Secondary+Literacy+Toolbox

& Contributor (Sign your posts here) || Brief description || Focus Areas || When you might use it || (If applicable) Materials needed Templates Source || Cultural Artifacts user:Anny1 || Students bring three artifacts that represent their lives. Optional: They write a brief description of each item and why it matters to them Arrange the classroom as a museum. In groups, students circulate and view other students’ artifacts and ask questions. || 9. Culture 11. Building relationships || This could be a great way to create classroom community at the very beginning of a course -- or at any time when there is a need to celebrate the diversity of the learners. || We did this in EDTE 494/566 ||
 * Name of Strategy/Activity
 * Create a title for the strategy/activity || Concisely describe the strategy/activity with enough detail that you or another teacher could implement it. || Choose from one or more of the following areas. Your toolbox should represent a variety of areas.
 * 1) Reading
 * 2) Writing
 * 3) Connecting reading and writing
 * 4) Beginning literacy
 * 5) Intermediate literacy
 * 6) Advanced literacy
 * 7) Assessment
 * 8) L1/L2 interaction
 * 9) Culture
 * 10) Classroom Management
 * 11) Building relationships with students || Explain an issue or circumstance that the strategy/activity addresses. || Include links, materials, supporting documents, templates. ||
 * Example:

Students match written sentences with more “spoken-form” sentences. Chose sentences around a specific topic, maybe selecting the written sentences from a text students have read, and matching them to spoken-form sentences. Have students discuss the differences in language and in what context the different types of language would be used. user:AlinaST || Students reassemble sentences of text cut into individual words. Teacher gives students clues as necessary. Students read sentences aloud after assembly. || 1, 4-5. || This could be used as an after-reading activity or as a review activity. If used for review, focus would be on specific vocab words or specific sentence constructions. It also provides scaffolding for future writing. || from Gibbons, page 103 Materials: sentence slips || user:AlinaST || Students share from their personal experiences. For example, if the text is about earthquakes, the teacher encourages students to share real-life earth-quake experiences. || 1-3, 9, 11 || This could be used as a pre-reading activity to build on and activate background knowledge. It would also build community in the classroom. Students can also share experiences out loud to prepare them for writing and recording their personal stories. || Gibbons, page 89 || user:AlinaST || Questions about the text are placed in the margins, pointing to the word/phrase in the text that is being addressed. Questions encourage useful reading strategies such as using “clues” in the text to work out meaning. Ex: What do you expect to find in the text? What does this information tell you about xyz? How could you work out the meaning of these words? Imagine you are in this situation; what does it feel like? etc || 1, 5-6 || This is a during-reading activity. It is similar to scaffolding a detailed reading of a text, but allows students to become independent readers while providing them with necessary support. || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Gibbons, page 94
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Sentence Reconstruction
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Personal Narratives
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Margin Questions

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Materials: handout with text and questions || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">user:AlinaST || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students match written sentences with more “spoken-form” sentences. Chose sentences around a specific topic, maybe selecting the written sentences from a text students have read, and matching them to spoken-form sentences. Have students discuss the differences in language and in what context the different types of language would be used. || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">3, 5-6 || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">This could be used as a comprehension check after reading, but more importantly, this activity shows that written language is often more formal than spoken language, it uses more complex vocabulary and syntax, it has a larger distance between readers and writers, etc. || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Gibbons, page 77 <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Materials: handout with sentences || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">user:AlinaST || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students work with a partner. Each student has a picture that looks like their partner’s but has minor differences. The two students need to collaborate to find out what the differences are, but they cannot show each other their images. Key vocabulary for objects in the image can be listed at the top. || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">5, 9, 10 || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">The development of oral language allows students to “provide a bridge to written literacy and to make sense of new knowledge” (Gibbons 130). This activity allows students to learn/ review vocabulary and also to negotiate meaning, expanding their oral language to build a larger bride to written language. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">The image chosen can also be structured around a text the students will read or have read. || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Gibbons, page 148
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Sentence Matching
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Find the Difference

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Materials: two pictures ||

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">user:AlinaST || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students sit in their chairs and silently toss the ball to each other for as long as they can. The teacher times them and the game ends when students drop the ball or when the ball hits a table/chair, etc. After a couple rounds, students debrief – what worked? What didn’t? || 10, 11 || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Silent ball can serve as a brain break (for both students and the teacher) and as a team-building game. Students can compete against other classes if the teacher keeps track of “record times.” || Source: [|https://writingtolearntote][|ach.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/my-favorite-friday/] <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Materials: ball || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">user:AlinaST || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students work in pairs. Student A has cards with pictures while Student B has sentences that describe them; they do not see each other’s cards. Student A describes a picture, and Student B chooses the sentence that goes along with it. When all the pairs have been matched, students decide on an order or group the pairs into categories. || 4, 5, 7 || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">This activity can be used in the middle of a unit and can be adapted to any content area. For example, the picture cards could contain Renaissance and Medieval paintings while the sentence cards describe each painting. After matching each sentence to its picture, students can then separate each pair into the 2 categories – Medieval and Renaissance. || Gibbons, pg 148
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Silent Ball
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Picture-Sentence Matching

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Materials : set of pictures and matching sentences ||  || user:AlinaST || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students work in groups of 4-5 and brainstorm what they know about a topic on a large piece of paper. Each group of students rotates to the next group’s paper and adds their own ideas with their specific color pen. Groups continue rotating until students return to their original paper. Students discuss the new ideas that have been added to their brainstorm. Students can then share with the class what they have observed. || 5, 6, 7 || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">This activity can be used before a new unit to assess what students already know about a topic, or at the end of a unit to assess what students have learned and to allow them to organize this information. This activity also builds shared knowledge in the class. || Gibbons, pg 64
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Progressive Brainstorm

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Materials: paper and colored pens/markers || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">user:AlinaST || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Groups of students have sticky notes and are asked to anonymously write one thing they know or a point of view they have about a controversial issue. One student from each group puts the group’s sticky notes on the wall. All students walk around reading and evaluating each other’s ideas. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students find at least 3 papers to comment on and later share with the whole class (things they didn’t know before, didn’t think about, agreed with, etc). || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">3, 10 || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">This can be used in the middle of a unit or as an after-reading activity. It can also be used as scaffolding for a later writing activity such as responding to a text/idea or writing an argumentative essay, and provides an opportunity to talk about respectful dialogue. || Gibbons, pg 65
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Wallpapering

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Materials: sticky notes || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">user:AlinaST || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Choose a short academic text. Read aloud to students twice. The third time you read (read at normal speed), ask students to individually write down as many key points as they can. Students then share with a partner what they have written down, and attempt to recreate a version of the text that was read. Students then form groups of 4, and work together to improve what they have. They rewrite their text on a large sheet of paper. Encourage students to focus on the main points and to use correct grammar. Display the texts in the room and show the original text to students. Discuss the differences and whether or not meaning has remained the same. || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">3, 5-6, 10 || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">A dictogloss serves as a model of academic language and allows both students and teacher to talk about the language used in the original text. The teacher can choose to focus on a particular structure or writing strategy. While students are writing their own version, they will be talking about the language, and will also have the opportunity to use academic language themselves. This activity also provides an opportunity to talk about the value of collaboration. || Gibbons, pg 66
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Dictogloss

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Materials: text, paper ||

<span style="display: block; height: 1px; left: -40px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 744.5px; width: 1px;">Students work in pairs. Student A has cards with pictures while Student B has sentences that describe them; they do not see each other’s cards. Student A describes a picture, and Student B chooses the sentence that goes along with it. When all the pairs have been matched, students decide on an order or group the pairs into categories