Summary of Article 1 and 2:
Article 1:
I found this article interesting. I consider myself to be a creative person. The idea of doing “I poems” is great. Students will be able to take on the personality or life of an object or another person. I find that this seems a little elementary. Right now I am currently in an Eighth grade Science class. I am not sure that I would use an “I poem” in here. I would probably use this with my Sixth or Seventh grade students. I was thinking that I could incoportate this in my lesson as an exit slip for students to do the last 15 minutes. For example, if they were to learn about the Ocean I would have them do a poem on that and then write about what life is in the ocean, or the different zones… something that they learned that day.
Questions:
How else could I incorporate these poems into my science curriculum?
How could I make these poems fit higher level classes?
In what way would my students benefit in using an I poem in Science rather than in English?
Article II
I believe that this is an awesome idea. I really like the idea of having a multi-genre project. Not all students are expressive in writing. In fact a lot of students have trouble with writing. For example my brother was diagnosed with a learning disability in writing. A project like this would help people like him be able to express their knowledge on a subject area. Writing a paper can also be more tempting for students to use sources like sparknots to “help” them on. This project allows students to think about the text they read and apply it.
I found these lines to be the most important of the article :
“Because of this criticism, many teachers have made changes in their teaching of research-based papers: changes that have made the content more relevant to students’ lives and interest; changes that have incorporated research tools other than books.”
Questions:
How would I use this in Science?
How would I fairly grade this project?
- What about students that dont have access to internet and other tools?
- Is creativity worth more than content?
-What if some students just arent creative?
Article III – Vocabulary Instruction
One word: Vital.
Before I read this article all I could think about was my Science class that I am doing my internship in. My students have little to no knowlege of vocabulary. They seem very simple-minded. When they do try to use “big words” they either miss pronounce them or use them completely wrong. My teacher tries to play vocabulary Bingo with them so students will know the words. They are then encouraged to use those words when they present answers to questions and fidings.
This article encourages teachers to explain vocabulary as just not the definition. I used to dread doing vocabulary as a child because I thought of it as busy work and boring. Not till I got into high school did i see the importance of knowing vocabulary and when to use it. As a teacher I will encourage my students not only to develop jargon for Science but also for other subject areas… especially when it comes to EOG time.
Related Websites:
ABC OCEANOGRAPY BOOK – I loved this idea. My students in my internship just did their own projects on the open water. This would have been a great idea to incorporate in their unit.
“I am” Poems – I just stated before how else I would incorporate Science using these poems. I found the one on the Estuary great. I realized that my students will be able to show their knowlege of the content with the more stanzas they have. I may also make them incorporate VOCABULARY that they have learned!
