Final Blog

I think the blogs have been a good way to think about some of the concepts in class more deeply.  Also, it has helped me to think about and to plan how I'm going to construct my unit plan.  It also, gives us practice using a tool that might be useful in our future classrooms-It gives students a chance to reflect on their ideas and the ideas of others.

Blogging is also a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom.  It gives students practice with using technology, and prepares them for college and ultimately their future career.  I also think that blogging could be used to help students brainstorm for papers and projects because it provides a space for them to brainstorm and a place for their peers to respond.

I have enjoyed blogging and I think it has helped me a lot!

Media Integration

As I'm writing my unit plan, I'm finding that media is a key part of my instruction.  For example, I'm using YouTube video clips to give visuals of parodies (songs and clips from movies).  Part of my unit is talking about song parodies-Something that I hope will keep students engaged and get them excited for the unit.  Also, I think clips, whether it be music videos or clips from movies, lighten the mood of the classroom and provide students with a visual of what we're talking about.

For example, one of the songs my students will be discussing is the song "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt and it's parody done by MadTV.  Incorporating popular culture should make for a lively discussion and high student engagement.

Writing Assessment

Writing assessment will be a large part of my summative assessment because I believe it is important for students to have practice with writing.  Throughout the unit, students will be required to keep journals that reflect on what we are reading.  These journals will help them to build their confidence in writing and make their summative assessment easier.

The options for summative assessment all include writing, but give options for students to write in different ways.  For example, students will be given the option of rewriting or "transforming" an original text (a creative but more formatted approach), or writing a skit that transforms a text (a skit allows students to have more fun with their writing because they are able to become the characters that they create).

The idea is to get students to realize that writing can exist in more than one format and that it can be fun.

Formative and Summative Assessment In a Unit Plan

If you recall my concept for a unit plan, it is based off of comparing and contrasting texts-Texts in their original form and texts rewritten (Romeo and Juliet vs. Gnomeo and Juliet).  Therefore, I am planning to use group discussion as my main form of formative assessment.  Group discussion will be both large group and small group, and students will be required to participate in the discussion.  Small group discussion may prove more effective if there are a number of shy students in the class because they will be more likely to share in a less intimidating setting.

Summative assessment in this particular unit plan will most likely a group project.  Groups will have to rewrite a fairytale or well known story.  They will have a few options: The could write it in the traditional story/essay format, or they could create a video or a skit.  The stories will be required to be at least two to three pages long and the skits/videos will have to be approximately five minutes long.

My main goal is to have students get creative and to have more practice working in groups.  It's my hope that students will be more enthusiastic about texts when they see them rewritten-It gives them examples of how different authors have taken liberty with texts and provides examples of creativity.

Concept For Unit Plan

It's my goal to create a unit plan that is both educational and engaging for midlevel students.  In order to do this, I believe that the students must be able to see how the activities are relevant to their lives or applicable to future learning.  My unit plan will focus on looking at famous works rewritten or in different forms. (For example the film Gnomeo and Juliet).  Students will read the original work and then be exposed to the work being presented in a different way.  It makes students consider the question what is literature?  The unit exposes students to the diversity of literature and different interpretations of the same work.

Why is looking at diverse interpretations of text important?  It shows students that texts are malleable and open to interpretation.  Students will also be introduced to creativity within language arts and gets them thinking about how texts can be transformed.

At the end of the unit, students will have to reformat a piece of literature themselves.  For example, making a song out of Romeo and Juliet.  Doing so will foster a deeper understanding of the text and encourages active reading and analysis of texts.

An example of students making a creative summary of the Harry Potter series:

Critical Literacy

The middle school years are critical years (pun intended) for teaching critical literacy.  At this age, students are beginning to develop an ability to analyze texts in greater depth, and it is essential that students realize that there is not only one way to analyze a text.  Also, students should be taught to seek information from multiple sources in order to gain a better perspective on a text, event, or time period.

Adolescents often have opinions that are based off of how they are raised, their family, and their friends-Their opinions tend to be narrow-minded and tend not to result from much analysis.  Critical literacy exposes adolescent students to more opinions and views, and provides them with new methods for analysis.  It teaches them how to think and thus form their own opinions instead of opinions that are handed to them by others.

Teaching critical literacy at the middle school age also prepares students for analysis of texts at higher levels (high school and college), so that they will have a head start and be able to jump into more complex analyses more quickly.  Analyzing texts from multiple lenses also provides students with framework for writing persuasive essays and research papers because they are provided with a wider fact base.  Therefore, critical literacy also helps students to become better writers.

Thus, critical literacy can play multiple roles in the middle school classroom:
-Teach students that there is more than one way to analyze a text.
-Provide students with a way of constructing more informed/educated opinions and arguments.
-A gateway for richer text analysis.
-A way to enhance student writing.

Text Comprehension-When Middle Schoolers Need Help

Common problems with text comprehension and how to combat them:

First, not every student comes from the same background, so students from different cultures may not have the same background information to help them understand a story.  A teacher can remedy this and level the playing field so to speak, by spending some time talking about information relevant to the text or a history of the author (for example learning about slavery before reading a book by a former slave).  The teacher could also make a K-W-L chart to help students organize their thinking before reading a text.  It will also lay out all the information that the class knows about the subject, so every student will have access; it makes knowledge more tangible.

Second, students may have trouble comprehending a text due to complex or unfamiliar vocabulary.  Therefore, it is the teacher's job to examine a text before handing it out to the class and to pick out vocabulary words that he or she anticipates the students will have trouble with.  The teacher should then spend a portion of the class teaching the students these vocabulary words (perhaps using a word scroll or Frayer example)

Third, students may have trouble staying engaged while reading a text.  In this situation, a teacher may consider doing a read aloud/ think aloud.  As the teacher reads a text out loud, he or she can ask the class questions concerning the text (have them make predictions etc).  This will more actively engage students and teaching them strategies for reading.  It also enables the teacher to clarify parts of the text that may be difficult.  Here is an example of how a teacher might conduct a read aloud:

Another way to achieve a deeper comprehension of a text, is to create creative assignments for the students relating to the text.  In the next example, a part of Romeo and Juliet is performed as a rap.  This forces students to think about the text in a new way and ultimately to enhance understanding.

Bottom Line: Engage your students and help them to appreciate literature!