Say/Do Artifact #6: Book Clubs

            Say/Do Artifact #6

Book Clubs

“Say”

From a pragmatic perspective, Pathways to the Common Core reminds us that instructors should act as facilitators for learning, and not as mere dispensers of knowledge. I am impressed by the number of speaking and listening standards that book clubs easily cover. Book clubs require students to have a grasp of the material at hand in order for them to engage in meaningful discourse. Such discussion can also help students to understand text through new perspectives (or, perhaps, through students of higher reading levels). Both of these points help students to take agency of their own learning; they also follow in line with the concept of teachers acting as facilitators.

            The authors of Pathways… also emphasized the manners in which technology can enhance and expand class discussion. In “Digital Literacies”, Scharber delves particularly into the benefits of online book clubs. For one, she notes that students love to socialize. This drive can be directed in productive ways, through these clubs. Reading should not be a solitary activity. Lapp and Fisher’s “It’s All About the Book” states that “(students) become much less reluctant to read… (when they) ha(ve) peer support to read, think, (and) share”. This social element can motivate students to participate.

One complaint I have, however, is her lack of specificity in how an online book club would be organized. Generating enthusiasm for reading is vital, but I need some sort of assessment to determine that students are making progress. The “Observation Checklist” from Whang and Samway is a great concept for assessing such work. Skimming through Scharber’s “online chat room” dialog, I fail to see how this helps students to make progress. Outside of class, I would absolutely endorse an informal activity such as participating in online chat rooms. However, my ideal “online book club” would be more structured. The authors of “Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles” provide more ideas for assessing progress in book clubs. The most important thing to keep in mind from this article is student expectations should be modeled.

In “Wiki Literature Circles”, Edmonson echoes previous authors by touting the benefits of using technology to facilitate learning. As the title implies, she is a proponent of Wikis. I agree that Wikis are powerful tools for fostering an interpretive community. As a bit of a digression, I feel like the “class groups” system may be overly divisive; I want to be sure to encourage class-wide interpretation as well.

 “Do”

            For my “Do”, I am beginning a class Wiki for my placement at Ridge View High. I am starting it with just one prompt, but we will continue to build on it with weekly activities. I will have students respond to the work of partners. I will scaffold the response process in class tomorrow.

Lesson Plan

Instructor And Room #: Mr. Nuzum A5	Date & Length:  10/22 30-40 minutes	Subject and Block/Period: English IV	Topic: Frankenstein –Introduction to Online Interpretive Community
Student Objectives:        Students will -          Begin participating in an online interpretive community. -          Determine how the events of chapter 13 of Frankenstein tie to overarching themes of the novel. -          Produce a creative work from the perspective of a key character in Frankenstein.			Common Core -          RL.10.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. -          W.9-10.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. -          SL.9-10.1:Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
Items to Display as Agenda:  -          Wikispaces Start-up -          Online Prompt -          Discussion -          Homework: Respond to a Partner
Purpose: -          While this lesson only introduces Wikispaces to students and has them respond to one partner, I would like to gradually develop the class Wiki into a resource that students can return to. Through the creative response prompt on the class Wiki, students will connect to the work, learn/reinforce the events of chapter 13, and determine how the events of this chapter relate to the overarching theme of alienation.
Lesson Procedures: -           Students will first find and logon the Chrome Netbooks. I will walk students through the process of making a Wikispaces account, using their school Gmail accounts. If Wikispaces is blocked by the school, I will adapt the activity for Edmodo. -          For their first post on Wikispaces, students will respond to a prompt, related to Frankenstein. Students will copy and paste the prompt onto their own Wikispaces page, and answer it. They will post a link to their Wikispace on the class Wikispace at http://nuzum-handenglishiv.wikispaces.com/English+IV+10-22. -          If time allows, we will have a brief discussion about the prompt. If students would like to share answers with the class, they may. -          For homework, students will be expected to respond to a (teacher-assigned) partner’s post. To promote meaningful response I will model this process in class.
Assessments and Assignment: -          I will check if students have created Wikispaces accounts. After class, I will check if they completed the prompt, as well as partner responses. -          Throughout class, I will check if students are on-task.