Todo lists
Passport Tasks for Module 1
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FLIGHT - Functional Literacy Instruction for Generating Higher-Level Thinking
Historically, research on content area or disciplinary literacy has focused on constructing strategies that scaffold students’ ability to comprehend and extract information from content area written texts. (Alvermann, Dillon & O’Brien 1987; Alvermann, Moore, & Conley, 1987; Anders & Guzzetti, 1996; Bean, 2000; Holliday, 1991; Padak & Davidson,1991).
The value of these strategies for helping students learn to access information from texts is well documented ( Alvermann & Moore 1991), but the strategies have typically been viewed as separate from the learning of the content. These strategies are typically not embedded in the discipline’s education courses.
It is difficult to distinguish between content learning and content literacy learning. A critical aspect of learning in any discipline involves learning to communicate through oral and written language, among other forms of representation, in that discipline. (Moje, Ciechanowski, Kramer, Ellis, Carrillo, and Collazo 2004)
The Content Literacy Model includes content knowledge, literacy skills, and discursive skills.
· Content Knowledge: concepts, word meanings in different contexts, information, procedures.
· Literacy Skills: encoding, decoding, comprehension, interpretation, persuasion.
· Discursive Skills: ways of making, using and communicating knowledge, such as explaining, offering empirical evidence, offering personal experience, predicting, classifying.
Content Literacy involves more than decoding and encoding of printed words and more than comprehending technical terms (Hicks, 1995/1996; Lemke, 1990; Luke, 2001).
Being literate requires both interpretive and rhetorical skills; that is, readers must be able to interpret a text’s meaning and importance beyond basic comprehension.
Readers must engage in literacy and discursive skills requiring knowing certain information, understanding the major concepts of the area, and being able to define the conventional definitions of certain terms and phrases. It requires some content knowledge.
Most important is that being literate in a content area requires an understanding of how knowledges are constructed and organized in the content areas, an understanding of what counts or warrant or evidence of claim, and an understanding of conventions of communicating that knowledge. (Moje, Ciechanowski, Kramer, Ellis, Carrillo, and Collazo 2004)
Compiled by Dr. Elaine Weber
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Welcome to Module 1: Technology
According to Will Richardson, one of the technology gurus of the 21st Century, teachers should "start small and experiment." What great advice for someone who wants to create a classroom that capitalizes on all the technology teaching and learning tools that are available inside and outside of the classroom.
In this module, you will be introduced to a number of technology tools that will fascinate you, frustrate you, finally, become your favorites! Most are available for free and can be found on the Internet. There will be some opportunities for further studies and alternate explorations on your own. Where free Internet resources are available, they will be listed. Some activities are required, some will be suggestions. But all will be worth your time to explore.
Your classroom walls are down! Teaching, and learning, in this century requires some introspection and some daring! It's time to start with some small steps and try some of those experiments! Welcome to MiClass and HiClass Module 1: Technology!
For definitions of the following computer terms, please see this website:
http://iws.cit.cornell.edu/iws2/technology/techinfo.cfm sponsored by cornell University.
Another site with technology term definitions is http://whatis.techtarget.com/. Between these two sites, you should be able to find easy to understand definitions for any terms used in the module. -
Example terms:
Audiocast or podcast
blog
CSS
screencast
tags
videocast
wiki
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Goal:
to make sense and interact with the text. in doing so, there are seven stragegies that we teach/students use:
think alouds -- visit appropriate sites
One piece of text -- shared amongst group -- looking at different viewpoint different people different ways
new choice of piece of text
teach through modeling, think alouds w/comprehension strategies, open samples for models online, get piece of text (need certain peices of text to open/print -- interact not online) and using the seven stragegies. (need physical bookmarks -- copy should be available online) I read w/think aloud -- share with others
other ways marginalia, practice marginalia introduce marginalia samples visit sites
text in the middle -- model and practice
same piece of text
critical reading What does it say, how does it say it, what does it mean, what's the connection to me?
model with selection -- create blog -- content area utilize diigo and/or voice thread
textmapping/textscrolling -- understanding the structure to better understand the meaning
connect to lift off site for reading comprehension -- focus on fluency and comprehension and determing student's level
reader's theatre -- math curse w/quick write -- understanding the math in our world
math sucks wonder years -- math doesn't suck.
science and social studies links/connections
Access to free grade-level diagnostic reading assessments for Grades 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and High School can be found at Learning Express Library.
MEL,
· Choose the tab “Tests and Tutorials.”
· Log in or register as a new user, if this is your first visit to the site.
· To find information on assessment resources, locate the appropriate link.
· For this module, scroll to Middle School Skills Improvement and choose 6th/7th/ or 8th Grade Reading Diagnostic Tests.
· Decide if you’re evaluating student’s narrative or expository reading skills and open the appropriate link to preview the text.
· In order to evaluate individual student’s progress, each student will need to create a username and password.
· Once he/she has completed an assessment, it will be necessary to report these results to the teacher. This can be done by having the student print his/her results page after completing an assessment.
· Results are stored online and can be opened/printed at any time by accessing individual accounts.
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“Writing today is not a frill for the few, but an essential skill for the many.”
The National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges
Writing in the content areas engages students in recording information, making connections, exploring ideas and encouraging reflection. Content area teachers must be cognizant of the fact that writing is on-going, may be ungraded, or can be used as a stepping stone to more formal writing. Through reflective writing, students are able to see what they’ve learned and accomplished and build upon new knowledge in order to impact future learning and develop higher-level thinking skills.
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