Tibbetts Lesson Plans & Teaching Reflections

September 22, 2008

We went as a class to Tibbetts Middle School to meet Leah Finch's eighth grade class today. We UNM students read our "I Am" poems aloud as a way to introduce ourselves. They too had written poems but were too shy or self conscious to share.

Nine students have chosen to read Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli, and I will be reading with them. I really look forward to discussing it with the students, and getting different perspectives.

September 29, 2008

Today's visit to Tibbets was great. I met our ten partners in reading Stones in Water; they shared their I Am poems, which were great! And we did some research and sharing about WWII, and planned to read chapters 1 and 2 for next time. I am excited to find out what they think about the reading and to hear from them about connections they make.

October 6, 2008

I met with three fine young men today to discuss "Stones." It was fun to talk with them about their experiences in reading. Two young men couldn't just stop after 2 chapters but kept going. I couldn't blame them, it is a good story.

For next week A. will be our vocab expert, I. will be the discussion leader, W. will be our illustrator, and I will be the summarizer. It should be fun.

After we spent time as a small group, we then met with two other small groups to combine the discussion. This was a little harder, maybe because the group is so large, but we hope to continue meeting in small groups then large groups for awhile and then eventually just be a large group? We shall see. I would sure like to get to know all of the students.

October 13, 2008

Today was a great meeting with our Literature circle. I was a little let down at first because the young men in my group had not fulfilled their assignments, but when I gave them each five minutes to do as much as they could they came pu with great things. These young men have great insights and I enjoy hearing from them. I also enjoyed meeting in a large group. How fun it is to hear from the students and see what connections they make. From a teaching point of view… one of my students is very bright and I think would like to go farther and faster than the rest of the groupl. Another of my students doesn’t read the full assignment and so doesn’t have as mch to offer the group and then tends to cause trouble. The third student likes to talk quite a bit and sometimes takes over the conversation. We as teachers have decided to mix up the small groups, and to spend more time in the large group. Hopefully that will help meet the needs of each of my students. I look forward to finding out.

October 20, 2008

Today was a frustrating day. None of the three boys was prepared for class today. One young man has finished the book and is now bored and doesn’t want to participate anymore. One young man claims he read all the assignment but it didn’t seem like it. And because he didn’t read or maybe he did read but he doesn’t comprehend well, anyway, he did not participate as well as he could have. The third boy read past the assignment and came with some things to talk about, but it was hard to talk because of the disinterest of the other two.

I was not as prepared as I should have been. I expected more from the boys than what they were able to give and so I was part of the disappointment. I also think that the boys just don’t know how to have a discussion. Any attempt at a discussion, quickly dissolves into insults or quiet. I plan to do a mini-lesson on discussions. I also think that I am not helping them to dig deeper into the book for more than just the story. So I need to require more of them to do more during the reading as well as teaching them about discussions.

[You see this is the part of differentiating and scaffolding that worries me in teaching. Here I have met with these boys three weeks now and we have pretty much finished the book and I am just now seeing and recognizing what I need to do to help them, and I am not really sure I have it figured out. The semester will be over soon and I am beginning to think that I have wasted their time and the time of the homeroom teacher, who entrusted them to me. This is frustrating.]

The students will probably finish the book this week or next and so we plan to begin reading the next book in the series.

October 27, 2008

Today’s visit to Tibbetts was a good one. I appreciated that A. and W. had done their reading and responded in writing. They participated very well in the discussions and brought some very insightful ideas to the table. I wish that I. had had more to share. He has been finished with the book for a couple of weeks now, but I still think he could have added more to the conversation. I was more prepared this week with writings of my own and comments. It helped to have a mini-lesson on conversations. I look forward to next week.

November 3, 2008

Today’s visit to Tibbetts was a bitter sweet one. We closed out Stones and will be beginning its sequel Fire in the Hills. We also mixed up the groups. I will miss Stones, as I usually do miss a good book, and I will miss working with I., A, and W. I felt like the students were just getting into the book and we were having a good conversation today. We ran out of time to really do the ending of Stones justice and so I hope we can maybe close it better as we begin and talk about Fire. I look forward to the next book and working with P., A., and K. though, I can tell from watching them with other groups and when we met as a large group that they are very insightful and talented young men.

I almost wish that we didn’t have to change groups because of all the hard work we have done to get to the point that we were all reading and participating. It has taken patience and hard work from all of us, but the reasons for changing the groups are still good ones and so I will support it.

November 10, 2008

I enjoyed today’s visit. It was a little short because of other class obligations. We spent a few minutes getting to know each other; what books we read, what our favorite movie is, what we do in our free time etc. We then looked at a map of Europe (each of us had a copy), and we marked all of the places we could remember Roberto visiting in Stones. We will continue to mark the map as we read Fire. It is amazing to me to visually see how much land Roberto covered and that he was able to find his way around and know where he had to go to get home. He must have really paid attention in geography class : )

We then talked some about the Italian resistance, I had done some research and found some interesting facts about it, and also a website that shows short video clips of people who actually participated in the resistance. The things you learn! I am constantly amazed at all that went on during WWII.

Finally we began reading the book. There are only three more classes left and so we will have to hustle through the book. The boys were pretty anxious to read, I think we all want to know what happens to Roberto; will he finally get home?

November 16, 2008

Today was a wonderful day for Literature Circles. We missed P. he was absent, but K. and A. and I had some great conversation. These boys ask great questions and provide wonderful insights and connections. We only have three weeks to read and discuss the entire book of Fire, and so there is a lot of reading to do, but I think that it is okay to read so much text, because then there is more to talk about. The boys didn’t seem to have a problem doing all of the reading. I will remember this.

December 1, 2008

Today was our last day together. It was a good day. I was sorry to miss K, he wasn’t there last week either. I checked out a book from the library about using the Socratic Seminar and it has been so helpful to me in getting an idea for why we should have discussions with students, and some great insights as to how to conduct the discussions. I realize that Socratic Seminars are not quite the same as Literature Circles, but they seem to compliment each other so well that it has been helpful to study about seminars. I used what I learned from this book to begin the discussion today and it seemed to be successful. I did not have enough material to last the full hour and the boys ran down about 40 minutes into the activity, but I think that if there were more than just three people to have the discussion there would have been enough. I am glad to get to put into practice what I have been learning.

With the extra time I asked the boys to evaluate the time we have spent together, and to give me any advice they have for me when I become a teacher. They have enjoyed the Lit. Circles, they each gave it an 8 on a ten point scale. They suggested that we have more action and not so much sitting and talking. They are boys after all. They told me not to be the kind of teacher that just gives worksheets or reading assignments and then expects them to work quietly for an hour at a time. They like talking and doing things, they like variation. I agreed with them. I will take their suggestions to heart. I will miss all of these students.

Lesson Plans

For September 29, 2008

Objective: Get to know and begin to build relationships with the Tibbetts students. Create groups for literature circles. Share information about WWII, as a prelude to reading Stones.

Readiness: Each student will share their I AM poem.

Participation: Ask and discuss:

1. What do you know about WWII?

2. What would you like to know about WWII?

3. How would your life be different if you were living during WWII?

4. Why did you choose to read Stones in Water?

5. What do you expect from reading Stones in Water?

Helpful websites for learning about WWII

webquest

http://www.okcps.org/hs/John_Marshall/Webquests/WWII%20Webquest.htm

Children of WWII

http://www.uni.edu/schneidj/webquests/WWIIChildren/wb25/Process.html

Digital History

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/ww2/index.cfm

Application: The students will read the first two chapters of Stones for next week. The students will respond to a writing prompt, “What would you think if you were in Samuele’s or Roberto’s situation?”

For October 13, 2008

Objective: to assign roles for reading and discussing, to begin a conversation about Stones, to further build relationships with the students.

Readiness: Each person in the group will share what they wrote about being in Roberto’s or Samuele’s shoes.

Participation: Each participant will share anything they would like to about the book. Participants will ask questions about the book. Participants will make connections, text to text, text to movie, text to real life, etc.

Application: Each participant will continue reading to page 100, they will write in reflection journals, choose a role to perform for the next meeting, and be prepared to share again next time.

For October 20, 2008

Objective: To continue the discussion of Stones, each student will play multiple roles in the conversation, illustrator, vocabulary detective, summarizer, and leader.

Readiness: Meet in small groups to begin the discussion. Each student will share something from the reading.

Participation: the small groups will combine to make a large group and conduct a discussion about Stones. The students will carry the majority of the discussion, UNM students will take a back seat.

Application: The students will continue reading Stones.

For October 27, 2008

Objective: the students will learn the skill of carrying on a discussion, and practice it.

Readiness: The students will look at their notes of Stones and create questions from those notes to use as discussion starters.

Participation: I will teach a mini lesson on discussions.

Application: the students and I will participate in a game that demonstrates how a discussion works, using Stones as the subject.

For November 3, 2008

Objective: To close out Stones in Water, and introduce Fire in the Hills, and to change the groups.

Readiness: Pair off the students and have them act out a scene in the closing chapters of Stones.

Participation: Discuss the end of Stones and what was important to them.

Application: the students will prepare for Fire in the Hills, by researching the Italian resistance during WWII.

For November 10, 2008

Objective: The students will learn about and share something about the Italian Resistance. The students will be introduced to Fire in the Hills. The students will look at a map and track Roberto’s travels.

Readiness: Show a map of Europe during the time of WWII, find and talk about the places that Roberto was in during “Stones.” We will track his travels throughout Fire also.

Participation: Share what we have learned about the resistance. Assign books. Begin reading Fire.

Application: The students will decide how many pages to read for next time, and make any assignments needed for our next visit.

For November 17, 2008

Objective: to discuss the first 13 chapters of Fire and make connections, text to text, text to life, and/or text to movies.

Readiness: Review the map, what places need to be marked. Discuss any connections from the reading to what we learned about the resistance last meeting.

Participation: each of the boys will share what they found interesting in the book, paying particular attention to making connections.

Application: the students will read to chapter 24, and be prepared to discuss further any connections made. The students will keep a journal to record thoughts, questions, and vocabulary as they read.

For November 22, 2008

Readiness: show some video clips of actual Italian Resistance fighters.

Participation: have a discussion of the book, chapters 13-24.

Application: the students will finish the book, and be prepared to discuss further any connections made. The students will keep a journal to record thoughts, questions, and vocabulary as they read.

For December 1, 2008

Readiness: discuss first responses to the ending of the book.

Participation: Discuss the word trust, what does it mean? When is trust important? How are the different definitions the same, or different? What examples of trust are in the text? What roles did trust play? What were the consequences?

Application: I hope the students will continue to make connections with literature.