Teaching a New genre

It is often difficult to engage students into a new genre, especially if they are in lower school, because they may not have had as much experience with a diverse range of genres.

Some aims for writing that came up during this class were:
• Immersion
• Guided reading
• Modelled writing
• Shared writing (joint construction)
• Providing Explicit feedback
• Using the writing process

Many teachers need to consider that kids do not even know how to write proper sentences or paragraphs, so the best way for a student to learn this skill is to model a paragraph for them. Identify punctuation conventions that construct a paragraph. Teachers cannot tell a student to do a task in which they do not know how to perform. Scaffolding is the key. Give students the background knowledge and skills for them to attain the desired objectives.

War, Rage, Pain, Curtin

PARKING AT CURTIN
• Unjustifiably high fees
• Long walks
• Fines
• Stalkers
• Road (read as. Parking lot) rage
• Luck of the draw



So this was a short snippet in which I had to describe the current Curtin parking situation.

Sons of Bentley, I am here and I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny!

Many men have died in the struggle for their territory. Wars were fought, nations crumbled and rebuilt, lives shattered by the pain of defeat, suicidal thoughts stemming from the loss of all hope. The battle for our land has taken a toll on all of us. However, out of the ashes has to come a victor. The raging battle, machine versus machine, the blaring sirens of rage, the gazes of tactical positioning. One man, with one destiny, will rise to take his place.

This is war, this is rage, this is pain, and this is Curtin parking.

The Writing Process

WRITING TASKS
Each student was given a specific writing task.
This was mine.
“Write a scientific argument on the impact of organochlorins on the environment.”
“What the?”

Before one should even start writing , there is a mental process of questioning which allows us to break down the question to level at which we can comprehend.

Many students do not engage in this process and therefore, their answers to questions and writing tasks such as essays show little amounts of interpretation.

In response to this task, there were a few questions, which I had to ask myself.
Firstly, Scientific argument… How is a scientific argument structured? Will this be in the form of an essay or a report? What are organochlorins?

(An organochloride, organochlorine or chlorocarbon, is an organic compound containing at least one covalently bonded chlorine atom. Their wide structural variety and divergent chemical properties lead to a broad range of uses.)

Once you have dissected the question and broken it down into smaller concepts, then the process does not seem so daunting. I believe this is true with everything in life, When something find you in anxiety or confusion, break it down into something manageable.

The Reluctant Reader

ENCOURAGING READING
What are some way we can encourage reading?
• USSR (unsolicited silent reading)
• Subtitled movies
• Short stories
• Making reading a reward
• Allow for comics


• Magazines
• Audio books

Teachers should have to model reading. It becomes very tempting to sit down, do your won thing, mark tests and essays while students are silently reading. However, this may not be beneficial as you are the facilitators of their learning, they will follow your example. Therefore, when students are asked to read, you have to make an effort to read too. And of course, teachers are not limited to just chunky novels either.

One other important notion is that students need to identify their need to read. Give them a purpose for reading.

Reading Lesson Strategies

Tap into students prior knowledge!

This idea cannot be stressed enough, students are not as stupid as we think. Though they may seem that way, its most probably because the teacher has not tapped into their prior knowledge effectively. Within every child is a catalyst for a fountain of information that can be used. Students have interests, hobbies, experiences which they may want to share. It is our task to find out what it is and use it as much as we possibly can to aid the student’s achievement.

Questions for Students

TYPES OF QUESTIONS
This lesson we discussed the different levels of questioning in which students can engage in. These should be considered when asking questions for assessment, as they will determine the level of understanding a student will have for a particular concept.

Literal Questions
• What?
• Where?
• When?

Inferential Questions
• Why?
• What do you think?
• How?

Evaluative
• How does (cite specific topics)
• What would you have done (personal responses with specific topic)

When planning for assessment or evaluation, keeping these types of questions in mind will allow teachers to see what level of understanding a student has.

The Best Boots in the World

This lesson was an introduction into short stories.
We engaged into a close read of a short story “The Worlds Greatest Shoes”
Firstly, we analysed the cover, which had an illustrated picture of a pair of old basketball shoes.
This tells us, the shoes were, worn out, neglected.



Analysing the cover of a book or short story, we get insights into the story itself. This is always a great place to start before even reading a text.

Before, During and After Framework

BEFORE DURING AFTER
This is a framework for reading lessons and some things that need to be addressed before, during and after.

Before (preparation)
• Teachers need to find background information.
• Activate background knowledge of the student
• Link existing knowledge with new information
• Review the extent of knowledge and enrich.
• Give students an awareness of purpose
• Motivate
• Establish a context
• Establish a purpose for reading

During
• Thinking through organising
• Active reading
• Think through the ideas in the text
• Process information and extract relevant ideas
• Self monitor read and monitor reading of students.

After
• Use the new information
• Critically evaluate the ideas
• Demonstrate an understanding of the text and context

This framework should be used when approaching a reading task. Appropriate activities should be used to address these points.

The Bad Deeds Gang

This week we looked at a short story one of the many ways in which short stories can be introduced into the classroom. The activity was to take the short story and present it as a comic strip. This comic strip would consist of 6 scenes and thus challenge the students to find main events of the story. I believe this activity is one that actively engages students to think about the plot of the story. When reading short stories, it is important to give students a purpose for their reading, or at least an outlet for them to apply what they have identified. Therefore, this comic activity is a useful way to allow students to achieve those reading outcomes.

Another important part of this type of lesson is that it allows for integration of art. Using art as a way of allowing students to share their ideas is much less daunting that having them write statements. I believe this was the general consensus of the class. Everyone seemed the enjoy the activity thoroughly.