Say/Do 10: Organizing Units with Literature

Pathways to the Common Core
Response & Analysis 
"Building Bridgings"
"What Else? Other Approaches"

Say

Probst raises many good points on pairing texts that I had not given much thought.  He offers two possibilities.  One where, "The teacher chooses as haphazardly and casually as the typical reader might choose his books."  In this scenario, the paired texts are unlikely to be similar or contrast well enough to provoke rich class discussions.  The other scenario is where the texts fit so well together that the teacher may inadvertently hinder discussion.  If students find two paired texts have a common theme that disagrees with the teacher's preconceived theme, the teacher then must decide whether to stay the course or "monitor and adjust."

Gallo's chapter "Building Bridges" emphasizes pairing young adult novels with the canon to engage and scaffold students into the less familiar literary canon.  Selecting the right theme for a given unit can be difficult, but I find the process of collecting texts that fit that theme to be quite fun.  I wonder if I would have enjoyed Shakespeare in high school if my teachers had paired Romeo and Juliet or Macbeth with other texts.  I never read young adult novels until I was in college so it is hard to say how much they would have influenced my willingness to ploy through 16th-17th century lit, but I can say that I would have a better grasp of the canonical text's bigger picture.

Do

This is an article I used in conjunction with "The Most Dangerous Game" this semester.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/robert_hansen/7.html

(Lesson Plan) Say/Do 9: Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary

Say

Pathways to the Common Core
When Kids Can't Read

Conventions of Standard English Writing and Speaking pt. 1 and 2

The Grammar Workshop

Vocabulary and grammar instruction has to been one of the more challenging aspects of teaching ELA.  Not because these aspects are particularly difficult, more because of how dull and dry these subjects can be for students.  The videos highlight the importance of helping students grow their vocabulary, and master standard English grammar.  

I like that other forms of English are valued in the Common Core.  Just last week in my home languages lesson, I taught students about dialect and how these can be used in their creative writing.  Dialogue formatting was something I picked up on my own.  None of my teachers or professors really took the time to go over a pretty basic aspect of writing that readers see in nearly every short story and novel, so much so that the nuances go unnoticed by many readers.  By teaching dialogue I was able open up a natural avenue for students to bring in their home languages into their writing.  Some students were hesitant when I asked them whether it was okay to use ain't, but they were receptive to using ain't and other "slang" words in a short story assignment I gave them.  My personal favorite phrase was "throwing shade," which means to trash talk or denounce a friend.  Throwing shade seems like a modern version of "cast in a bad light," but I personally prefer the imagery in throwing shade.

Building vocabulary needs to consist of connections like the one I just made.  There are several approaches to vocabulary that draw on what students know to help them bridge the gap to understanding new words.  Having students learn through examples and non-examples is one way to do this.  Having students define new words with simple, "student friendly" definitions is another method.  Vic's "visual vocab" has students studying one word at a time to produce a visual/definition product that can then be used as a tool to help other students learn that one.  One of my personal favorite methods that worked for me as a student was writing a paragraph using vocabulary words.  I made a mindless, but mildly humorous story on each of vocab quizzes for AP English.  As a writer I enjoyed it, but many students struggled applying new words like this on the fly.

The grammar workshop article provided answers for many of my questions surrounding grammar instruction.  Namely, how do I make this stuff fun and engaging?  I have experience with mentor texts and try to implement them whenever possible, but the show and tell essays were a neat approach that I think would be useful in a regular ELA classroom for getting students to apply particular grammatical skills.

Do

 A lesson plan where I tried to have students apply their knowledge of protagonist/antagonist dynamics, conflict, and dialogue to write their own short story.

https://sites.google.com/site/wparrinternshipa/section-ii-lesson-plans/acf-lesson-plans/lp-5-the-most-dangerous-game