Teaching Strategies Overview
This unit is designed to reach a wide range of learners. In urban classrooms, reading levels and student skills will vary. Teachers attempt to close the gap through effective differentiation techniques, which can be difficult to implement daily. The instructional strategies outlined are suggestions to be used at the discretion of the teacher. The teacher may elect to use some strategies with the whole class, while reserving other activities for advanced groups of learners. The same rationale can be applied by selecting appropriate activities for struggling readers. The presence of the teacher in these activities will vary as well, which will have an impact on learning outcomes. Whether presented as whole group, small group, paired, or individual instruction, the teacher’s knowledge of the class dynamics will have the greatest impact on student learning. Every strategy and activity is not required. The ultimate goal is to select the right activities for the right students that will lead to student success on the unit assessment and beyond.
Pre-Task
As a pre-task activity, students will answer the unit compelling question based on their current knowledge of the topic and without help from the instructor. Pre-task activities are important for teachers and students. For the teacher, it serves as a baseline assessment for content knowledge and writing conventions, which are both components of the common core learning standards. Using the Informational and Explanatory Teaching Task Rubric (See Appendix 2), student responses are scored and can be used to show growth. This is also an opportunity for teachers to create student groups based on the individual student knowledge of the content and the student ability to effectively execute rubric-based skills. For example, students with more content knowledge will be able to navigate higher tiered lexile readings in small groups or pairs. Advanced students will be provided with the opportunity to engage in advanced tasks absent of the teacher to develop advanced grade-level skills. Students that lack skills in writing conventions will need assistance in with writing. Ideally, the teacher will provide several small group sessions to improve writing and practice during extension activities such as homework. The most appropriate time to work with this small group writing conventions is during the time advanced learners are analyzing sources in the respective small groups.
Students benefit from the pre-tasks writing activity because it gives students an opportunity to identify what they know and do not know. This step is often skipped in classrooms, but is extremely valuable. Students have the opportunity to create their own learning plan. The teacher can have students reflect on this daily, weekly or when students are having a difficult time academically or behaviorally. The learning plan refocuses students on what is important, while allowing them to celebrate successes. For example, students can check off content knowledge or writing skills as they master them (See Appendix 3). The monumental tasks of addressing the unit compelling question is broken down into small pieces, which will allow students to check-off items individual students master and ultimately makes the tasks more manageable for students. This also provide students with the language to verbalize areas of mastery and areas of growth.
Task Analysis
Before engaging with any content, students will complete a task analysis. Using the compelling question, which is also the unit assessment, students will rewrite each step of the task in their own words (See Appendix 4). Next, students will describe what is being asked of them in their own words. Students can sometimes have difficulty addressing all components of a constructed response. The task analysis will serve as a checklist when writing and as a checklist when gathering information. While all students should complete the pre-task writing activity, the task analysis will be assigned at the discretion of the teacher. Advanced student writers may not find this useful, while it will provide additional guidance for poor writers or writers that lack background knowledge.
Anticipatory Guides
Anticipatory guides are the first piece of content students grapple with. The anticipation guide allows students to agree or disagree with compelling and supporting questions. The compelling and supporting questions are changed into simple statements that require students to answer true or false. Next, students write down their rationale for their decision. Scaffolding up, students then discuss their rationale for each statement in pairs or in a small group. They have the opportunity to change their opinion and rationale based on conversations with peers. Next, groups share their answers and rationale as a whole class. Again, students have the ability to change their answers based on what they hear from peers. During this process, the teacher has another opportunity to informally track student knowledge. Most importantly, the teacher should listen for misunderstandings and then use the misunderstandings to frame learning throughout the unit. For example, a teacher may introduce a new activity be saying, “Last week, I heard a student say… As you review the document today, be prepared to determine whether or not that was an accurate statement using evidence from the source.” Anticipatory guides can remain posted in the classroom and can be referenced as students come to new understandings. Students or the teacher will write new understandings directly on individual anticipation guides or the classroom anticipation chart throughout the unit.
Paideia Seminar
Paideia Seminars will be used to engage the entire class in a highly structured meaningful conversation around selected sources. The seminars are extremely valuable, but are skills that must be taught and practiced. Teachers are encouraged to practice a Paideia seminar with students using a low-level, high-interest opinion source before conducting the Paideia seminar found in the class activities section of this unit.
A Paideia seminar is a collaborative, intellectual dialogue about a text in which the teacher facilitates using open-ended questions. The overall goal is to guide students to a fuller understanding of textual ideas and values of oneself and others. All participants including the teacher are seated with their desks in a circle. The teacher will ask a series of open-ended questions that engage students and push student thinking. The teacher will also track the conversation by identifying whom speaks and in which order, taking notes on student misunderstandings and hot button issues, and then using the notes to drive deeper student discussions. Students are expected to pay close attention to the speaker and take notes. Students are allowed to speak with peers without raising a hand. Students can respectfully agree and extend, or disagree and refute what other students say. Students will also reference the text to support opinions and will ask questions of peers to gain a better understanding of the opinions of other students.
The teacher monitors the conversation the entire time by drawing lines to show the flow of the conversation among participants. The teacher will also use symbols to make a note of how many times individual students asked a questions, agreed, disagreed, referenced the text or make a connection (See Appendix 5). At the conclusion of the seminar, the teacher shows students their individual level of participation. This allow students to set goals for future Paideia seminars. For example, if a student notices he only spoke twice and referenced the text once, he may set a goal of speaking more and referencing the text more. Goal-setting will also be done at the class level. If the teacher notices there was a lack of connections to other content during the discussion, the class can set a goal to have a certain number of connections by the end of the seminar. The individual and class goal-setting allows students to guide their own learning, while improving listening and speaking when discussing text-based sources. A class Paideia seminar will be used to analyze an excerpt from The Absolutely True Narrative of a Part-Time Indian and a textual summary of American Indian fishing and hunting treaty rights linked to The Ways video.
Question Formulation Technique
The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is a simple process that leads to rigorous student results. It helps students produce questions, improve questions, and strategize the use of questions to conduct research. The steps are as follows:
- Students are presented with and image, video, or text and will have 2-3 minutes to come up with as many questions as they can about the piece. During this time, there is no judgment of the value of specific questions. The students only write.
- Students place an “O” next to open-ended questions and a “C” next to close-ended questions. Student will have the option of changing the close-ended questions to open-ended questions, or deleting the closed-ended questions entirely.
- Students prioritize questions based on the actions they wish to take. Questions that need immediate answers will be placed at the top of the list. Questions that students wish to explore further are moved to the bottom of the list.
- Students use sources provided by the teacher and those they find on their own to answer the refined list of questions.
There are several variations of the Question Formulation Technique. Some forms include reflection at the end of the process, while another variation allows students to reflect on each step for a deeper understanding. Teachers may choose to engage in the reflection process if this is a strategy that will be used multiple times throughout the year. Scholars will use the Question Formulation Technique with the stimuli of a portrait of Alfred Mamaday of the Kiowa tribe from the For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw text.
Guided Notes
The guided notes strategy is used to increase engagement and to highlight important information during a lecture, paired reading or individual reading. Guided notes can be used with a variety of learners in a single class. Students can listen as a teacher reads and explains or students can read on their own. Guided notes ensure that all students have the same key understandings and key concepts about a particular topic.
There is a small amount of teacher preparation time needed for guided notes. The teacher is responsible for creating a list of notes and highlighting key information for students. Next, the teacher uses a word processing document to replace key concepts with blanks. Finally, students fill in the blanks as a teacher reads and gives the key vocabulary, or students read and complete the notes on their own. Students that struggle with reading will benefit from teacher lead guided notes, while advanced readers can work on their own. The teacher will only need to check the notes of independent students to ensure they have the correct concepts. Students will use the guided notes strategy to explore the AIM Wounded Knee campaign.
Close Reading
Close reading, originally mostly practiced in English language arts classrooms, have a powerful impact in social studies classrooms. Close reading differs from a normal reading activity in that it requires the reader to look beyond the surface meaning of a text. In doing so, the reader develops critical thinking and analytical skills, in addition to the standard comprehension skills associated with reading.
Close reading is important because it allows readers to fully engage in a text without background knowledge. In general, students struggle accessing a text when a subject is unfamiliar to them. To combat this, many teachers build background knowledge using pictures, layering texts, introducing important vocabulary, or giving background knowledge before tackling the difficult text. The scaffolding techniques are effective forms of instruction. Still, it does little to prepare students for success reading texts in which the subject is unfamiliar to them. When close reading, students have an opportunity to break down the text, determine the value of the text, draw conclusions about the implications of the text and determine how the text impacts the life of the student.
Close reading can be completed in a series of small groups or as a whole-class activity. The benefit to using small groups is that the teacher has more time with students to ensure understanding. The teacher will need to spend time preparing in the advance. It is important to select a text that is rigorous and one that will allow students to dive deeply. Students will read the same text three times. During the first reading, students will read to determine what the text says. The teacher will ask comprehension questions to ensure students understand what they read. Students will then read the text a second time. After the second read students try to figure out how the text works. Questions can be asked about the author’s purpose, word choice, or the targeted audience. It is important that students use evidence from the text to support their reasoning. Finally, students will read the text a third time and analyze or compare the text to other content or sources. The third reading allows students to make connections to other texts or similar texts by the same author or a different author. Afterwards, students can draw conclusions about consistent themes or the content. It is important for the teacher to have 2-3 questions identified before starting the close reading session. In addition, teachers can add or modify questions based on student understanding and interest throughout the close read.
The excerpt from Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee will be new content for students and difficult for them to understand. Students will use the close reading strategy to engage with this text.
Writing Opportunities
There will be an embedded written activity that allows students to draw a conclusion about a similar movement in preparation for the final written piece. The written piece will include the following question: Do historical tragedies have an expiration date? Is it possible for a community to move forward if they relive tragedies of old? Think about a time that you were forgiven for a mistake. Also, think about a time that you were not forgiven for a mistake. Use your personal reflections and evidence from the sources you have studied.
Post-Task
Finally, students will revisit the unit compelling question and write a constructed response using the five-paragraph essay format. In alignment with the College, Career, and Civic Action (C3) national social studies standards, students will take student-led informed action as an individual, in pairs, or as a larger group. The actions can include political change, fundraising, awareness raising, behavioral change, volunteering or any other appropriate action. Students will have an opportunity to reflect on the unit overall, which will include their individual academic and written growth, evaluation of resources, recommendations to increase the student value of the unit for future students, and the future of the civic action they have taken.
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