Ideas and Inspiration

April 2017

Use this document to note key ideas from our English Cohort Professional Learning.

Ideas and Inspiration

Sharing Best Practices Inductive reasoning - themes and mood/tone examples

Re ecting on Rigor
Area of Focus:
Texts Worth Reading
and nonexamples (via video, etc.)
Playlists - Frederick Douglass, Complex Process, etc.
*Emphasis on close reading selections --no front-loading
of vocabulary or concepts
*Broad questions for literature circles which emphasize
analyzing one passage and relating to the novel as a
whole (con icts, voice, imagery, dialogue, etc.)
*Format -> Main observations/reactions, questions for
next meeting? (group text options thematically?)
New information:
*Text collections on Newsela to supplement ction novels
*Annotation jigsaw -- identify narrative elements if need
be (with close reading)
*Newspaper/news ~ relate informational texts to whatever
they might be reading (?)
*Have the students read more excerpts prior to selecting
novels???

Goal Setting Short-Term:

What are your short-term *No Es!! - mentor students, push them to prepare them for
goals for the rest of the year? high school adequately
What long-term goals do you *Make poetry and Shakespeare interesting!!
have for the years ahead? *Survive

Long-Term:
*Literature Circle improvements (style, tasks, texts, etc.)
*Working with ESOL students (implementing more UDL
and hands-on activities)

Discussion Circles Engaging Reluctant Readers:

*ELL students -> Universal thinking verbs!
*Engage with texts that draw their interests in (short story
compilations - Gallow?)

*Capstone library.com (reading, interactive, etc.);
US = would, PW = read
*Make skimming lessons a challenge! :) (how much can
you get from this one minute?)

*Show video clips for lit circle intros? (like Frederick

Douglass playlist?)
*Co-curricular development (horizontal integration esp.
with history/culture)

*frontload some Shakespeare (language/scenes/clips
online) concepts, etc.
*Shakespeare in emojis? social media assignments
instead? (playlist???)

Assignment Analysis Productive non-productive hard copy examples --

creative, rigorous, etc.