Content
This Language Arts activity was completed in the Fall of 2007. The class was Development of Literacy for Learning, RE 4030. I was under the advisement of Dr. Linda Pacifici. This activity is a Mutli-Text Unit and is intended for fifth graders. I worked with Brooke Rich on this activity. This unit is composed of an internet workshop, pre-reading, during reading, and after reading activities. It also has a culminating project and other information books that are related to the book, Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse.
Impact
This artifact met a variety of instructional strategies including Media and Technology. At the end of the unit the students will have read the book, Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse and completed an internet workshop relating to the book. They will have completed pre, during, and after reading activities and finished a culminating project. The students will have read and or been exposed to other informational books relating to the Dust Bowl. A number of skills will have been enhanced with this unit such as; working in small groups, independent skills, computer skills, research skills, and reading and writing skills.
Alignment
Standard 1: Elementary teachers have a broad knowledge and understanding of the major concepts in English Language Arts and Literacy.
Indicator 1: Teachers know the developmental stages of language acquisition.
Indicator 3: Teachers know and understand a diverse range of historical and contemporary literatures, including various genres of American, British, and World, as well as literatures written by women and authors of colors and works written for children and young adults.
Indicator 5: Teachers know and understand that reading is taught as a process of constructing meaning through the interaction of the reader’s existing knowledge, the information suggested by the written language, and the context of the reading situation.
Indicator 8: Teachers know and understand written and oral composition processes. They understand:
This standard and the indicators were met by reading the historical book, Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse which is an age appropriate book for fifth graders. Activities were constructed around vocabulary words pulled form the book that included the games Vocabulary Charades and Vocabulary Baseball. Definitions of the vocabulary words were made to be child friendly for the students. We selected several other informational texts to accompany the Dust Bowl Era.
Standard 7 : Elementary teachers use developmentally appropriate strategies to design and deliver instruction in all areas of the elementary curriculum.
Indicator 3: Teachers promote new learning by using students’ prior knowledge, misconceptions, and interests when designing lessons.
Indicator 4: Teachers implement a variety of teaching and communication strategies for instruction.
Indicator 5: Teachers assist students in developing multiple learning strategies to address discipline specific content, critical thinking, and problem solving skills.
Indicator 7: Teachers develop and use a variety of formal and alternative assessment strategies as an integral part of instruction and learning appropriate for assessing individual, peer, team, and collaborative skills.
This Standard and the indicators were met by presenting pre-reading, during reading, and after reading activities. Some of these activities included; an Internet Workshop, a Venn Digraph, a time line, and a letter to the author. A rubric was created to assess these activities. Some of these activities were writing activities were the students' had to solve problems, relate themselves to characters in the book, and complete a research project. Students were allowed to work independently, in small groups, and some activities were done as a whole group.
Standard 8: Teachers design instructional programs and strategies that build on students’ experiences and existing language skills to help students become competent, effective users of language.
Indicator 1: Teachers teach children to read with a balanced instructional program that includes an emphasis on the use of letter/sound relationships (phonics), context (semantic and syntactic), and text that has meaning for students.
Indicator 3: Teachers guide and encourage students to think critically about what they write and read.
Indicator 4: Teachers encourage students’ enjoyment of reading.
Indicator 5: Teachers provide students opportunities to explore the use of different genres of writing and speaking to a variety of audiences.
This standard and the indicators were met by encouraging the students to read the informational books, proof reading their writing samples, allowing students to present an oral report, and completing a Sun Ray to express their interpretation of the different chapters in the book.
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