Close Reading in Middle School Science Classes

Students dig deep to understand complex informational texts and sum them up precisely.

This year, our goal is to help students perceive meaning of scientific texts kids read on the subject matter and be able to summarize complicated texts to demonstrate their understanding when they look for background information to back their lab results and Science Fair projects.



Students analyze texts and pay close attention to details they would otherwise skip if not having proper support from their science teacher and information literacy specialist.
 

Through collaboration, Mr. Ratner and Ms. Bee apply the close reading strategy to implicitly broaden kids' background, improve their understanding and raise their curiosity.

Among learning approaches used in class are brainstorming, identifying and using new vocabulary, small groups discussions, writing summaries and creating proper citations. Students acquire and practice necessary skills to effectively achieve positive results in their future research works and Science Fair projects that are coming SOON!

A couple of sentences about Narrative Writing

I am having a great experience of working on a collaborative unit in Middle School.
Ms. Sullivan is teaching his students to write narratives and I bring an expertise as librarian.

I knew I could bring an ample of examples from classical and modern authors' works to show students how to develop real or imagined experiences or events.
I knew that students needed help with descriptive  vocabulary to illustrate characters and show their attitudes.
I knew we would review a dialog, one of the important narrative techniques  (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.3). 

It wasn't new to me that students model teacher's example and start little. The class was reminded  about three basic rules of writing a narrative:

• Know your audience

• Have a story in mind- think of a character, setting, a problem and a resolution. Leave your audience with a lesson, an idea, or image.

• Describe: show rather than tell, let the reader hear, feel, smell, taste, and see your story. Provide details.

A novel Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff was my discovery.  Students recalled the sequence of the events and could tell the story spontaneously! The novel is an anthology of descriptive vocabulary, and students use the words to characterize actions, places, objects, and emotions.

A collection of descriptive words created in Symbaloo helped students to find synonyms and compose engaging narratives.

Using Laptops in one-to-one laptop environment

This week we are getting together to share our experiences in the area of classroom management and laptop use in one-to-one laptop classroom setting.

While I am getting ready for the meeting and making a list of gadgets I taught this semester and useful sites I would like to share with others, I am thinking that this High School staff meeting is a milestone that indicates our progress in using technology at school. Digital environments are not new anymore. I believe every teacher can make a presentation on a Web 2.0 tool and how it's used for teaching academic skills.

We all employ no different technologies: blogs, wikis, podcasts, voice threads, delicious, diigo, and other, so quickly developing in a technology based society. Communication, sharing, collaboration, and conversation are the new features that let us talk about a new level we reached in the development of one-to-one laptop program. Sharing our experiences and teaching techniques we use in class are what is making our meeting exciting and indicates us as a community of "a noble and humanizing meaning" "in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others" (Elie Wiesel).

I would like to use this opportunity to review a number of posts devoted to technology and especially the documents collected for Tech team presentation made last year. Click here to see links to Irving High School Laptop initiative movies, eBook about classroom management, Florida State University suggestions on laptop use management in clas, and other sites on the topic.

Credits: Image is taken from the site moviereviews.wikispaces.com

Back to One-to-One Laptop Program: Kevin on You Tube

At one of the recent late-start in-service sessions that we had in January, Kevin Johnston shared his ideas and experience on using laptops in one-to-one classroom setting. He answered teachers' questions about class management and discipline issues. Now you can hear Kevin talk on one-to-one laptop program at AIS on YouTube!



Introduction - Cont.
One-to-One Laptop Program: Pros and Cons,
One-to-One Laptop Program: Classroom Management,
One-to-One Laptop Program: Behavior Management,
One-to-One Laptop Program in the Future.

These clips could be a good start of a collection of videos that would provide ideas and tips on using computers in class in one-to-one laptop setting.

You are invited to add comments and/or talk to me about techniques YOU are using in your class, and I'll add your story to the new collection.

Classroom Management

eBook Classroom Management (20 pages): Technology & Learning, 2008
http://newbay.ebookhost.net/tl/faronics/1/

Irving High School Laptop Initiatives:
http://www.irvingisd.net/one2one/classroom_management.htm

Classroom Management Videos:
http://www.irvingisd.net/one2one/classroom_management/cm_video_series.htm

Classroom Management of Laptops
http://schoolcomputing.wikia.com/wiki/Classroom_Management_of_Laptops

Florida State University. 10 Ways to Manage Laptop Use in the Classroom
http://learningforlife.fsu.edu/ctl/explore/bestpractices/docs/10WaystoManageLaptops.pdf

Laptop Use in the Classroom / out of the Classroom
http://learningforlife.fsu.edu/ctl/explore/bestPractices/docs/teachingwithlaptops.pdf

Kim's resources and example of class guidlines for technology use in class.

Tech Team Blog "Questions & Answers about Classroom Management in One-to-One Laptop Environment"