In my Literacy class at USD, we have been learning about taking what would otherwise be considered dry, inaccessible content, and turning it into reader-friendly, accessible, actionable, and meaningful text. So I decided to try out some of these concepts. I selected a developmentally appropriate text to work with, and I began to think about ways in which I could situate it into a larger context and then gradually redirect student focus back to the scope that is found within the text. As an objective, I aligned the assignment with one of the Common Core standards of determining central ideas or themes of a text and analyzing their development and summarizing the key supporting details and ideas. To further help my students access the text, I provided visuals that came to my mind as I read the text, thereby “previewing” the text as a class and allowing my students to make predictions about what they would find in the reading before releasing the responsibility of reading over to them. I highly enjoyed designing this lesson. My cooperating teacher described the lesson as follows:
"The lesson that Sean developed around a reading from our text was excellent. He took time to reconfigure the actual text, numbering the paragraphs and adding photographs to make it more comprehensible and attractive to students. He also took time to make a Prezi to introduce the material and help to put it in context. A significant focus of the standards for World Languages is culture and the Hispanic world. Sean’s Prezi did a good job of helping students see the big picture. The Prezi also had good slides to help students shift their focus to Puerto Rico.
After this introduction, students read the material with three distinct goals in mind. First was reading for the central idea. Sean had students take turns reading the material at their tables. Second, they were supposed to read for key points. They read individually and highlighted key vocabulary. Finally, students were given questions in English to answer, showing their comprehension of the material.
This kind of reading activity was engaging for students, helped them learn about culture without realizing they were “fulfilling” the standards and employed numerous strategies which our faculty recently learned about in mini-workshops on our professional growth day. Such strategies are often used with AVID students and are very effective for almost all learners.
As a follow up to this activity, Sean presented an outstanding example of a project that students have the option of doing for a quiz grade. The project is a travel brochure and his mock-up with instructions has made it very easy for students to follow and the corrections are minimal for me, the teacher. Numerous students are taking advantage of this learning opportunity.
Finally, at our next professional growth day, the department chair persons from our five high schools will be presenting strategies that support the ELA Common Core and the also the ACTFL standards. Among these I am tasked with showing and explaining effective reading strategies. My department at Del Norte was so impressed with Sean’s lesson that they encouraged me to include it as an example on that district wide professional growth day in November. I’m sure that our many Spanish teachers will see the value in it and make their own similar reading lessons in the very near future.
AWESOME JOB!, Sean."
"The lesson that Sean developed around a reading from our text was excellent. He took time to reconfigure the actual text, numbering the paragraphs and adding photographs to make it more comprehensible and attractive to students. He also took time to make a Prezi to introduce the material and help to put it in context. A significant focus of the standards for World Languages is culture and the Hispanic world. Sean’s Prezi did a good job of helping students see the big picture. The Prezi also had good slides to help students shift their focus to Puerto Rico.
After this introduction, students read the material with three distinct goals in mind. First was reading for the central idea. Sean had students take turns reading the material at their tables. Second, they were supposed to read for key points. They read individually and highlighted key vocabulary. Finally, students were given questions in English to answer, showing their comprehension of the material.
This kind of reading activity was engaging for students, helped them learn about culture without realizing they were “fulfilling” the standards and employed numerous strategies which our faculty recently learned about in mini-workshops on our professional growth day. Such strategies are often used with AVID students and are very effective for almost all learners.
As a follow up to this activity, Sean presented an outstanding example of a project that students have the option of doing for a quiz grade. The project is a travel brochure and his mock-up with instructions has made it very easy for students to follow and the corrections are minimal for me, the teacher. Numerous students are taking advantage of this learning opportunity.
Finally, at our next professional growth day, the department chair persons from our five high schools will be presenting strategies that support the ELA Common Core and the also the ACTFL standards. Among these I am tasked with showing and explaining effective reading strategies. My department at Del Norte was so impressed with Sean’s lesson that they encouraged me to include it as an example on that district wide professional growth day in November. I’m sure that our many Spanish teachers will see the value in it and make their own similar reading lessons in the very near future.
AWESOME JOB!, Sean."