A+Year-Long+Reading+Lesson+Plan


 * EDUC 530 Year-Long Literacy Development Plan** Michael Yanko ….. June 20, 2010

students who also are behind in credits and who display alternative learning styles and some minor non-specific behavioral, health and/or mood disorders.
 * Grades:** 10th – 11th _
 * Class:** Contemporary Literature, “Reading,” or JAG “Multi-Year” for Underclassmen
 * Objective:** Improve the reading knomprehension skills of Remedial counselor-referred

See Stage Three Reading Comprehension and [] for background Literacy-related Standards, Benchmarks, and resources for the approaches taken below.

__Syllabus__ Basically, the syllabus will resemble what is being handed in for this assignment, and being stored on this wiki. It will have a sequential, chronological list of Unit Plans, reading materials, supplemental activities, and grading.

The syllabus will also tie in other ideas, such as the following: In //Week One//, students will **get to know** THEIR TEACHER and EACH OTHER before we even pass out the laptops. Ice-breaking, team- and trust-building face-to-face and mano- a- mano exercises on our feet will be utilized. A Community Service **hours** component of class, and ability to turn them into make-up credit will be discussed.

__Assessment__ Every student will be tracked along the following criteria. Grades will be cumulative, posted into Infinite Campus (school's reporting mechanism) on at least a monthly basis. This will be visible to students and their parents through an internet portal. They are encouraged to call or meet with Mr. Yanko for conferencing about same.
 * Attendance** - based on physical bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Presence daily ..........20%
 * Practice Sets** (worksheets, most of which will require fill-in-the-blank answers) ......20%
 * Participation** (can be balanced between Class Interaction and one-on-one w/ Mr Y)...20%
 * Projects** (including formal Papers, Reports, Presentations; key assignments) .......20%
 * Unit Tests, Mid-Terms, and Final Exams** for summative data of progress .......20%

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__**Week One**__ Welcome! Adding to the tasks in the “week one” paragraph above, we will also Orient Ourselves to this Classroom, to the surrounding school and community. We will build files – paper and cyber ones – for collection of our future work. Any questions?
 * Project:** Build your folder, files, and a journal. Getting artistic, in good taste, on covers and innards, is OK.
 * Participation:** We will play some games in here, to help us get to know each other. Participate. Have fun!

__Week Two__ Our first shared book, **“The Giving Tree,” by Shel Silverstein. Easy one-day read**. All together now. //Important// – **Debriefing** of every activity and educational experience can be counted on to occur. This will often take place in the form of Mr. Yanko saying, at beginning, middle and end points, “What did you think about that?” Every student will start to realize that they will be called upon regularly. All opinions valued …when given respectfully in forum with others.

Flow: a. Accordion-style management and pacing of class time together. Occasional breaks. b. Many of our readings will be followed up with related art forms, such as videos and other interpretations of the artist’s work. When the next piece will fit within the hour/Block, it will be cued and begun accordingly.

Based on above, watching short film, **“The Giving Tree,” by Shel Silverstein,** together.

Take a story you have enjoyed earlier in your life, preferably originating from a book. Create an art form which will begin with **your Definition of Literature** (e.g. **“Literature is…)** and will then re-tell, in simpler form, your favorite story (choice from above). Mr. Yanko will teach you (as a class and individually) ways to do this. He will also teach you relevant terms, such as “Interpretations.” At end of this week, each student will share with the class what they have created, which will amount to mini-presentations of each student’s “Interpretations of their Favorite pieces of Literature.”
 * Project:** Define Literature.

__Week Three__ Standardized reading assessments will be given. School counselors will be involved in discussion to decide which tests will work best, to set student baselines.

Lesson: **Journaling! And a discussion of Academic Reading and** **Writing** See link []

Together, watch the 40-minute award-winning Video: **The Man Who Planted Trees.** [|Link.] Immediately thereafter, have each student journal about what they saw, and what they thought or felt about it. Write at least one page. Then drop journal off with Mr. Yanko, in stack of journals on his nice clean desk. Those who finish early will be first in line for 10-minute **Student Profile Interview** to get their private counseling-related file built. This amounts to a rather deep recorded conversation with Mr. Yanko, just out of earshot from their peers. Some Goals (reading and otherwise) will be set.

Later in week, show this 4-minute clip. (from **D** Bright) [|www.sussexsaferroads.org] …and have students journal, and then discuss, their impressions of this ad From the Safety Council about wearing seat belts. A script with No Words. Have students describe it. Discuss Screenplays.

__Week Four__ “The Four Agreements,” by Don Miguel Ruiz - A Medium-length paperback about Values and Ethics = 1. Let your Word Be True. 2. Never Assume 3. Don’t take things personally. 4. Always do your best. We read this work together, pausing for discussions, exercises, stretching and journaling.

__Week Five__ “Touching Spirit Bear” Touching Spirit Bear

__Week Six__ Touching Spirit Bear, our reading continued With a Side Visit to some true American History

__Week Seven__ Touching Spirit Bear continued When we finish book, the students take the Touching Spirit Bear test. = (Assessment)

__Week Eight__ “2012” Day 1 – Read newspaper article “Who’s Afraid of 2012” together. Teach/Practice Study Skills by passing out hilighters and keying this skill as we read. Day 2 – Show Special feature from DVD “Knowing”, Then read article “Debunking Doomsday Scenarios.” Day 3 - Teach the students what a Padeia Seminar is. Have them go to appropriate corner for 2012 debates! Day 4 or 5 - Take this test wrapping up this whole week > TEST on 2012 Material = (Assessment)

__Week Nine__ The literary works of **Ernest Hemingway** After Mr. Y covers an introduction, telling about the man, his writing style, and naming his many novels, a CHOICE will be run by the students: As a class, we will either read one of Hemingway’s short stories out of the **“In Our Time”** collection – and in groups, //you all// will pick the title of the short story to be copied and shared aloud together, OR we will decide together to read a //novella// of Hemingway’s (which Mr. Y read in one sitting when he was 18 years old, despite his learning disability…) //“The Old Man and The Sea.”// And if we read that one we’ll be able to watch the movie starring Spencer Tracey. Pick!

__Week Ten__ Hemingway continued Also, every day one student is reading a calendar page aloud out of the teacher’s book “ “SAVE THE EARTH.” Yes, we as a class will be saving the Earth through enhanced vocabulary and related Community Service Projects…

__Week Eleven__ Shortened Week Due to **Thanksgiving** In 3 Days, we’ll dig into “Women On The Breadlines.”

__Week Twelve__ December! This Year-Long Reading Development Plan designer (me, MY) would like to emphasize how many principles covered in Jeff Zwiers’ Language & Literacy materials are being followed in the intended classroom here, every day and every week, with each student. My approach is to bring them up from their assessed levels, little by little using fun readings, interactions and feedback. Quoting Zwiers: “** Scaffolding Content Learning for All Students ** Students need to be given opportunities to do what the teacher modeled, but with teacher assistance that gradually diminishes as students acquire the skill or knowledge.” I fully agree.

__Week Thirteen__ After Mr Yanko introduces material, and recites a sonnet or two, NEA lesson plans and other materials are used to get students ready. See Poetry Out Loud manual link.
 * Poetry Out Loud** National Endowment for the Arts, Recitation Contest

__Week Fourteen__ Students have picked their own Poem choices, have received individualized help from Mr Y to interpret the lines and to rehearse the presentation of same. This week we present! See grading rubric at above link…

__Week Fifteen__

Before getting most of the next 2 weeks off, we’ll read a few different selections (one page each) which come to us out of several of the world’s different religious traditions. (See Dr. Wayne Dyer – Wisdom of the Ages) Handouts. one above^ Secondly > A Team Activity

__Week Sixteen__ //The People Speak//

__Week Seventeen__ //The People Speak// continued

__Week Eighteen__ Begin reading The Secret Life of Bees together as a class

__Week Nineteen__ Continue reading The Secret Life of Bees together as a class.

__Week Twenty__ Begin watching [|The Secret Life of Bees] [|Trailer]

__Week Twenty-One__ Take the Secret Life of Bees Test See Assessment at that link, and attached at back of this paper file.

__Week Twenty-Two__ New Book by A.A. Milne “Winnie The Pooh” At some point, Mr. Yanko will play “The House At Pooh Corner” musically (Loggins & Messina) In concert with this unit, we will talk about Personality Theory and will take the Myers-Briggs Assessment And/or its simplified 50 question Indicator of whether you are a Red, Green, Yellow, or Orange personality. http://my534mayassignment.wikispaces.com/Personality+Assessment+-+4+C%27s

__Week Twenty-Three__ New Book(s) “The Tao of Pooh” and “The Te of Piglet” by Benjamin Hoff Class reads together.

__Week Twenty-Four__ = http://www.readbookonline.net/read/690/10628/
 * F. Scott Fitzgerald**, an American author. Mr. Yanko will assess prior knowledge, giving praise whenever he can, then he will tell students more about “The Great Gatsby,” Fitzgerald’s masterpiece. Then we will begin reading the Fitzgerald short story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” When our reading concludes, we will watch the film and either do Project Presentations or take a quiz on material. [|Benjamin Button link]

__Week Twenty-Five__ Henry David Thoreau, selections out of Walden. Civil DisObedience, a short important American reading presented at this website [|http://www.history.com/thoreaus-civil-disobedience]

__Week Twenty-Six__ Bicentennial Man, a short story by Isaac Asimov. Teacher introduces the author and his works. As a class, we begin reading the above.

__Week Twenty-Seven__ When we finish reading Asimov’s Bicentennial Man, we watch the movie. We get Robin Williams to come to our class as a guest speaker if possible.

__Week Twenty-Eight__ Bicentennial Man unit concludes with a written test. See Assessment G, which I handed in on paper with the folder representing what I created on this Wiki, and several more pages.

This teacher* prefers paper. Reading things off a computer screen is too electron-dependent in my humble opinion. Books make me feel warmer and more connected to history and the rest of my fellow humans.

//***Mike Yanko**// MRYANK09@smumn.edu