In Seattle

Well, I’ve made the huge transition from life in beautiful, quiet, idyllic Boone to bustling, trendy, outdoorsy Seattle. So far we’ve had less rain here than Boone has in the past month- a little ironic but I’m sure soon to change. Praying for a new job for my hubby here and thinking of my kids in Iraq and Malibu, CA. We are all spread apart right now and missing each other, getting used to a totally different lifetstyle.

I’m living with two other girls in a three bedroom condo and have been meeting the UW Med Speech Language Pathology class of 2012. We start on Monday with orientation and on Wed. with classes. It feels intimidating but I will do my best with what I have! God is good, I believe I can trust Him.

The best to everyone- professors, friends and those in student teaching this semester. Take Care!

Almost there!

5/2/2009-  This is a personal blog coming on the heels of finishing classes and looking forward to walking on May 9th!! I can’t believe after four years in school here that I am finally done with my B.S. I’m looking forward to the new adventures that await me in Grad school and relocating to Washington State. That should be interesting, as well as our son graduating and going off to school in Malibu, California. I guess I am feeling nostalgic and a little sad thinking of the seven years I have lived in Boone, of all the friends I’ve made, and all the “growing up” that has happened here. I will especially miss the people. That will be the hardest part; not seeing the people who have invested in your life and you in theirs. It can be from the friendly people in the stores you frequent to the people who mean the most to you and all the others in between. It’s funny how much they have all come to mean to me.  Each person carries a light…

Well, I suppose that is enough navel gazing for today. Love to you,  Linda

Unit 4- Course Reflection

Linda Matsuda

I think that the websites I used the most and were most helpful were found through a variety of links off of the NCCarolina Wise Owl.org site. I did not initially like this site but the more I explored various links, I found some very usable lessons for my topic and content area. Some of the links included were: Blue Web and Search, Kaleidoscope, Children’s Digital Library, ThinkQuest. Google was actually helpful as well, when I finally figured out how to input specific topics I was looking for. ReadWriteThink was an extremely helpful site as was ALA Great Websites for Kids. I really did like my topic of the Colonial/Revolutionary Period in US History and because it is broad was able to find much that would fit into that course of study.

 

I think that this course taught me the most through the articles we had to read and through examples such as the Pirate Unit study. Though I didn’t necessarily enjoy combing the internet for lessons, strategies and materials, I realized how much could be found on the internet to provide engaging and productive teaching methods. The blogging was also interesting and helped me to grow technologically. It also helped to get an idea of how to incorporate technology into the classroom and the importance thereof. I think that had the articles (especially the last one) been on paper, I would have had a much easier time getting through them. I gain much from highlighting and making notes on the sides of my papers which help me distill the gist of the article. Not being able to do that caused me to have to take notes long hand which was a bit tedious.

 

I am not certain as to whether I will continue to find resources based on the web. I am sure I will to some degree but not as much as a conventional teacher. The practice of a Med SLP may require other emphases but this would also depend on the clients I have and if I need to find effective means to teach reading or writing.

 

I’d like to continue with my blog but am not sure what I will publish. Just writing about my personal life, though it may be interesting (or not), sounds like I may just be wasting time and be a little too self-focused (no offense to anyone- I’m just thinking my time will be limited in grad school). I suppose I could blog occasionally. If I decide to get creative and write a poem this summer (or decide to publish an old one) I might continue with my blog.

 

Thank you Dr. Trathen, it was a good class and I learned a lot. I’d also like to wish my classmates well and continued success in their future as teachers.

Many Blessings!

Linda

Unit 4- Lesson#2- Paul Revere’s Ride

Linda Matsuda

Link to lesson: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=220

About the Lesson: This lesson is slated for 3-5^th grade and includes four 45 minute sessions plus group work. I would use this lesson in a social studies content area with the inclusion of language arts for the fifth grade.  The text it focuses on is Wadsworth-Longfellow’s poem of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride.

 

Lesson Content: The lesson starts off with the students filling out what they know in a K-W-L chart as well as what they want to know. In the pre-reading it incorporates an interactive map of Paul Revere’s Ride and has the students view a short video about the ride. The students must also read along as the teacher reads’ “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Longfellow. The K-W-L charts are revised if necessary and students work together on a Sequence of events chart.

They read historic accounts of the actual ride and compare and contrast the facts with Longfellow’s poem. The students get in groups to read another passage, discuss the who, what, where, when, and why of the event, and write their findings in a learning log. They will identify main ideas and details of the passage as well.

Each group researches another chosen resource and work in circles to discuss and log their findings. They will also choose a reporter to present their findings to the class.

The last session has the students filling out what they learned on the K-W-L chart and finishing with the fill in cloze activity.

 

Why I like this lesson: I like the fact that the reading strategies such as K-W-L and literature type circles are included. I think the author has done a great job incorporating internet variety of technological sources for the students to conduct research and interact with. I like the compare and contrast aspect as well but may have handled what was required regarding that differently.

 

Modifications: On the compare and contrast, I may or may not have the students fill this out but I think that it is a perfect way to incorporate compare and contrast poems for the students to come up with. This would also get the students writing more and creatively having to process information than just regurgitating it back. I also am a little disturbed by all the fill-in forms that the students have to do. I think that a multigenre approach could be easily adapted to fit the information that is expected to be known by means such as: a British wanted poster displaying facts about Paul Revere, an “I Poem” about Paul Revere or perhaps Paul Revere’s horse, Diary entries, Newspaper articles and personal notes. I would also incorporate some vocabulary strategies into the lesson as well- pulling vocabulary words from Longfellow’s poem. This lesson has good structure but could be greatly modified to make the subject so much more interesting and creative for students.

 

Unit 4- Lesson#1- Ben and Me

Linda Matsuda

 

Link to lesson: http://www.lessonplanspage.com/Ben/Lesson1.html

About the Lesson: This lesson is for approximately grade 5 and focuses on the text Ben

and Me.  It is a social studies content area lesson, however, incorporates language arts as well.  The content I would be teaching from this lesson is on the Colonial/Revolutionary period. The text and lesson center on Ben Franklin as a person and his contributions to this time period as seen through the eyes of his mouse, Amos.

 

Lesson Content: Alex Jimenez the author of this unit on Ben and Me, provides this lesson as a pre-reading and background/initial information lesson. I really like that students are encouraged to ask questions about the title, the person and encouraged to seek out background information from the text initially. Connections are also made with the text through the introduction of a class pet mouse, which will be taken care of by the class in turns. Another text is also introduced which features the state and area in which Ben Franklin was born providing more background knowledge. Students have the opportunity to start daily journals in this lesson making predictions about what they think the story is about.

After reading the first two chapters as a class, the students break up in to small groups and start to fill out a cluster sheet about Ben Franklin. Around Ben’s name, the students fill in four careers that Mr. Franklin had. They are to research and come up with three facts about each of the careers chosen and write those facts into the cluster sheet as well. A variety of research sources is encouraged. The students are also encouraged to write in their journals again for homework and also to write two teacher selected words into their private dictionaries and add two words of their own from the first two chapters of the book which must be defined.

 

Why I like this lesson: This lesson incorporates many of the reading strategies we have learned in class. Pre-reading and during reading activities are encouraged. I especially like the cluster diagram that helps students to get a more in depth idea of who Benjamin Franklin was and that it causes the students to have to research outside the text, as well as in a variety of sources. The Journal gives students the opportunity to write about what they will/are reading about, thus incorporating vocabulary usage. The Private Dictionary also incorporates vocabulary instruction on a class and individual level and helps students to clearly identify what the meanings of specific and chosen words are.

 

Modifications: I think that the Journal could be incorporated into an electronic Journal or blog form. This would help students to become accustomed to technology and also incorporate writing that is published for an audience, which may increase the quality of the writing. Perhaps the dictionaries could be electronic as well and a shared lexicon of vocabulary words could be gathered. This may be harder to do however and could take out the individualized component to the dictionaries which I think is nice.

Unit 4- Article #3

Article 3, A Professional Development Initiative for Developing Approaches to Vocabulary Instruction With Secondary Mathematics, Art, Science, and English Teachers by Linda Kucan, Woodrow Trathen, William Straits, Donna Hash, Donna Link, Linda Miller, and Lucas Pasley (2007), was very insightful and eye-opening in how vocabulary instruction can be implemented in the secondary grades in various content areas. I think it is highly valuable to know the vocabulary words in given content areas as this would lead to greater comprehension of the topic at hand. If words are glossed over or it is assumed that students are somehow absorbing the meanings, students start to lose interest in what may formerly have been their favorite subject. Student’s attention and future learning could then temporarily, perhaps permanently, lost.

 

I greatly appreciated that each contributing teacher’s activities were well documented and we were given the step by step details on how to conduct each activity. The students seemed to be more motivated and involved in the process than in standard book learning. They also seemed to have a better grasp of the meanings of the vocabulary words pertinent to content areas.

 

I especially enjoyed reading about the Thematic arts project in which students interpreted the meanings of vocabulary words in their art. It was interesting to me that they had to consider the word through their various senses and produce an art piece based on that. I thought it was a wonderful way to get students to research the meanings of words and then to have to generate their own meaning in a creative way. The geometry compare/contrast poem was very creative and thought provoking as well.

 

In the various links I was impressed with the Estuary project; the level of detail and examples given to the students. This would make it much easier as a student to clearly see what is expected of them and how the project could realistically be achieved. Subject areas to consider are also provided which makes it that much more feasible for students to achieve as well. There is also enough of a breadth of area to choose from so that interest and motivation can also be maintained.

 

The various Poems linked varying from “I Poems” to “Poems for two voices” are all very interesting and cause students to think about their topics from a different vantage point than just memorizing facts. They need to apply what they know from the first person perspective and this causes them to be more creative in their descriptions as well as gain better understanding of the topic itself.

 

These are all wonderful perspectives on how to conduct vocabulary instruction in the content areas of secondary students. It is of great importance to student’s understanding of the subjects being studied that the meanings of vocabulary words be clearly understood by all. Not to put a damper on things, I guess in light of all the expectations of grade level learning that must occur and end of grade testing, I just wonder how teachers will be able to fit it all in. I suppose that is one of the risks that teacher’s may need to take in embarking  on helping the students to actually understand the subject more in depth. It could possibly sacrifice EOGs but one would think that better comprehension of the vocabulary used in content areas could lead to greater understanding of the subject as a whole and therefore lead to better scores in the long run? Or perhaps too much stock is placed in test scores?

Unit 4- Article #2- Summary on Multigenre Paper Article

Linda Matsuda

Moulton suggests that the Multi-genre paper is a viable alternative to the traditional research paper. The traditional research paper has been problematic for many years and this method may be one in which research is still learned but is more relevant, interesting, incorporates technology, and writing to different audiences in differing styles.

 

She gives an overview of various styles of approaches to the multi-genre paper such as: Topic- Unsolved Mystery Cases, I/We search papers, Survey-based projects, Traditional with differing presentation styles, and Romano’s Multi-genre project.

 

Moulton experiments by having her own undergraduate secondary English students come up with their own Multi-genre projects. Not only were they required to research but learning logs, bibliographies, and end-notes were included to show their research process, resources, and give explanation as to the student’s thinking processes. The grading criteria seemed problematic as there was no set standard and too much variation as to the kind of genres one could explore in this kind of project.

           

Moulton’s students generally found the experience very positive and felt that they had learned much more than if they had written a traditional research paper. Creativity was another aspect that made the process that much more interesting. Some of the students immediately used this method in their internships or suggested it to other teachers they knew.

 

The conclusions were that the multi-genre projects lent themselves effectively to the research process with learning logs, bibliographies, and endnotes provided as evidence of this process. Effort level on the part of the students was determined to be greater than for traditional papers though the emphasis may have been more technological in nature. There was much more creativity involved in thinking of and producing items in differing genres, causing students to have to process information in various ways. The only negative aspect was that initially it was difficult to explain what the multi-genre paper was and hard to show what it would look like. However, the overwhelming response and ultimate conclusion is that it is an excellent option to the traditional research paper.

 

 

1) I’m not sure what the requirements of secondary English students are but could a traditional paper be assigned during one semester and this multi-genre paper during the next? My only concern is that students would go through high school and be headed toward college without ever having done a traditional paper.

 

2) Are the genres provided not similar to many extension activities teachers include in many unit studies? Is this really a new concept? (Just playing devil’s advocate)

3) How could one solidify a substantial set of criteria in determining grading on such a project? Would it be dependent on quality of writing, creativity of genres, quality and explanation of thinking in the end-notes, etc.?

 

Unit 4- Article 1 Summary and Questions

Unit 4- Article 1 Summary and Questions

Linda Matsuda

In this article, first person “I” Poem strategies are used to help students gain a better understanding and grasp of the text. Students are asked to consider, research, and write these poems about background information prior to reading the text or asked to respond after reading the text, showing understanding of characters and plot in their poetry responses.

 

The student interacts with the text in a different process than in the initial reading and formulates new thought and perspective by revisiting the text and engaging in the writing process. The writing process itself lends the reader the opportunity to remember what was read and engage in reformulating ideas about the text.

 

The article gives examples of using this technique in pre-reading as well as two post-reading examples. It also introduces a more structured method by Levstik and Barton that enables students to more easily describe objects or characters from the text and demonstrate their understanding thereof.  Also demonstrates this method used with a picture book read aloud.

 

Imitation or Modeling of styles used in first-person texts are encouraged as a jumping-off point for students to learn the thinking behind the style and also to extend from in their own creative thought processes.

 

 

How could this method be modified for students of all ages/levels?

 

How does imitating another’s writing style help one start to engage in his own style of writing?

How does one help/scaffold/prompt students who might find any of these activities difficult?

 

Unit 3- Instructional Strategies #5- Responses Using Multimedia

Reviewer: Linda Matsuda

Name of Strategy: Response Strategies Using Multimedia

Source (Where did this come from?): Literacy Matters

Literacy Matters is a site created for educators, parents and adolescents with the goal of improving literacy development in the middle and secondary grades. The focus is on adolescent literature and content area literacy. It provides resources, lesson plans, extensions to workshops and introduces technology to educators. For parents the emphasis is on ideas to support literacy at home. For students the site has interactive tutorials. The site is funded by the Annenberg Foundation with some additional funding from the U.S. Department of Education. Literacy matters is located in Newton, MA at the Education Development Center, Inc.

Link to the Strategy: http://www.literacymatters.org/adlit/response/multimedia.htm#presentations

Description of the strategy: Response Strategies using Multimedia encourages students to interact with their text by creating presentations using Powerpoint, Webquests, or by constructing their own webpages. It provides students with motivation and interest in responding to literature as well as incorporating technology into their learning. Depending on the classes technological level or with added support of the computer lab, the students may engage in creating a presentation using one of the mentioned approaches. They can do this on a individual, pairs, group  or class basis depending on the needs/desires of the educator. Though this site incorporates a choice of one of the three, I will explain what will be incorporated into the Powerpoint presentation. The student would create a series of slides to be viewed as an “electronic book”. They would use text, graphics, and animation to elaborate on the text. Teachers may divide students into groups and assign tasks on creating a presentation. This would be done after reading a book and may incorporate the entire book or perhaps topics or issues the book brings up.

Standard course of study addressed:

Upper Elementary—Fifth Grade
•    Competency Goal 2    The learner will apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
•    Competency Goal 3    The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
•    Competency Goal 4    The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.

Why I think this strategy will work: This site has many defunct links to it but I believe that the basic idea is a very appropriate one to help students to integrate text and technology. Creating multimedia presentations of various forms is very motivating to students, especially adolescents and up. This would help then with the understanding of the text and to be able to assimilate the knowledge they have learned at a deeper level to come up with a presentation. They would need to have full comprehension of the materials they have covered in order to be able to verbalize and “teach” others what they have learned. One main link that is not defunct is the Microsoft PPT site that has a tutroial that teaches how to create powerpoint presentations at the basic level. With the integration of computer lab help, the students could easily upgrade to more sophisticated techniques if they aren’t already utilizing them.

Unit 3- Instructional Strategies #4- Discussion Webs

Reviewer: Linda Matsuda

Name of Strategy: Webs (The Discussion Kind!) In the Classroom

Source: Education World

Education World was created as an online Internet resource for educators. This site incorporates a search engine for educational web sites only, content original to the site with lesson plans, practical information, tips on how to integrate technology in the classroom and articles written by experts in the field. There are also site reviews, daily features, columns, educator profiles, chats with distinguished educators, and employment listings. They believe in the importance of incorporating technology in the classroom and want to be a resource for educators to be able to do just that.

Link to the Strategy: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson032.shtml

Description of the strategy: Discussion Webs are a graphic aid for educators to teach students on how to weigh both sides of an issue before coming to their own conclusions. It helps students to organize their thoughts, study other points of views and get a deeper understanding from the materials they are reading.

This method incorporates a think-pair-share discussion approach. First off the individual student thinks about the question/issue at hand. They incorporate and examine the text for clues and understanding. Next, the students pair up to discuss their ideas with just one other student. They share ideas from the text and their own world knowledge. This pair of students pairs up with another pair of students as a group of four. In this setting the students look for contradictions and inconsistencies in their thinking. They come up with a group consensus and decide who will be their spokesperson to share their argument with the class.

The following graph illustrates how a pair of students might have responded to their question.  This of course can be modified for the grade level and content.

Yes   - Would sheep make – good pets? No They are soft to lean on. They’re too big. || || They would be fun. They eat too much. || || They’re cute. They are messy. || || They’re my size. They are noisy. || || They’re easy to hold on to. They are stinky.

Source: Lively Discussions!, p. 189

Standard course of study addressed:

Upper Elementary—Fifth Grade
•    Competency Goal 2    The learner will apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
•    Competency Goal 3    The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
•    Competency Goal 4    The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.

Why I think this strategy will work: This strategy incorporates reading, writing, speaking and listening.  The more ways the students can interact with the text, the more they will be able to grasp its meaning. This also helps students in the grasping the information if they are not necessarily just a visual learner ( i.e.just through reading). I believe technology could also be incorporated if the group findings were published on a class blog or if the students filled out their think findings on an online graphic and printed them out. Using this method, not only do the children have to interact with the text but they must cooperatively think critically about what they are reading. Thus, the comprehension level would dramatically increase especially as they must present a case to the class. The discussion web also works because it eliminates the one person dominating the group by starting off at individual and pair levels before the establishment of small groups. This gives a chance for even the quiet children to participate.