Post on 01-Jan-2016
description
Language Arts Curriculum for High Ability Learners
Denver Public SchoolsDenver, COJune 6, 2011
Overview SessionPresented by
Dr. Kimberley L. ChandlerCurriculum Director
Center for Gifted EducationThe College of William and Mary
klchan@wm.edu757-221-2588
Agenda• Introduction• Curriculum Framework• Constructing Meaning Through Literature• Questions
Introduction
• The Center for Gifted Education was established at The College of William and Mary almost 24 years ago by Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska.
• The website is www.cfge.wm.edu.
• Check this link for curriculum materials:
http://www.cfge.wm.edu/curriculum.htm
Learner Needs
What is learned
What is taught
Curriculum
Assessment How it is
delivered
Instruction
The Integrated Curriculum Model
AdvancedContent
Dimension
Process-Product Dimension
Issues/Themes Dimension
- VanTassel-Baska, 1986
Learner Characteristics and Corresponding Emphases in the Curriculum
THE LEARNER
Precocity(Advanced development in some
curricular area)
Intensity(Capacity to focus and
concentrate for long periods of time)
Complexity(Can engage in high level
and abstract thinking)
THE CURRICULUM
Advanced content (Provides opportunities for new
learning)
Process/product depth considerations (Enhances
engagement and creative production; allows
utilization of information in a generative way )
Issues/concepts/themes/ideas across domains of
learning (Allows students to make connections
across areas of study and to work at a level of deep
understanding)
6
Language Arts Curriculum Framework
The Literature
Understanding Change
Using the Reasoning
Process
Learning Language Arts
Content and Skills
Concept Process
Content
Literary Analysis and Interpretation
Persuasive Writing
Linguistic Competency
Oral Communication
Language Arts Curriculum Goals
To develop analytical and interpretive skills in literature
To develop persuasive writing skills To develop linguistic competency To develop listening/oral communication skills To develop reasoning skills in LA To understand the concept of change in the LA
Language Arts Units
• Beyond Words (gr. 1-2)
• Journeys and Destinations (gr. 2-3)
• Literary Reflections (gr. 4-5)
• Patterns of Change (gr. 4-6)
• Autobiographies and Memoirs (gr. 5-6)
• Persuasion (gr. 6-7)
• The 1940s: A Decade of Change (gr. 7-9)
• Utopia: Man’s Changing Ideas of the Ideal (gr. 7-9)
• Threads of Change in 19th Century American Literature (gr. 8-10)
• Change Through Choices (gr. 10-12)
Research-BasedLA Teaching Models
• Concept Development Model• Literature Web• Hamburger Model• Dagwood Model• Reasoning Model• Research Model• Vocabulary Web
Assessment of Learning Outcomes
• Pre- and post-assessments for literary analysis and interpretation, persuasive writing, and grammar
• Portfolio of writing assignments, literature and vocabulary webs, other work
• Research project and oral presentation• Response journal• Unit evaluation
Grading Considerations
• Portfolio materials (persuasive writing; literary analysis)
• Research project and oral presentation• Response journal• Homework
Major Findings - Language Arts• Significant and important treatment effects for literary
analysis and interpretation and for persuasive writing• No significant gender effects• Student performance showed that additional attention was
needed to enhance higher-level thinking and elaboration skills.
• Students were able to improve significantly after unit instruction regardless of the grouping model employed.
• Students enhanced their learning each time they were exposed to the units and maintained their level of achievement between interventions across the years.
Constructing Meaning Through Literature
Criteria for Selecting Unit Literature
• Challenging for high-ability learners
• Appropriate multicultural literature
• Concept of change
Criteria for Selecting Literature for Gifted Readers
• Rich, varied, precise, complex, exciting language• Open-ended, with capacity to inspire contemplative
behavior• Complex, leading to interpretive and evaluative
behaviors• Help build problem-solving skills• Role models• Broad-based in form
Baskin & Harris, 1980
Considerations for Multicultural Literature
• General accuracy
• Avoidance of stereotypes
• Authentic, up-to-date, age-appropriate language
• Attention to author’s perspective
• Currency of facts and interpretations
• Concept of audience
• Integration of cultural information
• Balance and multidimensionality
• Accurate and appropriate illustrations-- Miller-Lachman, 1992
Literature Web - Full Form
Key Words
READING
Feelings
Ideas
Structure
Images/Symbols
Literature Web
• Key Words: What were some words and phrases that were especially interesting or important? What words were new to you?
• Feelings: What feelings did you get reading the passage? What feelings did the characters have? How were those feelings expressed?
• Ideas: What was the main idea? What other major ideas and concepts were important? What was the author trying to say about those ideas?
• Images/Symbols: How did the author use description and imagery in the novel? What sensory images came to your mind? How did the author use symbols?
• Structure: What type of writing was this? What literary and style elements did the author use? How did the structure of the writing contribute to the meaning of the novel? May identify such features as: use of unusual time sequence in narrative, use of voice, use of figurative language, etc.
.
Grandmother Moon
Each day is a journey,a leaving home,over paths that windbetween rocks and bog.Behind each rockis a shadow;behind each shadow,a flower,or a wellspring,or a trembling rabbit,or an unfolding fern
Only if you lookwill you find.Only if you leavewill you arrive.One step,then another,as day unrolls itselfalong the road toward night.And at evening,look who welcomes us Grandmother Moon,waiting in the doorway,the stars in her hands –to lead us safely home.
Jane Yolen
Building Textual Understanding
Underlying Assumption: Discourse that promotes
understanding needs direction, focus, and movement towards
goal.
• Marking (focusing)
• Revoicing (repeating student ideas)
• Turning back (textual or student-based)
• Recapping (synthesizing)
• Modeling (thinking aloud)
• Annotating (providing information)
Beck & McKeown, 1996
Follow-Up Questions
• What is a journey? What words or phrases can you use to describe a journey?
• How is a journey like a day? What important characteristics of a day is the poet trying to emphasize by calling a day a journey? How are a day and a journey different?
• What does the poet mean by the words “as day unrolls itself along the road toward night”?
• How is traveling, or movement in a place or space, like living in time?
Assessment for Literary Analysis and Interpretation
• Short reading selection (poem, short story, fable, essay)
• Four short-answer questions assess analysis and interpretation through focus on main idea/central theme (2 questions), quote analysis, and explication of connection to unit concept.
• Rubric rates responses on 0-8 scale per question, for total possible score of 32 points.
• Pre- and post-assessments are drawn from same genre.
Resource Book
• Writing about Literature: Step by Step
by Patricia McKeague
ISBN-10: 0757560296
ISBN-13: 978-0757560293
Online Resources
• Poetry and Literature Center of the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/
• Academy of American Poets: http://www.poets.org
• Glossary of Poetic Terms: http://www.poeticbyway.com/glossary.html
• Glossary of Literary Terms: http://www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm
Questions
Kendall/Hunt PublishingContact Information
Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
4050 Westmark Drive
Dubuque, IA 52004-1840
1-800-247-3458
www.kendallhunt.com
Consultant Contact Information
Dr. Kimberley L. Chandler
Center for Gifted Education
The College of William and Mary
P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
klchan@wm.edu
757-221-2588