L.Feyen

B.Barbulean- With our last assignment in class i used your idea of teacher as the modeler and how to properly use documents in their writing. I too believe that the teacher is the expert and should better show the writing techniques to acheive on their assessments. Good work. 4/28



I had this typed, but didn't make copies to hand out. Thanks! 4/18-T.MOUNKHALL- THANKS FOR THE INSIGHTS. I ADDED THEM TO CUMULATIVE LIST.PLEASURE WORKING WITH YIU. 4/19

T.MOUNKHALL-SHARING METING RE:INSIGHTS ON 4/18 FROM 3:30 TO 6:30 P.M. IN SAME ROOM AS FIRST MEETING- 4/14-T.MOUNKHALL- PLEASE SEE INSIGHT LIST ON MY PAGE-4/14

H. Frischknecht - Re: Homework Reading Model - This is a great example of document analysis. I would suggest also using the frame that we were shown during the first seminar day. It is a really fast and easy way to gain perspective. I have begun to pull away from the old "read pgs 345-350 in the book and answer these questions" and have been giving a mixture of primary source reading coupled with two or three pages from the textbook to supplement their understanding of the document. For my students it breaks up the reading and makes them pay more attention to their reading. 4/9-T.MOUNKHALL-TEXT READING AS CONTEXT FOR HOMEWORK DOC. READING IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL PLANNING IN TEACHING-4/10

T.MOUNKHALL- YOUR WORK IS ALL DONE BUT YOU MAY STILLPOST ON COLLEAGUES' WORK. PLEASE PUT ALL POSTS AT THE TOP OF COLLEAGUES' PAGES-4/3

T.MOUNKHALL-PLEASE SEE NOTE ABOUT THE NEXT TWO WEEKS OF THE WORKSHOP ON MY PAGE-4/2

T.MOUNKHALL- PLEASE BRING COPIES OF INSIGHTS FOR ALL ON 4/18-THANKS-3/30

PLEASE SEE MY COMMENTS ABOUT INSIGHT SHARING FOR 4/18 ON MY PAGE?-3/29

-T.MOUNKHALL- PLEASE SEE MY QUESTIONS ABOUT 4/18 ON MY PAGE AND ANSWER THEM HERE-3/28

1. DO WE NEED HARD COPIES OF OUR WORK TO HAND OUT GIVEN THE FACT THAT IT IS ALL ON THIS WIKI AND CAN BE COPIED ? For the sharing session it might be helpful to have hard copies so that during discussion we would have everything in front of us to look at and refer to. However, in an effort to conserve paper, just having them on the wiki gives us access to all of them later on for use as we wish so we wouldn't neccesarily need them for that purpose. 2. DO WE WANT TO KEEP OUR WORK PRIVATE ONLY FOR OUR USE OR DO WE WANT TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO ALL TEACHERS ? I don't mind making my work available to other teachers. Many teachers are in the same situation and it might be nice to share what we have done with others. Plus, there were a lot of great ideas out there! 3. CAN EACH ONE OF US BRING A LIST OF INSIGHTS GAINED DURING THIS WORKSHOP TO SHARE ON 4/18 ? Yes! To submit to you or to discuss?-T.MOUNKHALL- TO DISCUSS AND HAND OUT TO COLLEAGUES-3/29

T.MOUNKHALL- THIS IS A SET OF WELL PLANNED LEARNING ACTIVITIES RE: PRECISE CLAIMS AND COMPREHENSIVE CONCLUSIONS: SKILLS ARE MODELED BY TEACHER, SKILLS ARE PRACTICED OVER AND OVER AGAIN BY STUDENTS, THE PROPER ORDER OF THE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH IS TAUGHT BY AGE APPROPRIATE USE OF CARDS TO BE ASSEMBLED IN CORRECT ORDER, CONCLUSIONS THAT GO BEYOND A PARAPHRASING OF THE PRECISE CLAIM ARE PRACTICED REGULALRLY AND A CLASSROOM POSTER WITH DISCUSSED CURRENT EVENTS THAT COULD BE USED TO CONNECT THEME OF ESSAY WITH ITS CURRENT IMPORTANCE IS AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS- 3/24 //MRilley--Great job modeling and reinforcing the skills. There is plenty opportunity in this method for metacognition to be highlighted as well. 3/24-T.MOUNKHALL- STUDENTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE SKILLS THAT THEY ARE DEVELOPING-3/25//

T.MOUNKHALL- AS OF TODAY, YOU ARE RIGHT UP WITH YOUR WORK THROUGH 3/25- 3/23 //Revised in chronological order.... and De Nada, thanks for your immediate// //feedback!// YOU ARE RIGHT UP WHERE YOU SHOULD BE WITH YOUR WORK-WELL DONE-GRACIAS-3/17 //M.Grande-Would you have the students fill this out or is this an example of what you would give them?-T.MOUNKHALL-MODELING ANY SKILL BY THE EDUCATOR IS A KEY IN TEACHING-3/23// //L.Feyen 3/23- Given the levesl of my students, we would probably fill this out together. This is a model of what I would hope for it to look like in the end. My students do much better with writing when they use a graphic organizer.=T.MOUNKHALL- IT ACTS AS A CONCRETE NOT ABSTRACT GUIDE-3/26// H.Frischknecht - Graphic organizers are great tools to use, especially with students who are struggling with writing. When I teach DBQ writing I generally start by filling something like this out as a class with the first essay. We generally write 5 essay throughout the year, my goal is to give them the skills to be able to write on their own by the 5th essay. Obviously some students with special needs still need help filling this in, but with enough scaffolding most of them are successful.-T.MOUNKHALL- MODELING OF ALL SKILLS BY EDUCATOR IS ESSENTIAL- YOU ARE THE EXPERT IN THE CLASS-3/25 // L.Feyen 3/25- I agree about use of graphic organizers. For even themore basic writing tasks, my co-teacher and I often provide students with graphic organizers. While they are extremely helpful for students with special needs, they are also beneficial for the whole class to use as well. Depending on the task, sometimes we provide one for all students, just our special needs students as a modification, or offer it as optional for all. It is our hope that students will eventually begin planning their writing using graphic organizers without us providing them. Fo rexample, when planning their writing on the ELA state test. Without modeling, students don't know what is expected of them!=T.MOUNKHALL- THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF COGNITIVE SKILLS BUILDING- GETTING YOUR STUDENTS TO THE POINT WHERE THEY CAN DESIGN A GRAPHIC ORGANIZER THAT WILL ADDRESS A COMPLICATED ESSAY TASK-3/26 // // 3/25/12- I think this is a great organizer for students at all levels. It really encourages students to have a focus when working with documents instead of summarizing each document in their writing. If students are trained all year to use this type of model they would be very prepared for the DBQ on the Regents exam but it becomes more challenging when students who are at a lower skill level have to manage 8-9 documents dealing with two different topics. The struggle for me is balancing the time spent on developing writing skills and document analysis while keeping up with the narrative of a survey course. K. VanDeMark // // L.Feyen 3/26- You make a great point. It is challenging to determine how much time to spend on developing skills while keeping up with course content. For all the subjects I teach, I find that I have a difficult time moving on when I know some students haven't mastered a particular skill. Integrating these skills while continuing with content helps, but it is still a challenge to balance it all. // // -T.MOUNKHALL- AGREED IT IS A CHALLENGE BUT IF DONE PROPERLY YOU CAN ADDRESS BOTH GOALS SIMULTANEOUSLY. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN STUDENTS ARE WORKING ON DEVELOPING A GRAPHIC ORGANIZER TO ADDRESS THIS ESSAY QUESTION- COMPARE/CONTRAST PETER THE GREAT AND LENIN, THEY DEFINITELY HAVE TO PROCESS THEIR KNOWLEDGE BASE ABOUT BOTH FIGURES, WHICH LEADS TO LONG TERM RETENTION AND THEY ARE ALSO REINFORCING THEIR SKILL AT COMPARATIVE HISTORY=3/26 // T.MOUNKHALL- WELL PLANNED MODEL- INCLUDES TIME AND PLACE WHICH ARE BASES FOR ALL HISTORY THINKING, ADDRESSES THINKING SKILL OF RELATIONSHIPS OVER TIME AND PLACE, USES TEXTUAL INFORMATION FROM SOPHISTICATED TEXTS AS SUPPORTIVE EVIDENCE - COMMON CORE REQUIREMENT. WOULD HAVE YOUR STUDENTS WRITE ABOUT EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION AND GETTYSBURG ADDRESS IN CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE.-3/17-T.MOUNKHALL-WHEN STUDENTS WRITE ABOUT EVENTS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER THEY ARE REINFORCING THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF PROPER HISTORICAL SEQUENCE-3/18

T.MOUNKHALL- EXCELLENT LEARNING GUIDE FOR YOUR STUDENTS: CLEAR, EASY TO USE, FOCUS ON PRECISE CLAIM, EMPHASIS ON CONCLUSION GOING BEYOND PARAPHRASE OF THESIS, COULD BE FILLED IN AS UNIT GOES ALONG, REQUIRES SUPPORTIVE EVIDENCE FROM TEXTS. I WOULD INCLUDE POINT VALUES FOR DIFFERENT SECTIONS TO COMMUNICATE TO STUDENTS WHAT ARE THE PRIORITIES IN HISTORY WRITING- SUCH AS- TIME AND PLACE- 2 POINTS AND SUPPORTIVE EVIDENCE-18 POINTS-3/17 //The point values were the numbers indicated in the parentheses throughout the rubric. Is that what you meant>?-T.MOUNKHALL- SORRY-MISSED THEM-THEY TELL STUDENTS WHAT YOU CONSIDER IMPORTANT-3/18//

Do we need two activities from the list for this week and two for next week? I read it as two total for both weeks. Could you please clarify?-T.MOUNKHALL- YOU NEED TWO MODELS FOR THIS WEEK WHICH YOU HAVE COMPLETED AND TWO FOR NEXT WEEK FROM THE LIST ON MY PAGE-3/16

Also, in 5th grade Social Studies we do a unit on Mexico. It usually focuses on the history, government, economy, and culture of Mexico. Then we compare it to those aspects of the United States. Are there any instructional or learning tools you'd recommend based on your experiences there? Sometimes we struggle to find age appropriate and relevant resources for this topic. Thanks!-T.MOUNKHALL- I DON'T KNOW OF ANY TEACHING METERIALS BUT I WOULD CONSIDER COMPARING THE U.S. CONSTITUION WITH THE MEXICAN CONSTITUTION OF 1917 AFTER THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION. QUITE A FEW SIMILARITIES RE: SECULAR STATE BUT THE 1917 ONE SHOWS INFLUENCE OF MARXISM/SOCIALISM- 3/16

REVISED-T.MOUNKHALL- THREE READING TASKS- ALL COMMON CORE RELATED: FINDING DATA IN TEXT, INFERENCE FROM TEXT DATA AND SEEING RELATIONSHIPS OVER TIME AND PLACE- WELL DONE-3/17 //M.Grande-I often ask my students during my WWII unitas a Do Now to compare The Gettysburg Address to Truman's a-Bomb speech on the radio and talk about "tone" and background of each speech. Just a thought.=T.MOUNKHALL- FOCUSING ON TONE OF A SPEECH ADDRESSES COMMON CORE ELA GOALS. FOR CONTRAST, WHEN NAPOLEON GAVE THE ORDER TO INVADE RUSSIA IN 1812, THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO COULD HEAR IT WERE WITHIN PHYSICAL PROXIMITY OF THE LEADER. FDR'S 12/7/1941 "DAY OF INFAMY" SPEECH WAS HEARD INSTANTANEOUSLY AROUND THE WORLD-3/26// For the last weekly assignment, Assignment #5, are we supposed to outline how we would teach students to write a precise claims thesis and conclusion or are we writing our own models? T.MOUNKHALL-DEVELOP WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOUR STUDENTS BEST-3/9

Here is an example of a cloze reading activity we did last week. The first page is an informational text relating to primary elections. The second page is the vocabulary exercise which requires students to apply their understanding of content specific vocabulary and use it appropriately to fill in the blanks. This type of activity, depending on how it is structured, can also foster the development working with context clues. For 5th grade purposes, there is a word bank at the top, but at the upper grades that may not be desired.. This was not a test, we did the reading together, highlighted key vocabulary and then students worked independently to apply the vocabulary. When creating these it would also be possible to incorporate general vocabulary studied during the unit within thecloze reading text. I'm not sure how beneficial this would be at the upper grades on a formal assessment, but it could be used for other purposes as well.-T.MOUNKHALL- THANKS- HAS FINE POTENTIAL FOR USE AS A HOMEWORK READING ASSIGNMENT OF SOPHISTICATED TEXT- CERTAINLY COULD BE USED TO ADDRESS COLLEGE LEVEL VOCABULARY IN THE TEXT- 3/9-SUE MOUNKHALL- YOUR CLOZE READING ASSIGNMENT WILL AID STUDENT COMPREHENSION OF THE TEXT AS THEY SEARCH FOR THE CORRECT WORD-3/14

Here's the first draft of my unit... WOULD YOU DEMONSTRATE A CLOZE READING EXERCISE RELATIVE TO COMMON CORE READING GOALS- THANKS-T.MOUNKHALL-3/7

** Social Studies Common Core Unit Plan ** ** Grade 5 **


 * __Essential Question:__** What impact did the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address have on the United States at the time of the Civil War?

//Homework:// Read “Anti-Slave-Catchers’" Ad and answer questions.
 * __Unit Summary:__** The goal of this five day unit is for students to read and analyze documents and information pertaining to the historical time of the Civil War in the United States. Students will write four short paragraphs explaining the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address and their impact on the United States at this time. They will also include background information to give time and place for these events.
 * __Unit Outline:__**

//Homework:// Answer Literature Review Questions about “The Signature that Changed America”.
 * Lesson 1:** Read “The Signature that Changed America”. Explain end of unit writing assignment and pass out rubrics.

//Homework:// Read information about the Battle of Vicksburg and answer questions.
 * Lesson 2:** Read excerpt from the Emancipation Proclamation. Define and highlight vocabulary. Engage in discussion and analysis, answer text-based questions.

//Homework:// Answer text-based questions about the Gettysburg Address.
 * Lesson 3:** Read about the Battle of Gettysburg and then read the Gettysburg Address. Define and highlight vocabulary. Engage in discussion and analysis.

Homework: Pre-writing
 * Lesson 4:** Read about the March to the Sea and Lincoln’s assassination. Map Sherman’s March to the Sea. Complete use of documents for pre-writing together.

//Homework:// Complete body paragraphs of writing assignment using documents in pre-writing as a guide.
 * Lesson 5:** Write precise claims and conclusion together.

__Common Core Goals Integrated:__ T.MOUNKHALL- EXCELLENT 5 DAY PLAN- SURVEY NARRATIVE CONTINUED- DATA DRIVEN INSTRUCTION- SOPHISTICATED TEXTS-SIZE OF DOCS. RELATED TO AGE OF STUDENTS- COMMON CORE HOMEWORK READING WITH VOCABULARY HIGHLIGHTED- SOPHISTICATED THINKING SKILL OF RELATIONSHIP OF EVENTS OVER TIME AND PLACE ADDRESSED- COMMON CORE WRITING GOALS ADDRESSED OF PRECISE CLAIMS AND EXPANDED CONCLUSION- 3/7
 * Individual Homework Reading
 * Teaching History with Documents
 * Pre-writing Precise Claims
 * Pre-Writing Conclusions
 * Data Driven Instruction