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