Teaching Strategies
The following strategies will be of use during this curriculum unit. They are common strategies used within the subject area of English and Language Arts and will be helpful when used in tandem with the classroom activities that will occur during the five-week teaching and learning period of the unit.
KWL Charting-(what I Know/Knew, what I Want to know and what I Learned)
A well-known practice with teachers of students from all grade levels, this type of pre-writing or charting helps to get a sufficient view of the learning process. It provides what, if any, background information students may already have on a specific topic; what they feel they may need in order to add to that learning; and an “exit slip” of sorts with the “what I learned” portion at the end.
Think Pair Share
Students take appropriate wait time to ponder a question or prompt. They then pair up with a partner or small group to process their thoughts and discuss. Finally, the children come back to the larger group and share out on their collaborations. This strategy is a great way to involve all students, and unpack their thinking on a topic. It also promotes student led learning.
Readers’ Workshop
Consisting of Read Alouds and minilessons paired with independent reading time and vocabulary or word study, this practice provides equal opportunity for listening, individual reading time, and oral reading as well as putting into practice various skills learned. Students select books appropriately and show comprehension through numerous forms of response.
Writers’ Workshop
Made up of several activities, this activity consists of the minilesson which provides an opportunity to thoroughly review the prompts for students as well as examples for compete comprehension of the genre and goal. Sufficient writing time is provided (individual as well as partnering), which is inclusive of prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. Sharing or Publicizing students’ works is essential for completion of the workshop process.
Journaling
Provides students with time to express personal feelings, produce creative writing such as poetry or fictional tales and to respond to a myriad of prompts that end up showcasing comprehension and overall learning. Journaling can happen daily or be paired with specific assignments that provide the instructor with an opportunity to monitor student learning.
Close Reading
This is a strategy that is a staple to the Common Core and promotes students’ development of critical analysis of text. Students read and reread with deep discussion that examines patterns, core details and other text features. Students are then able to question the content or structure of the reading as well as construct meaning and build vocabulary.
Analyzation
The ability to break apart writing or reading and take a closer look in order to foster thorough comprehension. Promotes higher level thinking essential to development of students’ growth and successful acceleration through the grades.
Inquiry
Teaching that is inquiry based is a reliable way to generate the curiosity of students. It gets them thoroughly engaged in the learning process by promoting agency or ownership of their learning. When education is student led, the children develop an innate sense of gathering and proving information. They also develop higher level thinking skills.
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