The book trailers were amazing!!!! They were SOOO professional. I enjoyed seeing them. Don't you think our students would like to see them too?
I hope using the "I Remember" poem as a mentor text helped us see how beneficial modeling writing can be. I thought your golden lines were great windows in to each of your lives. Let me know if you use this engagement or some form of it with your kids.
Any new thoughts on the Literacy Stampede?
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7 comments:
Back to the Stampede:
More writing: I know, I know, I know, I know I don't do enough of the big timed formal writing. Oddly, (maybe), part of my midterm for my juniors was to do an evaluation of their writing and when/how they struggle with writing. Most of the students addressed the amount of writing we do. Those who I see as strugglers wrote that we do a lot of writing and it seems overwhelming. Those students who do well at writing think we don't do all that much. I think that answer would be the same no matter how many times I put it on the calendar.
The timed writing--I'd like to do more of that with my regular juniors. Maybe this is where i need to use Criterion--not so much for the evaluation part, but for the timed bit. Maybe that can be an after-break goal.... Lee--is Criterion working better now?
I think I can use Appendix 4 a lot of the timed writing.
I, too, enjoyed the book trailers and have used the assignment with students--unsuccessfully due to time constraints, but the ones who stuck with it clearly enjoyed it. I will revisit it this semester and allow students the option of creating a trailer for their favorite of our four assigned novels.
As for my thoughts after re-reading Gallagher's opening thoughts and then reading his closing ones: obviously we need to do more writing in school & more training of teachers in the art of writing instruction. There is a teacher at B-C who assinged a book report to her students and who gives a handout that some of us have seen and that has ruffled some feather, including my own. But in rethinking that situation, I see that this teacher is attempting to do precisely what Gallagher is suggesting, but she lacks the necessary training in this area; as a result, her assignment is probably not as effective as she wants it to be.
Personally, in reflecting on my own writing instruction, I find that I give lots of writing in creative writing and English Honors, but not as much in R/W Workshop II, a class wherein the students truly need the extra help. I do teach writing to them, but it is difficult to know where to focus my attention. I definitely want to redirect my efforts after break. HSAP looms! And the pressure of it pushes me toward multiple-choice items about cold reads and toward cold writing assignments, yet I doubt the effectivness of those approaches.
Finally, more and more, I believe our entire English curriculum should be restructured. English classes should focus on teaching reading and writing skills concurrently, not on the teaching of particular literatures. I love American literature, but why do we teach it in high school when future English majors will have it in college, and those who are not future English majors will have no practical use for knowledge about Hawthorne and THE SCARLET LETTER. What we need are tiered courses that increase the reading and writing demands: students would have more choice in what they read and write, but they will be expected to demonstrate a higher skill level by the end of each course. By the time they graduate, they should be able to tackle nearly any reading material and any writing task.
As for Shakespeare, Hawthorne & company: elective literature courses for students who are interested. How do we create interest? Work with media literacy and make commmercials. Have our students help us make commercials. Have them employ the propaganda techniques.
As for Criterion, Vick, I'll mention it today during my strategy spotlight.
Blog for March 21st
Surprisingly, I remembered much of the first chapter. The running with the bulls story stayed etched in my memory probably because I could visualize this event from seeing the true story of people running in front of bulls in celebration of a festival in Spain, or is it Mexico? The top ten writing wrongs came back to me quickly also. As I was re-reading, I thought of our Read 10 to Win campaign. I really think it was successful because we had so many people involved from the teachers to the coaches to the principal. It wasn’t a nerdy library thing to do! Maybe next year we could sponsor some sort of writing contest too. Maybe some students could Read 10 to Win while others Write for a Night (Out). I wonder if I could get a movie theater to give us pairs of tickets and an ice cream place like Brusters or Marble Slab to donate a few sundaes. It may not sound like much, but have you been to a movie at night or to Marble Slab? I don’t know how people can afford to go on dates anymore! But I do know that as educators, we have to do something to motivate our students to read and write more.
Gallagher points out that our education standards should include a comprehensive
writing policy. More out of school time should be used to encourage writing. Every teacher should be required to complete a writing theory course. The one bullet that
I think would make the most difference is his last, schools should aim to double the amount of time most students spend writing. It is the only way that we can run with the bulls in order to not be completely run over by the literacy stampede.
I can see students enjoying and critiquing our trailers. They will enjoy creating some of their own. I hope these projects and more will be able to be created in our new media center soon. Right now it is the best of times and worst of times!
I enjoyed the book trailers. I thought they were all great, though I thought our groups was a little short. Maybe we could stretch it out, I think everything could stay on the screen a little longer than it is currently.
I would also like to do this in my class. While we don't read a lot of novels and I have trouble ensuring it is something the students have actually read, I am thinking of doing this with biographies of entrepreneurs in the "business". For example, for hospitality, we could use Dave Thomas (Wendy's), Ray Kroc (McDonalds), Conrad Hilton (Hilton hotels), etc.
It is a good methods of learning technology, sharing knowledge, and working in small groups (I would probably only have 2 to 3 students working together)...yes I shall try!
The book trailer was neat--but whish we had more time. It is one of those things you would love to do in your class, but know you probably won't have the time. I mean, we do this sort of thing in Media Literacy, but rarely do I ever get the time to do it in other classs--and I have the equipment in my room!
What I have noticed over the course of this semester with my English I students, is that although they still give heavy sighs every time I ask them to take out a sheet of paper and a pencil, they have gotten much more used to the idea of writing. For many of them it is seeming less and less of a chore the more that they do it. I have tried to impress upon them that I do not ask them to write because I want to punish them or cause an early onset of rheumatoid arthritis, but that I want them to become comfortable with the idea of writing. I think it is actually beginning to work. Today I asked my students (after completing our reading of Bronx Masquerade) to write a new chapter for the book as a different character. We discussed the ways that the chapters worked in the book as well as some common themes in the novel, and then the students set off. I was amazed to see how many of them were actually diligently working, produing good writing, and enjoying themselves. Had I asked them to do this same assignment earlier in the semester I feel confident that only four or five of my more studious students would have actually used the class time to their benefit. Within 45 minutes, not one of my freshmen left class without a one to two page chapter written for their new character. It was amazing to see how much easier writing can become when you get more comfortable with the process.
As for the book trailers, I thought they were great. I was definitely drawn in. Also, an exciting addition, is that I have noticed oral book trailers on the radio (WNOK 104.7). The novel Esperanza Rising has been getting a lot of promotion on that station to the point that some of my students have actually asked me about the book. Maybe the radio is an untapped resource for promoting literacy.
The book trailers were very creatively put together. I really enjoyed watching them. This tool would greatly enhance any reading group in class. Each one captured my attention, and made me want to know more about the featured book.
The "I Remember" activity was a good idea as well. I like the way this class uses a lot of personal writing. I think students enjoy it and can connect to reading and writing when they contribute a part of themselves.
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