For Thurs posting

First! Thursday we'll meet at 1:30 instead of 2:25 in whichever room is open. I forget. 

Second, thanks for your quickly scripted performances of Readers Theater with Out of the Dust. I only wish all of you could have been sitting in my seat to see Chiatne drive the car. Just awesome.

My questions would be did that experience help your understanding of our read-aloud? Would you use this in your classroom and if so what would you do differently? What does Readers Theater and comprehension have to do with each other? Other thoughts about Readers Theater you have? Feel free to address these in your posts for Thurs, but it's optional.

Options for your post due Thurs on Fisher & Frey's Ch. 6:

1. Traditional written blog post to include one quote from the text and an elaboration on why you chose it, one question (don't skate by, give us something thought-provoking), and one personal connection you had while reading the text (this can be outside the box and doesn't have to be directly related to your educational experiences). 
2. An Inspiration mindmap for the chapter saved as a jpeg image and posted to your blog.  BTW, the computer lab has Inspiration.
3. A prezi presentation for the chapter. http://prezi.com Just post the link to your prezi and your done. 

Numbers 2 & 3 put you out into some new waters, but offer some creativity--you're free to detour from the written requirements.

See you Thurs!
Dr B

Weeks four and five, writing-to-learn and read-alouds

Hi all, 
It took some time, but I'm proud to say each and every one of you have personal feedback from me on your week four Writing-to-learn post. Take some time to read the feedback before you post for this week, I think you'll appreciate the commentary, and in some cases, it might inform the way you write for this next posting due Thurs. Feel free to return any dialogue.

If you're interested in our groupings this week, you can check out more about astrology for fun at Psychic Guide

Last but not least is the lasted on Vivian Lowery Bishop, Age 2, who went to a bday party at the zoo and refused to ride the train with group. So here we are on the Merry-Go-Round, by ourselves. And just a quick FYI, she's NOT a leopard here, she's a peacock. ?!

Service-Learning info

Hi all, if you're interested in starting your Service-Learning experiences at Hawkins, you can now email Ms. Sharon Miles (iamsmiles@gmail.com) and let her know to which time slot you'd like to commit. If at all possible, please try to set consistent times. This does wonders for minimizing the organization of the partnership, as you can imagine. Just as a reminder, the below is taken from our syllabus Service-Learning description 

1. Commit to visiting Hawkins at a set time each week (a minimum of 5 one-hour visits) between the hours of 8:00-11am. 
2. Commit to visiting Hawkins at a set time each week (a minimum of 5 visits) between the hours of 12:30-2:45pm  
3. Commit to visiting Hawkins at a set time each week during their afterschool program (minimum of 5 visits), which meets on T/TH from 3-5pm beginning Tues, Sept. 20.

Hawkins Contact Person
Sharon Miles
iamsmiles@gmail.com 


For Berger Middle School, Seth Thomas asked that you wait until October 1st to email him. I'll post his address then. He'll have all the logistics sorted out and will be able to provide us with options for an adolescence experience. If you haven't experienced middle school, I strongly encourage you to try it.

Week two--defining Content Area Literacy

Hi everyone,

Hope you're all having a peaceful Labor Day weekend. We're having menacing weather down here on the coast.

As with the daily agendas, I'll try to keep you informed about what we're doing (and what we've done) on this course blog. Note for next week, you should see your name listed to the right under our individual blog links; instead of our weekly blog post, I'm asking that you choose one or two peers (or more!) and respond to their week one blog posting by Thursday. Try to choose someone who hasn't received a response yet, then double up if you'd like. Make connections, share experiences, take a stab at their questions, and if you can, respectfully challenge their thinking and generate some dialogue through diverse perspectives.

Also, remember to bring your Moss article and a biography book. And one last gentle reminder to read the syllabus. I'm going to ask that you commit (or not) to the Service-Learning project by Tues, Sept 13. 

Below are some pics to enjoy (or ignore). If you can correctly identify the dragonfly or the beach bird (common name + genus and species please), you're exempt from the above blog response for this week (or I'll buy you a pack of Twizzlers from the hall machine, your choice). The third pic is Vivian, in her 2s, commonly known as Vivi, Homo sapien.

 

Week one--Content Area Literacy in Elem Grades

Hi everyone,

Nice to meet you all. If the animal quick-write is any indication, we have a wonderfully diverse group of personalities in this class. Since technically the bird category had the largest number, we get a bird background for our blog. Exciting, huh? Speaking of birds, there's some controversy about the eagle's reputation. If you're interested, see this and this.

About creating backgrounds, take some time and play around with Blogger's settings, you can personalize your blog throughout the semester. For example, change colors, adjust the width of your text, add "Gadgets." Don't be intimidated by the "Dashboard" or any of the tabs at the top, we'll get to know them along the way. Feel free to get creative.

Due Thurs: Read the Moss article and create your first blog posting

Once you have your blog created, send me the link and I'll add it to our blogroll on the right.
Dr. B