Conclusion

Creating this portfolio has been a tedious task but the knowledge gain made it all worthwhile. I cannot think of the injustice that I would have done to my students without this knowledge. This course gave me many insights for integrating literature in the Language Arts classroom. The importance of using the process approach to writing in the classroom was emphasized.  It also stressed that reading and writing are interrelated and should be integrated in the classroom. Many strategies were highlighted to make the teaching of poetry interesting. I will utilize many of the ideas learnt in this course in my classroom.

 I hope that you enjoyed reading and gain new insights from my blog. Thank you for reading.

Yours truly

Amanda Francis

                                                                              

Video : Teaching Poetry

Group Reflection on Micro teaching

Reflection

Before teaching the lesson special emphasis was placed on developing a detailed lesson plan. This was indeed beneficial because it resulted in teachers having a well organized lesson and having an idea as to when and how to teach specific aspects of the lesson. This also helped with the allocation of time to various tasks and gave us an idea as to how much time it would take students to complete certain tasks and activities. In addition, the delivery and execution of the lesson went extremely well and as planned as the introduction of the lesson flowed nicely into the development part of the lesson. Students generally enjoyed participating in the activities selected for the lesson and this showed that the activities used catered to the interest of most students in the classroom. Also, teachers were well organized; the materials needed for the lesson was prepared and delivered to the students on time and as planned.

Furthermore, we both agreed that the objectives of the lesson were met. Students generally participated in the activities that they were asked to do and most of them completed it within the specific time frame. When asked questions about what they learnt in class they all were able to answer and outline what they learnt about the setting. Upon carrying out the assessment of the lesson students did exceed our expectations as they were able to beautifully complete assessment activity.   

Despite the strengths outlined on the teaching of the lesson, we were faced with a few challenges. The main challenge faced was with classroom management. We ensured that rules were set before we begun to teach for example reminding students they should raise their hands if they have something to say, do not talk while someone else is specking and that they were going to do group work so everyone should participate. However, students had to be constantly reminded to wait their turn, do not speak while others are speaking and stop blurting out answers. This affected the flow of the lesson and disrupted other students who were trying to work.  Furthermore, some students were not engaged enough in their various groups. Some did not contribute to the task that the group had to do and thus, they found other ways to be engaged such at talking to their peers.    

This means that we as teachers need to continue to remind students of the rules and we should have put a reward system in place where the best behaved group would have been rewarded at the end of the class. This would help curb some of the behavioral problems that we faced. Students should have also been reminded of the penalty for breaking class rules. In addition, we believe that in future we have to ensure that every child has a role to play when it comes to group work and we should have informed students that the group leader would take notes about their participation in group activities. Despite these challenges the lesson was meaningful and enjoyable and fun filled to both students and the teachers.

Lesson Plan- Micro teaching

Lesson Plan

Subject focus: Setting /Narrative Writing

Language Domain: Listening, viewing, speaking, writing, reading

Age: 12-13 years

Time: 80 minutes

Subject: English

Prerequisite: students are able to:

1.      Use descriptive words when writing and speaking

2.      Write grammatically correct sentences

Objectives: students should be able to:

1.      View pictures to generate ideas to define setting

2.      Orally describe various setting using adjectives

3.      Write five simple and correct sentences about a particular setting

Content: The setting of a story is the place where the story happens and the time when it happens. Thus, the setting answers the questions of where and when events occur. The period of time in which the story takes place determines how the characters talk, act and dress. The setting also sets the mood, tone and puts the story in context of the surroundings. The time and place of the event does not have to be real. It can be something that is imagined.

Context: Setting is directly connected to the characters in a story. Setting helps the reader understand characters, for example, their behaviour and the way they dress. It also explains the ideologies of the society that the story is set in, for instance, the beliefs, language and cultural practices. Teaching the concept of setting help students understand that setting could be authentic or symbolic.

Strategies: Grouping, Discussion, Questioning

Materials: Checklist, Graphic organizer, Pictures, name tags, chalkboard, coloured chalk, cards with group numbers

Procedures:

Introduction:

1.      Students will be placed into groups and they will be assigned specific roles such as leader, scribe and presenter. They will also be given cards with their group numbers as a means of reminding them when they have to present.

2.      Teacher will inform students that they will be looking at an important part of the story called setting.

3.      Students will then be asked what they know about setting.

4.      Teachers will add to or reinforce students’ knowledge about setting.

Development

1.      In their groups, students will be given a picture depicting a particular setting.

2.      Students will be informed that they have to view the picture to identify the place where they think the scene is taking place, time and what tells them that.

3.      Students will be questioned as a class about the content of the picture. They will be asked questions such as:

§  What do you see in the picture?

§  What time of day is it?

§  What tells you that it is day time?

§  What do you think is happening?

§  Where is this happening?

§  Is this something that will happen in the past, present or future?

§  Do you think that this is real? Why?

4.      Each group will be given a strip of paper with a category of descriptive words : shape, colour, size, sound, smell

5.      Students will then be asked to list adjectives that describe the setting in the picture.

6.      Each group will present their descriptive word to the class.

7.      Teachers will inform students that they can represent their information in the form of a graphic organizer.

8.      The teacher will then model to students how to use the graphic organizer and will put in the words that students have listed into various categories.

9.      Students will be provided with supplementary words when necessary.

10.  Students will then be asked to give their picture a name or title.

11.  Students will then be instructed to use some of the descriptive words from the various categories to write five simple sentences about the setting of the picture.

12.  Students will be given a checklist to ensure that their sentences have met certain requirements.

13.  Teacher will go over the content of the checklist with students.

14.  Students will be told that the words used in the sentences should give the reader a sense of what they are feeling.

15.  Teacher will provide students with examples.

16.  The presenter of each group will present two of their sentences to the class.

Conclusion:

1.      Teacher will go over the contents of the lesson through a question and answer session.

2.      Students will be asked questions such as:

§  What part of narrative writing did we look at today?

§  What did you learn about the setting of a story today?

§  What types of words did we use to talk about the setting of the story?

Evaluation:

1.      Student checklist (informal assessment)

2.      Teacher will observe students while working in groups and will find out from them whether they like working in groups or not.

3.      Students will also be engaged in self and group evaluation as they note theirs and other contribution to the completion of their group’s activities.

POETRY

Poetry

Collins argues that teaching poetry offers some fundamental cognitive and intellectual skills, and that reading a poem “replicates the way we learn and think.” He sees many parallels between poetry and learning: “When we read a poem, we enter the consciousness of another. It requires that we loosen some of our fixed notions in order to accommodate another point of view . . . To  follow the connections in a metaphor is to make a mental leap, to exercise an imaginative agility, even to open a new synapse as two disparate things are linked.” Collins thinks of poetic form as “a way of thinking, an angle of approach,” that helps students understand how information must be “shaped and contoured in order to be intelligible.”

As a literature student, I disliked poetry unlike drama and prose which was my personal favorite. The teacher used a method where we had specific days assign for poetry, prose and drama. I always felt that poetry classes were boring in contrast of the other classes. This is because for drama classes we got to the opportunity to perform the play. Also, for prose we got the opportunity to create character sketches, conduct debates on the issues presented in the novel and so on. However, in poetry lesson these elements were missing; one poem was taught in a session where the teacher came with a set of question about the poem and students were ask to read and answer the questions. This strategy was repetitive and boring, students did not get the opportunity to perform poetry or enjoy the writer’s craft.

To make poetry lesson more interesting the teacher could utilized some of these strategies:

Fluent oral reading: The teacher can read the poem aloud to students using appropriate tone, inflection, gestures and movement. This will motivate students to read the poem and also enjoy poetry lessons.

Choral Reading: Model the reading of poem to student then allow students to practice on their own.

Readers and Writers Notebook: Teachers can allow students to keep a notebook in which they respond to the reading of poetry by using poems and pictures. Students can also use this notebook as they go through the writing process to complete the writing of their own poems.

Teachers should bear in mind that reading and writing poetry should capture the interest of all students. Hence, the teacher can allow students to select their own poems from the list of poem. Not only will this ensure that students are active participant in their learning, but would motivate them in interacting with poetry. Teachers must note that the purpose for teaching poetry is for enjoyment; hence they must first develop a positive attitude towards teaching poetry. Also, students should be given the opportunity to practice what they have learnt by writing their own poems. From my experiences, I cannot say that I was given the opportunity to write my own poem in poetry classes. The teacher therefore did not give students a purpose for interacting with poetry. Teacher must remember that it is important to give students a purpose for writing. Thus, after students have written their poems the teacher can allow students to engage in choral reading of their own poems.

Note that reading and writing poetry was emphasized and not writing or reading poetry on its own. It has been clearly stressed that reading and writing are interrelated. Through reading, students are equipped with a wealth of knowledge which can be used to write an essay or poetry. Through the reading of poetry, the teacher can help increase students participation in reading activities. Poetry can be used also in other subject areas such as Social Studies and History. It is an interesting method to get students to learn the content in that area in an interesting and creative way. Poetry also increases student’s creativity by allowing students to present ideas in an artistic way. A new idea learnt is that reading poetry emphasizes holism; which means that the entire poem must be read to students for discussion of the analysis of its content. This will help students identify the issues, images, structure and type of the poem which will assist in the writing their own poems.

Workshop

Workshop

The difficulty of getting students to become effective writers has been of concern to teachers over the years. As a student, I felt that the strategies used to motivate students to write were not successful. Students’ negative attitude towards writing made the teaching of writing a daunting task.

By participating in this writing workshop, I learnt a few steps that the teacher could have utilized in the classroom to make the writing process easier and interesting for students. It is important that teachers develop a plan before teaching a writing course. In planning, teachers must ensure that students have opportunities to practice at the different stages of the writing process. Teachers must be flexible incase the plan is not going as expected. It is also important that teachers have a holistic view on the different writing task that students will be participate in the classroom.

Graphic Organizers

                                                Strangman (2000) defines a graphic organizer as a visual and graphic display that depicts the relationships between facts, terms, and or ideas within a learning task. Graphic organizers are also sometimes referred to as knowledge maps, concept maps, story maps, cognitive organizers, advance organizers, or concept diagrams.

Graphic organizers are useful tools which students can use at the prewriting stage when engaging in the writing process. Students are sometimes faced with the issue of mental block; graphic organizer help with this problem by helping them organize their thoughts on paper. Through the use of graphic organizers students are able to write clear and focused essays.

According to Indu(2001), graphic organizers are useful tool which facilitates the student’s ability to learn and understand better. However, Indu noted that the effectiveness of these strategies depend of the involvement of the teacher and her ability in explaining to students how to use such tools. Graphic organizers are suitable for students of all age of group; it helps them organize complex information onto concise visual maps.

Graphic Organizers

·         Visually sort new information into familiar categories

·         Analyze the relationships between old and new information

·         Create a simple structure for thinking about information in new ways

·         Review concepts and demonstrate understanding

       Types of graphic organizers

A Descriptive or Thematic Map works well for mapping generic information, but particularly well for mapping hierarchical relationships.

A Comparative and Contrastive Map can help students to compare and contrast two concepts according to their features.

Another way to compare concepts’ attributes is to construct a Compare-Contrast Matrix.

A Human Interaction Outline is effective for organizing events in terms of a chain of action and reaction (especially useful in social sciences and humanities).

Brainstorming

In most cases when students are asked to write they experience a mental block. Students who are struggling with writing will definitely find it difficult to begin writing an essay. Writing becomes an overwhelming task and causes students to develop a negative attitude towards writing. In an attempt to help students to put their ideas on paper the teacher can utilize brainstorming techniques in the classroom.  Fleming (2000) state that brainstorming is a method student can use to generate ideas for writing a paper. In the process of brainstorming you should suspend any concerns about staying organized. The goal is to pour your thoughts onto paper without worrying about whether they make sense or how they fit together.

Brainstorming techniques

Mind Map

Write your main topic in the middle of the page. Write the subtopics of your theme around the main topic. Add even more details around your subtopics until everything you know about your subject is on the mind map. Using different colored pens, connect ideas that are related with lines and arrows.

Outline                                                    

Think about each of the sections you’ll need for your paper, including the introduction, main body and conclusion. List the sections you plan to include in the main body of your paper in a logical order. Then fill in all the details you can think of for each section in point form, including the introduction and conclusion. Rearrange the sections and points if necessary. Make a note of where you are missing information. Use this outline brainstorm to guide your writing.

Free writing

Write any ideas that come to mind. There is no need to judge the quality of your work.

Listing

Write down a list of words or phrase on a particular topic.

Pre writing strategies

In order help students develop an excellent piece of writing or essay; it is important that students are introduced to the process approach of writing. Too many times as teachers, our focus is entirely on the final product of students work rather than on the process. A proficient writer must go through the stages of the writing process in order to produce an excellent piece. From my observation of an English lesson, I realized that students were so interested in writing an excellent piece while writing their first draft. Students kept tearing the pages from their notebooks. The teacher’s attempt in trying to stress that their first draft does not have to be perfect was almost of no success. As teachers, I believe that it is our responsibility to introduce students to the process of writing as early as possible. I could definitely relate to the students because from my own experiences. I was not familiarize to writing more than one draft, I wrote my essay and submitted it; hence my first attempt always had to be the best. If students understand that writing is a process then their attitude towards writing too may change.

Prewriting is the first stage students are normally introduced to before writing an essay. Students must first pick a topic that interests them. Unfortunately, some students are faced with the difficulty of choosing a topic. The teacher can inspire or assist students by allowing students to use a diverse amount of media, personal experiences, dreams, visual arts and research to create a topic. In developing a topic student can use prewriting strategies such as listing and brainstorming. Students can also discuss their topic with a friend. After students have selected a topic the next step is to free write. Students can free write about the reasons for selecting a particular topic. Students can then discussed with a friend to find out whether their topics are too broad and how they can make it more specific.

Another prewriting strategy that can be used is called blind writing. As the name suggest when writing using this strategy, student should not be able to see what they are writing. This strategy can be used to allow students to identify the main ideas and possibly a thesis statement. Students can also start organizing their ideas using graphic organizers. Another, prewriting strategy that can be used is called the questioning strategy. This strategy helps students focus on specific ideas whiles writing.

It is important that teachers note the importance of using pre- writing strategies in the classroom. Pre writing strategies can assist students in generating and clarifying ideas. It helps keep students focused on what they are writing.

Writing Rubric

Writing Rubric for Lou’s Place

	Strong (4-5 mks)	Average (2-3mks)	Weak (0-1 mks)	Comments	Score
Traits
Idea/ details	Details focus on the topic. Detailed descriptions. Originality, insightful, interesting ideas. No irrelevant details	Some important ideas. Part lack description and details. Some ideas are not very specific.	Lacks focus. Information is not clear, and is not meaningful. Lacks description.	Details are focused on the topic, interesting. The writer provides a detail description of the restaurant.	4
Organization	Interesting and clear introduction. Ideas are properly sequenced and easy to follow. Use of appropriate transitional words	Lacks focus. Introduction and conclusion seems weak. Limited use of transitional words. Some details are not clear.	Introduction and conclusion cannot be identified. Details lack logical order. No transitional words.	Introduction captures the attention of the reader. Ideas flow nicely together. However, the writer makes limited use of transitional words.	4
Voice	Tone and mood is appropriate for the purpose and audience. Emphasizes on the feelings of the writer	Lacks evidence of the writers feelings.	No evidence of writer’s feelings and personality.	Appropriate tone for the audience. The reader gets a clear picture the writer’s feels.	4
Sentence fluency	Complete sentences. Meaning is clear. Sentences flow nicely. Clear paragraphs. Interesting word patterns.	Some sentences seem confusing. Follow one pattern. Sentences do not connect with each other	Difficult to understand. Disjointed ideas. Monotonous details.	Sentences are clear and appropriate.	5
Word choice	Interesting. Accurate. Use of appropriate descriptive words. Description of multiple senses.	Words are regular. Meaning lacks precision. Limited used of descriptive words	Limited and vague words. Words a repetitive. Poor expression	Used appropriate descriptive words.	4
Conventions	Excellent use of Grammar, punctuation, spelling and capitalization.	Some words are spell incorrectly. Problems with proper use of punctuation, capitalization  and grammar	Poor use of grammar, punctuation, spelling and capitalization	Used grammatically correct sentences, words are spelt correctly, good use of punctuation marks.	5
Total					26/30