Facing History Literacy WorkshopOctober 21, 2008

Barry Gilmore

Presentation Plan

• One: Vocabulary

• Two: Discussion and thematic connection

Vocab: The Research• Dependence on a single vocabulary

instruction method will not result in optimal learning (National Reading Panel 2000).

• Native speakers learn most new language implicitly, but in reading must understand around 95% of surrounding words to do so (Laufer 1989; Nation 1990; Parry 1991).

Vocab: The Research• Students who see proof that they are

gaining vocabulary are more motivated to learn (Shillaw 1995).

• For ESL students, the most difficult words to understand in reading are abstract terms such as freedom or change (Garcia 1991).

Low Achievers High Achievers

Use dictionaries

inflexibly

Use dictionaries

with questionsGuess in all

contextsGuess in some

contexts

Use linear lists Use malleable lists

Learn words out of context

Link new words to known

language

Wen & Johnson,

1997

Wen & Johnson,

1997

website

Schmitt & Schmitt,

1995

Vocab: RecommendationsVary instructionTeach specific vocabulary in context

Link new words to known meanings

Allow for incremental learning

Create a word-rich environment

Aim direct instruction at student needs

Show students proof of their own gains

Only two days remained before the holidays. I started out on a rainy afternoon without revealing my plans to anyone—not even to my mother. The chicken was going to be a surprise. As soon as I crossed the city line, so as not to attract attention, I took off the arm band with the Star of David and briskly followed the road toward the Jewish cemetery. To be caught without the arm band was punishable by death. Soon, for safety reasons, I got off the road and walked along narrow, muddy paths or crossed pastures full of puddles. The rain intensified; the sky began to darken. Flocks of crows pecked away at the wet fields, taking off noisily at the slightest motion only to land again seconds later.As I neared the cemetery I saw a military truck surrounded by people in uniform. Instinctively I took a detour through the woods; I had to avoid anyone in uniform at all cost. When I stopped for a moment to orient myself I realized how insane I was to be there, but I wasn’t about to turn back at that point. I continued along the edge of the woods for some time until I came to a clearing covered by fog. Suddenly a salvo of rifle shots rang out from the direction of the cemetery. I stopped behind a hollow tree and virtually pressed myself into it. I was mortified.

Identifying VocabularyLevel one words: holidays, afternoon,

attention

Level two words: intensified, pecked, detour, orient, virtually

Level three words: Star of David, salvo, mortified

Level three words1. Star of David – important to the

context of this reading and this class (stop and discuss)

2. salvo – important to this passage only; can be figured out from context (offer students a definition and move on)

3. mortified – a challenging word students may well run into again (direct vocabulary instruction)

Mood and toneIdentify words that evoke the mood or

tone of the passage…

Mood and toneBased on mood and tone, what

associations might you make with the word “mortified?”

From the Facing History website:

We believe that students are moral philosophers who are able and willing to think about tough moral and ethical dilemmas in surprisingly sophisticated ways. Our materials and our approach help students with a wide range of abilities and learning styles understand that their choices and actions matter, and that young people can, and should, be agents of change. We provide teachers with the tools they need to educate students so that they can act on their knowledge.

As I neared the cemetery I saw a military truck surrounded by people in uniform. Instinctively I took a detour through the woods; I had to avoid anyone in uniform at all cost. When I stopped for a moment to orient myself I realized how insane I was to be there, but I wasn’t about to turn back at that point. I continued along the edge of the woods for some time until I came to a clearing covered by fog. Suddenly a salvo of rifle shots rang out from the direction of the cemetery. I stopped behind a hollow tree and virtually pressed myself into it. I was mortified.

word definition

sentence

picture

mortified

To cause or

experience

shameWhen I broke my mother’s favorite vase,

I was mortified.

definition in

contextdenotati

on

connotation

linked words

word

The author is afraid and

ashamed of his fear.

shame, fear, self-

denial, rot, self-

discipline mom’s vase mortuary,

rigor mortis

mortified

More cool tech toys…

Vocabulary and writingSample student paragraph:

In the start of the book, it is all about how good it felt to be a Nazi. The author says “you” over and over to make you feel like you are a Nazi. But the author also uses “if” three times. It makes it happy but at the same time you know there is more coming.

Vocabulary and writing

In the start of the book, it is all about how good it felt to be a Nazi. The author says “you” over and over to make you feel like you are a Nazi. But the author also uses “if” three times. It makes it happy but at the same time you know there is more coming.

Vocabulary and writingto be – 3make – 2say, use – 2know – 1feel - 1

Vocabulary and writing

In the start of the book, the author describes how good it felt to be a Nazi. The author repeats “you” over and over to make you feel like you are a Nazi. But the author also employs the word “if” three times. It evokes happiness but at the same time you know there is more coming.

Vocabulary and writing

In the start of the book, the author describes how good it felt to be a Nazi. The author hammers the word “you” over and over to make you feel like you are a Nazi. But the author also sprinkles the word “if” throughout the passage three times. It evokes happiness but at the same time you know there is more coming.

Vocabulary and writing

In the start of the book, the author describes how good it felt to be a Nazi. The author hammers the word “you” over and over to make you feel like you are a Nazi. But the author also sprinkles the word “if” throughout the passage three times. It evokes happiness but at the same time you know there is more coming.

Vocabulary and writing

In the start of the book, the author describes how elated one might have felt to be a Nazi. The author hammers the word “you” over and over to make you feel like you are a Nazi. But the author also sprinkles the word “if” throughout the passage three times. It evokes the positive, but at the same time you know the negative must be coming.

Vocabulary and writing• Limited focus revision:

– Verbs come first (to be, to have, to use, to get)

– Adjectives and nouns that describe tone or meaning (abstractions)

– Adverbs

– Syntax– Punctuation

Vocabulary and writing: modeling

from Parallel Journeys:

The streets resound with the futile screams of children dying of hunger. The whine, beg, sing, lament, and tremble in the cold, without underwear, without clothes, without shoes, covered only by rags and bags that are tied by strings to their meager skeletons. Children swollen from hunger, deformed, semiconscious; children who are perfectly adult, somber and tired of living at age five…

Textual Comparison1. Brainstorming

• brainstorming groups• class discussion• group choice

Sample activity: table of contents thematic lists

Textual Comparison1. Brainstorming2. Group work

• textual evidence• discussion

– online– in class with group roles

Textual Comparison1. Brainstorming2. Group work3. Teacher response

Textual Comparison1. Brainstorming2. Group work3. Teacher response4. Group work, part 2

• summary / argument

Textual Comparison1. Brainstorming2. Group work3. Teacher response4. Group work, part 25. Public display and sharing

• online• big paper• presentation

Textual Comparison1. Brainstorming2. Group work3. Teacher response4. Group work, part 25. Public display and sharing6. Individual writing

Allison: but, the time was not come yet; and every time that wind blew over france shook the rags of the scarecrows in vein, for the birds fine of song and feather, took no worning. book 1, ch 5Jenny: ok…what does that mean?Caitlin: the scarecrows are the aristocracyLucy: once again the birds are dirtyCaitlin: i thinkJenny: wait a seecLucy: no,no,the wind is the scary mean people and the scarccrow are the porr people fighting the revolutionAllison: yeah lucy that’s what I was sayinLucy: and rthe poor are scarred away until the revolution comesJenny: I think that there were so many times the thwe revolution could have occurred that (wind in vien) that when it actually cam the rich had no idea it was coming

Although the barbaric human is often mentioned, we feel that the most important thematic issue within animal imagery is how the poor people are referred to as dogs and pigs. But social class differences are also illustrated symbolically by other images, such as the description of the ragged scarecrows (symbolizing the poor), while birds symbolize the upper class.

In addition to the obvious use of imagery as a way of categorizing social groups, Dickens uses such symbolic language to foreshadow the coming revolution. In portraying the broken wine cask early in the book, he offers a general statement of “warning” for the reader that is wholly missed by the aristocracy, who, like “birds fine of song and feather,” go about their usual business heedless of the coming turmoil.

Contact Information• Barry Gilmore• www.barrygilmore.com• bgilmore@lausanneschool.com• http://barrygilmore.wikispaces.com/