviews

» Essays» Literary criticism

» Speeches» Persuasive

essays» Letters» Poems

» Plays» Novels

» Short stories

In Practice: Writing to Learn

» Paula Rutherford (Why Didn’t I Learn This in College?) and Janet Allen’s Tools for Teaching Content Literacy; More Tools for Teaching Content Literacy.

» Activity 1: ABC Book/ Content from A-Z

Allen’s “Writing Alphabet Books”

» Reading alphabet books for older readers helps students build subject-matter background, and writing alpha books can help students organize and synthesize their subject-matter knowledge.

» When students collaborate to write subject-matter alpha books, they employ many complex thinking skills: they have to read carefully, find details, analyze, compare, visualize, question and determine importance, use content-specific language, and organize information.

Rutherford’s ABC-XYZ

» Purposes:˃ To have students process & summarize

learning˃ To promise various levels of thinking˃ To have students think divergently and

creatively

Rutherford’s ABC-XYZ

» Applications:a) Randomly assign a letter of the alphabet to each student;

give them one minute to think of a word that summarizes the lesson or captures the essence of the concept being studied. Then go around the room to hear the words.

b) Have each student quickly jot down a word that captures the essence of the day’s lesson. Have small groups combine their words, adding others as necessary, to make complete sentence. The only rules is that it must be a complete sentence and they have to use all of the words jotted down by individuals.

c) Give students a key word related to the topic being studied. Have students write it down the left margin of their paper one letter to a line. Task: they must write an acrostic using each letter that ties into the lesson.

Directions to creating an alphabet book:

» Students will need to read several examples of alphabet books b/c they may be unaware of the complexity of alphabet books written for older readers.

» After reading them, students construct a list of the characteristics: language, visuals, repetition, authors’ purposes, and content.

» Students then work in groups to write and illustrate their own alphabet books to show what they have learned about a concept, unit of study, or work of literature.

Now you…

» Collaborate with students in the same field of discipline.

» Pick a unit of study (i.e., the Revolutionary War, grammar, operations / equations, photosynthesis).

» Create a pre-reading or post-reading activity using Rutherford’s A-Z or Allen’s ABC Book strategy.

» “Writing is…a complex intellectual activity that requires students to stretch their minds, sharpen their analytical capabilities, and make valid and accurate distinctions.” “The Neglected R.” The College Board (2002), p. 13

» You will need to explicitly teach the form and tone you expect for a writing task.

Guiding Principles for Including Writing in your Content Area

You are not teaching writing; you are teaching your content! It is not just an assessment; it is a means to learning.

Be flexible in your definition of writing There is an appropriate place for informal writing.

Content area teachers and English teachers probably have different expectations. Provide models. Be explicitly clear about your expectations AVOID the disconnect when a science teacher “doesn’t

care” about all that English stuff like grammar. Better to explain the impact (whether it is high,

moderate, or low) that standard English writing skills will have on their scores. But if they are expected to write well, they will try…and therefore their communication about your content will be better too!!

Anxiety Triggers for Writing1. Long assignments are scary.

• break long assignments into manageable parts.

• Consider assigning by number of paragraphs rather than pages or words.

2. Fear of Poor Spelling.• Many technical terms have common roots &

prefixes that are related to meaning.• Teach those roots to aid students.

• Notebook flashcards (Note-ables)• Content-buddy: generate list from a prefix

or root• Content binder dictionary (generate list)

Anxiety Triggers for Writing3. Fear of Poor Time Management.

• Show them how to break it down (deadlines)

• Grace periods or incentives

4. Hating seeing red marks all over the paper

• Use the rubric for your comments• Don’t forget positive comments

5. Others?

For next week…

» Find an article regarding writing across the curriculum in your content area from a valid educational source in an ed. journal or website (look for .edu or .gov for example). English teachers: find something that deals with writing for state standards and classroom instruction.

» PRINT, read, and annotate the article. Bring it with you next week.

Exit ticket….

» Reflect on yourself as a writer. What are your personal concerns about teaching writing in your content area? From where do these concerns stem? What is a personal goal or hope for this course that you have regarding yourself as a teaching candidate?

Sources

» Benjamin A. (2005). Writing in the content area. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

» Daniels, H. (2007). Content-area writing: Every teacher’s guide. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Benjamin Bloom (1956)

6 levels of Bloom's Taxonomy:

Bloom for the 21st Century