Strategy #5

Strategy #5 - Think-Aloud

The strategy that I will be focusing on this week is the Think-Aloud strategy. This strategy is helpful for struggling readers because the teacher demonstrates good reading strategies out loud in front of the class. Thinking out loud for the students effectively teaches them good reading strategies that they can use on any and all assignments.  Struggling readers usually give up once they get stuck or continue to read without ever actually comprehending the text. By using the think-aloud strategy, we as teachers are showing them how to overcome these difficulties in a more productive and successful manner. Struggling readers need to see and be taught how expert thinkers solve problems. Teachers need to teach students how to learn if we want them to be successful on their own.

As a math teacher, think-alouds are super helpful when first introducing word problems. Most of my students are relatively strong math students but that is not helpful if they don't know where to begin when they are given a word problem. I begin the year by thinking out loud as I read through a word problem. I model how to determine the important information and make inferences. I model how to create explanations for the events going on in the word problem and providing details for the setting. After modeling several examples I ask the students to walk me through their thought processes on new examples. By the end of the unit they will be working through word problems and practicing good reading strategies with their partners as I walk around the room to monitor their progress. 

Text #5

Text #5 - Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone

The Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone is about a young knight's search for King Arthur's sword. King Arthur is looking to find the knight that is worthy of taking his place as King. He has given them a riddle that if solved correctly will lead them to the sword. The children's story book takes you through the journey of Vertex and Radius as they solve the riddle. They must create 3 dimensional figures from their nets, calculate the number edges, vertices, and faces for each figure in order to determine which ones satisfy the riddle. After determining the correct solids they go searching through the castle for these particular 3D figures in the hopes of finding the sword. They eventually find the cone with the correct measurements and thus King Arthur's sword.

This book would be a fun way to introduce edges, vertices, and faces which in itself is not the most exciting lesson. I would walk the students through how to make inferences and allow them to try and predict where they think the sword is hidden. After I document their predictions we will calculate the number of edges, vertices, and faces for each of the figures on the parchment. I will have a huge poster in the front of the room with our findings but the students will have their own table to keep in their notebook as well. After we have completed the table I will ask them if anyone would like to change their predictions. We will finish reading the rest of the short story to see how close our predictions were.

Neuschwander, C., & Geehan, W. (2003). Sir Cumference and the sword in the cone (pp. 1-32). Charlesbridge.

Strategy #4

Strategy #4 - Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are a visual representation of knowledge that has been constructed and organized to better help students. They can be used at the beginning of a unit, during a unit, or even at the end. They are used to scaffold language and content and are especially helpful for english language learners. It may just seem like a piece of paper with some boxes and circles but it helps the students separate the important information and to make connections between concepts. It is especially helpful for struggling readers and writers to visually see how the concepts connect to one another without having to read through complicated text. Graphic organizers are a helpful tool for brainstorming, demonstrating their thinking process, and increasing reading comprehension. They are so versatile that they can be used in many different ways and for so many different purposes.

A specific example in my classroom is the graphic organizer that my students create to help them separate and organize the different volume and surface area formulas for prisms, cylinders, cones, pyramids, and spheres. The names of the figures, pictures of the figures, and the formulas are included in their graphic organizer. It is a great study tool for them.

Strategy #3

Strategy #3 - Question Drop

On my google site I have a form that the students must fill out after every homework video that they watch. The form consists of two problems that are similar to the problems on the video and a question box. If they are confused about any part of the video or the concepts in general they should type their question into the question box. Every morning I check their solutions and read through their questions. Their answers are not graded but simply used to show their understanding or lack thereof. At the beginning of class I will go over the two problems from the previous night’s form and answer the questions that they submitted through the question drop. This is really helpful for me as a teacher because it allows me to see if the students are struggling and therefore determine if I should move on or spend another day on the concept. I also have a question drop box in the back of the classroom that my students can write down their questions and place in the box. I check the box at the end of every day. This strategy teaches the students to advocate for themselves and provides them with several writing opportunities a week. This strategy can be used daily or just once or twice a week. I have found the more frequently it is implemented the more helpful it is for both the teacher and the students. Struggling students are less likely to fall through the cracks because I can see that they are struggling before they are assessed.

The students just recently watched the Solving Equations with Variables on Both Sides video for homework. The video consisted of me working through 4 examples step by step and the students were expected to listen and take notes. At the end of the video I provided the link to my google form. The form consisted of two problems where the students were expected to solve an equation with variables on both sides and submit their answers. They could use their notes to help them if they needed to. Obviously they had just watched the video so I did not grade the questions. At the end of the form they had to submit their question in the question box. Some examples of the questions that I got were as follows:

• “Why did you divide by -1 on example #3?”   
• “Does it matter which side I move the variables to?”  

I checked their submissions first thing in the morning and I was able to answer their questions without any of the students having to feel embarrassed or dumb for asking them.

Text #4

Text #4 - Race and Gender Diversity on Television VS. In the United States

Race and Gender Diversity

Think Progress

The author, Alyssa Rosenberg, has broken down the statistics of our leading networks’ main characters based on their race and gender.  She then compares them to the statistics of the United States population also based on race and gender.  It comes at no surprise that her statistics show that the majority of the main characters are white males and minorities appear very rarely. The first website that I have listed is a more easily interpreted and visual representation of her article.  I would use this website for my struggling readers.  It compares the percentages of television main characters based on their race and gender directly beside the matching race and gender statistic of our U.S population.  It also puts all of the statistics in a single chart which makes it easier for the students to make comparisons. The second website is a written explanation of the author’s findings.  Rosenberg also goes on to talk about how our major networks are reconsidering their casting approach in order to bring in more diverse viewers and increase their ratings.  According to Rosenberg, The University of California in Los Angeles is even conducting a study on the effects of diversity on TV ratings.

I would first show and discuss the statistics with my students as a class.  We would compare the percentages and discuss why they might think they would be that way.  From there I will mention that similar statistics can be found outside of television in the everyday workforce as well.  I will ask them to brainstorm with a partner about some jobs that might have more of a particular race or a particular gender than their counterparts.  After a few minutes I will ask them to share their ideas.  After the discussion I will have a bucket ready that is filled with pieces of paper with a different country written on each one.  One person from each group will select a piece of paper from the bucket.  The group will then be responsible for researching the workforce statistics for each race in the country that they were assigned.  They will create a pie chart on a piece of poster paper to visually represent their findings.  They must provide a key with their chart.  They will also research the workforce statistics for the wage gap between men and women in their country for 3 different years.  They will create a bar graph to represent their findings on the same poster paper as their pie chart.  They must provide a key for their bar graph as well.  They will need to include the name of their country at the top of the poster paper because they will be posted around the room.  They will have the rest of class  and half of the the next day to complete this assignment.  The next day I will conduct a walk around where each student will be required to write down at least three things that they find interesting from each group’s poster.  At the end of the class they will share and discuss their findings with their group and then we will discuss them as a class.

Rosenberg, A. (2013, November 11). Race And Gender Diversity On Television Vs. In The United States. Retrieved October 8, 2015, from http://www.buzzfeed.com/regajha/race-and-gender-diversity-on-television-vs-in-the-united-sta#.kkZ1q4RWX

Rosenberg, A. (2013, October 28). What The U.S. Would Look Like If It Mirrored The Main Characters On Prime-Time Network Television. Retrieved October 8, 2015, from http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/10/28/2840441/world-looked-like-prime-time-network-television/

Text #3

Text #3 - My Granny Went to Market

My Granny Went to Market is a children’s book about a grandmother’s journey across the world.  She travels to different countries on her magic carpet and buys souvenirs along the way.  This book is filled with pictures of her journey and the items that she purchases.  More importantly her souvenirs are icons of their culture and therefore exposing readers to cultural differences from around the world.  Not only is this book visually appealing but it also uses rhyming to grab the attention of it’s young readers.

After asking for volunteers to read from the book we will discuss the different countries that were mentioned and the souvenirs that were purchased.  If there are any students from other countries in the classroom then this would be a great opportunity for them to share an interesting fact or two about their country or culture.  After the class discussion they will choose a partner for their “All Around the World” project and decide on a country that they would like to research. Once they have chosen their country they will need to look up the cost of the flight for both of them, staying in a hotel for 4 nights, touring 1 attraction, and a recipe for a signature dish in that country.  They must also tweak the recipe to feed all 27 students.  They will also be required to create a presentation that includes all of this information and try to convince the class why their country would be the best place to visit.  All of the travel expenses should be calculated to the nearest cent (NO ROUNDING TO THE NEAREST DOLLAR) and the recipe must be written in fraction form.  Their least favorite part about this project is that they are not allowed to use a calculator.  This project is done at the end of our unit on decimals and fractions.

Blackstone, S., & Corr, C. (2005). My granny went to market: A round-the-world counting rhyme. Cambridge, Mass.: Barefoot Books.

Strategy #2

Strategy #2 - Occasional Paper

The name of this strategy is called the occasional paper.  An occasional paper is a brief written reflection.  It is an assignment that is to be read aloud to the class on a volunteer basis.  It is not a graded assignment so there is no fear of failure.  Students are able to choose when they will complete the assignment and what they want to write about.  This strategy provides students with writing and reading practice on a personal level.  It is the most appropriately used by assigning a given number that must be completed by the end of a unit or a quarter.  Other than that there is no hard due date.  At the beginning or end of each class ask the students to volunteer to share their occasional papers.  Once a student has shared their paper then you should open it up to the class for discussion.  Teachers should use this strategy because it makes a connection between what the students experience outside of school and what they do in class.  It also teaches students to listen and appreciate the differences between themselves and their classmates.  This strategy could also open up discussions about different cultures as students share their own personal experiences.  As a math teacher I would like to be able to use occasional papers to make a connection between the concepts that the students learn in class and the math they see in the real world.  Students are always asking, “When will we ever use this?”.  I would like for them to be able to find instances on their own and share it with the class.  I think they would be surprised at how often math appears in their daily lives.