Week Four Discourse and Teaching for Understanding Literature February 9, 2009

1. Week Four Discourse and Teaching for Understanding Literature February 9, 2009 Do Now: Think of a discussion or recitation you observed, participated in or led in your field placement or in one of your own courses.

2. Objectives We will be able to: • Differentiate between recitations and discussions (Almasi) • Evaluate classroom discussions for strengths and challenges • Identify characteristics of and strategies for holding a variety of literature based discussion styles • Identify various technologies that can be used as teaching tools in the classroom

3. Agenda • Agenda Overview (3 min) • Housekeeping (10 min) • Announcements • “Where I’m From”, assignment questions? • Qualities of discussions (55 min) • Discussion vs. Recitation (15 min) • “Instructional Quality Assessment” Key Points (10 min) • Key Points: Weinstein, McGee, Goldenberg, Triplett (30 min) • Evaluating Discussions (25 min) • Video viewing (10 min) • Discussion (15 min) • Break (10 min) • Language Arts Lesson Plan Overview (10 min) • Language Arts Lesson Plan • Coming Attractions/Questions (5 min) • Technology Exploration (45 min)

4. Housekeeping • Questions about New Literacies wiki? • “Where I’m From” • Two purposes: • An exploration of your own culture • An instructional strategy to use with your students • Due March 23rd

5. I am from clothespins, from Clorox and Carbon-tetrachloride. I am from the dirt under the back porch, (Black, glistening it tasted like beets.) I am from the forsythia bush, the Dutch elm whose long gone limbs I remember as if they were my own. I am from fudge and eyeglasses, from Imogene and Alafair. I'm from the know-it-alls and the pass-it-ons, from perk up and pipe down. I'm from He restoreth my soul WHERE I'M FROMby George Ella Lyon with a cotton ball lamb and ten verses I can say myself. I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch, fried corn and strong coffee. From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger the eye my father shut to keep his sight. Under my bed was a dress box spilling old pictures, a sift of lost faces to drift beneath my dreams. I am from those moments-- snapped before I budded-- leaf-fall from the family tree.

6. I AM FROM SOUL FOOD AND HARRIET TUBMANby Lealonnie Blake I am from get-togethers and Bar-B-Ques K-Mart special and matching shoes. Baseball bats and BB guns, a violent family is where I'm from. I am from "get it girl" and "shake it to the ground." From a strict dad named Lumb sayin' "sit you' fass self down." I am from the smell of soul food cooking in Lelinna's kitchen. From my Pampa's war stories to my granny's cotton pickin'. I am from Kunta Kinte's strength, Harriet Tubman's escapes. Phyllis Wheatley's poems, and Sojourner Truth's faith. If you did family research, and dug deep into my genes. You'll find Sylvester and Ora, Geneva and Doc, My African Kings and Queens. That's where I'm from.

7. Agenda • Agenda Overview (3 min) • Housekeeping (10 min) • Announcements • “Where I’m From”, assignment questions? • Qualities of discussions (55 min) • Discussion vs. Recitation (15 min) • “Instructional Quality Assessment” Key Points (10 min) • Key Points: Weinstein, McGee, Goldenberg, Triplett (30 min) • Evaluating Discussions (25 min) • Video viewing (10 min) • Discussion (15 min) • Break (10 min) • Language Arts Lesson Plan Overview (10 min) • Language Arts Lesson Plan • Coming Attractions/Questions (5 min) • Technology Exploration (45 min)

8. Quote of the Day: “I think a huge part of literacy is the oral language part…I also want to create an environment where students feel confident in their learning as well as take responsibility for their learning. I want students to be able to have ample time to discover literature on their own and feel comfortable expressing their feelings and opinions about what they are reading.”- Shannon Moore

9. Discussion vs. Recitation (Almasi, 1996) • Attend to: • Who develops the meaning? • Recitation: Teacher • Discussion: Teacher and Students • Who leads the talk? • Recitation: Teacher • Discussion: Teacher and Students • The roles being played: • Inquisitor: Who is asking the questions? • Respondent: Who is answering the questions? • Evaluator: Who is providing feedback? • Facilitator: Who is keeping the flow of the conversation going?

10. Discussion vs. Recitation At your tables: • Share your example of a discussion or recitation from the “Do Now” • Attempt to identify the roles below and come up with specific examples of what the roles looked like: • Inquisitor • Respondent • Evaluator • Facilitator

11. The Instructional Quality Assessment (IQA) What is it? • A tool used to gauge the quality of instruction determined by teacher-student interactions and rigorous student tasks • Central goal: • “To develop a measure of instructional quality that can monitor the quality of instruction with minimal burden on teachers and that provides information that can be readily incorporated into the professional development system to improve teaching and learning (Matsumura, Slater, Junker, et al., 2006, p.5).”

12. Instructional Quality AssessmentKey Points: • Accountable Talk • Participation • Teacher Linking • Student Linking • Teacher Press • Student provision of knowledge • Wait Time • Academic Rigor • Rigor of the discussion • Rigor of the text • Rigor of the lesson activity • Clear Expectations • Clarity and detail of expectations • Rigor of expectations • Access to expectations

13. Other views of discussion: Key Points Work in your jigsaw groups to: • Distill your author’s points into 4-5 key points (write on sentence strips) • How would the author define discussion (or their version of discussion)? How might one plan for that type of discussion? What might be some drawbacks or challenges to this type of discussion? Anything else you think is relevant. • Develop a “kid friendly” way to introduce your author’s expectations of discussion to your students • Prepare to present to class Groups: • Weinstein, Managing Discussions and Recitations - Rachael A., Katalin, Lyndsay B, Ally W., Andrea, Rachel W., Kelley • McGee - Response Centered Talk - Alison B., Paula, Colleen C., Janie, Melissa, Gina, Jessica • Goldenberg - Instructional Conversations - Lindsay P., Colleen G., Brandon, Kati H., Lauren, Liz, Sara • Triplett - Book Talks- Julie, Katie K., Lisa, Tiffany, Mandy, Shannon, Tim

14. Agenda • Agenda Overview (3 min) • Housekeeping (10 min) • Announcements • “Where I’m From”, assignment questions? • Qualities of discussions (55 min) • Discussion vs. Recitation (15 min) • “Instructional Quality Assessment” Key Points (10 min) • Key Points: Weinstein, McGee, Goldenberg, Triplett (30 min) • Evaluating Discussions (25 min) • Video viewing (10 min) • Discussion (15 min) • Break (10 min) • Language Arts Lesson Plan Overview (10 min) • Language Arts Lesson Plan • Coming Attractions/Questions (5 min) • Technology Exploration (45 min)

15. Video Viewing • Video: Fourth Graders using the text Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora (10 minutes) • While watching the videos take notes/think about on the following questions: • What was strong about this literature based discussion? • What could the teacher do to improve the discussion? • What do you think the teacher do before hand to prepare for the discussion? • What examples of recitation do you see? • What examples of discussion do you see? • What management/monitoring strategies do you see? • How can we incorporate these strategies into our own classroom?

16. Break Return at : 10: 55

17. Agenda • Agenda Overview (3 min) • Housekeeping (10 min) • Announcements • “Where I’m From”, assignment questions? • Qualities of discussions (55 min) • Discussion vs. Recitation (15 min) • “Instructional Quality Assessment” Key Points (10 min) • Key Points: Weinstein, McGee, Goldenberg, Triplett (30 min) • Evaluating Discussions (25 min) • Video viewing (10 min) • Discussion (15 min) • Break (10 min) • Language Arts Lesson Plan Overview (10 min) • Language Arts Lesson Plan • Coming Attractions/Questions (5 min) • Technology Exploration (45 min)

18. Language Arts Lesson Plan • Goal: To gain practice planning and executing a literature based discussion lesson and to begin the habit of reflecting on our art

19. Language Arts Lesson Plan • Steps: • Explore Language Arts curriculum at your placement site along with your grade level GLCEs • Work with your CT to choose a text by February 23rd and set a date to teach your discussion based lesson by March 4th • Work in and out of class to draft a lesson plan (First draft due to Angel drop box by March 6, 5:00 pm) • Revise lesson plan based on peer, CT and course instructor feedback • Execute lesson (Audiotape!) during Week 8 (March 18) or Week 9 (March 25). • Reflect on lesson using guiding questions (template is on Angel) • Submit all versions of your lesson plan and your reflection to the Angel drop box by April 13, 9:00 am.

20. Language Arts Lesson Plan • Very next steps: • Today’s class on leading discussions and characteristics of discussions • Inform your CT ASAP about this assignment so you can begin to explore the curriculum, choose a book and set a date (give your CT a copy of the abbreviated assignment description) • Planning workshop - Week 6

21. Coming Attractions: Emergent Literacy, Week Five, 2/16/09 Readings • Everyone reads: • Tompkins, READ Chapter 3 “Working with Young Readers and Writers” (pp. 78-107); SKIM Chapter 4 “Cracking the Alphabetic Code” (pp. 110-146) • Gibbons, READ Chapters 2 and 3 (pp. 14-50) • In Class: • Review of Emergent Literacy • Take Digital Natives Quiz • Begin to explore New Literacies • Due on 2/16 by start of class: • Noteblog: How would you define a “discussion” for your students? What steps would you have to take to set up, manage and maintain quality discussions in your classroom? What will you have to know about your students as learners and as people to hold quality discussions? Make sure to reference the readings and the class discussion

22. Technology Exploration!