The Book Thief

Book trailers are very similar to movie trailers, except they advertise the book instead of the movie. I think they are a great idea. Students can produce them and watch them in order to pick their next book. I had a hand in making the below book trailer about The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I really enjoyed the project. It really forces you to pick out the most important aspects of the novel in order to share with others. If you really liked the book, you really want your book trailer to be good so that others will want to read the book as well. This is a great project to do with students at the conclusion of a book!

Inquiry Based Learning

Inquiry based learning is a wonderful way for students to learn by doing, rather than to be either told what is correct or by performing worksheets. In the Signs of Spring video, the students were given the opportunity to choose what aspect they wanted to study. This puts the student in control of their own inquiry and will allow the student to be more engaged in the topic that they are researching; they will take more ownership if they are interested in the subject.
I also like the fact that these inquiry based lessons are very cross-curricular. Meaning that they are integrated across math, science, language arts, ect. I think it is so important to integrate lessons throughout all aspects of the curriculum as opposed to singling it out in one lesson. When you have a subject, such as spring time, use it across all divisions of the curriculum; run with it. Inquiry based lessons allow teachers to do this!

Multi-Genre Pieces on Standardized Testing and Literacy Learning

The following pieces are multi-genre pieces that are creations from a multi-genre research project on the topic of standardized testing and literacy instruction in the classroom.

1. Comic Strip - http://www.pixton.com/comic/c2r4uefm

I chose this genre because I wanted to try something that I had never tried before. I had always wanted to try and be witty, and I thought that a comic was a really good way to do that. This comic strip is trying to portray that eventually, students are going to realize that teachers are training them to learn to take tests like we teach animals to sit, stay and go to the bathroom outside. It is unfair to children to deprive them of a nurturing educational experience simply because we want them to succeed on a test. 

2. Podcast

I chose this genre because I think that podcasts are a thing of the future in education. I feel like everyday I can go online and watch someone give a webinar or listen to a podcast. I wanted to do something that let me express my opinions on the issue of standardized testing and talk through the voice of a teacher. I thought a podcast was a good and up-to-date way of doing this. I am trying to show the listener that teachers really do care about their students. I wanted to show a perspective of someone who was for the teachers who may not be totally in favor of the standardized tests. The IREAD-3 does have really high stakes for all third graders in the state of Indiana, and it is a hot topic of discussion right now among many educational circles. 

3. Diary Entries

I chose this genre because I really wanted to do at least one of my pieces from the perspective of a child. I think it is not often enough that we ask the opinions of students on these matters because we think that they do not have anything constructive to say; however, we will realize that kids will say intelligent things much more often than we may think. This piece was meant to show the transition of a child's perspective on the ISTEP test from thinking it was not a big deal to being very afraid of it in a matter of days. This change was clearly affected by an adult in her educational experience, and I think this can prove to be very true with most students. It is up to the teachers and administrators to frame standardized tests in such a way that will not stress children out. 

4. Newspaper Article

I chose this genre because when I was doing research on the topic of IREAD-3, there were a lot of newspaper articles about schools just like Fairview. Since the IREAD-3 really is a new test for the state of Indiana, there were, and still are, a lot of newspaper articles about the subject. I wanted to do something that went along with what is actually going on in the world. I am trying to show the reader that the students who are taking the tests do have a support system, and that there is a lot of publicity that surrounds these tests, that people truly care about the wellbeing of these students. I also wanted the reader to get an idea of something that teachers could do for their students following the completion of a standardized test as a celebration. 

5. Retention Letter to Parent 

I chose this genre because I know that retention letters are going to be something that schools are going to have to deal with in the near future, and I wonder what they are going to look like. Since the retention is partially based on a law, the letter will look different than a normal retention letter. It will be interesting to see how schools handle the situations as they arise. I wanted to convey to readers that it is inevitable that retention is going to happen with the new IREAD-3 test, and by showing readers a sample of a retention letter, I believe it makes it more real. Each student who is up for grade retention gets put up for a conference and is discussed by a panel of their teachers in order to decide what the best solution is based on their scores on the IREAD-3 test. 

Dear Reader,

            During this process I learned that being a teacher, sometimes comes with difficulties.  A big issue that I discussed and researched during this process was about standardized testing and what that means to a teacher.  In most schools, there are standards and rules that the teachers have to follow in order to ensure that their students get the scores the schools expect on their standardized tests.  Although the teachers goal is to have their students succeed and do well on these tests, what is more important than the grades, is making sure the students understand and enjoy what they are learning.  When it comes to that, sometimes teachers have to make a hard decision whether to do as they are instructed by their schools, or stand their own ground and do what is best for their students.

            The information I have gained from doing this project has helped me to think about how I will instruct my students in the future for standardized tests. As a future literacy teacher, I know that it will be important to me to make sure I stick to the curriculum my school provides me, but I will also strive to ensure that my students are learning the material, and not just regurgitating it for a standardized test.  There are different approaches for the material to be taught to students in ways that would interest them and hopefully help them to remember the material they learn and understand it.  As a writer I learned that when writing papers, it takes more than one review to make revisions and you have to sit and look at the material more than once.  As a researcher I learned that not all the material that is on the web at our fingertips is information that is helpful to us, and some of it may do more harm than good.  Some of this information, though, that I researched has provided me with insight and background knowledge that I can later apply as a literacy teacher.

            This project helped me to learn different ways in which I can teach material to my students in the upper intermediate classroom one day.  I know that I have to make sure that all the important material is covered in class, but more importantly, again, is that the students really understand and can apply what they learn in new situations.  Although it may be difficult for me to teach differently than what my curriculum requires of me, I know that I will have to do what is best for my students and their learning styles.

            I think that if I had the opportunity to change something about this project I would have tried to talk with literacy professionals in actual schools.  I feel like getting the experience to have talked with them and see how they feel about standardized testing and share my views with them could have benefited my project. That would have benefited me a lot because I would get someone’s first hand experience from the classroom.  This project benefited me because it helped me to learn about the important issues regarding standardized testing and that is something I will have to deal with in my future.  It gave me different ideas, and ways that I can help my students to not only ensure that they do well on these tests, but also make sure they know what they are learning.  The challenging parts of this project were putting my actual research into a paper.

            Overall, I am uncertain of how my future as a teacher will look when it comes to standardized tests. As of right now, I do not think they are the best thing for students, and after doing this project, I certainly do not support grade retention. I guess that is just another road block that I will have to deal with when I come to it in my future classroom.