Writing in
from an
Academic, Social and
Expressive Lens
Leslie Robertson
Power of 3
What is true literacy? How do we help develop it?
More than Reading and Writing!
Ability to engage in advanced
reading, writing, speaking and
listening regardless of the
setting.
“Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st
century will read and write more than at any other
time in human history. They will need advanced
levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their
households, act as citizens, and conduct their
personal lives." -- Richard Vaca, author of Content
Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the
Curriculum
If we believe it is important, here’s the most
important question…
“With content standards looming, it's easy to only focus on
the content we teach, and covering material. We have so
much to tell students and share with them. However, are we
affording students enough time daily to practice crucial
thinking and communication skills?”
Curriculum and Content
Literacy Instruction and
OPPORTUNITY
Do you spend the majority of the
class period talking or lecturing
while they listen?
Do Literacy
studentsInstruction
have manyand
opportunities
to discover and discuss
OPPORTUNITY
information on their own?
Academic and Accountable Talk helps them
PROCESS ideas, concepts and content.
Let them talk for 2-3 minutes for every 5-7
minutes that you
Helps students make sense of what they hear
and read or PROCESS ideas, concepts and
content.
Students should engage in
We are all reading instructors!
Scaffolding the reading by using effective strategies for pre-,
during, and after reading, such as: previewing text, reading for
a purpose, making predictions and connections, think alouds,
and using graphic organizers will support all our students, and
not just struggling readers and English learners.
So do we teach KIDS?
or
Do we teach content?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RAhPs0ZNpA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFME4dpBrOE
More prompts
Your school is going to get a new mascot. Think about a mascot you
would like to recommend. Write and email to you principal convincing
them to choose your mascot.
Consider:
• Read?
• Debate?
• Plan?
• Write?
Writing Across the Social Studies Curriculum
Guide
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Government
Historical documents
Comparing culture
Technology changing over time
Historical events (American Revolution, industrialism, westward expansion, immigration, exploration, etc.
Social Institutions (comparing)
Early Native Americans
Human capital
Production/consumption
Scarcity
Supply and demand
Competition
Geography influencing where people live
Advances in technology, people adapting to their environment (dams, reservoirs, etc)
Writing Across the Science Curriculum Guide
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fossils
Sources of Fuel
Life Cycles
Energy, including chemical and solar, potential and kinetic, electric
Weather
Changes to the earth’s surface (landslides, floods, volcanoes, erosion)
Sun’s energy
Sun-earth system
Moon
Behavior of light
Extinction
Changes to ecosystem
Structures of plants and animals
Changes to ecosystem
Science
1. State Topic – Volcanoes
2. What are they?
3. Where are they?
4. How do they work/operate?
5. Conclude
Math Ideas
1.Process – decide what you will do “jot”
down key words
2.Inform – collect the data you will use
3.Compute – solve
4.State Solution and Prove
Social Studies
1. State Topic – Causes of WWI
2. Causes – unrest in E. Europe
3. Battles – Bulge, Normandy, Iwo Jima
4. Important People – Hitler
5. Conclude
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Social media – worth the risk?
Homeschooling
Prison reform
Global warming
Should government spend more money on space exploration
Is cloning people a good idea
Should we build more nuclear power plants
Should we plan a trip to the moon to investigate its water
Should we use biofuels
Electoral college
Should we keep animals in zoos
Should publicizing criminal activities be banned? (CSI, Law and Order, etc)
Can you find any examples of a justified attack on another country in history?
Is the law easier on criminals
should the government have a say in our diet?
Should the racing industry be required to use biofuels?
Should the government provide health care?
Is global climate change man-made?
Is our election process fair?
Is torture ever acceptable?
Topics
Recognizing Components, Genre
and MODE
• Occasionally we find ourselves in dangerous situations.
• Think about a time when you had a narrow escape from danger. Tell
a story about your experience.
Topic: __________________Purpose: (Inform, Describe, Convince, Story)
Type: (Expository/Informational, Descriptive, Persuasive/Opinion,
Narrative)
Practice just narrowing the scope – Identify the organization/structure
Hook: (5-10 minutes) Play the “tomahawk” chop song—easily obtained from Youtube. This
is the music played at Atlanta Braves games and at the Florida State University - Seminole
football games. While the music is playing also show the popular images of Indian mascots.
Discuss any local American Indian mascots to show that may resonate with your students.
Have students share words and terms that come to mind when they hear the music and
see the mascots. Define mascot and have the students share what the purpose of a mascot
is.
Introduce the Question: Should Wisconsin ban the use of American Indian mascots and
logos in their public schools? Have the students write this question in their notebooks.
In Wisconsin, legislation was introduced that dealt with this topic, Assembly Bill 35, in the
2009- 2010 legislative session. I shared this with students and discussed the legislation,
giving them the opportunity to weigh in on the issue.
The Discussion:
Put the students in heterogeneous groups of four. Hand out the pro/con packets on the
two positions. In each group one pair will find arguments to support the position that
Wisconsin
should ban the use of American Indian mascots and the other pair will find arguments to support
the position that Wisconsin should not ban the use of American Indian mascots. At this point,
students can physically move away from their groups of four to concentrate and work with their
partner.
For this lesson, I began with two short videos that presented arguments that both sides could
use. The partners were to take notes on arguments that supported their assigned position.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71de7iPZdYM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH2ati2ysjQ&feature=related
After watching the two short videos, the students worked with their partner to identify, at
minimum, four quality arguments to support their position. The students wrote their argument
in their notebooks.
The students then got back into their groups of four and shared their arguments with the other
partners. The idea at this point is to share information, not argue about the issue. There is plenty
of time allotted for students to share their opinions.
Students return to their groups of four and share their best arguments and the
new one that they came up with. This stage can feel awkward, but I discuss with
the students the value of looking at both sides of the issue.
Now, the students can abandon their assigned positions and discuss the issue.
The goal is to have an authentic discussion in their small groups. I often set a
discussion goal for the students. For example, the goal is to discuss the issue for
five minutes apiece, etc.
Have students watch and compare the 1960 Kennedy / Nixon debate and the most recent debate (2008). You can use the
attached Venn diagram for students to organize their information.
a. How has time and technology changed the process.
b. What is similar? What is different? What has stayed the same?
c. What differences do you see in the types of questions asked?
Past Presidential Debate Information
1960 Presidential Election – Kennedy/Nixon
On September 26, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy (D-MA) and Vice President Richard Nixon (R) participated in the first-ever
televised presidential debate. It served as a precedent for all others to come. While seventy million Americans viewed this
debate on television, many others still tuned in through the radio.
History claims that more television viewers believed Kennedy won, while many radio listeners thought Nixon did.
Watch Clip (4 min.) | Read Debate Transcript
Questions for Analysis
1. What was the topic discussed in this clip? Which candidate gave the stronger response? Explain your answer.
2. In your opinion, which candidate appeared to be more comfortable on camera? Which candidate was more appealing
to the camera? Explain the basis of your answer.
3. Do you think the role television played in the debates made a difference in the outcome of the 1960 election?
The
is there…that’s not
the
The
is are we willing to commit to instructional
practices we
work? Are we willing to be
?