Málfríður - 15.03.2011, Síða 13

Málfríður - 15.03.2011, Síða 13
great for composing definitions. Venn diagrams are great for composing comparison-contrast essays. Silent conversations. This technique involves having students write briefly about a question or discussion topic. They then exchange these responses with a part- ner who “uptakes” or adds to their response, or asks a new question. These can be passed around a group or back and forth. After several exchanges, students are very eager to talk and have a lot to say (See Wilhelm, 2007). Think alouds/process analyses. Students can com- pose “think alouds” detailing what they are thinking, feeling, noticing and doing as they read or compose a particular text. These can be written more formally as process-analyses of how to complete a particular kind of task (see Wilhelm, 2001). In-role monologues, dialogues or scripts. Students have great fun composing “in role” as a literary charac- ter, native English speaker, expert, historical figure and the like. These compositions can be monologues, dia- ries, speeches, or dialogues, exchanges or scripts. These can be spontaneous oral compositions or more planned. Students have great fun performing such work. Ongoing projects for dialogue and synthesis Journals and learning logs. These techniques simply ask students to explore or process course content in vari- ous ways. Students can respond to specific prompts, practice explaining problem-solving processes, sum- marize what they understand and ask questions about what they don’t, or simply write whatever they want. Double entry journals. In this kind of journal, stu- dents record insights or important quotes from a class or reading on the left side of a page, and then go back to process those insights on the right side by explain- ing significance, making connections to the world or inquiry question or their own life, etc. Likewise, jour- nals can be exchanged and a peer can be asked to proc- ess the data recorded by their classmate. Wikis or scrapbooks. BSWP fellow Rachel Bear makes great use of wikis in her classroom. This becomes a kind of classroom scrapbook of insights. Rachel requires that students post certain contributions, and then respond to others’ contributions. In a recent unit on the essential question: “What work does humor do?” students were asked to post a YouTube video, cartoon, joke or something else they found funny (the only rule was that it wouldn’t offend the principal or parents). Students were then asked to respond to three other contributions and rate the funniness of each and what “work” each kind of funny might achieve. This led to a class activity that ranked the top funniest con- tributions and that lead to the theorizing of different kinds of funny (satire, slapstick, pastiche, misdirection, etc.) and the uses of each. This kind of wiki constitutes a kind of class scrapbook. For teachers without access Frontloading. Frontloading is the activation of what students already know and care about so that these resources can be used to bridge to new learning. Frontloading also allows the teacher to know what students already know and therefore pitch instructional activity at the proper level. Brainstorming and webbing. We often start units by simply asking students to brainstorm what they know about a topic. This kind of listing is a simple form of composing. Likewise, students can create webs that show the relationships between these brainstormed ideas. Autobiographical writing. BSWP fellow Sarah Veigel has students write autobiographically about the topic to be studied. For example, before reading Romeo and Juliet, students are asked to respond to the prompt: Write about a relationship you know about that seems very happy and healthy. Write about what you think contributes to the happiness and healthiness of this relationship. Surveys and anecdote writing. Sarah also has stu- dents complete surveys about relationships with state- ments such as: Teenagers cannot experience true love; The hottest fires burn out fastest; You can’t change a person’s habits by loving them, etc. She then has them choose the statements they disagree and agree with the strongest and write about why, thus introducing the students to simple arguments. Formative assessments Formative assessments are simply a way to make stu- dent thinking visible so that we as teachers can learn from this how to teach students better. Entrance and exit tickets. BSWP fellow Peggy Jo Wilhelm uses entrance tickets at the beginning of class for students to write briefly about what they learned earlier in the unit that they want to remember, bring to bear on a current problem or activity, or use in a formal writing assignment. Likewise, at the end of a lesson, she asks them to write out what is most impor- tant to remember from that class, or any questions or wonderings they might have. These tickets are easy to flip through right after class and gives her an immedi- ate sense of what students understand and need help with. Muddy/Marvy. Peggy likewise has students use post-it notes write a “muddy” comment – something that is unclear to them- and a marvy comment – an insight from class that excites them – and has students post these on charts as they leave the classroom. Graphic organizers. Graphic organizers are a great way to generate content for writing as well as a way to organize or form that content. Frayer charts with sections for examples, non-examples and test cases are MÁLFRÍÐUR 13

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