Literature Responses Part IV: The Debater Role (Streamlining Toulmin)

As I referred to in a previous post, the Debater Role (in Literature Responses) is a more stripped down version of the Toulmin method of argumentation, a great way to get students to write and think more clearly and more critically.  It can be used to brainstorm and pre-write, and is very effective for creating air-tight (logically) blog posts.

The simplest break-down of it is:

Claim: I think ____________ = What's being proposed in response to an open-ended question
Warrant: because_______________ = Finishes the sentence and starts with "because"
Evidence: (3): ________________ = The 3-5 pieces of supporting evidence form the text

For example...

"Do you think it's hazardous for an 11-year-old boy to make such a journey on his own...?"

Claim: Nathan really has to make this journey on his own or his family will have nothing to return to if/when his father heals
Warrant: After all, if he doesn't do it, no one else will...
Evidence (3):

1. He is young, but in those days young people took on all kinds of responsibilities people nowadays would consider "hazardous"
2. Ezra can't (and shouldn't) be expected to help Nathan because they just met and Ezra has to protect Molly from Weasel and help Pa convalesce
3. It would be more hazardous for the Fowlers to return to a non-existent farm--one that has been robbed of its animals, or the animals having died from exposure and negligence--than for Nathan to make this journey

Some great links for finding out more about the Toulmin method of argumentation:

http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~digger/305/toulmin_model.htm

http://www.mesacc.edu/~rrodrigo/lessons/arrangement/juicy_fruit_warrants.htm

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/03/

http://www.slideshare.net/soul4real/toulmin-model-of-argumentation-presentation

http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/rgass/toulmin2.htm

Confluence of Rule of Blog and Debater Role (from Literature Responses)

The tack that I've chosen to pursue this year in everyone's classes is the following (in this order):

1. Question Types (with an especial emphasis on Open-Ended Questions)
2. Engaging students in blogging in-class using the Rule of Blog
3. Explicitly teaching them the Toulmin method of argumentation that I've streamlined into the Debater Role from my Literature Responses
4. Incorporating the Debater Role into brainstorming and pre-writing for persuasive essays

This doesn't include workshops for reading strategies, Guided Reading, Literature Circles, Literature Responses, and specific concerns for the students in your classes, but it is, after much deliberation on my part, a PD paradigm that will allow everyone to start addressing AMS's new SMART goal.

I can't overstate how important it is that everyone take a lock-step approach to the four strategies/activities that I have listed here.  Briefly stated, if students haven't mastered OEQ (Open-Ended Questions) then they won't have anything of substance to respond to for the Rule of Blog activity; if they haven't responded to teacher- or student-generated OEQ on the Rule of Blog activity then the Debate Role (Toulmin method of argumentation) will just seem pointless to them and, most likely, you; and if students haven't mastered the Debater Role, then their persuasive essays aren't going to be nearly as effective as they'll need to be come Spring of 2012.

For now, I wanted to proffer some student exemplars--fairly decent for first tries--of the Rule of Blog, one of which had an impromptu OEQ based on responses to previous student-generated OEQ, the second of which had been prepared ahead of time...

The Writing Process: Online Grammar Help

Every once in awhile I surprise myself by digging up really useful links I've included on some of my past blogs.  This is definitely one of them: Guide to Grammar and Writing.  It has full explanations of everything related to the editing sub-process of writing: interactive tests, quizzes, full explanations of grammar and usage rules (and exceptions), links to other reference sites, and even discrete PowerPoint presentations for almost every imaginable sub-section of Grammar and Usage.  Please use and enjoy!

The Writing Process: Feedback Sheets (with Revision Questions)

Now that I'm finishing up doing Author's Chair in many of your classes, I wanted to post a handout that includes the original questions introduced during my "Editing vs. Revision" workshop.

Reading Strategies II: Using Post-It Notes to Mark Up the Text

One of the most important forms of note-taking happens in the margins of texts; commonly referred to as "marginalia" it is the act of assuming ownership of learned material by transacting with the text.  This happens most effectively with Post-It notes, especially when annotating a text is not feasible (i.e., school textbooks).  There are actually many different forms of taking notes using sticky notes, but I've found two levels of using them:

• 1. Asking questions about what isn't understood during reading (then following up on doing the research necessary to answer these questions).
• 2. Responding to annotations made on Post-It notes as can be seen in the images I've included here; the text used was Weasel by Cynthia DeFelice.

As a brief codicil to using sticky notes in teaching students note-taking skills, I'd like to pass on an absolutely amazing and downright useful link to the New York Times blog on using articles from the New York Times as resources for textual material.  To this end, the following link would be great to use in teaching students a variety of note-taking methods:

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/briefly-noted-practicing-useful-annotation-strategies/

Reading for Pleasure: Book Talk Project Documents

Here are the documents I used when assigning Book Talk Projects.  I also had a sign-up sheet where students were required to commit to a book for the duration of the project's time-arc, usually about every five or six weeks they had to do a new Book Talk Project.  I also wanted to distinguish between the actual presentation of the "talking" part of the Book Talk from the "project" part.  The directions and rubric for the project are pretty clear about each.

N.B.: I did want to highlight that these aren't the district's official documents, but my own--feel free to modify them to suit the needs and ability levels of your own students.  If anyone would like to collaborate on something in this area, please e-mail me...

Reading for Pleasure: Book Talk Podcast

I realize I might be getting just slightly ahead of myself, but seeing as how the notion of pleasure reading has already been broached (Back-to-School Night), I wanted to post a model project that I did when assigning Book Talk Projects.  I'll also post the actual documents for Book Talk Projects soon (and, as always, feel free to modify and tweak as needed for your own classes), but for now I wanted to show off my own model for a Book Talk Podcast.  My book was H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, a fine sample of speculative fiction--but don't take my word for it: click on the book cover's image at the left, download the podcast, and (vicariously) experience it for yourself!

Literature Responses Part III: Roles, Rubrics & More Rubrics!

Some of you may be wondering why I've chosen to concentrate on Question Types when it seems to be such a niche way of going about literacy; some of the most important roles in Literature Responses, however, require students being in the full working knowledge of how to construct, deconstruct, and respond to each of the Question Types (e.g., Discussion Director and Predictor), or require students to be able to think in a sophisticated, logical, or higher-order manner, much as open-ended questions do.

Just for everyone's convenience, I wanted to post PDFs of Literature Responses and to let everyone know that whatever they whittle the roles down into, the ones I would consider to be essential going forward are:

• Discussion Director
• Connector
• Quoter
• Predictor
• Debater
• Reader's Theater
• Take-Away
• Best Case/Worst Case Scenario

Coming up as soon as I get all of the Question Types covered: the Debater role!  Here's where teachers will get a chance to practice Close Reading with their students.

Literature Responses Part II: Disallowed Question Types

What's in a question?  Quite a bit, actually, much to the amazement and amusement of our students as they learn the three question types: recall, inferential, and open-ended.  There are certain sub-sets of question types, however, that should be disallowed unless there is some specific purpose for engaging in them.

These are:

"Yes or No" Questions: These basically dwell in the realm of recall-based questions anyway, but they rarely serve purposes other than checking to see if students read, say, a passage for homework...though they do suffice for quick quizzes, too.

"Stumper" Questions: Questions that are impossible to answer based on recall or inferential knowledge of the text.

• What was Ponyboy's mother's middle name?
• If the Curtises had a dog, what would be it's favorite kind of tree?

Prediction Questions: These should be reserved for the start of a text, the predictor role of Literature Circles, the predictor role of Literature Responses, tantalizing students at the end of a day's reading with what will follow, or extending the end of a novel/text.

***
A fairly excellent rule-of-thumb to use--especially when trying to create great open-ended questions--is asking if the question could, in and of itself, lead to a sustained and meaningful discussion/essay prompt.  The whole point of assigning texts is encouraging students to authentically and meaningfully respond to the texts.  In this new light "What was Ponyboy's mother's middle name?" doesn't stand very tall against "In your opinion do you think Ponyboy should be tried for murder/manslaughter? Why/Why not?"

Authenticity Within Reason (A Preamble)

The old saw "nothing exists in a vacuum" has no greater applicability than in education, a field of work and of thought whose highly-nuanced contexts too often lend themselves more to ineffability than to expression.  Having said this, there are some activities that I would urge any E/LA teacher toward and some I would dissuade them from:

Do:

• Model fluent reading to students (and allow students to model for each other) for no more than 25 minutes in a 90-minute class
• During reading, stop at appropriate intervals to ensure comprehension
• Require students to take notes as they read
• Show students how to take notes
• Give students a time limit for all activities
• Model the steps of the writing process (brainstorming, pre-writing/planning, drafting, revision, editing, conferencing, publishing/submission) and take the appropriate care and time when going through them 
• Subordinate boring/menial tasks for homework (e.g., drafting, recall questions, "fluff" sections of text, etc.)
• Subordinate recall questions for quizzes, quick comprehension checks, and refreshing everyone's memory of the previous class's reading at the beginning of a new day's reading
• Permit students to use a Writer's Notebook to take notes and use it on all tests and quizzes
• Prompt students to share their sample sentences using each day's vocabulary word(s)
• Prompt students to create and answer their own and each other's open-ended questions after reading
• Have students critique each other's writing within the parameters of Author's Chair

Don't:

• Skip chapters, pages
• Assign reading you know students won't/can't complete
• Assign inauthentic work (e.g., a study guide chock to the brim with recall questions)

As we move along through the school year, I'll be adding to this list whenever there is a need to.  More than anything, though, I'd like for you to e-mail me if you have any questions, problems, or concerns with whatever's listed here so we can meet one-on-one to discuss and/or arrange a workshop.  

At the top of my own concerns lie Ms. Petrie/Barry's class and Ms. Colontrelle/Mr. Blazure's class as they currently have the most students who need intensive support.  Complicating this is that fourth and fifth grade teach LA at the same time, so slots for me to come in will be on a "first-come, first served" basis...as long as I'm not called into one of the above fourth/fifth grade classes.  

So far I've been concentrating on writing process sub-steps, but I'd very much like to start doing vocabulary and reading strategy regimes in your classes as well.  

***
One final note: whatever I impart to your students shouldn't be viewed as something "special" to be done for that day alone; these are research-based, best-practice methods of instruction that, once disseminated, need to be actualized in your classrooms as often as possible, whether of the reading or writing variety.  So if you have an issue with incorporating into your lessons any of these methods, please let me know as soon as possible.

The Writing Process: Editing vs. Revision Handout

As of late I've been doing Writer's Workshop with some of you and the response from you (and your students) is overwhelmingly positive. With this brought a need for all of you to be able to download the files I'm using in your classes so that you too can use and modify them as needed.

Long story short, I've managed to work out a way to do this, but I had to re-create the blog and create a "file cabinet" via AMS's Google Sites.  This means a new blog address, but I copied the previous two posts and hope to actually post much more so that the blog can be a true resource for you in the future.

If you click on the image you see, you'll be directed to my site where you'll be able to download the files as an MS Publisher file.

Reading Strategies I

Whenever possible, it’s advisable to marry reading with writing, which is why a Writer’s Notebook is so important.  It’s in this section of their binder that students should be prompted to make predictions, ask questions about words and the text, and complete summaries as they make their way through a text.

One sound regime might be (in the notebook for a reading session):

• Pre-reading: Make a prediction about the day’s reading based on last session’s reading

• During reading: Ask questions about the text/create summaries (instead of checking for comprehension orally)

• Post-reading: Go back to prediction/answer questions/create end-of-story summary/create open-ended questions for discussion

Students should also be permitted to use their own Writer's Notebooks on tests and quizzes.  In this case students will be more likely to take notes, and this will lead to discussions and questions bent on the open-ended variety as simple recall questions can be subordinated to comprehension checks and review quizzes...not to mention that because students are writing what you speak and/or write, their Writer's Notebooks will become valuable resources for all of you as well.