Poetry Month

   Before the "great minds" determined that much of the testing begins in April, this month of rain showers and flowers used to be solely known for poetry.  If you look around, you can find poetry everywhere.  It's on greeting cards, commercials (jingles), newspapers and, of coarse, music!  How many times have you gotten that tune and words in your head and you just can't get rid of it?
   This is a genre that lends itself to be expressed in various ways and intelligences.  It can be expressed verbally, visually and kinetically.  Almost any way you can think of communicating, you can express poetry.
   There are many ways to communicate with poetry.  The poems of e.e. cummings and poems that are written in the shape of their content (i.e. fish) can be very imaginative.  There are acrostic poems - kids love to use their names or favorite foods.  
   If you do a web search of "types of poetry", you'll find a variety of sites dealing with your level of student.  A few of these sites are:

1. http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/other/

2.http://www3.fsdb.k12.fl.us/~coopers/FOV2-0000EB9E/poemtypes.html

   Why not extend poetry month through May?  I'm sure you have poetry lessons in your curriculum but maybe it could be a reward for all the effort put into those "meaningful" tests.  I think it's important to make learning fun and connect it to the things you already enjoy, like music or art.  Take a vacation form data and let your imagination let loose! 

"Opt Out" and sharing data

              On the front page of The Post Standard (Syracuse, NY) newspaper, there is an article about parents telling their children not to take the standardized tests.  Also stated is the argument from the people in favor of the testing.  I don't think they make much sense but you can make up your own mind.                                                                                                                           Also mentioned is the possibility of sharing this confidential information with the tests' publishers.  Often times, data equals money!  Please check out this article by Diane Ravitch and decide for your self. 

http://dianeravitch.net/2013/03/26/who-owns-your-childs-data/

References

  People have sent me some great references relating to the ideas I've been talking about.  I wanted to share these with you to show that there's many people that think things need to change in education.  
   Happy reading and listening!

1.http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/167080/13/Opting-Out-Of-Standardized-Tests

2.http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/how-to-tell-if-your-school-district-is-infected-by-the-broad-virus/


3.http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

4.http://signon.org/sign/give-new-york-state-parents

Comprehension for all

   It never ceased to amaze me the lack of back round knowledge many of my students exhibited.  The references, saying and comparisons that we take for granted are unfamiliar to many children.  As teachers, we are constantly trying to "fill the holes" left by the lack of certain experiences.  Teachers do this in various ways.  Here are a few of my "tools of the trade".
   Whether you're doing a lesson in ELA, Math or any other area, you students will always need to understand the basic vocabulary.  I'm going to use an ELA lesson for an example but I've used this model in other content areas.  
   The best way of retaining information is to connect it to a memory.  So, if most of the students had no knowledge of the subject matter, I might use another medium to expose them or connect them to it.  Example: if we were talking about a lesson involving an ocean, I might show them a visual about ocean life.  
   Then, we would go over some vocabulary that would help with the basics of the topic.  We may find the meanings of the words and/or make predictions as to their meanings.  I would have everyone record this in a composition book where all of the work would be kept.  When reviewing these words, we might discuss: parts of speech; multiple meanings; and antonyms/synonyms.  
   Next we would read the material, usually together.  Previously, I might have them read it silently.  They may listen to the text, follow along, or have a student reader.  Students were encouraged to visualize a movie of the text in their mind - a great way to internalize the content.  We would stop periodically to refer to the vocabulary or any questions.
   When we were finished, I would display questions dealing with comprehension, recall, inference and predictions.  Sometimes I would have students write in their own questions.  They may answer them or ask them to other students.   Another option was to use a story board approach.  I would give students a series of excerpts from the reading and they would draw pictures to show the content.  Really interesting! It was good to change the evaluation techniques to include some other "intelligences".
   I would accept possible answers depending on the student's functioning level.  Some students could use a word bank and others might be able to draw their answers.  I tried to allow for differentiated methods of answering whenever possible.  If a student could defend their answer with accurate information, I might accept it.  
   I guess what I want to tell you is to use your instincts.  The reading series tells you how to do everything but is it what you know your students need?  Do what your heart and your brain tells you to do.  You know your students and how they learn best.  Share your ideas with other teachers and learn from each other.  You can be your students' best resource!