Did the Bell Ring Yet?
Mrs. Block’s Journal
Monday, January 18, 2010
Here is some background information on the current writing unit in Eighth Grade Language Arts. For the past week, I have been teaching students about persuasive writing. I took students through the process on how to produce a persuasive essay – find a topic of interest that has two sides to it, research and analyze other perspectives, take a stance on the issue, write an essay that has a strong opening, body which includes facts, examples, and personal experiences to support opinion, and a satisfying conclusion. Together, we analyzed the topic of cursive writing and whether schools should continue to teach and require cursive writing. Students read a variety of articles that presented different perspectives on this issue. After reading these articles and creating a class pros and cons list, students chose their position and what they felt were the best arguments and used these for their persuasive essays. We had a great time sharing these essays and had some lively discussions about this topic throughout the process.
Now it’s time for students to pick their own topic to develop into a five-paragraph persuasive essay. This is where the laptops came into play. To begin class today, I emailed the students two websites to access. The first website was used for our bellringer. Many students in period one, including myself, had difficulty accessing this website, but the rest of my classes had no problem. I was never able to access this site on my Mac – not sure why. This website took students to two different role-play situations – a conversation between a child and parent – the first scenario the student gave a very weak argument for his request. In the second scenario, the child gave a very strong argument for his request. We read both these scenarios out loud and discussed the connection to persuasive writing. The best thing about this is it was a simple way to get students engaged right away and thinking about our topic of persuasion, and it was PAPERLESS! Without a computer, this would have taken at least 120 copies for a classroom set of this role-play scenario so I probably would not have done it. I don’t think I would have done this activity in the computer lab either because of time. Usually when I take a class to the computer lab, we are under such a time crunch for a couple reasons…it takes 5-10 minutes to log on, the lab is always so booked – we only do what HAS to be done.
The main site I had students access today was www.iowaaeaonline.org where they selected the SIRS Issues Researcher. This is a perfect site to help students with research. It provides a variety of current, high-interest topics along with lists of articles that support the pros and cons of these issues. What I liked best about this site is it’s teacher-tested/teacher-approved – students have access to the most current information for their writing. Another thing I liked about this site is it narrows the focus for their research.
I showed students all the options this site gives using the projector hooked to my laptop. It was very easy to use the term “lids down” when I needed their attention in front. After my direct instruction, students’ task was to browse topics, choose one of their own, and write down their essential question for their research. Students worked quietly while I conferenced with individuals and recorded their topics.
The computers were user-friendly, the students were engaged, and they truly seemed excited to start the process of persuasive writing.
Great first day!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Today I did less direct instructing because students needed time to research. Part of their research is to read 2-3 suggested online articles for both the pros and cons of their topic. Each student must develop a pros and cons list to be turned in for a grade.
One thing I did talk to students about is other possible sources of information students might use for their research…one in particular is email. I encouraged students to think about someone who might be a good contact for their research and interview that person via email.
Again, students worked diligently and quietly. They were engaged in their online reading and note taking. In one of my classes the bell rang at the end of the period and very few people moved. Usually students race to the door – on to their next class. Not today. One student actually said a few seconds after the bell rang, “Did the bell ring yet?” Hence, the title of my journal.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Snow Day
My concern with not having school today was time. I was supposed to have the laptops through Thursday of this week, and then students would have them for social studies. Thanks to Mrs. Miller being flexible, I’ll still get them for four days.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Today I had to do some more direct instructing about the next step in the writing process – completing the graphic organizer. Most students were close to finishing their research, so if they hadn’t already chosen a position on their topic, today was the day they had to decide. Before drafting a writing piece, I always have students complete a graphic organizer. I made copies of the graphic organizer I wanted students to use and had them complete it using paper/pencil. Since then I have found online interactive graphic organizers for students and plan to try some for future writings. Megan was very excited today in class. She received an email from a professor at John Hopkins University. She had emailed him for information on her topic of the ozone layer and he responded with some very useful information. Other students have also used email for their research. After my direct instruction, students spent the remainder of the period to finish research and/or complete their graphic organizer.
Friday, January 22, 2010
As part of our study of persuasive writing, we’ve discussed other forms of persuasion – the power of images as a persuasive tool. Previously we looked at a WWI poster of Uncle Sam pointing and saying “I Want You.” We also looked at two images of animals… one a picture of elephants roaming in the open wild and another of elephants behind bars – this represented the issue of zoos and whether or not they are good for animals.
Because the focus of today’s lesson was on persuasive images, I started class by showing a YouTube video of a heartbreaking commercial that features famous singer Sara McLaughlin’s campaign to help prevent cruelty to animals. We had a great conversation about all the persuasive techniques used in that commercial – a celebrity, a sad song, images of mistreated animals, etc. Most students were familiar with this commercial and we all agreed that it’s one of the most difficult commercials on TV to watch because it’s so sad. It was a perfect example of persuasion. It was so fun to use YouTube – it really kept their interest and led to a great discussion.
To connect this to our persuasive writing essay, students were challenged to create their own computerized persuasive poster that will be shown using the projector when they share their persuasive essay. I showed students how to create their poster using Keynote. Students were required to have 2-3 images that support their position, citing the sources where these images were borrowed, a title/caption, and as well as their thesis statement on the poster. I was very impressed by students’ posters. I especially want to thank a few students in my first period class – Kaela, Justine, and Ethan – their posters were so impressive that I used them as models for my other classes throughout the day.
Today was the first day I experienced some frustration with the technology, however. The computers were VERY slow in the afternoon. I felt bad for my students – they became very frustrated because they could not finish their project. As I understand, these kinds of problems with our server would be corrected with Apple.
I now have to pass these laptops to Mrs. Miller – my four days are up. I’m not finished with my persuasive writing unit so I must finish in the computer lab. I really need a couple days for students to draft their five-paragraph persuasive essay on the computer. After some revising and proofreading activities, I really need to allow 1-2 days for students to type their final writing piece. I really need at least one day for students to finish their poster. I have the computer lab signed out for Monday and Tuesday, but then it’s not available again until Friday. The computer lab is not available at all the following week… This is our currently reality.
In the past four days I didn’t use the laptops every minute of every day, but they were used a great deal each day. Through the use of technology, though, students were excited, engaged, making decisions, being creative, collaborating, and helping their peers while still focusing on the basics…reading, writing, listening, speaking. Technology is a tool that will definitely change the way we teach and it will also make learning more relevant to our students at Spirit Lake.
