Kevin S. Miller
A. Classroom Setup
Since students will be encouraged to use each other as resources, it is suggested that you setup desks in groups of four. It will also be advisable to group students heterogeneously.
The ideal cluster of four students would be two boys and two girls. It is suggested to have students with different academic abilities placed in the same group. The teacher should be aware to assign students with different personalities and temperaments. This will enable students to learn to work and cooperate with people of diverse backgrounds and capabilities. This acquired skill will help them in future social endeavors.
It is recommended that centers be used. Centers are designated spaces set up that house specific materials or aids. These planned areas insure that students have the capability to work independently.
The classroom should be set up to afford students ample opportunity to move from center to center without disturbing others.
The following is a list of propose centers:
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(1) R & S(Resources and Supplies)- this area should be stocked with paper, pens, pencils, crayons, scissors, construction paper, glue, and other materials to aid in the development of the written product.
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(2) Reading Section- this area should have books and other forms of written materials that are grade appropriate to expose the students to good literature. This section should contain African-American literature.(A Bibliography of African-American Literature is provided in the back of this Curriculum.)
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(3) Portfolio Section-this area houses the works in progress. Each student should have a folder of some sort to keep their writings in.
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(4) Editing Section-this area should have the necessary aids to help students edit their own works. The students will have many lessons(mini-lessons) instructing them about editing and proofreading. These lessons will give students the opportunity to be expose to well written material and the flow of the english language. Charts will also be made based on the information gained in these lessons and be displayed in this section and around the classroom. The students will also have examples of corrected materials to view. There will also be a chart in this corner of editing and proofreading symbols.
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(5) Conference Section-this area should be in a part of the room where students can discuss and share their works without disturbing others. This section should be comfortable and inviting.
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(6) Publishing Section-this area should have the tools needed to bind or laminate finished products. There should be at least a typewriter and computer with a word processing program. There should also be room in this section to display “finished” works. (A Classroom Setup Diagram is provided in the back of this curriculum.)
B. Social Development
Due to the nature of this Unit, and its emphasis on developing young minority males self-esteem it is important that each lesson has a social development activity connected. The New Haven Board of Education has adopted the “Second Step” program for its elementary schools. This is a program design to promote social development.
There are many lessons that deal with diversity that should be implemented in this Unit. The user of this Unit is encourage to look through the Second Step program and utilize the materials already developed
C. Mini-Lessons
This Unit does not promote teacher lecturing on specific and isolated language art skills. Open guided instruction is however useful when a number of students are in need of basic writing skills in order for them to independently continue working on there writing projects.
Mini-lessons are designed around the written work generated by the students. The teacher will began to notice certain writing errors by students after conferencing with them. If the teacher starts to see a negative writing trend among students, the teacher can address this matter in an open lesson. There will also be times when a teacher needs to expose all the students to a writing skill. The mini-lessons will serve as the vehicle to promote these new language art skills to the entire class.
D. The Art of Cooperating and Sharing
Groupshare is a word I have coined. It is the act in which students share information, labor, and/or ideas with no emotional or intellectual attachment. The individual learns to give for the sake of the task and does not expect to be compensated. The person is also consciously aware that the thing shared with the group no longer exclusively belongs to him/her.
The teacher who is going to implement this curriculum will need to nurture students in the art of cooperating. This can be started with dividing the responsibility of a project to each member of a group. Equal distribution of labor and giving students an opportunity to solve and maintain a project will give them the confidence to work with others in the future.
Division of labor among students can best be achieved in cooperative learning team jobs (Science for Life and Living, 1992 )
COMMUNICATOR: This student is responsible for asking the teacher or another team’s communicator for help. If the team cannot resolve a question or decide how to follow a procedure, for example, the communicator is the only team member who may leave the team and ask the teacher for help or talk with the communicator of another team. The communicator shares with the other teammates any information obtained from another communicator or the teacher. The communicator is not the only one who talks to the teacher. All team members should be able to report on the team’s results.
MANAGER: The manager is responsible for picking up and returning the supplies and equipment that the team needs. The manager also informs the teacher if something is damage or broken. All teammates are responsible for cleaning up after an activity and getting the materials ready to return.
TRACKER/CHECKER: The tracker is responsible for the team’s progress through the steps of a team activity. The tracker keeps the team focus on the task. As the checker, the student is responsible for making sure that the team understands and completes the team task. The checker points out the teams task and makes sure the team talk about the task before they began.
COACH: The coach is responsible for encouraging teammates to practice the team skills. The coach reminds teammates to practice the team skills and congratulate teammates when they use a skill. The coach inspires the team to work cooperatively by looking for positive examples.
The teacher must spend time teaching and encouraging the students to really perform their jobs. The teacher must be a role-model. The teacher must set aside time in the day to reinforce the different roles.
E. The Writing Conference
The conference is a very essential part of the writing process. It is the place were the student redefines, discover and clarifies what he/she wants to express.
There are many types of conferences. In this Unit I will focus on three(3) of them. They are as follow:
1. The Individual Conference
This conference is between a student and the teacher. It is usually a short conference to go over what the child has written or to help students who are stuck. These conferences mainly are to get the student to focus and for general content problems.
2. The Group Conference
This conference is made up of no more than five(5) to six(6) students with the teacher to discuss focus, content, direction and expression of completed drafts. They should all be looking for strong points in the individual writings and building on them.
3. Publishing Conference
These conferences are totally student-based. The student review published works with the aim of selecting one for wider audience publication.
The most important thing to remember when evaluating your conferences is that if you as the teacher has done most of the talking, your conference has failed. You most allow the students to arrive at their own opinions and decisions.