Teaching Literacy: A Workshop Approach
Overview:
The Course: My chosen group is a Grade 9 Applied class.
The Students: The course consists of 16 students. In my observation and prior knowledge of these students, I have assessed that eight are performing at a Grade 7 or 8 level, four are well below grade level, functioning at a Grade 5 level, and four are identified with and IEP, all for ADD or ADHD, and are also low functioning.
Of the students at Grade 7-8, four are motivated and hard working, five are not very motivated and seem very introverted. The four at grade 4 and 5 are also very introverted, and sometimes defiant when asked to complete work independently. The groups will help solve this. Those with ADD or ADHD are all very hyperactive and need a variety of stimuli to be productive.
Unit of Study: We are studying Short Stories for this unit.
Text: “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flattery. My class is 10 boys and 6 girls, so this is a good selection due to the quick pace and action that can hook a male reader. The girls will appreciate the suspense and heroism of the protagonist. I have done this story in the past and it always gets rave reviews. You can find it at the link below:
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/sniper.html
Skill/Strategy:
1) Locating Elements of Fiction: After giving the students lessons on the different Elements of Fiction, I have decided to start modeling how to locate these elements, and focus on one particular element per day to strengthen the students understanding. Understanding these terms as terms is one thing, but putting this knowledge into practice is something they all struggle with. These workshops will make this more of a hands-on skill. The specific elements I will be concentrating on are Setting, Characterization, Conflict. Each workshop deals with a different element, to help increase deeper understanding, which appeals to these types of Applied readers. By the end of the week, the students will have practiced locating these elements, and will be able demonstrate their knowledge more independently on a future site passage test.
2) Gist Statement Exercise: This will begin the five-day unit, to familiarize the students with making predictions and recognizing vocabulary.
3) Summarizing and Inference Skills: I will also work on improving their Literacy skills using a variety of techniques from the Think Literacy Document, including Graffiti Exercise, Bookmarking, and Summary Techniques. This will result in the students creating a short summary of the story, and is also a skill for next year’s OSSLT test.
The Workshop Plans
Before Teaching/Teacher Tasks:
· Create Story Chunks: The story itself will be broken into four smaller pieces of 400 words each, original text is 1600 words. This will allow for a closer study, and not overwhelm students who already have problems focusing, and using short-term memory.
· Give purpose –
· Activate prior knowledge –Background on Irish civil unrest, Think Aloud about what causes people to start a war, the costs and casualties of war, which will involve the students to think about an idea that may be foreign to them.
· Choose best strategy – Bookmark Summary, Individual Literature Circles, Making Inferences, Chunk Material will allow for a variety of Literacy tasks, and will target the skills that need to be mastered.
· Instructions: These will be repeated by teacher every day, but will also be written out and attached to each group station. This will help the ADHD students who forget details and steps.
Grouping Students: Rationale
These groups will be determined before the workshops start. Since I have some students who are stronger than others, and I have students who have ADHD and ADD, the groups will be heterogeneous but the roles of each group member will change from day to day, and groups will be modeled after the “Grouping Without Tracking” method as discussed in the document “Differentiating Through Flexible Grouping” from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh at: http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/flexibleGrouping.pdf
This model will keep the students engaged and active, which I find cuts down on behavioral problems as well as focusing problems. Students will work in groups but also independently to study the story and work together. The stronger students will be chosen as Group Leaders, which will rotate every day of the workshops. Each student will rotate into another group, but maintain their assigned role. Since I have eight students that are strong Applied students, this will provide them will a chance to take charge. This will help keep the groups focused and productive. The students who are weaker in reading and inference will be assigned to be recorders, as well as Summarizers, since these are skills they can manage to complete for their group, but this will also help them refine these skills now and for the OSSLT next year. (See Workshop Graffiti Exercise Roles, Day TWO)
Class Length: Each period is 75 minutes in length
Day One:
a) Skill/Strategy: Thinking Aloud, Making Gist Statements, Making Inferences based on Vocabulary
b) Text Under Study: The story will be “The Sniper” for the next three workshops, broken into three smaller, 550 word pieces.
c) Modelling/Instruction: For the instructional part of the lesson, since this is the introduction, I will need to exceed the 10 minute model just for today.
· I will give a brief, overview of the Irish civil war as background to the story, and what “civil war” means as a term. This will be on Powerpoint. (5 minutes)
· I will also ask them to Think Aloud about the causes of civil war, to get them motivated to read the story, and promote sharing of ideas, since they will be working in groups. Their ideas will be put onto the board under the heading “Causes of War.” (10-15 minutes)
· I will model an example on the LCD or overhead projector of the Probable Passage they will be working on for this period. It is a worksheet from the Think Literacy Document at the following link on page 13 :
http://www.elan.on.ca/ThinkLiteracy/ThinkLiteracy.doc
· Students will be shown a Model of how to complete this sheet using a group of words from a popular fairy tale that the students would have prior knowledge of to reinforce the task. (10 minutes)
d) Groups: Students will then be put into four groups of four students. For this exercise, I will put the IEP and weaker students in a homogeneous group, since they might require extra help in completing the exercise. I will monitor all groups, but keep close to the weaker group for added assistance.
e) Group Work:
· I will tell the students they have 20 minutes to complete the worksheets. They will work collaboratively to place the words in the Word List at the top into one of the suitable boxes.
· This will help them create their Gist Statement about what they think the story may be about. They must put the words under the headings Setting, Character, Problem or Outcome, and if they are unsure about a word, it goes to the Unknown list.
· Students will then work to create a Gist Statement about what they think the story is about. (20 minutes)
f) Conclusion: Students will select one member of each group to be the Speaker. I will ask all four groups what they came up with, where they placed their words, and what their Gist statements are. This will be another Think Aloud, and I will put each group’s results up on the LCD or overhead sheet. (15 minutes)
Their final task is to take a piece of paper, fold it into a slimmer rectangle, and write down their group’s Gist statements. This will be their Bookmark, which we will use to study the story all week. (5 minutes)
I will conclude the class by asking them to go home tonight and define four vocabulary words to add to their Bookmarks. The words are spasmodically, parapet, silhouetted, drought.
DAY TWO:
a) Skill/Strategy: Today will focus on Summarizing, locating Setting details, and Making Inferences
b) Text Under Study: Same text
c) Modelling:
· I will explain the roles for each group and reveal the groups for today.
· For today, I will explain the task of Highlighting the story to find Setting details, which is known as a Graffiti exercise to reinforce the Elements of Fiction.
· I will quickly review the definition of Setting, and model what types of information they should look for, such as key words about direction, time, place and mood. We can brainstorm these as well on the board.
· They are also working together to summarize the first third of the story. I will stress they must find three key plot points and underline them as an ongoing summary.
· Students will end the group work by making a Prediction statement about the second half of the story, which they will do independently, but share with their group members. I will model this by using LCD/overhead after students have moved into their groups.
d) Grouping: Each student will play a role in the group:
Leader: Keeps everyone on task, composes written answers
Element Highlighter: Details of chosen Literary Elements will be underlined with a colored marker by this person
Speaker: Will discuss the group’s ideas at the end of class and Read Aloud
Summarizer: In charge of highlighting 3-5 important plot points of story section with a purple magic marker.
As mentioned above, the groups will be heterogeneous for the rest of the workshops. The students will rotate jobs every day. Each task will strengthen Literacy skills. Though the work is done as a team, each person has an independent job. The rationale is that a mixed group will foster better results, and the stronger students can help the weaker students in the task. Also, the other identified students will not distract the other identified students.
Each day I will assign new roles within the group. This also promotes a routine of group work, which struggling learners need, but also allows the novelty of a new role every day. Even if they struggle, the other stronger students can motivate the groups.
e) Group Work:
· Students will sit in their groups after my ten-minute lesson. They will sit in the groups, and the students will each have a copy of the Section One of “The Sniper,” as well as one Group Story sheet (same section) they will use to Graffiti in the center of the desks. The Group Story is slightly larger in print so students can read it from afar and mark it with more ease.
· Desks are grouped into fours, and each station contains a red marker and a purple marker. These are for the designated Highlighters.
· The Speaker will read aloud the first section of the story, to generate interest and engage the group.
· Students will then review the definition of Setting, and work to find ALL the setting details they could (at least 3-4 sentences minimum) that clearly show Setting. This will be discussed, underlined with a red marker by the Highlighter when the final decisions are made.
· Students then have to answer three Literacy questions, which will be the same for each Element studied, and taped to the desks next to the instructions:
1) From the highlighting, what are some directly stated details about (Setting, Character, Conflict)?
2) What are some details that you can infer about the story, but are not directly stated? Why do you infer these?
3) Make two predictions about the next section of the story, and add this prediction to your Bookmark. Explain your choices with proof form the story.
Students will discuss these questions together, and the Leader will compose the group’s response on the Group Story Section (space will be allotted for the answer.) The rest of the students must record this in their Student Notebooks.
The last task is for the group to discuss at least three important plot points in this section. The Summarizer must underline with a purple marker the three sentences the group feels is the most important plot points of the story.
Once this is done, the students must independently paraphrase these three sentences, and add these three points to their Bookmark. This will help them recall the story details for tomorrow.
This group work should take 45-50 minutes to complete each day.
g) Conclusion: The Speaker will discuss the results of their group and show the highlighted paper to the class for their choices. Once all groups have a chance, I will clarify any incorrect choices and praise the right ones so students are not confused.
I will ask students to Think Aloud their predictions for the next part of the story, which I will put on the board. This will end the class with an interest to read on tomorrow.
DAY THREE
a) Skill/Strategy: Locating Characterization Details, Making Inferences, Summarizing
b) Text Under Study: Same text
c) Modelling:
o I will ask the students to refer to their Bookmarks and review what happened in the story yesterday.
o I will review what Characterization and model some key words to search for. They will look for traits, physical features, and actions.
o I will use Section One that the students worked on yesterday to locate one or two Characterization details, since they will be concentrating on Section Two today. I will underline these sentences on the Overhead projector.
o I will review the Group Work expectations from yesterday.
o I will reveal the new groups and ask students to get into their assigned groups.
d) Grouping Students: Rotate students into new roles by assuming the next job from the list provided.
e) Group Work: The students will do the same tasks for the remainder of the workshops. The Graffiti exercise uses different colored markers for each element:
o Red – Setting (Day Two)
o Blue – Characterization (Day Three)
o Yellow – Conflict (Day Four)
o Purple – Summary (every day)
· Students will examine the second part of the story, selecting and highlighting these sentences.
· When finished, the students can also go back and examine Section One of “The Sniper” for character details that may exist.
f) Conclusion: The Speaker will discuss the results of their group and show the highlighted paper to the class for their choices. Once all groups have a chance, I will clarify any incorrect choices and praise the right ones so students are not confused.
I will ask students to Think Aloud their predictions for the next part of the story, which I will put on the board. This will end the class with an interest to read on tomorrow.
DAY FOUR
a) Skill/Strategy: Locating Conflict, Making Inferences, Summarizing
b) Text Under Study: Same text
c) Modelling:
o I will ask the students to refer to their Bookmarks and review what happened in the story yesterday.
o I will review what Conflict means by showing students three small Site Passage paragraphs from other stories, to emphasize difference in types of conflict
o I will use Section Two that the students worked on yesterday to locate one or two details, since they will be concentrating on Section Three of “The Sniper” today. I will underline these sentences on the Overhead projector.
o I will reveal the new groups and ask students to get into their assigned groups.
d) Grouping Students: Rotate students into new roles – they will also assume the next job from the list provided.
e) Group Work:
· The students will do the same tasks today, only looking for Conflicts in the story and details that illustrate these conflicts.
· We will make a brief Character List on the board branching from yesterday’s class, so they can assign conflict to these names.
· Students will make a Chart of the following headings: Person vs. Person, Person vs. Self, Person Vs. Nature. They will find all the examples they can of these types of conflicts, highlight them in the story, and add the names to the chart.
· Students can then look back into the first two parts of the story and highlight Conflict details there as well that may not be contained in the third part.
· The final question of the three will no longer be applicable, so it will change to the following:
3) Comment on the end of the story. In your opinion, was it a suitable ending or not?
f) Conclusion: The Speaker will discuss the results of their group and show the highlighted paper to the class for their choices. Once all groups have a chance, I will clarify any incorrect choices and praise the right ones so students are not confused.
We will discuss the Predictions that were accurate, and what lead the students to predict these outcomes. I will tell them to finish their Book Marks, which they will use tomorrow.
DAY FIVE
a) Skill/Strategy: Summarizing, Paragraph Structure
b) Text Under Study: Same text
c) Modelling:
o I will ask the students to refer to their Bookmarks and review what happened in the story yesterday.
o I will instruct the students to create a comprehensive Summary of the story they have just read. I will ask the students to Think Aloud and brainstorm a list of things to remember when creating a good Summary. The list should include adding only important details, omitting unnecessary ideas, never including dialogue, and rewriting in their own words so that the ideas are still clear and easy to read.
o I will instruct the students to get back into their groups.
d) Grouping Students: Students will rotate into new groups for the fifth day. Since the groups worked together on the bookmarks, the information may be similar. I will jigsaw the groups so that everyone is with new partners. This will provide a variation on the summary exercise.
e) Group Work:
· Students will compare their Bookmarks. Students will work together and start combing through the four bookmarks and crossing out any details that are redundant.
· All students will record in full sentences the details to create the Summary. In partners (two and two, Leaders and Summarizers and Speakers and Highlighters) will edit each other’s summary.
· At the end of the time allotted, (45 minutes like the workshops) the students must all turn in their summaries.
f) Conclusion: I will collect the booklets, now highlighted in many colors, and assign a group mark for the four members of each group. I will look for accuracy and completion, as well as their collaborative answers to the questions. Students will share their Summary group experience, and as a final closer to the week, they will take 5 minutes to write a small paragraph on their opinion of the story, to strengthen their skills of Making Connections. The question will be:
How can you personally relate to the Sniper’s struggle in this story? Have you ever been involved in a fight or argument that was important to you?
The Location of Elements will be assessed again on an independent reading selection, where students will complete the same tasks, only without a group dynamic. A site passage test will also be given, which will be assessed and graded. This will be in the next week when we end the unit. I will select a site passage, which is smaller in length, but tests their knowledge of the literary elements.
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