literature piece

I have been delaying my post for a bit because I have been trying to give more thought to what type of literature I will use in my classroom. Since I am in a 5th grade classroom and have realized that I would not have time to teach about a novel during my 45 min lesson that matched my student's reading level. The teacher that I will do my literacy lesson for is not my CT. He teaches strictly from the books given to him by the district and offered for me to follow suit. Since my lesson needs to be focused on discussion, I will most likely not be using his books (unless I find a great topic to discuss). I have thought about using a song or a poem from the time period that they are studying but still have not found a certain piece of literature I would like to use. If anyone has any suggestions about a short story, poem, or song that would work for 5th grade let me know. I was also wondering what a teacher should do if they are only getting one word responses during discussion. Should a teacher state her expectations of the discussion first by letting the students know that this is unacceptable? Or would this be putting pressure on them and resembling recitation?

Post on differentiation

When I hear the term “differentiation,” in terms of education, I think about the many different styles of teaching that educators will use to reach their students. For teachers to be successful at this they need to understand a child’s interest and motivation. Once taking into consideration a student’s culture and prior knowledge as well, a teacher can begin to cater their teaching in literacy to fit the child’s need. When teachers try various ways of teaching the same subject this to me is differentiation.