Rules of Engagement:
Reading and Middle Graders…the LDC Way
Latoya Y. McCormick, M.A.Ed.
8th grade ELA
Pembroke Middle School
Pembroke, NC
Agenda
10:30am
10:40am
10:50pm
11:00am
11:15am
11:15am
Who am I?
Latoya Y. McCormick
Wife, mother, 8th grade language arts teacher, book lover
2nd year beginning, lateral entry teacher
B.A. Sociology
M.A.Ed. Adult Education and Training
5 years experience in adolescent mental health
Married since 2010
2 ½ year old daughter
Busy
Being a teacher…
At least what I thought teachers did…
Teacher: magical beings that
successfully taught all
children, graded papers,
wrote phenomenal lesson
plans, while raising a family
and looking fabulous all at
the same time… Basically a
unicorn.
Life Before LDC…
Difficulties before LDC
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Lack of experience
Behavioral problems
Engaging the students
Informational Text
Time Management
Clear use and
understanding of CCSS
• Pacing and lesson
planning
Teaching a Novel…before LDC
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Engagement:
Power Point on Golding’s background
Brief introduction to events in the world at the time
Group Work:
Literacy Circles- students read in groups while
taking Cornell notes- No clear direction. No clear
transition. No organization. No time line.
Common Core was not clearly identified or aligned to
the activities/assignments. No final project.
Students struggled with staying on task due to the
classroom chaos
Effectiveness
NONE
Students were bored. They struggled with concepts. They had
no real direction and were not presented with opportunities to
relate the novel to the real world.
Teaching a novel with video/visuals
Summary video of the storylineInformation given to the students rather
than students developing their own ideas
or using textual evidence for proof.
Film Adaptation
Film adaptations vary and are rarely true to the
storyline as represented in the novel.
Students were not asked to make note of the
differences or similarities between the film and the
text…this caused failure in students on summative
assessments as they related all things true to the
film rather than the text.
And then came
Literacy Design Collaborative…
My interests at 13
…20 years later
Student Interests
Student
Knowledge
Prior to 2000
How do you combine educational
need and student interest?
What exactly is LDC?
LDC is a national community of educators providing a teacherdesigned and research-proven framework, online tools, and
resources for creating literacy-rich assignments and courses
across content areas (SREB, 2014).
Engaging Students…the LDC way
• Meet the students at their level.
• Determine student interest via survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5GRPXMV
• Student conferences (EOG, Benchmark data, history,
RTI)
• Outline expectations
Engaging Students…the LDC way
Rules for videos/visual aids
1. Always give students a point of focus.
2. Students MUST know that there is a reason for which they
are viewing the film/visual aid.
3. Facilitate this by rotating the classroom.
4. Allow students to use various exchange of information
strategies, i.e. “think-pair-share” This allows students to
collaborate.
5. Initiate and facilitate classroom discussion. Essential
Questions, Teaching Task, Critical Focus, etc.
THERE MUST BE AN ACTIVITY WITH ANY
VIDEO/VISUAL
Novel Study…the LDC Way
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Organization: Allows students, parents
and teacher to have an overview of
assignments, expectations, due dates, etc.
Teaching Task—this gives students an understanding
of the purpose for reading the text.
Students are supplied with required resources in
packets on day 1 of the study.
Students keep track of their own study materials.
Teaching Task:
Is survival more important than basic human rights? After reading
The Hunger Games, "Band in Fatal Hazing to Perform Again," "An End
to War vs. The Animal Instinct to Survive," and excerpts from “The
Lottery,” Night, Lord of the Flies, and The Diary of Anne Frank on survival,
write a survival guide for a character from The Hunger Games or
create a cookbook for survival from District 12 in which you define
and explain the conflict between human rights and survival. Support
your discussion with evidence from the texts.
Engagement:
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video link:
“The Story of Human Rights”
Impact/Effectiveness
A short 10 minute video on the
story of human rights providing
students with information
about human rights.
Students write Cornell notes
during the video. The class
discusses the concept and
completes a short quiz utilizing
notes
This initial engagement activity admonished students of the
expectations for this novel study.
Students learn to take responsibility for their learning.
Learning Target:
I can identify the 30
human rights and prove
whether or not the rights
of the characters in the
text are being protected.
LT represents what the
student will be able to do
upon the end of the lesson
Essential Question:
EQ represents the level of thinking for
student performance using textual
evidence, process of elimination, etc.
It provides students with a focus on
what they should know upon the end
of the lesson.
What is a lottery and what
are the similarities and
differences between it and
the reaping? How do you
know?
Literature/Reading
Circles
Students work in groups of 4
(5 max)
Each student has a role in the
reading circle.
1. Dictionary Detective
2. Making Connections
3. Illustrator
4. Reader/Discussion
Director
5. Story Mapper
Rubrics & Grading
• Eliminates inconsistencies
in grading
• Provides students with
clear expectations
• Provides a
framework/guide for the
assignment
SIFT
An annotation strategy
S ynonyms
I magery
F igurative Language
Tone/Theme
NAME:________________________DATE:__________ PERIOD:_____
SIFT Literary Analysis Strategy
Directions: Use the table below to record examples of each of the poetic
devices from the literary work
Title:________________________ Author:____________________
Symbols
Examine the title and
text for symbolism
Images
Identify images and
sensory details (sight,
sound, taste, odor,
texture)
Figurative
Language
Identify and analyze
non-standard use of
language, including
metaphor, simile,
repetition, omission,
unusual word order,
slang, etc.
Tone and Theme
Using The SIFT Method Analyze
Literature Critically
1) Discuss the tone
taken by the author.
2) Message or moral:
Why did the author
create this work?
Gist
A summarizing strategy.
Students write summaries of what they have read in
no more, no less than 20 words.
The Hunger Games—Students created
Twitter posts from the perspective of a character to
another character in the text. The post must adhere
to the rules of Twitter by only utilizing 140 characters
Assessments
Engagement through Formative and Summative
Assessments
Engagement through Characterization
Students created
paper “Fakebook”
pages for assigned
characters.
Students could not
use any visuals
from the film.
Information must
show textual
evidence.
Speed Dating
Using the Speed dating format,
students exchanged profile
pages for 2 minutes and wrote
posts from the perspective of
the character that they were
assigned.
In order to do this, students
must be knowledgeable about
the characters in the text.
This was used as a formative
assessment
Final Project
Create a survival guide that would
be used in the games.
• Could be written from the
perspective of a participant in
the games or a spectator.
Create a cookbook written
specifically for survival when
living in District 12.
Both projects
must show
textual evidence
to support the
claims being
made.
This project is
used as a
summative
assessment.
Engaging Students using
technology
Book Trailers
Book Reports
• Old School
• Students are uncertain about what to
do.
• Usually a rephrasing of the author’s
original work.
• Rudimentary for 8th graders—below
grade level
• Boring
• Does not adhere to CCSS
• Does not allow students to make
inferences and relate the text to the
real world
VS
Using Animoto.com,
Students create trailers for
books they have read.
• Green- minimal paper
• Fun
• Effective
• Technology (Standards)
• Organization of plot
• Allows expression and
creativity
http://animoto.com/play/Yz
ST1L0I70mUbdyL2W9Sfg
Engaging Students using
technology
Using QR codes
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Students can do interactive gallery walks
Teachers can conduct scavenger hunts
Students can scan codes for study guides, homework, etc.
Facilitates curiosity and interest
My Experiences
Discussing LDC with teachers not involved offered
difficulties.
Students liked the organization of the lessons and the
hands-on approach.
I LOVED the organization of the lessons and preplanning.
Students became more responsible for their learning.
Students were more engaged than non-LDC
lessons.
Why does any of this matter?
• Students become more invested in their
education.
• Increase in test scores
• They understand the “whys” of learning
• If WE as teachers are not successful, we are
failing ourselves, students, and future
generations.
Our job is important
Without teachers, there would not
be any other professions.
Resources
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www.discoveryeducation.com
www.newsela.com
www.readwritethink.org
www.ereadingworksheets.com
www.teenbiz3000.com
Accelerated Reader
www.huffingtonpost.com/teen/
(Teen Huffington Post)
Curriculum Coach handbook
SREB LDC handbook
The teaching channel
Pinterest
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http://www.qrstuff.com/
www.Animoto.com
www.Youtube.com
Common Core Standards (app) and flip
chart
• Depth of Knowledge chart
Contact Information
Email: latoya.mccormick@robeson.k12.nc.us
School webpage:
http://www.robeson.k12.nc.us/Domain/5158