PHASE 1 & 2 Research and Design Brief: Ms. Smith wanted her students to work on a year-long project involving reading a non-fiction novel over winter break that lead to the students formalizing a value that they find important in America. the students would then write a proposal for the value, research scholarly literature to support their value and then synthesize a paper for a grade. Design meeting 1: (Oct 1, 2016 - 7:30 to 11:00) The project suggested was a redesign from the previous year. Ms. Smith wanted to refocus on more small skills in quarter 1 and 2 in order to make quarter 3 easier. Similarly, the following changes were made through the design process:
Design meeting 2: (Nov 5, 2016 - 11:15 to 2:30) The following list of books were chosen for the students to read:
A suggested list of values was generated as well:
PHASE 3 Implementation Email to staff dated Dec 17: Good morning, Just a reminder that our AP Language students have chosen a nonfiction book to read over winter break. When we return, we will have informal “book talks” January 6 and January 8 in F110 after school. As they read, they will be looking for connections to one (or more) of the following values: education, ethics, status, religion, individuality. I have also encouraged them to Tweet out interesting quotes, passages, etc. and include #wordletes in their message. Here is an example of what I sent to them last night: Thank you to those of you who have already emailed me to let me know which book you will be reading! How cool will it be for students to see their teachers, administration, coaches, etc. sitting down and talking to them about what they found interesting in a book? We would for you to join us! Happy Holidays. Ms. Chancy Smith AP Language and Composition/English 3 Email to staff dated Jan 7: Good afternoon, As you know, we had our first “book talk” yesterday after school. I was moved to tears listening to them yesterday after school. I was so impressed. There was no plan yesterday. I had no idea who was coming, what books they had read, or what they might say. We just sat down and talked about what they found interesting, connections they made to society, to humanity, to each other. It. Was. Beautiful. Having a daughter, I know the one thing I hope for her is for her to find confidence in herself and to find her own voice in this world and this is what I saw yesterday with the students that showed up. We didn’t talk about the “plot” of the book or answered any study guide questions. We just talked. You would have been so proud! The kids especially enjoyed hearing their administrators, teachers, counselors, and librarians talk about concepts that don’t involve “school.” We have two more opportunities for you join in our discussion. Like I said, even if you didn’t read one of the books, please stop by! We will be in F110 tomorrow morning from 6:45 – 7:15 and again after school tomorrow from 2:45 – 3:15ish (we cut it off yesterday at 3:30, but could have talked longer). Thank you to those of you who are participating and those of you that continue to support these students! Ms. Chancy Smith AP Language and Composition/English 3 Photo of Student and Teacher Book Talk morning of Jan 8: Storified copy of tweets: https://storify.com/Ayersjj/wordletes Video of District Interview of Product: McKinney Boyd's AP Language & Composition class invited teachers and administrators to their collegial-style book discussion, which is designed to prepare the students for their final exam in May. “I wanted to try something different,” explained teacher, Chancy Smith, “and it led to a better discussion today." https://youtu.be/TD1mrE3j1Mc Good morning, First of all, thank you to everyone who participated in our book talks or had a discussion with the students about their book or a book you are reading. When I asked them what they thought about the book talks and the whole process, they continued to comment about how “cool” it was to see their teachers and staff talk to them about different perspectives on not only our books, but the values we focused on. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! Our next step of the process is formulating their research question. Students worked on this step through a questioning technique that comes after a discussion with Craig Parson about the ADI strategy in Science and a book titled Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions that JJ Ayers told me about. Students created questions and have typed them into a Google Doc where we can “conference” with each other throughout their research process. I am sharing these documents with you hoping that you will have some insights to share. Your insight could be adding questions, helping students to clarify their questions, and/or commenting on how your field of expertise (or current event, etc.) relates or provides evidence for their questions. This is the first year that we are trying this, so thank you for participating and helping them find their way!
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