Sophomore Composition and Literature
SyllabusThis year I thought that I would just create one syllabus for SCL A and SCL B. The syllabus on your right is the one I created in August for first trimester.
During the trimester, I realized that I needed to make a few adjustments so I will have to create a new syllabus for second trimester and while I hope I won't have to revise it again before third trimester, I am guessing I will have to do so. My teaching practice schedule: research, plan, execute, reflect, research/revise, plan, execute, reflect, and the madness continues over and over.
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Choice Reading (Monday.Wednesday.Friday)
Reading is essential. While it is highly valuable for students, it is also valuable for everyone else including teachers. Penny Kittle has convinced me of the need of choice reading for our students. I brought my personal library to the classroom, created book projects on Donors Choose, asked friends and family for donations, and have a pretty good classroom library.
Students are required to read four choice books in addition to the two shared texts we read per trimester. In order to assist students with the required four books, I give them 20 minutes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and they are required to find another hour on their own for a total of two hours of reading on their own. The conclusion is that most of the students realize that "reading isn't all that bad." Students leave my class at the end of the trimester, but they return to borrow books from my library and it allows me to connect with them on another level and it has become the center of my classroom and my teaching.
While I love and value student choice, I also believe in the demands and rigor of reading a text together and working to uncover the layers of depth. Working through a shared text allows me to teach my students how to become readers and writers. The shared text serves as a mentor text to teach students literary devices and its impact. It also is a great source of mentor sentences for grammar and mechanics.
There is the freedom of choice, but it has a fine line around it. I see my classroom and my teaching as guided choice. E210 (my classroom) is like bumper bowling!
Students are required to read four choice books in addition to the two shared texts we read per trimester. In order to assist students with the required four books, I give them 20 minutes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and they are required to find another hour on their own for a total of two hours of reading on their own. The conclusion is that most of the students realize that "reading isn't all that bad." Students leave my class at the end of the trimester, but they return to borrow books from my library and it allows me to connect with them on another level and it has become the center of my classroom and my teaching.
While I love and value student choice, I also believe in the demands and rigor of reading a text together and working to uncover the layers of depth. Working through a shared text allows me to teach my students how to become readers and writers. The shared text serves as a mentor text to teach students literary devices and its impact. It also is a great source of mentor sentences for grammar and mechanics.
There is the freedom of choice, but it has a fine line around it. I see my classroom and my teaching as guided choice. E210 (my classroom) is like bumper bowling!
Check out this video of my students and their choice book obsession!
Tuesdays with Morrie Unit (14 days)
Day 1: Laying the Foundation
Anticipatory Set to Tuesdays with Morrie
Day 2-14: Reading, Discussing, Thinking, Assessing, Digging, and Aphorism-ing For the next 14 days, we will read in class as well as at home according the schedule. Students will have comprehension questions with their homework reading and students will use the questions to guide the discussion and activity the following the day. The book is intended for students to think deeper into their own lives and figure out their own opinions on each of the Tuesday topics covered in the book. There will be daily reading quizzes, which will serve as data to see how many students are reading the text. |
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This I Believe Personal Narrative (6 days)
During the writing process, students works independently and sign up to confer with me. I collect all of their brainstorms and help them decide which idea to run with for their paper. Every day has a new mini lesson, which models what is expected of them for their paper.
Students work in the lab and sign up to confer with me. I group students in teams of three for workshop days. They get a checklist of what to look for each time and they go through their papers together. Any error not caught is counted as a deduction in their final paper. Students must turn in all portions of their multi-draft narrative.
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Not sure how many of you are familiar with NPR's This I Believe segment, but this is one of my favorite programs and this is one of my favorite writing assignments. While I love this piece, I also have to warn you that many unexpected details may spill out of students during this assignment. I tell students to only write about something they are ok sharing and I emphasize numerous times that our stories are ours to shares and that no one has the right to share someone else's stories.
Even though there have been difficult situations with this project, students have urged me to continue doing it. One of the most difficult parts of this assignment for students is presenting their stories. Presentation days are often filled with laughter as well as tears. The impact of these stories are amazing. At the end of all our presentations, I asked students to write down a story that meant the most to them, another story that they were most surprised by, and a peer who they started to understand better because of their story. And we closed the project by verbalizing our words of praise to each other in the class to build a stronger community. Students were so genuine as they thanked one another for being brave to share their stories. Some students spoke directly to a friend in front of the class expressing how they wished they shared their burdens of their past. As a teacher it was one of the most beautiful things to watch. I could watch students as they started to see each other differently, softened their hearts to each other, complimented each other, and come together as one community. |