Melissa ISD Humanities
New Teacher Orientation 2012
Agenda
August 9
8:30 – 3:30
McKillop Elementary
8:00 – 11:30: Humanities with Pam & Alex - Library
11:30 – 12:30: Lunch
12:30 – 3:30: Engineering with Alissa – Science Lab
“Language arts and reading teachers need content-area teachers to show students how to read and write like a scientist, historian, or mathematician. All teachers in all subject areas share the responsibility for literacy development. Today, more and more content-area teachers recognize this responsibility and are incorporating content literacy into their teaching through a variety of instructional strategies.”
Richard Vacca, Author of Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum
Today, we will be making Interactive Notebooks (INs) that you will be carrying with you all year for Staff Development.
Samples
Interactive Notebooks
Key Ideas
• Interactive journaling will make a difference!
• Students are actively engaged in thinking and communicating.
• Students feel “ownership” because they are creating meaningful knowledge for themselves.
• There’s no “right” or “wrong” way.• Modify to find ways that work best for you
and your students.
Interactive Notebooks
• Students use both their visual and linguistic intelligences
• Note taking becomes an active process
• Notebooks help students to systematically organize as they learn
• Notebooks become a portfolio on individual learning
Why Interactive Notebooks Engage Students
The first page you create is a title page (like a book). You decide the title for your IN.
The back of the first page create and Author’s Biography page.
Include:• Name • Birthday• Hobbies
Draw, write, or use photos to describe yourself on this page.
Reserve 5 or more pages after the title page for a Table of Contents (like a book)
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere Conclusion
1S Hemisphere Specialization
1T
Turn to your Table of Contents (TOC), and record your first entry title as IN Representation in the far left column as assignment # 1S. In the right side column record the entry title as IN Notes as assignment # 1T.
• INs have a “left-side, right-side” orientation to help students record, organize, and process new information. This takes advantage of the way each hemisphere of the brain works! Much of the classroom and homework can be done in the interactive notebook.
• INs are not used just as a storehouse of information. The students are expected to continually reflect and show evidence of this reflection through “left hand” assignments.
• On the Right hand page of your journal, fold your paper in half (red line to red line). Create a T-Chart to record the characteristics of left brain and right brain thinkers.
How Interactive Notebooks Differ from Other Journals
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere Conclusion
1S Hemisphere Specialization
1T
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Literacy Philosophy
• Reading and Writing Sittin’ in a Tree
• May the Process be with You
• SuperModels – Work It• Have it Your Way• Assess to Progress• Media Matters
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere Conclusion
1S Hemisphere Specialization
1T
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Philosophy icons/phrases
3S Literacy Philosophy 3T
• K-4– Agreements– Writer’s Workshop– Reader’s Workshop– Word Study Workshop– Projects
• 5-6– Above plus– Integration of Social Studies
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere Conclusion
1S Hemisphere Specialization
1T
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Philosophy icons 3S Literacy Philosophy 3T
Standards Reflection
4S Literacy Standards 4T
Writing
“Writing helps students get more actively engaged in subject matter, understand information and concepts more deeply, make connections and raise questions more fluently, remember ideas longer, and apply learning in new situations. If we say that reading helps us take in knowledge, with writing, we make it our own.”
Harvey Daniels & Steven Zemelman, Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher’s Guide
Writer’s Workshop
• Mini-lesson– Procedures– Process– Craft– Convention
• Writing Time– Students – writing, conferring– Teachers – status of the class, conferring,
small group re-teach• Sharing Time
– Informal– Formal (publishing)
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere Conclusion
1S Hemisphere Specialization
1T
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Philosophy icons 3S Literacy Philosophy 3T
Standards Reflection
4S Literacy Standards 4T
Writer’s Workshop : 1st week ideas
5S Writer’s Workshop 5T
Writing Challenges in the Content Areas
• Writing in the content areas is about writing to learn the content or writing to develop thinking.
• It can also be about learning to write the genre of the content.
• Challenges– Limited vocabulary– Lack of organizational strategies– Lack of experience with content writing– Lack of self-regulation or self-monitoring
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere Conclusion
1S Hemisphere Specialization
1T
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Philosophy icons 3S Literacy Philosophy 3T
Standards Reflection
4S Literacy Standards 4T
Writer’s Workshop : 1st week ideas
5S Writer’s Workshop 5T
Solutions to Challenges
6S Writing Challenges in Content Area
6T
Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will be the focus/subject of the final product. Will it take place in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?
Writing in Content AreasR.A.F.T.
Role: In developing the final product, what role will the students need to “take on”? Writer? Character (in the text)? Artist? Politician? Scientist?
Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will be the focus/subject of the final product. Will it take place in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?
Writing in Content AreasR.A.F.T.
Role: In developing the final product, what role will the students need to “take on”? Writer? Character (in the text)? Artist? Politician? Scientist?
Audience: Who should the students consider as the audience for the product? Other students? Parents? Local community? School board? Other characters in the text?
Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will be the focus/subject of the final product. Will it take place in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?
Writing in Content AreasR.A.F.T.
Role: In developing the final product, what role will the students need to “take on”? Writer? Character (in the text)? Artist? Politician? Scientist?
Audience: Who should the students consider as the audience for the product? Other students? Parents? Local community? School board? Other characters in the text?
Format: What is the best product that will demonstrate the students’ in-depth understanding of their interactions with the text? A writing task? Art work? Action plan? Project?
Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will be the focus/subject of the final product. Will it take place in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?
Writing in Content AreasR.A.F.T.
Role: In developing the final product, what role will the students need to “take on”? Writer? Character (in the text)? Artist? Politician? Scientist?
Audience: Who should the students consider as the audience for the product? Other students? Parents? Local community? School board? Other characters in the text?
Format: What is the best product that will demonstrate the students’ in-depth understanding of their interactions with the text? A writing task? Art work? Action plan? Project?
Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will be the focus/subject of the final product. Will it take place in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?
Writing in Content AreasR.A.F.T.Role Audience Format Topic
•writer •artist • character •scientist • adventurer • inventor • juror • judge • historian • reporter •rebel •therapist •journalist
•self •peer group •government •parents •fictional character(s) •committee •jury •judge •activists •immortality •animals or object
•journal •editorial •brochure/booklet •interview •video •song lyric •cartoon •game •primary document •critique •biographical sketch •newspaper article
•issue relevant to the text or time period •topic of personal interest or concern for the role or audience •topic related to an essential question
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere Conclusion
1S Hemisphere Specialization
1T
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Philosophy icons 3S Literacy Philosophy 3T
Standards Reflection
4S Literacy Standards 4T
Writer’s Workshop : 1st week ideas
5S Writer’s Workshop 5T
Solutions to Challenges
6S Writing Challenges in Content Area
6T
R.A.F.T. brainstorm for content areas
7S R.A.F.T. notes 7T
Reading Workshop:Daily 5
• A structure to teach independence and foster literacy development:– K-3 Daily 5: Students immersed in literacy
through the five components • Read to Self• Read to Someone• Listen to Reading• Work on Writing • Word Study
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Daily 5 symbols 8S Daily 5 flip book 8T
Reading Workshop: CAFÉ
– Whole Group mini-lesson-strategies added to CAFÉ board
– CAFÉ structure – • Student
– Working on one of the 5 Daily Five task– Conferring with teacher– Working in small group
• Teacher– working with small group or individual
conference
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Daily 5 flip book 8S Daily 5 8T
CAFÉ icons 8T CAFE 9T
Word Study• What do we study?
– Word features– Content Words– High frequency words– Student generated word lists
• When do we study?– Daily mini-lesson– Daily 5 Component– Reading/Writing mini-lessons or guided lessons– Content lessons
• Context is everything!• Regarding spelling, remember
– There is no “silver bullet” program that will magically cause our students to spell everything correctly.
– Spelling is a developmental process; it’s okay for kids to have different words.
– We’re teaching how to be a better speller, writer, and reader, not teaching spelling words.
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Daily 5 flip book 8S Daily 5 8T
CAFÉ icons 9S CAFE 9T
Word Study Reflection
10S Word Study 10T
Assessments
• K-2: ISIP(Istation Indicators of Progress)
• K-6: Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment
• District Assessments/Benchmarks• K-8 Writing Samples (BOY, MOY, EOY)• STAAR
– Grades 3-9 Reading– Grades 4 & 7 Writing– Grades 9-12 EOC
Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Daily 5 flip book 8S Daily 5 8T
CAFÉ icons 9S CAFE 9T
Word Study Reflection
10S Word Study 10T
Reflection of day 11S Picture 11T
Reflection
1. Reflect & journal about one thing you will use & how you will use it
2. Reflect on one thing we talked about today that you still wonder about
Resources• Akhavan, Nancy. The Content-Rich Reading and Writing Workshop: A
Time-Saving Approach for Making the Most of Your Literacy Block .• Allen, Janet. Tools for Teaching Content Literacy.• Beers, Kylene. When Kids Can’t Read What Teachers can Do: A Guide
for Teachers 6-12. • Burke, Jim. Illuminating Texts: How to Teach Students to Read the
World.• Burke, Jim. Reading Reminders: Tools, Tips, and Techniques.• Burke, Jim. Tools for Thought: Graphic Organizers for Your Classroom.• Daniels, Harvey and Stephanie Harvey. Comprehension and
Collaboration.• Daniels, Harvey. Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher's Guide.• Daniels, Harvey. Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content-
Area Reading.• Fisher, Douglas. Reading for Information in Elementary School:
Content Literacy Strategies to Build Comprehension.• Miller, Debbie. Reading with Meaning.• Morris, Alana. Vocabulary Unplugged.• Tovani, Chris. I Read It, But I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies
for Adolescent Readers.• Wormeli, Rick. Summarization in Any Subject: 50 Techniques to
Improve Student Learning.