Learning Letter

Hannah Beloved

03-21-17

 English 493 Learning Letter

Dr. Sean Agriss 

Dear Dr. Sean Agriss,

I am shocked of how fast this quarter went by. We covered so many valuable things to learn from over the course of the last ten weeks. We have posted several blogs and had great class discussions regarding the many texts we read over the last ten weeks. A few of my favorite pedagogy books we read this quarter were Cris Tovani’s  I read it, but I don’t get it, and Kelly Gallagher’s Readicide. I found that these two books have given me great ideas on how to teach literature effectively in my future classroom. I really loved how personal both authors are in their writing and give examples of what they have researched and practiced in their own teaching. I especially love that fact that both authors include worksheets that we can use throughout both of their books. I will definitely be keeping both of these books as tolls for me to refer back to when I start student teaching and eventually get my first teaching job. After reading each book we were able to spend most of our class period discussing each text as a seminar discussion. I really learned so much from my classmates during these discussions. I enjoyed looking at the different perspectives each of my classmates had on several of the readings we completed in this class. I also really loved being able to read the different posts my fellow classmates posted about the reading. Often times I read many of the posts before class so I could prepare my self for each seminar.  I thought that being able to discuss each reading that was assigned to us in a seminar format is something I want to include in my classroom. I think students definitely benefit from participating in discussions because it allows students to have informal conversations of same book read by each of their classmates. I actually loved this teaching idea so much; I had my students in my practicum placement participate in a seminar discussion for my observed lesson.

Another task each of us accomplished this quarter was introducing a young adult book of our choice to share with the class. I found this very helpful as a future teacher in brainstorming different books I would want my students to read. There was only one book talk out of the whole class where I had actually read the book my classmate was presenting on. Many of my classmates introduced me to several texts that sound so interesting to me and while they were presenting I wrote down each book that I want to read over the summer. Personally, I really enjoyed the book talks because not only did each person explain a brief synopsis of the text but we all included examples of how we could use this text in out own classroom. So many of the possible teaching strategies I listened to were outstanding ideas that I also jotted down for future reference. I enjoyed being able to choose the text I wanted to share with the class because most of the time students are just assigned books to read with no choices to choose from. I also thought having book talks in my own classroom would be a great teaching strategy to incorporate my own classroom. This gives students a choice in what they read, and allows them to read different books that interest them. This also allows students to share with classmates what they find interesting allowing ach student to introduce their classmates to several different books. 

The three-week unit plan was a huge project to accomplish in the 10 short weeks of the quarter.  I am grateful that I was able to work with Kinzi because I believe two brains work better than one. We collaborated and bounced many ideas off each other of how we wanted to tackle this unit plan. In reflection I believe that we created a unique but effective unit plan for sixth grade students.  We spent countless hours on this project, and to be honest I am so thankful that we are finished. We both realized how much time, effort, and energy, teachers put in outside of the classrooms to ensure that their students receive the best education that they can provide. Before embarking on this project I was clueless as to how long writing 15 ED TPAS would actually take. All in all I am thankful that I was assigned to create this unit plan because now I feel confident in writing ED TPAS. I am now familiar with what Pearson will be looking for when I turn in my own personal ED TPA next spring. Looking back on choosing the topic for the unit plan, I wish I had chosen a topic more appropriate for the age of students I am working with in my practicum. If I had done that I could possibly used this lesson plan in my practicum or in my future classroom. However, I feel confident in creating a three-week unit plan so if I wanted to create my own three-week unit plan I have the knowledge and capability of doing so. 

Another big project that each student participated in this quarter was teaching a 20-minute mini-lesson on one of the texts required in this course. Not only did I learn from what I taught but I also learned from how my classmates taught their lessons. I found that this was more never racking than actually teaching a lesson in front of my practicum students. However, after teaching the lesson I felt good about what I did to prepare and accomplish the lesson. I received great feedback after on what I did, what I did well and what I can do better next time. Overall, teaching a 20-minute mini-lesson was a great way for me to continue mastering skills to become a better teacher.

After having participated in this course I feel I have gained so much knowledge on what I can do with my future students to provide them with a great education. I have learned so much from all of the pedagogical texts we read and will continue to reference them throughout my career. I believe this course has provided me with several tools in becoming a great teacher.  

Sincerely, Hannah Beloved  

MINI LESSON ED TPA

Department of Education College of Arts, Letters and Education 312 Williamson Hall Cheney, WA   99004

TPA Lesson Plan #__1___

Course:

1. Teacher Candidate	Hannah Beloved	Date Taught	3-13-17
Cooperating Teacher	Sean Agriss	School/District	Spokane School District
2. Subject		Field Supervisor	Miranda Hein
3. Lesson Title/Focus	The Great Gatsby. Themes found in pictures.	5. Length of Lesson	20 minutes
4. Grade Level	9th grade

6. Academic & Content Standards (Common Core/National)	CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
7. Learning Objective(s)	Given the graphic novel version of The Great Gatsby, Students will determine the theme/themes of the assigned page of the novel in groups of 3-4, by explaining in their own words why and how they determined the theme represented in the picture.
8. Academic Language demands (vocabulary, function, syntax, discourse)	Vocabulary: Students will need to be able to define and explain what theme is in literature. I will provide and explanation on a PowerPoint as well as include the explanation on their handout. Function: Students will analyze the page assigned to their groups and will determine the theme they believe best represents their assigned page. Discourse: Students will be working in groups to discuss how theme is represented in the graphic novel. Students will also participate in a class discussion to hear ideas from other classmates as well as share their own.

9. Assessment Students will be formatively assessed as I walk around the room as they work in their groups. Students will be formatively assessed when they turn in each group’s statement explaining why the theme they chose for their assigned picture. Rating how well they met the objective for the day on a sticky note will formatively assess students.

**Attach** all assessment tools for this lesson

10. Lesson Connections

1.     Prior: Students will have read the original novel. They will be familiar with the story and the background of when this story was written. Students will have prior knowledge to know how to discover theme in the story. 2.     Future: Students will be able to recognize similar and different patterns of theme throughout different stories. Students will be able to compare and contrast three versions of The Great Gatsby. (Novel, graphic novel, film). 3.     Gallagher, K. (n.d.). Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It. Gallagher explains in his book that one way to get reluctant readers to read is to provide them with material that is engaging. Graphic novels are a great way for students to engage in reading. Some students are more visual learners and prefer graphic novels. This is a way to show students there is more than just one way to read literature.

11. Instructional Strategies/Learning Tasks to Support Learning
Learning Tasks and Strategies Sequenced Instruction Step by step… 1.     Take attendance 2.     Write objective. 3.     Explain to the students what grade they are in and that they have previously read the original version of The Great Gatsby. 4.     Explain to students that they are familiar with theme and how to determine it in a story but we are learning how to determine theme through pictures. 5.     Students will be split up into groups of 4 by teacher counting them off. 6.     Students will be allotted 5-7 minutes to determine the theme of their assigned picture. 7.     Each group will hand in their picture and it will be shown under the doc camera for other classmates to see. 8.     Each group will designate a spokes person to explain their rational as to why and how they determined the theme of the picture. 9.     Students will rate how well they met the objective of the day by rating themselves on a scale of 1-5. 10.  Students will place the sticky note on the board and will turn in all material on their way out of class.
Teacher’s Role: Take attendance. Project the objectives onto the board. Explain to students that they are freshman in high school that just finished reading the novel The Great Gatsby. The teacher thought it would be a good idea to look at The Great Gatsby in another light so they decided to look at the graphic cannon version of The Great Gatsby. Teacher will assign students to groups. Teacher will handout worksheets that students will use to determine the theme of the picture. Teacher will monitor the class as they work in groups. Teacher will ask each group to explain their themes of each assigned page. Teacher will ask students to rate how well they met the objective on a sticky note. Teacher will collect all materials as students exit the class.	Students’ Role Students will analyze the objective of the day. Students will work responsibly in groups to determine the theme of each picture that is assigned to them. Students will provide a rational as to why and how they determined the theme they did from the picture their group was assigned. Students will rate how well they met the objective by rating themselves on a scale from 1-5 on a sticky note. Students will place sticky note on the whiteboard on their way out the door. Students will turn all work on their way out the door.
Student Voice to Gather Students will be showing their own learning by working in groups of 4 to discuss and determine the theme/ themes of the picture assigned to their group. Students will also show their learning by explain how well they met the objective of the day by rating themselves on a sticky note (scale of 1-5) on their way out the door.

12. Differentiated Instruction

Plan Student Needs: One of my students has been diagnosed with dyslexia. In order to accommodate her needs she will be allowed more time to finish her in-class assignments along with her homework assignments. I also frequently check in with her verbally to make sure she has a clear understanding of the task at hand. Learning Styles: Students will be able to visually see the objective on the overhead screen. Students will use auditory skills by listening to their teacher give instructions as well as to their classmates while working in groups. Students will use oral skill by explaining their position on the different themes each group found during the class activity. Students will use kinesthetic skills by rearranging themselves in the group that the teacher assigns. Students will demonstrate writing skills by providing an explanation to backup their position of the theme they chose for their picture.

13. Resources and Materials

Plan A copy of the graphic cannon to access the graphic novel version of the story. A projector to project the objective of the day. Students will be divided into 4 groups of 4. Copies of the chosen pictures to assign each group. A worksheet for each student explaining the directions of the assignment. A document camera to display each picture so the students can see each picture the different groups worked on. Sticky notes provided by the teacher so students can rate themselves on how well they met the objective.

14. Management and Safety Issues

Plan Students in this class can be chatty with one another. To avoid this I will split up each group by numbering them off. This also allows students to work with other people they normally wouldn’t. Since this lesson is timed and only twenty minutes, I will use a countdown clock for students to refer to as they work in groups.

15. Parent & Community Connections

Plan Parents and Guardians will receive the weekly email informing them of what will be taking place in the classroom. The email will explain that each student will have completed reading the novel The Great Gatsby and will be looking both the graphic novel as well as the film. Some community members may not realize what the “roaring 20’s is”. Throughout the unit each student who be responsible for asking 2 non-family member if they know/ or can explain the roaring 20’s. They will briefly explain what the community member explained to them in their own writing. At the end of the unit we will look at the data and analyze how many people know what the roaring 20’s means.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian:

Before I began reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian I found out that Sherman’s novel is an autobiographical depiction of the life he lived on the reservation. I am very familiar to the reservation he relocates to during his journey. Reardan Washington is a town I have passed through thousands of times. I have to pass through Reardan on the way to my lake cabin on Lake Roosevelt.  I have grown up around this town and stop in often on my ay to and from the cabin. Because I was able to make this connection I became fascinated by he story. The narrator of the novel is a fourteen-year-old native kid named Arnold Spirit Jr. a character based on Alexies’s experiences growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit Washington.  The narrator displays a teenage boy going through the usual changes during a fourteen year olds stage of life. Arnold is also a hydrocephalic with a stutter and a lisp. These three characteristics cause Arnold to be harassed by other kids cruelly. Needless to say Arnold is known as the reservation outcast and is beaten to a pulp on a regular basis. Arnold decides to leave the reservation and attend the affluent white school 22 miles away in Reardan Washington home of the Indians. Now he is known as the traitor who gets caught between two different lives. One life is one on the reservation the other at the white high school he attends. Due to the feeling of feeling like a nobody, Arnold decides to make a reputation for himself as he tries to discover a new identity. This would be a great book to teach because it is so relatable to high school students. He author is also local so I believe that is also another reason to read this novel.

Night by Elie Wiesel

Night by Elie Wiesel:

This was my first time reading Night by Elie Wiesel. I actually found lately, I really enjoy listening to a recording of someone reading the novel as I follow along. I found a recording of this novel and followed along.  I am grateful I read this novel when I did because in my practicum my 10^th grade students are about to start a unit on Night. In the story we know that the German’s during this time do not have good intentions towards the Jews because this book was set in the time of the holocaust. Elizer’s family fails to flee the country when they have a chance to. Due to the missed opportunity to flee, the whole Jewish population is sent to concentration camps. One camp is called Auschwitz. Elizer is separated from his mother and younger sister but luckily remains in the same camp as his father. The reader learns that Elizer has a hard time surviving due to the abuse and malnourishment. During this tough time he struggles to hold onto faith what is left during this terrible time. He begins to cause self-destruction and battles with darker sides of himself. He feels a conflict between supporting his father and giving himself the best chance of survival. During the book, Elizer and his father are both sent from Auschwitz to another camp called Buna and then to another camp called Buchenwald. Sadly before the end of concentration camps  the father dies. Despite all that Elizer has gone through he has survived multiple concentration camps leaving behind his childhood innocence. He will be forever scarred by the death and violence he witnessed while living in pure hell. I believe that this book is appropriate for high school students to read during the unit of the holocaust. I think it is important for student to realize what people went through during the concentration camps. I think it is also a good way to teach student to be grateful for the lives they have even in their darkest days.

Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, a modest Proposal, The Hill

Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland:

I found this story in the graphic novel to be amazing. The pictures allow readers to enjoy the beautiful imagery that is displayed. So many reluctant readers who struggle to want to read will love reading this version of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland. In the beginning of the story the graphic novel uncovers that wonderland may not be what its talked up to be. Is it really joyful or is that all a lie? I think one way I would use this story in my classroom is using all the different characters in a comic strip so students can characterize each character. I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel especially because I have never read the novel.

Pride and Prejudice: For me personally this was one of my favorite graphic novels that we had to read for this post other than The Great Gatsby. The length was not too long and it wasn’t too short either. The amount of pictures included in the graphic novel give the reader enough images to relate the messages in the story. I would like to use this graphic novel in my classroom because I believe the students would be fully engaged and interested in this particular story. The imagery and detail that are included in the pictures would totally grasp each reader’s attention.

A Modest Proposal: I really enjoyed looking at the images for this graphic novel. The pictures were different than any of the novels I read in the graphic cannon. The pages had a yellow tint to each page and I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a hidden message behind that. The message of this novel I think is the most important part of graphic novel. I found that the message explains the poor need help and when people give them help those people find pleasure doing so. I think this is relevant for people helping anyone not just poor people. Our world needs more people in the world to help each other.

The Hill: I thoroughly enjoyed paying attention to the imagery included in each beautiful page of this novel. Not only would the reader get so focused and consumed by each image the writing also pulled you into the story. I loved visualizing the images of the trees and the leaves as well as the hill that is described. When you see the guy kneeling on the hill I cant help but believe this is where he feels most at peace. I found this to be inspiring. If I were to teach this novel in my classroom I would assign each student to write and draw where they feel most happy.

Poe's Blog Post The Haunted Palace, The Black Cat, The Cask of Amontillado, Fall of the House of Usher, Evening Star, A Dream and A Tell Tale Heart.

The first poem I looked at for this blog post was The Haunted Palace. To summarize this poem Poe creates beautiful imagery of a beautiful palace that used to stand in a green valley. The speaker in the poem tells us all about the beautiful yellow banners that originally flew from the roof of the palace. The speaker also draws attention to the smells of the palace. Poe explains that travelers passing through the valley used to be able to view through the beautiful windows. The view of the inside includes spirits dancing to music as the surround the king. Once the palace doors opened the spirits rushed out into the streets proclaiming their love for the king. Ultimately the palace was attacked by “evil things” and destroyed the palace. Now when travelers walk by the spirits that have shifted from rejoicing to evil scary spirits startles them.

The next poem of Poe I read was the black cat. This story revolves around the narrator who’s name is Pluto. Pluto, in the beginning of the story explains a celebration that is taking place to celebrate him. Good things only last so long because shortly after Pluto began suffering from drastic mood swings. The moos swings got so bad that any little thing would enrage him. When he started to descend to the cellar with his wife right behind him he trips over a cat. Ultimately. He grabs an axe to attack the cat but his wife defends the animal. The narrator then turns his rage into anger and buries the ax in his wife’s head. He hides the body in the damp walls in the basement and entomb the body behind their plaster.

The next poem I covered for this blog post is The Cask of the Amontillado. I have read this poem probably twice before during other courses at Eastern. I learned that this was the last of Poe’s work and some believe it was also the greatest. To summarize this poem a man named Montressor has hurt Fortunato. Long story short he expresses interest in wine and they both go down to the graveyard known as a catacomb. Fortunato walks into a crypt and is trapped in by the narrator places bricks to enclose the wall. Once one brick is left fortunate begs for mercy but is enclosed anyway. Montressor explains no one has found out where fortunate has been for fifty years.

The next Poe poem I looked at was called The fall of the House of Usher. This poem’s narrator is nameless. The owner of the creepy mansion is a man named Roderick Usher. Usher has been sick and diagnosed with a disease of the mind and wrote to his friend the narrator asking for help. Usher has not left the mansion in years, the narrator tries his best to take his mind of his illness but nothing works. When his sister dies he asks his friend the narrator to dispose of her body. While disposing of her body they realize that Usher and his sister were twins who shared some sort of supernatural bond. On a stormy night they both couldn’t sleep and believe that the sister they had buried was not dead and they had buried her alive. Sure enough the doors open and there stands Madeline Ushers twin sister. Madeline throws herself at Usher and he dies along with his sister.

The next poem I read was called Evening Star. This lyric poem was published within Poe’s collections in 1827.  In this poem the narrator looks toward the sky and sees coldness except for one “Proud Evening Star” that has a distinct fire that others stars did not. Thomas Moore’s “While Gazing on the Moon’s Light” influenced Poe’s lyric poem.

The last poem of Edgar Allen Poe that I read for this blog post is called The Tell-Tale Heart. To summarize this poem the narrator loves the old man and has nothing against him expect for one of his eyes. The narrator hates the eye so much he decided to kill the man to free him of his old eye. Each night for 7 nights the narrator goes into the old mans room and places a lantern in his room and peeks his head in the doorway and shines the lantern on the old mans eye. The only thing was that the old man never opened his bad eye making the narrator feel like he can’t kill him. On the eighth nigh the old man screams which makes the narrator act and drags his body out his bed and places the bed on top of the old man. Once the narrator realizes the old man was dead he cuts him up and hides his remains under the floor. The neighbor heard the scream, which caused the police to be called. The narrator had convinced the cops nothing had happened. Once he had them convinced he invited them into the old mans room to chat. While they were chatting the narrator starts to hear a ticking noise that increases rapidly. The narrator eventually confesses and points to the old mans body and explains to them the ticking is coming from the old mans heart.