January+4th,+2011

Lauren and I were thinking students could BLOG about the characters. As they read (even at home!) they would be able to add to the blog...adding examples from the text to support their ideas, and this would allow for communication among students throughout the unit. It would also allow for a variety of responses and the teacher to check their work daily, rather than wait to "collect journals" at the end. ~Amy Reese, Lauren Tillman

Barrier to amount of language involved in the lesson. Guideliine 2: Provide options for language and symbols....An important instructional strategy is to ensure that alternative representations are provided, not only for accessibility but for clarity and comprehensibility to all students. Ideas: preteach vocabulary, provide links for auditory definition, provide prior knowledge through real life video/TV clips, highlight important info in text. Joyce & Terri

Provide options for recruiting interest: options for choice and autonomy (Sandy Keaton and Leslie Grahn) Tic-tac-toe choice board of options for demonstrating knowledge of static and dynamic characters. Examples: using Inspiration, drawing, record a pocast, etc.

A teacher could provide an option for perception by finding an auditory version of the the text, A Raisin in the Sun. Such versions are available through Describe and Caption Media Programs.

Choice boards can be used to present more options for demonstrating understanding and provide student choice.

We looked at ways to illustrate key concepts in different ways (non-linguistically) to help students understand the definitions presented during the lessons... and found "visuwords", check out this link: http://www.visuwords.com/?word=characterization (Linda, Kay, Lisa)