Week 7:
Explore two tools for the chapter that you have chosen (Chapter 7 Writing)
Poetry writing is now a very
important part of my curriculum. Not only do I expose my students to poetry,
but I also provide opportunities for them to write poetry. One of the most
difficult things to teach my English language learners is Figurative Language.
This site works specifically with one form of figurative language, metaphors.
This tool will assist in teaching
how language works using metaphors. The subject would be Language Arts for
English language learners in grade 7. The learning objective would be to determine
the meaning of figurative phrases and analyze how it creates imagery, appeals
to the senses and suggests mood.
Students will be able to use the starting sentence stems
provided by the site; they will have (phrases) choices available they can choose
from to provide the scaffold. This is very important because every student that
is not familiar with poetry needs help by scaffolding. Once they have created
the metaphor, then the discussion with peers will involve analysis of meaning,
imagery, how it appeals to the senses and mood. After students generate their
metaphors, I would ask they print and provide graphics/pictures to show the
metaphors. Students will build confidence as they see how successful they are
and in turn they can continue to use this tool at home (if they have the
technology) or at school.
As with every assignment, formative assessment would be
evident as the teacher observes student progress. Summative assessment can be
done using a rubric. If students feel comfortable sharing their product, I
would encourage they post their work in the section provided by the site.
The organizational tools this program offers can literally be
used by students and teachers to address learning targets in any subject area,
and grade level. There is a free trial download available. A teacher can use it
to teach, model and assess. I will illustrate a scenario using Inspiration. The
grade level is for 7th grade, and the subject is Language Arts for
English language learners. The learning objectives include: identifying
characters, setting and point of view, after reading and analyzing Edgar Allen
Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart.
After teaching students the features of this tool, they will
first work on the sample concept map the teacher would provide for them. The
first step would be for the teacher to model how to fill in one portion of each
of the concepts. Then students and the teacher would work on the next portion
of each of the concepts and finally let students work on the rest in pairs or
on their own. Once students become more familiar with the tool, they can be
left to design different ways they can present information dealing with any of
the learning objectives that Language Arts demands. I can already see the many
incredible ways students will be able to learn, apply and teach others how to
use concept mapping.
Another useful and important feature
available with Inspiration, is the Outline. You can convert the concept map
into an outline with a simple click. Students have to be able to see the
importance of creating outlines. Analyzing the outline format with the concept
map side-by-side, will help students better understand and apply what they
learn. Finally, I was amazed that the new Inspiration9 software has embedded a
Presentation feature. Students and teachers can create presentations using
their concept maps, outlines, hyperlinks, etc…This will definitely support
Reading, Writing in all genres, since that is what I am interested in.
