- Tier 1 Priorities: Primary Sources
- Tier 1 Priorities: Close Reading
- Special Education: Co-Teach Cohort
Falcon Focus: Primary Sources
Primary sources continue to be a focal point of instruction in Social Studies. But between complex content, dated language, and (gasp) cursive handwriting, primary sources can pose an especially challenging read for our students.
So how do we make that historical, necessary content more accessible to students? One way is to make the learning authentic--to find a way to help the students empathize with the author, subject, or content within the piece itself.
Recently, 8th grade American History investigated the Boston Massacre crime scene. Students had the opportunity to play detective by analyzing historical artwork depicting the event; observing the crime scene itself, complete with "blood" and "clues"; and reading first-hand accounts from individuals present at the Massacre.
 |
| Students work in groups to analyze the crime scene of the Boston Massacre |
If it seems like to much information for students to process, it's not. Different crime scene elements were broken out into stations, and each station provided scaffolds to help with content comprehension. The written documents had been reenacted and performed for students to listen to or watch while or after reading the original document. Both the artwork and the crime scene were paired with guiding questions to help students navigate the different types of information being shared. And all throughout, students had access to each other as they grappled with the different perspectives of the Boston Massacre.
 |
| Students use guiding questions to analyze visual primary sources |
 |
| To help students with comprehension of the difficult language, teachers "performed" each monologue. |
In 7th grade Texas History, students have also recently used primary sources, as they are learning about Stephen F. Austin's colonization into Spanish Texas. In small groups or partners, students read several different letters that had been written to request a spot in Austin's new colony. Then, students evaluated each individual against a set of criteria to determine whether or not they were a good "fit". The primary source letters presented challenging language and unfamiliar context. So what helped these students make meaning from the text?
First, the amount of the text is manageable. Each letter written to Stephen F. Austin fit nicely on a half-page, so students could grapple with the text without getting burned out on the difficulty.
 |
| Students grappling with primary sources |
 |
| More grappling |
 |
| Evaluating each colony candidate against criteria |
 |
In addition, students had the opportunity to read these aloud. For our auditory learners, hearing the reading will help them process the information; plus, we get to hear students try on some really fantastic accents! The student below is reading from except A above, "Buffalo" Jones.
Falcon Focus: Close Reading
You may have heard this before, but we are all teachers of reading. Close reading is main pillar of ELAR instruction, and different variations of it can and should be used in any content area.When students close read, the goal is for students to go back into a text and use text evidence to support their response to a very targeted question. The success of the close reading activity relies heavily on the question. In ELAR, there are 4 specific question levels:
1) What does the text say? (comprehension)
2) What does the text mean? (making inferences/drawing conclusions)
3) How does the text work? (author's craft)
4) What does the text inspire you to do? (writing piece or other response)
After attending the content professional learning days, 6th grade Reading tried out a strategy called "SpongeBeyonceBananaPants". (Yes, that's the actual name of this strategy. No, it has no meaning to the activity other than students remember it. No, Kathy and Kylie did not make it up.) In this strategy, students use a graphic organizer interact with the text, which in this case, is a poem.
 |
| Teacher designed questions require students to go back into the text multiple times to support their responses. |
In Sherry Grosenbach's class, students used specific plastic flags to interact with the text in a different way. In addition to writing on the passage (in this case, a speech), students used the flags to identify different elements of the speech in a hands-on way. Then when it was time for deeper analysis, students used their tactile practice with the text to move back through it more efficiently.
 |
| Close reading can be tactile, too! |
If you don't have fancy flags, simply substitute sticky notes or paper clips. In the future, we will be talking more about how different close reading strategies can help support students in your content areas, as well. Stay tuned!
Falcon Focus: Co-teaching Cohort
This year all of our teachers with a co-teach classroom (both general ed and special ed) are participating in a flipped year-round cohort. While we know there are limitations to our schedule, we also believe that we can do better for our students. Therefore, our goal is to improve our co-teach practice by finding ways to creatively implement co-teach best practices. Throughout the year, we will be reviewing the six co-teach models: one teach, one observe; station teaching; parallel teaching; alternative teaching; teaming; and one teach, one assist. The bulk of the work is happening in Google Classroom, with some observation and coaching time for some.
Don't have a special education co-teach classroom, but still want to learn more? You are welcome to participate in the Google classroom with us; just email me and I will get you more information.
If have any questions or would like some help implementing these or other strategies, please let me know. And remember...
It's a great day to be a Falcon!
