Synthesis

• How will you integrate critical literacy instruction in your discipline?
• I will integrate critical literacy into my instruction by teaching students to realize that everything around them can be considered text. I will show my students that they are constantly absorbing new information, and that they have the ability to understand anything they wish.
• How will you incorporate comprehension instruction into your discipline?
• Comprehension is a staple in an English classroom. Student have to be able to comprehend what they are reading and be able to do something with the knowledge that they gain from the class.
• How will you choose and teach vocabulary words?
• I will choose vocabulary words based on student feedback as well as noticing words from the readings that I think my students will find particularly difficult.
• How will you structure opportunities for students to use oral language?
• I'm really excited about doing both a poetry and play unit where my students will have to read portions of the plays and poems out loud in front of the class and in partners. Students will also engage in dialogue with other students as well as the teacher to better understand the work we are doing in class.
• How will you support your students in writing texts and producing other representations in your discipline?
• Writing is a critical component to an effective English classroom. I will allow students to engage in writing on a daily basis, and will encourage them to continue to write in their free time.
• How will you support academically, linguistically, and culturally diverse learners?
• I will make sure that my lessons incorporate different learning styles to make it so students from all backgrounds can identify with the information that is being shared in my classroom.
• How will you integrate digital technologies?
• Technology has become almost essential for a twenty-first century classroom. Technology will be used as a resource to help students accomplish their assignments and to provide them with high-quality information about topics for discussion.
• What kinds of texts will you make available to your students?
• I will make magazines, novels, short stories, poems, apps, movies, etc. available for my students to checkout or read/listen to during their "free" time in my class. I want my students to become well versed in as many varieties of texts as possible.

Blog 6: Oral Language

Over this last week I observed an English classroom where the teacher utilized oral language in his classroom in a positive and interesting way. In the class that I observed, they were reading Romeo and Juliet. The teacher had an activity that he called the Verbal Volley. Zakk, the teacher, handed out a worksheet with a list Shakespearean insults. The class then broke off into pairs and they stood on the opposite sides of the room. The students then took turns yelling the insults back and forth to one another. The students really got into it and enjoyed this portion of the class a lot!

From the reading, I really liked the Mock Trials idea. I think that one thing that would be fun would for the class to hold a trial to determine who was to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death. I think that this technique would be really fun and appropriate for Zakk’s ninth grade class. Other than that I think Zakk did a great job with his use of oral language in his classroom.