CI 402

Class # 2January 24th 2013

Mini Lessons and Structured Process approach to writing

The Adolescent Learner Cont’d:A Look Through Literature

We will read “Such Foolishness” by Maureen Ryan Griffin and “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros aloud.

• Then, In your groups consider:• What are the differences between the two portrayals of adolescence?

Which aligns more closely with your experience?• Does race play a factor in these tales, knowing that Cisneros is

Chicana and Griffin is Caucasian?• Where are the male voices? How might these selections be different

if they were written by men?• How might they be different if written by actual adolescents?• How might you teach these pieces? Look for literary devices,

thematic elements etcthat could serve as lesson topics

Mini-LessonsA clarification

Last semester you condensed a full 45-50 minute lesson plan into 25-30 minutes. While these could be considered “mini-lessons” due to their length, when, I say “mini lessons,” I am actually referring to an established educational concept.

Mini-LessonsA clarification

• Lucy Calkins: Teachers’ College Columbia, “The Reading and Writing Project”• Nancie Atwell: “The Center for

Teaching and Learning” school in Edgecomb, Maine• Readers’ and Writers’ workshop

Mini-LessonsA clarification

“ In writing-reading workshop, mini-lessons serve similar ends. I use

the presentations to introduce and highlight concepts, techniques, and information that will help

writers and readers…” Nancie Atwell

Types of mini-lessons

• Procedural: the rules and routines of the workshop.• Literary craft: what authors consider when they

create literature.• Conventions of written language: the compacts or

agreements between writers and readers that students need to know.

• Strategies of good readers/writers: how to choose, engage with, understand, analyze and appreciate literature.

Components of a mini-lesson

• Connection: What is your goal? How is it relevant to what you observe in students’ reading/writing?

• Teaching: Explicit, to the point, example-laden, demonstrative

• Active Involvement: a short group activity that “takes the temperature” of the class e.g. Think Pair Share, quick write response, SMART board check.

• Link: Closure, review major points, connections to future work.

10-15 minutes tops!

What happens before/after a mini-lesson?

• Originally designed to be followed by a reader’s writer’s workshop, but this is controversial/not always appropriate to every situation. See:

Dressman, D. (1993). Lionizing lone wolves: The cultural romantics of literacy workshops. Curriculum Inquiry. 23(3), 245-263.• Could be followed by whole group practice, literature circles,

small group targeted instruction etc.• Still begin your class with a way to draw your students into the

lesson (hook or Do Now)• Try to assess the goals of the mini lesson throughout all parts of

the larger lesson plan.

Worksheets:Two Arguments

Worksheet Enthusiast• Worksheets are a way for

students to organize their thoughts

• Worksheets are a way for me to assess student learning on a given topic.

• Worksheets can be used for a variety of purposes including: stimulating classroom discussion, synthesizing material, checking comprehension etc.

Worksheet skeptic• Worksheets are most often

simplistic or reductionist• Worksheets are busy work

that serve more as classroom management tools than learning tools

• Worksheets should be reserved for substitute teachers or other times that I as a teacher cannot help students

What does a good worksheet include?

http://answergarden.ch/view/46974

Things to consider• Clarity of instructions• What is my purpose here? What will my students do or know by

doing this worksheet that they wouldn’t do or know before?• How can my lessons “dialogue” with the worksheet rather than

making it a static artifact?• Is this the most appropriate tool for learning, or is it just the

easiest to create?• How can having this worksheet help students to affirm their grasp

of my enduring understandings? (i.e. how can it serve as a reference or organizing tool for them?)

• Will the worksheet work for everyone? The same assignment does not necessarily mean the best assignment

Work-shopping our worksheets• Surface questions: Where did this come from, what is it

trying to do? Is it visually appealing to me on first glance?• First read it as if you were a student. What questions pop

to mind? What would you need the teacher to provide you in order to do well?

• Now read it as a teacher. What are the aims? What will the students gain from this?

• How could you revise for clarity?• How could you revise to meet aims?• What shared characteristics do good worksheets have?

Walking through structured process approach to writing

• Look at figure 2-1 on P. 21. What resonates with you? What things do you find challenging?

“doing the process”• At your tables, compete the activities on P. 27-28 though

“reporting and revising”• Share out• Rather than write a second draft, let’s talk about the

process. – How does it compare to the writing processes that you described

in your homework?– How could you change the assignment you described in your HW

to be more in line with the structured process approach to writing?– How did you feel while completing the process?– Synthesis: Go back to HW and WKS you brought in and relate to p

24-25 “task analysis

Next Week• We will meet on Tuesday 1/29, here, at 8AM• We will meet on Thursday in 141 Wohlers at 8AM• Marisa’s up for food• Smagorinsky et al Chs 3 & 4• Dressman Intro & Ch 2• Blog: Your own skin poem• Bring to class: A provocative writing prompt for

fictional narrative (any media) & a prompt for personal narrative writing and why you chose it.