MEd Program Diigo Group

Posted by Katie, Malkie and Bonnie. This article addresses the debate between teaching systematic phonics and teaching phonics as part of a whole language approach. It mainly deals with the flaws in the research on this debate and not so much with ultimate conclusions on the matter, however, it is stated that a whole language approach to reading instruction is always beneficial.

In this first chapter of his book, Popham (2008) attempts to define what formative assessment is and what it is not. He insists on the fact that formative assessment is a process and in his opinion a classroom process. He refers to a meta-analysis conducted by Black and William (1998b) to show evidence of the benefits of formative assessment and quotes Black and William's claim that "student gains in learning triggered by formative assessment are "amongst the largest ever reported for educational interventions" (p. 61). Popham also warns educators against testing companies who are now offering interim or benchmark tests as "formative assessments" and claims that there's no scientific evidence that district-developed or state-developed periodically administered assessments will improve students' achievement.

I thought this would be good for anyone teaching or learning about circuits. It can be difficult to arrange field trips depending upon your school systems. This allows you to provide your students these learning opportunities without the difficulties of an actual field trips.

I was highly impressed by this young teacher's blog. He is already teaching like a master teacher. David Leed's blog has a tons of great teaching ideas and links.

It is a video on the how a science teacher Shelia Darjean Banks is incorporating the Common Core literacy standards into her physics course.

This is a video about using work group for students as a learning strategy. This teachers use of define roles for students in work groups is inspiring.

This website validated my concerns about science vocabulary for secondary students. It can also provide other resource videos and professional learning resources.

Week 9 Quizlet is an online study tool that allows users to setup vocabulary list or use existing vocabulary list setup at their site to study in six interactive ways. I highly suggest Scatter and Race. Chris, Alison, and Patricia

This Quizlet activity offers students a way to study for a test, test their knowledge, and improve their competency in the subject. This is a tool which has many different functions and purposes; teacher can use it as a homework assignment, a redo qualifier, or even a warm up activity. This integrates technology in the classroom in a way which is not a burden or done simply because it can be, if integrated it adds to the experience without detracting from the content or user experience.

Quizlet is a useful tool for the classroom. There is a library of "little quizes" already available for use in the class in a range of subjects. These allow students to review vocabulary, definitions and test their knowledge. There are various methods of reviewing the material, one example being flashcards. A teacher can also create their own lesson/quiz using Quizlet. The program could effectively be used to review for a test or as an exit ticket done in the class or at home.

WEEK 7 - Chris Baugher, Patricia Bankins and Alison Burns - First reading. "This paper investigates how pre-service teacher education can provide a strong literacy foundation for content area teachers. Pre-service teachers emphasized their growing awareness of how literacy strategies can enhance student learning in their specific subject areas." (Orr, Kukner and Timmons, 2014)

This article gives an interesting insight to content area literacy and infusing literacy into science and math classes. I was particularly interested in the different ways the sample teachers incorporate literacy strategies into their teaching. They talk of expanding notions of what learning and assessment can look like in science and math. Teachers must have a solid content knowledge themselves to be able to express "the most useful forms of representation of those [topics to be taught in the subject area and] ideas, the most powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations, and demonstrations-in a word, the ways of representing and formulating the subject that make it comprehensible to others. (Schulman, 1986, p. 9)

The article supports this week's activity and Willigham's video on content knowledge improving reading skill. The first section in 'content area literacy" says it all: "Content area literacy is the ability to acquire understandings of, and think critically about, new content in a discipline using reading, writing and multiple other forms..." (Draper, 2002; Heller & Greenleaf, 2007; Kane, 2011; McKenna & Robinson, 1990) The article as a whole supports and builds upon the importance of not only literacy but also what assessments could look like and what they should reflect. Lastly, "[b]ecause literacy is important in all subject areas, content area teachers can plat a significant role in their students' literacy development" (Alger, 2007, 2009; Draper, 2002; Lind, 2008, Heller & Greenleaf, 2007). Before students can learn the material, we as teachers must become familiar and competent enough in the content to not only explain the ideas but to show them and relate them to the students' lives and prior knowledge.

Hundreds of games and activities for a variety of subjects (including math, science, language arts) and all grade levels. Many activities include quizzes to check for comprehension.

Educational Learning Games for students in Preschool and Elementary school. Pre-school games include pre-reading, shapes, colors, numbers and mouse skills.

This is a great resource for French teachers (it is no part of my DAP - it is just a blog I want to share with my peers) : a lot of recorded conversations up to level B2 to work on listening skills. Scripts are available as well.

Many schools struggle when it comes to promoting adequate parental involvement in furnishing early literacy and the emergent reading skills of their youngest students. This is especially the case in many Title I schools, in which much of the student population represents portions of both the low-income and at-risk demographic. In order to help bridge this gap, the San Antonio Public School System has enacted their own Title I "Even Start" initiative, in which parents are better prepared to help instill and cultivate early literacy in their children, through their own education. Through this initiative, the school system is providing parents and students with joint: adult education, early childhood education, parent education, and literacy activities. By strengthening the literacy, parenting, and reading skills of parents, San Antonio is wagering that their student population will soon positively reflect this greater emphasis on emergent reading, early literacy, and family involvement.

This article discusses the importance or non-importance of homework. Ideas addressed are homework policy, homework as formative assessment, and emphasis on homework versus achievement. Ultimately, it is suggested that feedback is what is most important.

This presentation talks about instructional gaps and how they relate to a cycle of low achievement. There is a tendency for assignments to fall further away from the appropriate grade level. Following the Standards in Practice (SIP) model, teachers will be able to close an instructional gap and make assignments more rigorous in order to provide students with the instruction they need to obtain proficiency.

This article provides an overview of instructional gaps and how to expand assignments to ensure we are teaching and assessing students in way that provides good instruction. It was a helpful overview that provided me with great thinking points and a clear structure on how to move forward.

The article was a lot of help. I typically gave lower level readings to my students that are ELL's so they can understand their concept as their reading levels are typically lower. I'm going to try more with the SIP model to see if students will rise to the occasion.

This is a detailed information sheet describing all accommodations that are available in the classroom as well as on the HSA exam (or any state assessments) for ESOL students. This is extremely helpful to decide what kind of accommodations will be useful to provide the students as they practice for the English HSA Exam.

This article focuses on a special education teacher and the methods she uses to teach her students reading comprehension. It is a resource for instructional strategies that may help close the instructional gap.