...Instructional Setting and Content Area Apison Elementary School is a K-5 school located in Chattanooga, TN. Approximately 600 students attend Apison from kindergarten to 5th grade. As a rural community, students come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. The school is flanked by two large, primarily wealthy neighborhoods that account for a large number of Apison students. However, according to the National Center for Education statistics [NCESC] (2014), almost 40% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Many of the families with lower income own small farms in this rural community. Even with the diversity of students’ socioeconomic backgrounds, Apison consistently does well on standardized state tests. 72% of their students scored...
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...and solution, and persuasion and argument. ▪ Students review annotation acronyms, how to do a close reading, literary elements and rhetorical devices. Students also review the SOAPSTONE (subject, occasion, audience, purpose, speaker, tone, organization, narrative style and evidence) strategy for use in analyzing prose and visual texts along with three of the five cannons of rhetoric: invention, arrangement and style. ▪ Students learn the format of the AP test, essay rubric and essay structure. ▪ Students take a full-length AP test for comparison purposes in the spring. Reading: The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne Writing: Answer the following question in one paragraph. Use quotes from the novel as evidence. Some readers believe that the elaborate decoration that Hester embroiders on the scarlet letter indicates her rejection of the community’s view of her act. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your position using evidence from the text. (test grade) Writing: Write a well-developed essay addressing the following prompt. Document all sources using MLA citation. Compare Hester to a modern day person who has been shunned. Provide at least two research sources for the other person. (project grade) Reading: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Jonathan Edwards Analyzing: SOAPSTONE and cannons of rhetoric Reading: Teacher Introduction Essay Writing: Students and teacher evaluate where each student’s writing is and where it needs to be by analyzing...
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...INTRODUCTION Purpose/Justification Problems related to reading comprehension have been besetting both private and public educational institutions all over the country. In the Philippine setting evidences revealed that 2009, 2010 and 2011 NAT results exemplified that the second year students struggled much on reading comprehension as shown by the three mean percentage scores in English subject. In particular, the mean percentage scores of Macario B. Asistio Sr. High School—Unit I for the school years 2008-2009; 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 are 43.11, 36.57 and 36.60 respectively (Department of Educational Testing and Research Center, 2009; 2010; 2011). Likewise, comprehension related studies conducted locally have verified and supported that the students showed difficulty in reading comprehension (Columna, 2013; Ayles, 2009 and Dela Cruz, 2004). In a study conducted by Columna (2013), results revealed that the students were struggling to comprehended texts in their L2 with majority of them fall under instructional level and a significant of them fall under frustration level. In the same manner, Dela Cruz (2004) found that the students in the secondary level have difficulties in reading materials in the content areas especially in Mathematics and Science. The researcher posits that these comprehension problems have rooted from the questioning pedagogical strategy employed by the teachers. Chin (2002) found that questions, particularly those asked in response to wonderment, stimulate...
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...Essay #1 – “I Search” Exploratory Essay 1500-2500 words (15% of your Final Grade) This paper is designed to teach the writer and the reader something valuable about a chosen topic and about the nature of searching and discovery. As opposed to the standard research paper where a writer usually assumes a detached and objective stance, the “I Search” paper allows you to relate your personal experience engaged with some aspect of a topic, to hunt for facts and opinions firsthand, and to provide a step-by-step record of the search process. It’s part research paper, part personal narrative, part reflection. • First step: choose a controversial topic broadly pertaining to digital technology, digital media, “the internet,” television, or modern computing technology that truly interests you—specifically some problem or concern you want to be more informed about (use Homework #1 as a launching point). The topic, however, has to be argumentatively rich, meaning that there have to be many different viewpoints on the issue. • Second step: rather than starting with a thesis or claim, you’re going to begin with a question or problem spurred by some personal experience or exploration. Think of yourself like an investigative journalist or social scientist: if you’re writing about online communities, immerse yourself in one; if you’re writing about internet/television/cell phone addiction, deprive yourself for a few days; if you’re investigating some activity, try engaging in that...
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...afterward during recess I walked up to friend, Max, and asked him to talk to Emily which was Sarah’s best friend at the time about whether or not Sarah liked me back, a day later Max comes back to me and tells me what happened “Emily told me that Sarah likes you but more as a close friend”. When I heard what Max told me I felt crushed I thought that Sarah liked me back so when I heard the news I stopped pursuing her, a couple years later in 8th grade when I was in the cafeteria I overheard a conversation between Sarah and a friend where she said she liked me back in 4th grade, and Emily said “why didn’t you say so because his friend asked me in fourth grade?”. I felt disheartened because I missed my opportunity in fourth grade to be with someone I liked. All 3 stories show the challenges of being in love, in “The Great Gatsby” Gatsby’s challenge is the unrequited love between him and Daisy, in “Silver Linings Playbook” Pat’s challenge is how Nikki left him and now he's trying to improve himself to try to win her over again, In the personal narrative the challenge Santi faces is dealing with the one that got away. In the end all 3 protagonists were not able to find success in their pursuit for a relationship ...
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...◆The fact that you have this book in your hands means you may already believe that informational text should be included in primary classrooms. Perhaps you have had professional or personal experiences that have led you to that belief. Perhaps you have thought of some potential benefits informational text may hold for young learners. We hope this chapter helps bring together much of what you have been thinking. It is designed to extend your thinking and provide access to research and theories that support it. What’s the Difference Between Informational Text and Nonfiction? Often the terms “informational text” and “nonfiction” are used interchangeably. In our view, however, they are not the same. Informational text is a type of nonfiction—a very important type. Nonfiction includes any text that is factual. (Or, by some definitions, any type of literature that is factual, which would exclude texts such as menus and street signs.) Informational text differs from other types of nonfiction in purpose, features, and format. Purpose The primary purpose of informational text is to convey information about the natural or social world, typically from someone presumed to know that information to someone presumed not to, with particular linguistic features such as headings and technical vocabulary to help accomplish that purpose. By our definition, therefore, biography is nonfiction but is not informational text, because its primary purpose is to convey information about...
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...Reagan pioneered using Skutniks, or guests of the president, at the State of the Union to illustrate themes and policy recommendations in his address. Reagan masterfully used the story of Lenny Skutnik to demonstrate private heroism. Reagan’s use of visual pathos has since been corrupted and overused by preceding presidents. Donald Trump, also a president with a career spent on camera, took Reagan’s direction and ran with it. Unlike Reagan, Trump used his guests as the foundation of his speech, rather than individual examples. Without a president that speaks with substance, using Skutniks can seem like a distraction, rather than a useful addition to narrative. Jamieson argues that “for the speaker, success carries with it a deadly tendency to transplant what worked well in the past into a new and sometimes unsympathetic environment.” Using Skutniks in the way that Reagan used them, to illustrate a point but not to overcome the message, was successful and rapturing. But the way politicians have used them since seems insincere. Today’s politicians could learn from Reagan’s subtlety and scale back the examples and guests in order to focus more on inspiring through their own words and rationale. In Donald Trump’s 2018 State of the Union Address, he focused nearly the entire speech on his previous achievements and the stories of individuals that illustrate his vision of America. But he gave very...
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...Laura Webster English 101 Literacy Narrative 9/5/2013 Real Life vs. Fantasy..... Looking back, I remember when I was in fourth or fifth grade and my teacher told us we were reading a book and doing a book report on it. I was always up for anything, but when she started reading the book each day I found myself not even listening to what she was saying. I would be thinking about all of the other things I’d rather be doing. Then, we were to write a book report on it. “What?” “...a book report?” No way was I going to write a paper on something that couldn’t keep my attention. I believe at that time I had probably read the first and last chapter and vaguely put together bits and pieces I heard the teacher read throughout the entire book. From that point on I knew I was going to have trouble reading books. Every time I heard a teacher say, “book report” I’d cringe! Needless to say, I probably didn’t get a very good grade on my book report. In middle school, one of the books we were assigned to read was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. I was unable to connect with the book just from reading the title and to make matters worse it takes place during the Great Depression. I’ve always visualized that being a very depressing, difficult time and because of that I don’t particularly like that time period. Day after day, we’d read this book and I specifically remember not looking forward going to class because it was ‘reading day’ and I hated it. We finally finished...
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...Mr. Macomber English 3 AP Syllabus 1.5 English 3 AP Course Overview Students in this introductory college-level course read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range of nonfiction prose selections, deepening their awareness of rhetoric and how language works. Through close reading and frequent writing, students develop their ability to work with language and texts in order to establish greater awareness of purpose and strategy, while strengthening their own composing abilities. C16 Students examine rhetoric in essays, images, movies, novels, and speeches. They frequently confer about their writing by conferencing in class. C 14 Feedback is given both before and after students revise their work to help them develop logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence. Rhetorical structures, graphic organizers, and work on repetition, transitions, and emphasis are addressed. I comment on individual drafts, and I write memos to the class in a blog about whole-class concerns such as specificity of quotations, parallelism, and transitions. C13 Simultaneously, students review the simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentence classifications. We examine word order, length, and surprising constructions. Loose and periodic sentences are introduced. We examine sample sentences and discuss how change affects tone, purpose, and credibility of the author/speaker. In addition, feedback on producing sentence structure variety...
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...Abstract Students who do not learn to read at or close to grade level by the end of elementary school enter the secondary grades unable to meet the demands of their content area classes. The students within these walls came to me with their own uniqueness and various degrees of capabilities. Students were selected based upon their need for improved reading comprehension. After interviewing the classroom teachers (there were 4 different ones) and observing students in their classroom setting the research students were selected. I met with each student individually to get an estimate of what their reading levels might be. The four components of CSR (preview, click and clunk, get the gist, and wrap-up) can be used to stimulate student’s motivation to read, help with decoding print, and comprehend and respond to text. Researchers believe it has improved their students’ reading comprehension, increased their vocabularies, and enhanced cooperative skills, Student’s process over the long term will be evaluated based upon their ability to begin to show automaticity in utilizing the strategies learned as part of CSR. The acquisition of content comprehension can be evaluated by observing students as they interact and use dialog in their cooperative groups. Educating Exceptional Children: Using Collaborative Strategic Reading Statement of the Problem Research states that there is approximately 20% of elementary school students are at risk for reading failure. 5-10% of those students...
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...Term Paper Psyc 400, Spring, 2015 Title of Paper: Factors Contributing to Literacy Skills in Children from Low-Income Families In American society, education is considered by many to be an equalizing force for people from all walks of life. It allows the nation’s best and brightest to distinguish themselves from their peers through intellectual merit - at least in theory. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation does not live up to the ideal, especially for children from low income families. Children who are already growing up with the disadvantages of poverty are further hindered by underfunded and ineffectual primary schooling, setting them even further behind middle and upper class children. Before beginning a discussion of the factors or strategies contributing to early literacy, it is important to first establish that there is in fact a discrepancy between low-income children and their more affluent peers in the first place. A review of the research literature is required to lay certain inaccurate stereotypes to rest, such as the notion that poor children are simply lazier students, and do not face additional difficulties with the acquisition of literacy skills. A comprehensive empirical study by Babuder et al (2014) explores the relationship between poverty and reading skills in children, with the results being unanimously negative. The study goes beyond assessing the reading skills of the children, and measures the basic phonological and semantic skills needed...
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...Narrative Essay Rough Draft Philosopher Suman Rai once said, “You are the sum total of your life experiences. The more you experience the more interesting your life story gets.” In other words, a person’s individual experiences ultimately bind together to create the collective soul of his or her beliefs and moral values. I have found that people learn life lessons and develop values more from their first hand experiences, than they ever could from being lectured. In example, it is from a personal experience in the seventh grade, that I learned to judge a person not on the quality of their appearance alone but rather by their words and actions. To begin, it is important to understand that I am a visual learner. I tend to process and rationalize...
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............................................................... 7 FES FACTORS......................................................................................................................................... 7 EVALUATING A POSITION USING FES ................................................................................................ 9 FES EVALUATION STATEMENT.......................................................................................................... 13 FACTOR LEVEL RELATIONSHIPS ...................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 3, POSITION DESCRIPTIONS................................................................................................. 18 NARRATIVE POSITION DESCRIPTIONS............................................................................................. 19 FES POSITION...
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...The authors’ fellow teachers contributed their personal experiences as group members and teachers of English to the article to encourage other teachers to teach writing authentically and to collaborate with one another to improve student learning. The authors’ reported success is recorded in their article as the success of the group as a whole. The teachers in the teacher inquiry support group relay their processes to collect and use the data that will better their individual classes and their individual students in a step by step process. They first observe one another and share their expertise. They then research research-based practices to better their curriculum. Then the teachers use metacognition and reflect on why they taught writing the way they were. Lastly, the members of the group...
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...ALVAREZ-RAMALES SCHOOL FOUNDATION, INC. Raniag, Ramon, Isabela 1st SEMI- QUARTERLY EXAMINATION ENGLISH GRADE 10 Name: _____________________________________________________ Score: _____________ I. A. Identify what is being asked. 1-4. Neither the candidate nor the voters are satisfied with the proposal. Simple Subject: ______________________________________________________________________ Complete Subject: ____________________________________________________________________ Simple Predicate: _____________________________________________________________________ Complete Predicate: ___________________________________________________________________ 5-8. The church, as well as the nearby stores was destroyed by fire. Simple Subject: ______________________________________________________________________ Complete Subject: ____________________________________________________________________ Simple Predicate: _____________________________________________________________________ Complete Predicate: ___________________________________________________________________ 9-12. The Metropolitan museum sells miniature replicas of its collection. Simple Subject: ______________________________________________________________________ Complete Subject: ____________________________________________________________________ Simple Predicate: _____________________________________________________________________ Complete Predicate: ___________________________________________________________________ ...
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