Is It Necessary to Use Textbooks?

     After reading this chapter, I started to question the use of textbooks in class.  The author's suggest that textbooks should be used in conjunction with other materials, but I am thinking about completely removing textbooks all together!  
      
     My main reason for removing text books is because they produce lazy work.  Everyone knows that its not difficult for a teacher to say "read chapter one in class and complete the discussion questions at the end of the section for homework", but it is not teaching students how to read and analyze, it is teaching them how to skim and copy answers word-for-word.  I recall the many times that a teacher had me work or read from a textbook and I found it very easy and "safe".  I knew that I would finish before my classmates and I would be able to do other work or read to pass the rest of the class time.  Even copying definitions from the glossary was a joke, because so many of my classmates would copy the entire paragraph word-for-word without understanding the meaning.  They would endlessly copy the examples and other definitions of the word, without looking at the context of the word and determining the correct definition.  This is NOT learning.  Textbooks are the easy way out for students and teachers when it comes to lessons.  

   Another reason that I am against textbooks, is because they are almost always BORING.  There, I said it.  When I heard about the policy that all students would have to read mostly non-fiction, my heart dropped because it sounds so dreadful.  Then I realized... non-fiction isn't always boring!  As long as something is written well, students will enjoy it.  I have read numerous forms of non-fiction literature and I didn't even realize that it was non-fiction.  There are interesting stories to be told and the best way to share them is through personal accounts, diaries and articles.  Our students need to learn how to read and analyze in the real world!  

     Textbooks almost always present one side or one aspect of what they are teaching.  This is most obvious in my experience through history textbooks.  I know I already brought up this point but, history is written by the winners.  (In reality, there are accounts of both sides, but the winner's story is the one most widely taught.)  This can apply to my major (English)
 as well.  Last semester my professor had us read historical accounts about Othello and Julius Caesar after we started reading Shakespeare's plays.  (WAIT! You mean the plays are reflective of real historical events?!?! - me last semester).  We were able to look at the ways Shakespeare changed the details of the the stories to make them more dramatic, and I learned a lot about Shakespeare in that class than any other class on Shakespeare combined.  Who said that non-fiction had to be boring?

     I'm gonna leave you with two challenges:
          1.) Stop using that dreaded textbook! (Nobody likes it!)
          2.) Look for exciting/interesting non-fiction works for your students to read! 

 

Central Falls Scavenger Hunt

Central Falls Scavenger Hunt Results
   

     In this sacred space, the famous and infamous are side by side.  But in one part you can see the bullet holes left by a battle that took place between strikers and the National Guard

          One of the most interesting questions on our list was about the Saylesville Massacre, which took place during the Great Textile Strike of 1934. According to rifuture.org, a strike started on Labor Day in 1934 because workers wanted higher wages and better working conditions.  When a local factory called for protection, bullets were fired and hundreds of protesters were severely injured. I also found this video footage of the massacre.

When people dine out, what types of restaurants are most popular? 

   I found this question to be one of the hardest to answer because it is hard to tell which restaurants are popular just by looking at online data and seeing the restaurants.  I did, however, find this picture from an event called "dine Central Falls". This shows some popular restaurants and what type of food they serve.  In a quote from the online article, "it may be the smallest city in the smallest state, but Central Falls is home to more than 30 unique restaurants, many serving authentic ethnic cuisine from eight different nations". 

 I also looked at information on UrbanSpoon which suggested that the most popular restaurants are: Aui's Paisa Restaurant, Beirano, and La Sopresa Bakery.   

 Becoming wealthy during the Gold Rush of 1849, she remembered her hometown and donated $50,000 to build the most recognizable feature of the city.  Everyone knows who she is and can see her donation... time after time.

I can't help but laugh at myself for not realizing the "time after time" pun!  This is of course a reference to Caroline Cogswell who donated Cogswell Tower.  Accodring to Cenrtalfallsri.com, "A bequest by Caroline Cogswell led to construction in 1904 of the eppnymously-named tower, whose four clock faces provide unparalleled views of the city in all four directions".
  




Visit the Central Falls library.  What events and resources are available?

Online, I was able to look at the library's calendar.  I found out that every Thursday at 11am, there is "Story Time" for children ages 0-5 and at 3pm there is an all-ages "Movie Time".  On Tuesdays at 3pm, there is a meeting for the Manga/Anime Club which is geared towards teens.  I was very happy to see that the library offers free activities for children and families!




     Overall, this scavenger hunt was a great experience!  I loved trying to figure out the answers to the clues and it was great to learn about a place that I honestly knew little about.  I always knew that there was a ton of history in Rhode Island, but I never knew how much history happened just 20 minutes away from my house!  This activity seems imperative for a teacher when they are moving or teaching in a new area.  Knowing the facts that I just learned, I would try to form cool lessons where the students could see the history where they live and make real-life connections.  Looking into restaurants, parks and churches also helped me to get a better feel for the type of things my students might be interested outside of school.  I can't wait to discover more information about Central Falls and other areas in Rhode Island!  

Understanding By Design

     

     One of the biggest ideas in this week’s reading assignment was essential questions. Until now, I never really thought about them as important, but I have definitely been converted!  Students should always question what they are being taught, because there is always a bias present.  Questions like, “from whose viewpoint are we seeing or reading?” and “what’s the evidence, and how reliable is it?” should be asked regularly by every person, especially students!  How many people studied the Holocaust from Germany’s point of view? My guess is not many.  Every historical war or event is told/taught by one side but there is always another perspective.  Students need to learn to be critical about the information they receive, and this is a skill that will help them throughout life. 

     To take the idea of essential questions a little further, I think teaching students to question everything will help them gain a critical lens, but it will also make critical writing more accessible.  Many students have trouble coming up with the abstract idea of a thesis or essential question for research papers, but if we teachers make it second nature to spark questions and challenge ideas, critical writing may become easier for students.  It is one thing to have an opinion, but another thing entirely to be able to formally produce a thesis-driven paper with evidence to support your opinion.  An assessment for essential question – related themes could be a culminating debate, discussion or essay where students can look at all the research they have collected, choose a stance, and present their ideas to the class.

     As teachers, we are NOT looking for a regurgitation of our own thoughts, but a well-developed idea formed by our students on their own.  Like we discussed last class, its about teaching the skills more than the content.  Our students need to be able to write, argue and debate using support from a variety of sources both in and out of school.        

Here is an interesting video that I found about essential questions in the classroom its only about 2 minutes long, but it solidifies the idea of essential questions and why they are important in the classroom!

Follow this link to the video :) 

Let me know what you think!

        

Ch.1/2

          In many of my English classes (since Middle School and all the way to College) I have taken reading comprehension quizzes after reading assignments.  At the same time, I have constantly struggled with them, because I felt like it was impossible to remember every detail of the 8-10 chapters that I had to  read, on top of other homework and out of school activities.  There were reading quizzes that I failed strictly because I didn't really read the chapters, but there were others that I had prepared for and still got low grades.  

          After reading Chapter 2, I realized that most of the problem lies with the questions on the quiz.  In college I had a professor that would quiz us on minor details that he felt we should know after reading every piece.  For example, how old is the main character and what was the narrator holding in his hands?.  Seriously?  I would literally read the entire work but I would still get answers wrong.  None of the questions asked about major plot points or required a summary, so it became a game called "guess what the teacher will want to know".  That is not reading for me.  This quiz designed to prove who was doing the homework simply showed that reading doesn't matter, as long as you can guess the answers correctly. 

          The example on pg. 22 really stood out to me, because it served as a wake-up call.  Why do teachers ask these ridiculous questions that don't prove anything?  Even the quiz by our authors had the answer to question 1 hidden in question 5.  Students should never get a throw-away question.  Its not about students passing or getting an A, its about students learning to read, comprehend, analyze and repeat.  These reading quizzes should have short answer questions that are based on the plot, or it could take the form  of a short essay, blog post, or free write about what happened so far in the book.  As Chapter 2 explained, we need to teach our students how to comprehend, and our assessments must match our goal.

Have you had any experiences with reading quizzes? 
What method could we us to see whether or not students have read their assignment?