Strategies
Close Read
A reading comprehension strategy will be for my students to use close reading. Firstly, students will have a hard copy of the poem, so they can number the lines and make notations as we continue on to subsequent readings. The initial reading will be just that, as the students read the poem to themselves for the first time. As a result of the second reading students will number the lines, underline words they don’t know, and make notations in the margin if they have any questions about the words or phrases. On the third reading, students will demonstrate their comprehension of the content: What is the poet saying? Students will annotate in the margins and make comments, ask questions, make note of any uses of figurative language, symbolism, and imagery, and determine the mood of the poem. Once the students have had a chance to interact with the poem alone, the next stage will be to have them share with a partner. At this point, they have much to share with another student and they can explain and defend their individual reaction to the poem. Students can make clear to one another what interpretations they arrived at independently. Before this activity, I will caution my students that there are many equally valuable methods for analyzing a poem or any piece of writing. Each individual is free to arrive at whatever aspect they are searching for, and no one is to be ridiculed or intimidated because of what they say. Of course, in the class setting this will have been modeled for them while we read the poems as a class. My students will be trained to pay close attention to how the text makes meaning though literary devices such as imagery, symbolism, and figurative language. Additionally, students will pay attention to word choice, sentence structure, and writing style. After discussions in pairs, students will have an opportunity to see the art object that the ekphrastic poem is relating to. Still working in pairs, students will analyze and make comparisons of their interpretation of the art object to that of the poet. This reading strategy is important to my students since most of them are poor readers, and that’s the reason it’s ideal that they learn the steps of the procedures for close reading. It’ll be essential for my students to learn the close reading procedures when first getting used to reading poems, so they will continue using the strategy they have learned for other reading activities.
Questions and Activating Prior Knowledge
Effective questions and cues focusing on what is important is another strategy that I’ll use with my students. This is a strategy that will also build on prior knowledge, which will be particularly important during the analytical activity of interpreting the art objects in this demonstration: the two paintings by Georgia O’Keefe and Shonto Begay. Some questions I’ll be using will be the types of inquiries used by art teachers, such as: What types of lines, shapes, colors, texture, and forms do you see? What does the picture mean? What was the artist successful at depicting? These are the art teacher’s forms of questions, focusing on helping the student with describing, analyzing, and judging art objects. The level of question is critical in asking effective questions: the more thought provoking question will be the higher level questions according to the depth of knowledge scales. In order for students to focus on analyzing a painting, they will need direction on how to be art critics. Therefore, the types of questions that are posed to them will have to be well designed and focused to help students perform better at critiquing art. Some students will have prior knowledge of art pieces, perhaps as visitors to museums or as artists themselves. Again, the questions asked of all students need to be focused and well developed in order to jar their memories and activate their prior knowledge.
Questions that will help students in critical analysis of art objects such as painting would concern the artist’s use of colors, shadows, and how the setting is portrayed--for example students will analyze the simplicity of how the artist used shadows, and muted shades of color in the interior furnishings of the hogan in “My Mother’s Kitchen”. In the same painting, urge the students to analyze why the main character is given an older style of dress and hairstyle from an earlier period of Navajo life. Students will generate their own questions and reflect on the message from the painting. For example, some questions might be: Why did the clothing and hairstyle change? What was the style of dress in earlier times before colonization? Does dress and hairstyle identify individuals as to who they are? In western style clothing, do you remain Navajo? And, more poignantly, how do you feel about not speaking Navajo if that’s who you are? Do you think that the Navajo people are beginning to lose their own language? Should Navajos save their language, and why is that important?
Direct Instruction
The assumption is that direct instruction is being performed in the classroom; however, is it structured, sequenced, and modeled by the teacher so students are learning? In any professional development, teachers are presented any number of ways to model strategies for their students, focusing on learning goals, sharing of standards or academic expectations, and organizing the lesson so students can understand and avoid confusion. For example, sequencing this unit will be critical since ekphrastic poetry writing and analyzing art objects will be new territory for my students. I have to consider the timing, the sequence of introducing the poem or visual and making sure my students have enough time so they’re not overwhelmed. The resources, handouts, and other teaching aids will need to be distributed at the right time. For my students, I’ll have many additional handouts that focus on vocabulary specific to analyzing art objects, how to critique art objects, art terminology, literary terms, to name a few. Finally, there will be a method to check for understanding and allowing for feedback, helping the teacher work out ways to reteach if needed,
Discovery and Inquiry based Learning
This strategy uses learning from personal experiences, such as: field trips, case studies, investigations by groups or individuals, and research projects. Students are actively engaged in developing questions, identifying and explaining evidence to justify answers, and defending arguments or claims. This strategy will be used when my students perform fact finding research projects on an art piece, artists, or poets. Additionally, students will be required to take effective notes, write in their journal, and present their findings to the class or to their group. The effectiveness of this strategy will be determined by the effectiveness of topic discussion and group or individual presentations.
Students can explore their knowledge of their Navajo language and determine what Navajo words they know and make a list to share with the class. A topic for discussion could be the student’s concerns about the erosion of the Navajo language. What are the ramifications of a people losing their original language? How do you feel about losing the language of the Navajo Code Talkers that helped win a war? Students will be given the opportunity to discuss their concerns in preparation for writing an ekphrastic poem about the painting by Shonto Begay, “My Mother’s Kitchen.”
Field Experience, Field Trips
This strategy involves a field trip to a museum or to a park that has wall murals that the students can analyze. This is enrichment or a reward activity that will give students the benefit of learning outside the school setting. This type of activity will involve other staff members, parents, and the students themselves; therefore, planning is critical, especially with mindfulness of the school calendar. This experience will be the most beneficial for students to have since they will experience art, with lectures from experts or artists and writers, and community input in the real-world. Most importantly, the purpose and procedure of the expedition has to be made clear, if this type of experience becomes available, I will provide a handout outlining what has to happen, and clear instructions on the objectives and expectations. The handout will also include a clear sense of what the end product will be along with a rubric of the expectations of the assignment.
Strategic Grouping
Grouping students together, known as cooperative learning, has been promoted in most schools, in some more forcefully than in others. I understand that group work is beneficial for students; however, not all the time and not for every student. What I find more beneficial for my freshmen students is to group students according to the task, and the dynamics of the class. Also, I hold off on group work until after the first quarter in the school year. The most successful grouping strategy I have found for my 9th grade students is grouping and re-grouping as the project or assignment progresses. Otherwise, students become too familiar with one another to the point of distraction and being off task. Sometimes, for various reasons some students refuse to work in a group, in which case, I have to approach the student to determine the reasons for their reluctance in joining a group. Often times, these students will be the ones with an IEP, and the case manager has to get involved. The fine line here in grouping is “ability” grouping, and some school districts discourage this type of grouping. Again, if the material is complex and challenging, this type of grouping could be beneficial initially. Once the students feel comfortable with the lesson, they can be re-grouped. Teacher led group is, of course, what happens daily and is most effective when introducing new material or summing up a unit. However, student led group can contribute to student learning as well, and can take several forms. The group could be task oriented, with the student leader having control over the topic and the group dynamics. Student led groups give students opportunities to develop leadership skills, high level thinking; they develop responsibilities for tasks and toward other group members, and a responsibility for their own learning.
Word Wall
For the word wall in the class room, students will select literary terms related to the content of study, words for critiquing art objects, and challenging words. To personalize the activity for the students, they will participate in the selection and display of the words. Some ideas to consider would be to extend the word wall to become a tool to teach vocabulary, spelling, and parts of speech. As the students become familiar with the purpose of the word wall, they will gain independence by using the word wall in daily writing activities.
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