Methods That Enhance Print-based Academic Literacy for Deaf/Hard of
Hearing Students at LaGuardia Community College of the City University of
New York
Sue Livingston, Ph.D
Program for Deaf Adults/Education and Language Acquisition
LaGuardia Community College
CUNY
CATW ESSAY PROMPT
• Read the passage above and write an essay responding to the ideas it
presents. In your essay, be sure to:
• Summarize the passage in your own words, stating the author’s most
important ideas.
• Develop your essay by identifying one idea in the passage that you feel is
especially significant, and explain its significance.
• Support your claims with evidence or examples drawn from what you have
read, learned in school, and/or personally experienced.
CATW RUBRIC
Critical Response to
Writing Task and the
Text
Development of Ideas
Structure of Response
(SCORE DOUBLED)
(SCORE DOUBLED)
(SCORE DOUBLED)
Ideas in the reading are
understood and integrated
into the writer’s ideas
competently.
Most big ideas are
developed through
details: reasons, examples
and/or personal experience
Relevant ideas are
competently grouped
together. These ideas
support the writer’s
thesis. Transitions are
usually used.
Sentences and Word
Choice
Grammar
Most sentences are
controlled and varied.
Words clearly convey
meaning.
Grammar is
mostly correct
and meaning
is usually
clear.
AVERAGE PASS RATES ON THE CATW FOR DEAF AND HIGHAND LOW-LEVEL ESL STUDENTS
2010-2013
DEAF STUDENTS
69%
HIGH-LEVEL ESL STUDENTS
71%
LOW-LEVEL ESL STUDENTS
12.1%
Sources: LaGuardia Community College Office of Institutional Research and Assessment
CUNY Language Immersion Program – LaGuardia Community College
“ Mannequins Give Shape to a Venezuelan Fantasy”
SELECTED WORDS/PHRASES IMPORTANT TO KNOW TO
UNDERSTAND THE MESSAGE OF THE TEXT
mannequin
plastic surgery/ cosmetic surgery / implant surgery
extreme proportions
commercialism
“making ends meet”
“beauty is only skin deep”
inner beauty
GROUP ANNOTATION OF/COMMENTS ABOUT TEXT’S
PARAGRAPHS (1)
GROUP ANNOTATION OF/COMMENTS ABOUT TEXT’S
PARAGRAPHS (2)
PRACTICE INTEGRATING READING INTO WRITING
Good Morning Students! For this Coursesites discussion, I'd like you to select one quote that
you want to talk back to from "Mannequins Give Shape to a Venezuelan Fantasy” and to write
an explanation and comment about the quote. Here is an example:
Quote: “For Mr. Sosa, the longtime head of the Miss Venezuela pageant, beauty really is skin
deep: ‘I say that inner beauty doesn’t exist. That’s something that unpretty women invented to
justify themselves.’”
Explanation: Mr. Sosa is saying that beauty only exists on the outside of a person – seen on that
person’s face or body. So, if someone is kind, or generous or thoughtful, that person is not
beautiful because we cannot see these qualities. He says that women who think that qualities on
the inside are important are probably not good-looking. They want you to focus on their hearts
and minds and not their face and bodies. Comment: I find Mr. Sosa’s opinion very
distressing. Obviously, he only cares about superficial things and not real things. It seems to me
that he wouldn’t mind having a significant other who is mean, self-centered and uncaring just as
long as he/she has the looks he considers beautiful. I’m wondering how long he thinks he can
have a relationship with someone who is not a nice person. At what point will he admit that
relationships are sustained due to deeper traits other than those that you see. There is good-heart
beauty and intellectual beauty and, yes, women and men can be beautiful in these ways which
will keep them together longer than physical beauty which tends to fade quickly.
PRACTICE INTEGRATING READING INTO WRITING - II
Quote: "Over the last two years, the local news has reported several cases in
which women died after receiving faulty injections meant to firm up their
buttocks, often in unlincensed clinics."
Explanation: This means that women had died by getting an operation with a
false doctor.
Comment: What?! Women needs to be careful on which doctor they pick
because these unlincensed clinics just want your money but they will inject you
with too many medical or toxicant uses. This is why women are not being aware
of the life in Venezuela because Government feel that they are just throwing their
money for implant surgery and end up getting hungry. Women are not going to
afford their food to feed their kids! How would their kids love their mom if they
didn't like her new look after the operation? It will make their kids feel
embarrassed because they will think their mom would become a prostitute in
order to get money for a living after being broke.
PRACTICE INTEGRATING READING INTO WRITING - III
• On Invading Your Child's Privacy
• QUOTE: "The technology in their hand can be
used for bullying, sexting, and life-damaging
mistakes, and the person most responsible for
that behavior is you, the parent."
• Explanation: The quote means that kids that have
a smartphone could do things horribly such as
being stalked by or committing suicide. Parents
are responsible to supervise their kids' privacy.
Comment: Kids can do anything that we can't expect because
technology is taking over the world. Parents should be involved
in that situation because kids are not mature enough to handle
the blog sites (social nerworking) and they are not yet aware of
limiting the posts because once you post it stays there forever.
For my kids in the future i would go over the line who's he/she
talking to because i don't want my kids contacting an adult or
sexing someone at a young age. I would rather teach my kids
what is technology is ABOUT and how to control it wisely. I will
still have the authority to limit my kids' posts because i don't
want their future to ruin their life. Teaching is always a good
thing to do with kids privately. I will restrict my kids to bear
either an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy with the software backup
to make sure he/she are safe. Life is not perfect so danger can
be anywhere at any moment.
STUDYING THE CRAFT OF INTEGRATING READING WITH WRITING: INTRODUCTIONS
Lisa Belkin in “Whose Failing Grade is it?” writes
that instead of blaming teachers for not educating
students properly, politicians are now starting to blame
parents. Researchers know that successful schools have
parents that are involved. Two state legislators, Linda
Lawson from Indiana and Kelli Stargel from Florida,
created bills to require parents to get more involved
with their children’s education. Ms. Stargel’s bill stated
that it will be “a requirement to grade parents on their
involvement in their child’s education.” When children
get a report card, it will show parents’ grades on the
report card too. It will show if they are satisfactory,
unsatisfactory or need improvement. I feel it’s
ridiculous to grade parents, but I like the other bill that
requires parent-teacher interaction.
STUDYING THE CRAFT OF INTEGRATING READING WITH WRITING: BODIES
I don't think giving cash rewards for good grades is important
for kids. They need to become motivated about school in other
ways. "Many educators maintain, among other objections, that
children have to learn for the love of it, not for cash." Students
might become successful because of the cash, but they should
succeed without money because they just want to. In my middle
school, I hated reading books. Each of my teachers gave me wrong
books which I wasn’t really interested in. So, one of my teachers
decided to set up a new game to see how many books students
could complete. I could choose the books I liked. Once, I liked a
book and fell in love with reading and even tried to be a better
reader than the others. This game helped me to realize that reading
books was very important. So, it was simply choice that got me
reading, not money. Children need to see that money isn't as
important as passion for learning.
STUDYING THE CRAFT OF INTEGRATING READING WITH WRITING: BODIES
The new mannequin sales have been increasing because of
women’s fantasy to be the same as the mannequin. Really? There
are other women that don’t need to have “better self-esteem”
about themselves. This makes me mad that women want to get
different types of surgery just for attention and feel good about
themselves. I feel bad because I am a girl and I think this is making
us worry about our looks or making us want to feel beautiful. Aren’t
we beautiful no matter how we look or feel on the outside?! No
makeup on is the best to me because I’d rather show my natural
face than hide my natural face with makeup on or having surgery.
Yes, those women that want surgery make other women feel bad
about themselves. If women don’t love the way they are in
Venezuela, then they should ignore these feelings because they are
superficial. Natural is better than fake and, for those men that want
women with skin deep beauty, I say, Why do we have to please
these guys? We shouldn’t! Are women their objects or their pets?
STUDYING THE CRAFT OF INTEGRATING READING WITH WRITING: CONCLUSIONS
In the article, Diane Ravitch, an education historian,
mentions “Punish the teacher. Punish the parents. It’s
Dickensian. What we should be doing instead is giving a
helping hand.” What politicians should do is give good
resources to parents as parenting education, so it will
give parents a chance to be parents to their children. I
hope this will help students to be able to pass their
classes and tests.
RESPONSE TO FIRST DRAFT WRITING AS CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF THE
READING
Ms. Mietes said, “an operation at a private clinic can cost about
$6,350” which means that women are spending their allowances on
surgeries to change their body. Do you know that you could end up
being broke after surgery? Most of these women don’t realize how
hard is life especially in a country where is poor system. For example,
women are requesting their spouse’s money and that could be in a
worst situation such as no trust when husbands refuse to give money
to their wives.
READING AND GRAMMAR I
V/XD
ALTHOUGH SUEL ENJOYED HER SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH LA
X
V
PRIETA, SHE CAN’T ACCEPT HERSELF AS A LESBIAN. SUEL AND
V/X0
V/XS
LA PRIETA STARE AT EACH OTHER, BUT SUEL KEEPS LOOKING AWAY
V/XD
FROM HER. “SUEL WORE HER PELO IN A BUN. WHEN LA PRIETA
V/XD
INF
V/XD
X
V
ASKED HER TO WEAR IT DOWN, SUEL SAID, ‘DON’T BE SILLY.
X
INF
X
V
INF
IT’S TOO HOT TO WEAR IT DOWN.’” SUEL DOESN’T WANT TO MAKE
HERSELF ATTRACTIVE FOR LA PRIETA.
READING AND GRAMMAR II
V/XS
MRS. DUTTA FEEL LIKE SHE DOES NOT FIT IN HER SON’S FAMILY.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------V/XD
SARAH FELT JEALOUS BECAUSE OF THEIR SIGN, AND SHE WISH SHE
V/XD
INF
HAVE THAT SIGN TO COMMUNICATED WITH HER HUSBAND,
MATTHEW.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------V/X0
THE PEOPLE CHOOSES WHICH CAFÉ THEY WANT TO EAT AT.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X
I WERE ENJOYED THIS TRIP A LOT.
IDEAS TO BE DISCUSSED WITH WRITING CENTER DIRECTORS
•
Hire a designated ASL + tutor highly literate in both ASL+ and English.
•
Request models of the written work expected of the students from their content teachers.
•
Have samples of different ways students quote in academic writing available.
•
Train tutor to:
– do warm-up discussions using Google Images/YouTube clips to help clarify new
concepts students will face in assigned readings;
– word-process the readings creating wide margins to enable students (and tutor) to
work the readings with annotations and responses;
– do quoting activities with students that are context specific (based on assigned
readings).