Evaluating Possible Titles for 7th grade book list

Today in our half-day PD we discussed a few book titles:

*Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez (7th grade)

*Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang (7th grade)

*Open the Door to Liberty by Anne Rockwell (7th grade)

*The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick (8th grade)

Thoughts

Return to Sender

• -Great content and well-written
• -About a boy in New Hampshire and a migrant family
• -Focuses on conflict over migrant workers in America and the different feelings
• (feeling of Americans vs. feeling of migrant workers)
• -Doesn't hit on any major 7th grade objectives

Open the Door to Liberty

• Content is fine, but is too low

Other book ideas

-Breadwinner (Afghanistan)

-Chain of Fire (South Africa)

Socratic Seminars - PD

Notes from a PD provided in house on Socratic Seminars: 2/ 22

Background to Socratic Seminars

*activities in class are usually teacher centered

*teacher knows the answer, students are guessing at the "mystery"

*question is usually "what will we be doing today?", but should be, "what will students learn today?"

-two design models: teacher performance centered OR student learning centered

-teachers are more & more evaluated on student learning

*student-learning centered model focuses on: thinking they do, skills they develop, and what they'll learn

- facilitated by calling for factual recall -> interpretation and analysis -> requiring

synthesis and evaluation

- easy way to start out by asking, "why do you think...?"

*Replace "what is?" with "what if?"

Socratic Seminar- Basics

*three ways: 1) whole group, 2) small group 3) inner group, outer group (outer group observes)

*establish basics of seminar: a. respect, b. listening, c. direct eye contact w/ names

*prior to seminar: given them a piece of reading. then offer open-ended questions (how would... what would happen if...),

Courageous Conversations: 6 Conditions Presentation

Today a colleague and I presented to the faculty the "six conditions" of Courageous Conversations. Our presentation started with a "cue set" to get them thinking about why we're here. Then we explained the remaining three conditions to the faculty. We finished up with a video from Pacific Educational with Glenn Singleton explaining the conditions and the process in depth (I figure it's best coming from the source!).

This presentation was a followup to an earlier presentation, in which we had the faculty rotate between four stations. At each station, they a) read the condition and b) answered discussion questions related to race in their lives.

Overall I think this went well. It was good to give them a chance to circulate and discuss, and then after they've had some time to process, review the information and use videos to get them thinking "multi-modally" about how we can address race issues to help our students.

7th grade reading lists

Today with our supervisor Ms. D we discussed possible reading lists for the 7th & 8th grade:

Lists matched up with content area:

-(American perspective on immigration) Return to Sender

-(Caribbean: Haiti) Open the Door to Liberty

-(An American in Europe) Bloomability -
- (Mexico & California during Great Depression) Esperanza Rising

- (Africa) A Girl Named Disaster

-The Breadwinner - by Deboarah Ellis (Afghanistan)
-A Single Shard (set in Korea)
-When my name was Keoko (set in Korea during Japanese occupation)

- (Australia) Ash Road

-Chasing Vermeer (fictional but interesting merge of history & geography)

Plan: pick 2 by Christmas and could implement in the spring

Good list of books: http://www.clpgh.org/teens/books/showbooklist.cfm?catid=6&list=worldnonfiction

A Book I'm Reading: "Reading Like a Historian"

I'm currently reading, "Reading Like a Historian". Our dept. supervisor has all of the Social Studies teachers looking at this book as we consider Common Core and incorporating more literacy into our lessons. The book itself is fairly practical for a teacher; each part is split up with the historical debate, why teach it, and how you might use the materials. It's dedicated primarily to history classes, so I need to "think outside the box" to apply this to my geography classes. However, it's still a good resource for me to be reading as we look at how Common Core will change what and how we teach!

Professional Development Nov. 10

Professional Development Notes

November 10, 2011

8:45-9:45 Breakout Session 1

• 3 types of writing in CC: argument, informative/explanatory, narrative

1. Argument

a. developing argument: starts with opinion—providing examples, reasons for belief, and cause/effect

b. Argument in secondary: claim, evidence, relationships between claim & evidence, formal style

c. IN SS: analyze evidence from multiple primary/secondary sources, make a claim best supported by evidence, argue for a particular interpretation

2. Informative/Explanatory Writing

a. Recall: Intended to increase reader knowledge/understanding.

b. Assumes truthfulness and answers why or how

c. Standard:

i. Introduce topic using varied org. strategies

ii. Broaden support & evidence

iii. Use formal voice and objective tone, with domain-specific vocabulary

3. Narrative

a. Standard:

i. Conveys experience, either real or imaginary

ii. Uses time as its structure

iii. Uses variety: of narrative techniques, of sequencing techniques

iv. Uses precise & sensory language

4. Instructional implications

a. Increased emphasis on writing arguments

b. Emphasis on writing in response to sources (not just prompts)

10:00-11:00 Breakout Session 2

*5-E model in Social Studies

-Engage -Explore -Explanation -Extension -Evaluation

A Quote all teachers should take to heart

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized.
- Goethe