Activity File Emma Sorensen

This activity file covers activity for PAR, writing, and vocabulary. PAR is preparation, assistance, and reflection for reading in the content area. These are activities that I can use in my classroom and would like to use in my future classroom. I did one topic, which was Tracking Tornadoes and used an anticipation guide, REAP, talking drawing, vocabulary inventory, and a quick write. PAR is a great resource to use in the classroom. It makes you think about all the steps in understanding a text, whether it is a textbook or an article. Without having good preparation then the students wont be able to fully understand what is being read. I also like how it says that it is ok to give assistance during reading. Most of the time I hear let them figure it out on their own and thats it. Reflecting on what you read just solidifies your understanding and grasp of the concept, which is good to have. Reading the content area is critical to students learning. It doesnt matter if the subject is reading, because in every class you do some reading. If you dont understand the reading in the class, then how are you supposed to understand what is being taught to you and how it relates to the real world. It is also important as a teacher not to forget that the students do have to read in every class and should take that into consideration when offering help. Also, give the teachers of other subject some activities they can do with the class or have as homework so that the students get the reading.

Preparation Activity: Anticipation Guide Taken from: Fleener, C., Morgan, R.F., & Richardson, J.S. (2008) Reading to Learn in the Content Areas (7ed., pp. 85 91) Description: This activity focuses on establishing previous knowledge that the students have about a subject. The teacher will hand out the anticipation guide before the reading and have students fill it out before and after reading the selection. The facts that are discussed in the anticipation guide can be found within the reading selection. Strategy Development: This activity helps develop the readers ability to make connections, question, and synthesizing information. It also sets a purpose for the class as well. The students need to connect their previous knowledge with the facts found in the article, ask questions of the article, and combine the information to answer the anticipation guide after the reading. Introduction and Use: Prior to reading the selection, the students will do an anticipation guide that gives facts that are true and false. The students will put a check mark next to the statements they believe are true and x marks next to the ones they believe are false. The class will pair up and discuss their predictions with their partner. The class will then share their predictions and put them on the board to keep track of what was said. The students will then read the selection. After reading the selection, the students will go back to their anticipation guide and fill out the other half now that they have read the selection. The class as a whole will discuss the reading after finishing the second half of the anticipation guide.

Practical Example: Topic: Tornadoes Anticipation Guide: Statement Chasing tornadoes is a job. Tornadoes can produce winds of 500 miles per hour. Scientists are trying to find out how tornadoes are born. They can only give a 7-minute warning for a tornado. So far, 30 tornados have landed in the United States. Tornadoes form over land. Tornadoes are the most powerful storm nature creates. Tornadoes can happen all year round. Read: Tracking Tornadoes By Brenda Iasevoli www.timesforkids.com Statement Chasing tornadoes is a job. Tornadoes can produce winds of 500 miles per hour. Scientists are trying to find out how tornadoes are born. They can only give a 7-minute warning for a tornado. So far, 30 tornados have landed in the United States. Tornadoes form over land. Tornadoes are the most powerful storm nature creates. Tornadoes can happen all year round. Before After X X X X X X X Before After X X X

Text is from: Iasevoli, B. (n.d.). Time For Kids | Classroom | Home | Tracking Tornadoes. Time For Kids | Classroom. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers/wr/article/0,27972,1977795,00.html

Assistance Activity: REAP (Read, Encode, Annotate, Ponder) Taken from: Allen, J. (2004). Tools for Teaching Content Literacy. York: Stenhouse Publishers. Description: This is an activity that helps students comprehend and understand what they are reading. It helps the students learn how to find what is important in the reading and how to put the reading into their own words. This activity can be done individually and then shared as a group. Group discussion is well advised during this activity. Strategy Development: This activity helps strengthen a students ability to make determine importance, summarizing, and questioning. The students have to determine what is important enough to write down, how to summarize what they read, and ask further questions about topics that were mentioned but not written about. Introduction and Use: This activity will be introduced as a book is being passed out to the students. The teacher will explain the worksheet as it is also being passed out with the book. The teacher will tell the students that they are going to do a REAP worksheet while reading this book and should follow the directions carefully. The students will do the R part of REAP after filling in the author and title of the book. The students will then fill in the E part of the worksheet and then meet with a neighbor or in a small group to compare what each other thought the gist of the book was. The students will then fill in the A part of the worksheet by themselves. The students will also fill in the P part by themselves. The students will then meet in pairs or small groups to compare what they wrote down. The class will then come together as a whole and list what was said for the E, A, and P parts of the worksheet and will be discussed.

Practical Example Topic: Tornadoes R Tracking Tornadoes By Brenda Iasevoli E Tornado tracking happens to find out how tornadoes are born. The government needs to know this to increase warning times. Tornadoes are really really powerful. People follow tornadoes to get the information.

A Tornadoes are the most powerful storm in nature. The government needs to know how they form so they made a group of trackers to figure it out. They need to increase warning time from 13 minutes to 20 30.

P Why do tornadoes form? Isnt this job dangerous? Where do tornadoes form? Where can I go to be a tracker?

R. Read the text. Write down the title and Author E. Encode the text by putting the main ides in your own words/language A. Annotate the text by writing a statement that summarizes the important points P. Ponder the text by thinking and talking about what you learned. Text is from: Iasevoli, B. (n.d.). Time For Kids | Classroom | Home | Tracking Tornadoes. Time For Kids | Classroom. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers/wr/article/0,27972,1977795,00.html

Reflection Activity: Talking Drawing Activity is taken from: McConnell, S. (1992/3). Talking drawings: A strategy for assisting learners. Journal of Reading, 36(4), 260 269 Description: In this activity students will be picturing a scene in their head about a topic and then drawing it. Then they will learn about the topic from reading and re-think what they originally knew about the topic. The students will re-draw their picture with the new information in mind. Small group discussion is key to this activity. Strategy Development: This activity strengthens the students ability to make connections, visualize, determine importance, and synthesize information by having the students draw what they know about the topic and then, after adding more information (where they determine importance), re-draw what they think by synthesizing the old with the new. Introduction and Use: The teacher will first introduce the topic to the class. The teacher will then tell the students to close their eyes and picture what they know about that topic. The students will then draw what they visualized. After drawing, the students will meet in pair to discuss what they had. Then two pairs of students will make a small group and share again. The students will then read a selection given to them by the teacher. The class will discuss what they read in a group discussion lead by the teacher. The students will re-visualize what they first had and draw that as well. They will then meet in pairs and then small groups and share what they had. The students will then write a three-sentence summary of what they learned. The class will then have volunteers share their summary. Practical Example Topic: Tornadoes 1. Close your eyes and think about Tornadoes. Now open your eyes and draw what you saw.

2. Read your selection Tracking Tornadoes then draw a second picture to show what you learned.

3. In the space below, tell what you changed about your before and after pictures. In the first picture I drew a tornado destroying a house and going through a city. In the second picture I drew a car chasing a tornado because they have to see how it forms and then how it dies. Text is from: Iasevoli, B. (n.d.). Time For Kids | Classroom | Home | Tracking Tornadoes. Time For Kids | Classroom. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers/wr/article/0,27972,1977795,00.html Vocabulary Activity: Word Inventory Taken From: Fleener, C., Morgan, R. F., & Richardson, J. S. (2008). Reading to Learn in the Content Areas (7 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Description: This is a preparation activity that has the students mark if they know a word, have seen or heard it, or do not know what it means before starting a reading. This takes words from the reading that may be tested later. This is an informal assessment. Strategies Used: This activity enhances a students ability to synthesize information, make connections, and questioning. The students have to look back into their own data banks to see if they know the word and what context it was in. Students make connections between what they know about the word and the reading. Finally, students ask questions to themselves and the teacher for understanding.

Introduction and Use: This activity will be passed out to the class before the reading. The teacher will explain that this is just to help the students and you see what words need to be covered during the lesson and that it wont be graded. The students then complete the activity and hand in this sheet to the teacher while a second sheet with the words on it is passes around so that students know which words to look for while reading. The teacher can then assist the students in learning vocabulary during the lesson by knowing which words less students understand. Practical Example Topic: Tornadoes Next to each word put at: - If you know the word - if you think you know the word X- if you dont know the word __ tornado __ instruments _X_ doppler radar _X_ humidity __ data __ waterproof _X_ toppling __ warning __ capability _X_ unpredictability Text is from: Iasevoli, B. (n.d.). Time For Kids | Classroom | Home | Tracking Tornadoes. Time For Kids | Classroom. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers/wr/article/0,27972,1977795,00.html Writing Activity: Quick Write Taken From: Fleener, C., Morgan, R. F., & Richardson, J. S. (2008). Reading to Learn in the Content Areas (7 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Description: In this activity the students write for one to two minutes on the topic that will be studied. This is a quick way for students to write down their ideas or questions that they have about this topic before it is discussed. Strategy Development: This activity strengthens a students ability to make connections, ask questions, determining importance, and summarizing. Students have to make connections between what they already know and what the topic is in order to have ideas to write down. This will also help the students write questions that they have. Students also have to summarize and determine importance because they do not have long to write and need to make it concise.

Introduction and Use: The students will be passed out a sheet of lined paper and will be instructed to write their name on the top. The teacher will then explain to the class that they will be doing a quick-write on the topic that they say. They will have one to two minutes to complete the writing. After the time has passed, the students will share with partners or in small groups what they wrote down before sharing as a class and starting the lesson. Practical Example Topic: Tornadoes Write down what you know about tornadoes and tracking them. - Tornadoes destroy houses and other things - They are very dangerous and you should be careful - We have tornado sirens in our town - People follow them around in cars - Its dangerous - There is a tv show about it - Tornadoes happen in the Spring - One went through North Carolina