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Amy Robbins
08
Project
Summary
TAH Project
Proposal 2007-2008
·
Clear Purpose and Objective
To increase
social studies related classroom and independent reading by students
·
Stakeholders: grade level, who will benefit, who will participate
8th
grade students at Canisteo-Greenwood Middle School
· U.S.
History Content Area
American
History
·
Outline describing content
Texts added
to course instruction:
Myers, Walter.
Fallen Angels. Scholastic, 1988
Taylor, Theodore.
The Bomb. Avon Books Inc, 1995
Stewart, Sarah. The
Gardener. Douglas & McIntyre, 2000
Eventually my goal is
to have two reading books for each social studies unit that I
teach. I would like the reading books to be of two differing
reading levels, one that is at the standardized 8th grade
level and, in order to accommodate the number of students who
struggle with reading, one that is below 8th grade
level. I will need to have a classroom set of each book, and do to
cost will begin with a few books and add new book/s each school
year. The units of instruction that I teach include:
Unit One - Civil War
and Reconstruction
Unit Two – Industrial
Growth, Immigration, and Progressive Era
Unit Three –
Imperialism and WWI
Unit Four – Between the
Wars, Roaring 20s and Great Depression
Unit Five – WWII
Unit Six – Cold War
Unit Seven – Civil
Rights Era (1950s – 1970s)
Unit Eight - 1970s –
Today
I will read out loud,
while the students follow along in their books, one chapter from
each of the books at the beginning of each social studies unit. I
may or may not choose the first chapter, depending on which chapter
I believe might provoke students’ interests the most. This first
chapter reading will occur the day a new unit of social studies
instruction begins and the unit of instruction will correspond to
the book begin read. Students will be given ten minutes at the end
of each class to read the book that I introduced during the read out
loud introduction to the new social studies unit. Students will
read silently and at their own pace. Students will also be given
the opportunity to eat lunch in my classroom in order to have more
time reading the book that has been chosen for the current social
studies unit. At the completion of the social studies unit that
corresponds to the book begin read, it is predicted that many
students will not have had enough time to finish reading the book.
Therefore, at the end of each social studies unit, I will encourage
students to finish the book and allow them to sign out (borrow) the
book during study halls or to take home. I am hoping to increase
student interest in independent reading by not giving them the
opportunity to finish the book in school or as mandatory homework.
I will keep a record of which students borrow the books. I will
also grant extra credit points to students who finish reading the
book and write a brief summary of the book read.
·
Software to be used, internet materials, contacts, etc.
Computer programs are not needed for this project
· Level of
Student Involvement
All
8th grade students at Canisteo-Greenwood will read
portion of the books throughout the school year. It is predicted
that several students will continue reading the books that are
introduced in school on their own time.
·
Evaluation process (include students when possible)
1.
Record kept of books borrowed by
students
2.
Record kept of students who
complete the summary of completely read texts
3.
Sample of summaries kept on file
4.
Students’ opinions about books
introduced in class and overall project sequence will be anonymously
surveyed at the end of the school year
· Timeline:
vision of project being carried out between now and conclusion
Based on
the books that I currently have available, this project will begin
in January and end in April. When enough books are available, this
project will begin in September and end in May.
· Any
district approvals necessary to participate.
If
district is willing and able to purchase books, then administration
and board approval of books will be required. Also, depending on
the district’s policy for literary works used in the classroom, some
texts might need administrative approval before allowed to be read
by students.
Project
Reflection
Amy Robbins
Canisteo-Greenwood
Middle School
TAH Summary
Summary of events:
September, 2007 –
January, 2008
Several books were
borrowed from our local libraries that corresponded with the topics
taught in 8th grade American history class. For example,
while teaching the unit on the American Civil War and
Reconstruction, I borrowed Evvy’s Civil War, Thunder at
Gettysburg, Shades of Gray, and seventeen other Civil War
related books. Borrowed books were displayed on a book shelf in the
classroom. Students were encouraged to borrow, read, and write a
summary of the reading throughout each unit. However, I purposely
did not read any chapters from the library borrowed books. This is
because I did not have enough copies of each book for all the
students in my classroom to follow along with as I read and because
I wanted to compare the number of students who signed out a library
borrowed book with the books that I has chosen myself to complement
later units. Each unit several students did borrowed books and most
students who borrowed a book read it. I have kept a list of
borrowed books from the library for each unit as well as a sign out
sheet for each unit of borrowed books and can mail copies of the
sign out lists if needed. Although several students borrowed books
throughout each unit, I did not have any students write a summary of
the books. I am certain several of the students who borrowed books
actually did read, as they often shared details about the books
through the unit of which they borrowed them.
February, 2008
As part of our unit on
the Great Depression, I purchased a classroom set of The Gardener.
During this unit, I read the book to the students as they followed
along with their copy. Some students chose to sit and even lay on
the floor reading the reading. On the white board I had written a
opening phrase for a paragraph, “According the to the book The
Gardener, during the Great Depression some families…”. At the
end of the book reading, students completed this phrase and write a
paragraph explaining the changes that families sometimes went
through during the Great Depression. After each student finished
their paragraphs they shared their answers with the class. I have
copies of students’ paragraph at school and can send them to you if
needed. This activity was followed up with a homework and project
assignments. The homework was to write a paragraph beginning with
the phrase, “If my family could not afford to buy food…”. Students
were required to talk about this bleak scenario with a parent or
guardian and incorporate their ideas within their paragraph.
Lastly, the project was to bring in a recycled container, like an
empty Cool Whip container or plastic cup, full of soil. Most
students got their soil from the ground when the weather was
temperate and ground was muddy. Students were also given the option
of bringing in vegetable, fruit, and flower seeds that they already
had lying around at home. Students that brought in seeds shared
them with their classmates on planting day and were given bonus
points on their Great Depression quiz. We then planted a depression
garden and all students put their container plants next to the
windows in my classroom. Students took home their plants the day
before Spring Break week. Students appeared to enjoy the book
reading, homework, and project activities. I had very few students
that did not complete the paragraph assignment or garden container
project.
April, 2008 – May, 2008
Although I
did not have enough classroom copies, I read Faithful Elephants,
Terrible Things, and Sadako to my classes during our
unit on WWII. Again the students really seemed to like being read to
and enjoyed the stories. Some students complained that they
“couldn’t see the pictures” and moved closer to me, almost like what
is done in elementary with students gathering around the teacher
reading a fairytale. Except, all of our books were historically
related and most did not end on a bright note. Faithful
Elephants really made some students angry. After reading that
book a discussion began throughout the class, and I did not begin
it. The students wanted to know and discussed what other options
the zoo keepers had, besides starving the elephants. This turned
into a debate – again, student initiated and led. I monitored the
situation and gave them each time to express themselves.
Just before
we began our next unit on the Cold War, I gave each student a copy
of the novels, The Bomb and Fallen Angles. I read the
first chapter from each novel and a few excerpts from later
chapters. Students appeared very interested. Afterwards, students
were allowed to sign out one of the novels. I had so many
interested that I did not have enough copies of either book to fill
the number of requests, so they had to take turns borrowing the
books. As of May 15, 2008, several students still have the books
out on loan. Quite a few students have also returned their books.
I have only one student who turned in his book and wrote a paragraph
summarizing the novel. I am still waiting to see of the other
students who still have the books hand them in with a written
summary. To encourage students to write the summary, I offered
bonus points on their final project averages. I have copies of the
sign out sheets for both novels and the one student’s summary
writing and they can be mailed to you if needed.
What
I have learned:
-
Students enjoy being read to
-
Students are more apt to read a book if it
introduced and “sampled” in class
-
Students enjoy reading, but not writing
What I will
change next year:
-
Continue to read short stories and
excerpts of history related novels out loud to my classes.
-
Purchase more history related novels –
especially for the units taught earlier in the school year
-
Instead of writing a summary as evidence
that the book was read, I will have an online quiz about each
novel that I have. I will use Accelerated Reader to
generate the quizzes. This program allows you to find hundreds
of books by title and author. Students log in to the program
and are only allowed to take the computer generated quiz once.
I know that my school does have access to this program. If this
program does not have the books that I am offering, I will make
up a short quiz myself.
Robbins Reflection in Word
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