ECI 430/435 Middle Grades ELA/SS
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This wiki contains articles, opinions, and other written pieces relating to the ECI 430 and 435 course experience.
Contents |
Lesson ideas
WWII in a Whirlwind- L. Cox, R. Cooper
Natural Resources of South America
Kingdoms & Empires: the Rise and Fall of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
Petroleum: Black Gold in Kuwait
Are you a Michelangelo? Drawing Upside Down and the Art of the Renaissance
Oh the troubles I've seen! The Causes of the Great Depression and its Aftermath
Tensions Rise Between North and South: Underground Railroad, Abolitionist Movement, and Dred Scott
Diversity equals Division: Comparing South Africa's Apartheid to US Civil Rights
Take Away the Trees, Take Away the Land
The Civil war: The War Between the Sates-The Formation of the Union and Confederate States
Unit Ideas / Themes
Leigh Blanton: My unit topic is Western Europe (after the Renaissance to the present). My theme is going to be ‘War and Loss’ because I think the major wars in Western Europe played a huge part in history and examining the loss will give a more personal look into that history. The unit will also include a lesson on the geography of Western Europe. My unit will also incorporate Language Arts, because Salem does a lot of integration. LA topics will include making inferences, using effective reading strategies, author’s purpose and stance, and analogies. At that point in the year, students will also be working on problem solution essays. Some of the reading material that I will be using includes Number the Stars, Anne Frank, and “Voices of D-Day.”
Leigh Catherine Sellers: My unit is going to be on the novel "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech, which I chose from a list of books suggested by my CT. This unit is going to be designed especially for 6th grade AG students. The main theme of the unit is "Journeys and coming to new understandings" but other themes from the book include friendship, loss and grief, growing up, love, courage, and aging/illness. A few of the issues included in the book are the loss of a loved one, moving or being homesick, first crush, and first kiss. At my school, teaching to the tests is very important. I plan to do this, but I also want to add a spin to the concepts by including some activities that involve creativity.
Lauren Cox: My unit topic is based on the theme "The World Around Me." I will be teaching Journey to Jo'Burg as highly suggested by my CT. I am hoping that the social studies class will also be talking about South Africa so I can do lots of interdisciplinary things, and so the social studies teacher on the team could also help me. Because I am in a 7th grade class, I want to integrate lots of writing into the unit so the students can get lots of practice for the writing test.
Jenna Shue: My unit is going to be on the novel "Seedfolks." This book was suggested by my CT and is a book her students from previous years have thoroughly enjoyed. The themes that we will focus on include: friendship, meeting/overcoming challenges, and celebrating diversity. Some intergrating can be done with other subjects. For example, we are going to plant seeds and record and chart their growth, which will be done in math class. The students will read the book in its entirety in class, since there are not enough copies for all the students to take home. There will also be several fun activites that go along with the book, which will allow the students to express their creativity.
Chris Woodcock: Rights and Responsibilities. I will prepare a unit that examines the differences between human rights and civil rights. Possible human rights subjects: relocation of Native Americans, slavery, treatment of minority groups, and apartheid. Possible civil rights subjects include examining historical documents such as the Constitution and Bill of Rights, United Nations, NC's participation in the Civil Rights movement, Japanese-American internment, Bloody Sunday, and Tiananmen Square. We will also look at discrimination in various forms. I'm still working on how to bring some positives into the mix. One possibility is to use the magazine Teaching Tolerance.
Michelle McDowell: The unit I plan to teach at CCMS is about World War II and the Holocaust. Some possible themes for this unit inclue racism, discrimination, and the effects of discrimination on a group of people. I want to use Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, excerpts from Maus by Art Spiegleman, and maybe excerpts from The Diary of Anne Frank. Since my CT teaches LA and SS, I plan to integrate SS into my unit by studying the war itself (countries, dates, causes/effects, etc.).
Erin Kerley: I think my unit will be on refugees & human rights. However, I still need to talk with my cooperating teacher about this. I am going to be teaching Central & Eastern Europe. I want to focus on Kosovo, Bosnian War, and the other occurances in the area that have produced refugees. This area has had a history of not guaranteeing human rights to all citizens. I'd like to talk about the UN's definition of human rights. Are there universal human rights? Who decides?
Courtney Howard: I talked to my CT about a unit that we could possibly do in the spring time. We decided to do a poetry unit because it is one of her favorite things to teach and I think it will benefit me to do a whole unit on poetry. Our theme is going to be seasons and we are going to relate the change in seasons to the change in students during the middle school years. We have a whole packet of information and poems that we want to do. We will probably start off with name poems and will try to integrate other subjects through the poetry we choose.
Emily Formicola: The unit my CT and I have pretty much agreed I would do is the Holocaust/Anne Frank. They will read Anne Frank the play, and then they ill pick another YA holocaust book to read on their own. They will be doing a project about the book they read on their own too. I am not sure, but I think we will watch a video as well. I will incorporate different ways to teach them about the holocaust and holocaust lit. The themes will be persecution and overcoming oppression. I want them to reflect on a time in their own lives when they felt discriminated against since this is something everyone has probably felt at one time or another.
Candace Cole: I have talked to my CT about several different unit ideas. I am considering teaching a theme about the political unrest in Africa. I think that this theme would cover several areas in Africa. I would mostly focus on the civil war in Sudan. I think that the kids would relate to the situation in Sudan because of the story of "The Lost Boys." This story about young children having to flee their homes in order to escape slavery and death, would, I believe, engage the students and make them interested in the topic considering that it is very recent. I have decided now to teach a unit on Culture, History, and Present Day Eastern and Southern Africa. This topic will encompass the Apartheid, the Nile, wealth and war, as well as geography and history and these regions.
Jodi Jarrett: I talked to my CT about hopefully doing a unit on the Holocaust. She talked about how she would delegate parts for the play from The Diary of Anne Frank to her students to read aloud in class. To supplement the play the students will also get a chance to read passages from We Are Witnesses by Jacob Boas and Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. At the end of the unit they will watch the Anne Frank movie or possibly The Uprising. The theme will be survival. Students will hopefully do some writing about what it might be like to be Jewish and involved in the Holocaust.
Arielle Shultz: The 7th graders at Exploris will be participating in the 100 People Project during my student teaching! (http://www.100people.org/onehundred_trailer.php) Students will be responsible for evaluating the characteristics of their community and composing a group of 100 people that accurately represent the demographics within the surrounding area. I will be conducting a seminar focused around issues affecting the community. The culmination of the unit will consist of students creating a book which demonstrates their findings.
Shanika Mack: I have talked to my CT about formulating a unit/theme on the Civil War. She told me that during the start of my student teaching she will be teaching the Civil War and showing films that focus on this important event in American history. Therefore, she welcomed my desire to create a lesson on the Civil War. The Underground railroad is the aspect is going to be the center of my Civil War unit. The theme I chose will be called the "The guiding light"--The Underground Railroad. I will provide students with poems and exerpts that deal with the theme of light in reference to the Civil War.
Jessica Sims: I talked to my CT and he informed me that when I started in January, they would be starting a unit on Africa. He wasn't sure of much more than that quite yet, so I decided to do my Thematic Unit on Discoving the Rarely Explored African Countries South of the Sahara with a theme of Traveling Africa South of the Sahara in 12 days. So often when the continent of Africa is discussed South Africa is the major focus and many other countries are excluded. In my unit I plan to discuss a different country each of the 30 days (some countries taking more than one day of course). With a large number of countries being explored the students are able to see a wider view of the continent Africa and see the importance of other countries beyond South Africa.
Terri Galeazzi:After talking with my CT I have discovered that I am going to teach the novel, "The Black Pearl," by Scott O'Dell. After reading the book, I'm pretty excited about the upcoming unit. There is so much that we can talk about and relate to the reading. One idea for a theme that was suggested, though I'm not 100% for it yet, is the theme of mystery.
Sheryl Grady: After talking with my CT, I found out that when I start student teaching they'll be learning about WWI and WWII and also eastern Europe. I also found out that they'll be learning how to analyze fiction and nonfiction writing and responding to editorials. I'm going to teach the novel "Esacape from Warsaw" by Ian Serraillier. The book goes along exactly with my unit on WWI and WWII and eastern Europe. This book is also a great tool for interdisciplinary teaching. I think my theme will be persecution. Not completely sure yet though.
Aly Parks I am in a 6th grade Social Studies class. I found out that when I begin teaching, the students will be switching from Europe to South America. My cooperating teacher would like me to take over and cover South America. This way, I will be able to teach the entire continent without having to stop in the middle. I decided to focus on the physical geography of South America. This will give me ways to bridge into other aspects of the continent. There are many ways to make this unit interdisciplinary: students could write opinion letters, they could model poems, etc.
Ashley Patterson I told my cooperating teacher that I would like to do a unit in conjunction with what the students will be doing in Social Studies. She suggested that for my AIG classes, I read the YA novel, THE RED SCARF GIRL. The Social Studies classes will be learning about Communism and China around the same time. I still have to decide on a book for the "regular" classes to read. I will then have to get this book approved by the library, and I think by the parents. I'm really looking forward to reading a novel with them. I'm sure I will have to read it out loud sometimes. The students seem to like it this way!
Ashley McKinney I am really struggling with my topic. My teacher and I decided that I should teach a novel and from the list we have I choose The Pigman. I really want to make an intergrated unit but I just can't see how this novel can be linked with 8th grade SS. The theme I wanted to work with is guilt and honesty, but I am not sure. I would have no problem adjusting my theme to aid in any kind of intergration. I am a SS person at heart any way (as some of you may can tell). I really need some help getting started here!!! Please, any advice would be great. (anmckinn@ncsu.edu)
Melissa Davenport: My CT mentioned that they will be studying the Holocaust in Language Arts when I am teaching next semester. I love the Anne Frank story, but I'm debating between that or "Night," but the entire 8th grade chooses the same stuff to do, so my unit will depend largely on what she tells me tomorrow at my school. I want to focus on children, particularly YA during the Holocaust, including Jewish, Nazi-German, Pole, and other European nationalities.
Ashley Coe: I will be implementing a unit on world population as a means of transition between the study of Africa and Asia. Through the theme of "Awareness for your neighbors", we will focus on the big concepts that impact world population: disease, natural disaster, and quality of life opportunity. It has been very hard to narrow down the important topics that should be covered in a 2-3 week period concerning population, but my goal has been to stay focused on always connecting how the chosen concepts affect the growing world population (a great concern to our resources, at present).
Teresa Gunn: Civic ResponsibilityMy CT would like me to teach a unit on the Civil Rights Movement. My CT teaches the seventh grade so we will have to prepare students for the writing test. He gave me a movie to watch with a curriculum guide that has ideas on how to incorporate it into a lesson(s). He also mentioned something about doing an oral history with the students. I definitely think it is a great idea to do the Civil Rights Movement with my students. They are definitely heroes to me(Civil Rights Participants) so I hope that I will be able to do them justice.
Danielle Holmes My CT is not sure where she will be when I teach my unit. She feels that I might teach the students abou the Civil War. I will teach students about important people, events, and the culture of this period throughout North Carolina and the U.S. I would for the students to know the causes and effects of the war and how it affects Americans today.
Ryan Cooper: I still don't have a definite CT, but I have discussed several ideas with the teacher I've been observing. We are thinking about doing a unit on Frankie Silvers and her trial. Frankie Silvers was the first woman to ever be hanged and this took place only minutes from my hometown. The unit will include a biography/novel as well as possibly a research paper and or a mock trial to be administered based on the student research. My hope is to be able to let the kids choose which they would rather do. I will just have to see how things pan out with my teacher before I can be certain.
Jennifer Williams: I am planning to do my unit on The Pinballs. At first I thought I was going to do my unit on poetry. However, after I talked to my CT today we decided that a Literature Unit would be better. Therefore I chose to prepare my unit around the The Pinballs by Betsy Byars. She has given me some related articles to teaching this novel as well as an instruction booklet on teaching literature. I hope this will be a lot of help in the development of my unit.
Inquiry Project Questions/Ideas
This section of our wiki includes an evolving and expanding collection of inquiry topics being explored during the semester. From here you will begin the process of developing your inquiry ideas. A list of inquiry topics is below. The first task in this assignment is to develop an inquiry-related idea. Your idea should be of personal value and should be unexplained or problematic. Begin by simply posting your idea. We will continue by exploring various dimensions of your inquiry topic relating to your own knowledge of the topic and your knowledge of how to teach about the topic.
Arielle Shultz: Global Warming: What is it and how do we prevent it?
Jessica Sims: Does the education system constitutionally have the right to impose school uniforms on students? I think that this is an interesting topic and something that I think that students would be interested in exploring, especially for students in schools that force them to wear uniforms. I feel that this type of type will encourage students to research things that they dislike to find out all the facts and take that research to fight for their rights and beliefs. I want to explore this topic by using the multigenre research method. I plan to us the constitution/its amendments, the state's constitution/it's amendments, specific uniform policies implemented, articles that report on research done on the topic, and the opinions of students, teachers, and parents on the subject.
Michelle McDowell: The Struggle for Equality: Educating American Women
Melissa Davenport: What is are qualities of heroes, both in literature and in real life? In other words, what makes someone a hero - doing the right thing, defending justice, or just being themselves? Who are some of the most influential heroes? I want to look at why certain people become immortalized for different reasons and what was going on in the world to make them so influential - from Batman to Albert Einstein.
Chris Woodcock: Why is the United States considered by some to be a human rights violator? Some people, both within and outside of the United States, have accused the United States of ignoring the Geneva Convention guidelines on human rights. The United States has been accused of illegally detaining persons and denying them basic human rights because those persons are accused terrorists. Some of those detainees have even reported that they have been tortured. Yet, President Bush has consistently denied reports of torture on the part of the U.S. But if this is true, why was Maher Arar, a Canadian Citizen, detained while in the U.S. and sent to Syria for a year of torture? Are there secret prisons being run by the CIA in Cuba, Eastern Europe and other locations? Did Vice President Cheney seek an exemption that would allow the CIA to use torture? I will begin by examining what President Bush and his administration have actually stated about its stance on torture of detainees. I will then examine the questions posed above and see if there is evidence to substantiate claims of torture. Primary sources will include an interview with Maher Arar and Abu Ghraib prison photos. Secondary sources will consist of news reports and new stories and, possibly, some public opinions.
Teresa Gunn: Institutionalized Discrimination: How prevalent is it today? I lived in Atlanta about twelve years ago. I had to rely on public transportation because I didn't have a car. I used to see jobs advertised that were on the busline but in order to apply the agency was located outside of Atlanta. I never realized until years later that this was a type of institutional discrimination. I wonder how many other types there are that aren't apparent to most of society. Primary sources would be articles or studies on ways that institutions discriminate. Secondary sources would be sources that didn't actually do the study and just reported on the discrimination.
Ashley McKinney: Why did Lincoln wait until 1863 to give the Emancipation Proclamation and set the slaves free, when the war started in 1861? Fighting had already started and many men killed, so why wait? I want to examine Lincoln's character and beliefs to get into his mindset. I will also examine events of the war, the world and the status of each side's military to see what political impact Lincoln's actions may have incurred. I also want to examine what Lincoln thought might be accomplished with regards to the slaves by his actions when the south did not recognize him as their President. I think one of the major factors in Lincoln's decision was possible British alliance with the South. However, I am not sure this is the only or most prevalent reason Lincoln chose this time to free the slaves. Lincoln believed in freedom for slaves but he did not want to do it by force. Lincoln's free soil beliefs and the events surrounding the war and the proclamation will provide me with the information I need to make suggestions as to why Lincoln did what he did. Perhaps, his letters may even tell me specifically why he did what he did when he did it (that may be hoping for too much).
Leigh Catherine Sellers: What are the major environmental problems affecting the development of Africa today? I want to look at deforestation problems in Africa, air pollution, water pollution, loss of soil and soil fertility, and at the problem of a dramatic decline in biodiversity in Africa. With advanced firearms, exploding populations of people, and habitat destruction, several species of apes in Africa are nearing extinction. Elephant poaching is also a problem in Africa, as well as illegal and destructive logging. Nigeria's reliance on oil and on the foreign corportations that extract it has resulted in severe environmental degradation of the Niger Delta, Africa's largest wetland. Pesticides that have been banned in the US are being shipped to Africa to be used on their crops. These are just a few of the many environmental problems and factors that can be examined.
Jennifer Williams: Does today's music have a negative influence on our youth. The thought came to my mind when I was thinking about school shootings and how the parents were trying to blame the type of music the shooters listened to on the shooting of the schools. I would look into the lyrics of songs, the reasons behind the vulgarity, the differences between early music and today's. My questions will include: Does the music of today negatively influence our youth? Is it only an artist’s way of expressing their emotions? Do theses songs tell the stories of what really happens in the real world? Sources I could use are lyrics of some modern songs, The politics of Rap, Rap's Message is their Medium, and Rock and Responsibility. These are secondary sources but I am sure I can find more.
Leigh Blanton: What is it like to live in Greece?
I have always wanted to visit Greece, and I think it would be interesting to learn more about what life is like there. I want to understand what daily life involves. For my inquiry, I am going to begin with researching several aspects of geography, because I think it is important to know things like climate, population, and location in order to grasp what it is like to live in a country. I am also curious about government, religion, and culture. These topics will be the main focus of my inquiry. I am also going to look into what everyday life is like, including food, schooling, jobs, etc. My final aspect of inquiry will be to look at the effect on tourism on the people and the economy. For primary sources, I am using some books that were written by people who live in Greece and also by Americans who lived in Greece for several years. These books will focus on daily life, including culture and customs. I am also using some books that talk about the geography of Greece, festivals, food, etc. that are secondary sources.
Jodi Jarrett: Discovering Catawba County, NC. How has life in Catawba County developed through time? I was born and raised in Catawba County and I am now realizing I do not know very much about the history of my county. For my inquiry I would like to research the early history dealing with native americans, immigrants, religion, education, and Civil War. I would also like to focus on two historical sites, the Bunker Hill Covered Bridge and Murray's Mill. To conclude my paper I would like to discuss briefly the history of Newton, the county seat. My primary resources will include historical documents from the Catawba County Historical Society, as well as visits to the justice center, museums, and historic sites. My secondary resources include historical books on Catawba County and Newton, the county seat.
Jenna Shue: Immigration and its influences. Throughout history people have flocked from all across the world to the United States to enjoy its freedoms and resources. Through this immigration, people have brought along with them their culture and ideas. How has the immigration of people from all across the globe influenced everyday life in the United States? What has the United States become due to the influence of other cultures and if immigration in the United States continues to grow, what will the country be like in 50 years? My primary sources will include letters from immigrants and my secondary sources will include historical books, articles, and internet resources.
Lauren Cox: Discovering the Lumbee Indians. A lot of my family is from the same area as the Lumbee Indians. In fact, I think that I may have family that is Lumbee. I have been to Rowland, Lumberton, and Laurinburg many times in my life, and I want to know more about this unique group of people. I want to know their history, their present issues, their population, their culture, their language dialects, and why they aren't recognized. From what I have been researching I found out that this group of people has had an interesting past. Scholars report that they may have come from the Hatteras area, which is where I am from. They know this because they appeared "whiter," their dialect reflects European, and farmed in similar ways that Europeans did. When the migrated to the area of Robeson County they were quite isolated. I thought that it was interesting that they were never treated as slaves but were still in racial limbo because whites would not claim them, and they certainly weren't black. I wonder if you could do some sort of present-day bi-racial culture activity with students from using the Lumbee Indians' predicament.
Candace Cole: My topic is the distress in Sudan, the Lost Boys of Sudan and other groups such as the Invisible Children and the Door of Hope organizations in Africa. These organizations have something to do with trying to help men and boys flee from being forced into the military and slavery. I want to know more about these organizations. I have a friend who know several men from Sudan that were a part of "the lost boys." I have heard many stories of their war-torn land and fight for justice. I wanted to know more about this and other groups that are fighting for their safety in Africa as well, especially since I will be teaching Africa.
Danielle Holmes: Xenophobia in the U.S. and North Carolina. I think that I would like to focus on how xenophobia has affected immigration issues in the U.S. and NC since 9/11. I want to research this from the sides of politicians, Americans (all), and recent immigrants.
Courtney Howard: The War in Iraq fousing on IED's. I am interested in this topic one because I don't feel I know enough information about the war, but also because my sister and brother-in-law are currently in Iraq. I want to find how IED's were created and how far we have come with identifying them. I also want to research the casualties that have occured with IED's compared with all other casualties. I want to find out how big of a problem they are and would the progress be going faster if it wasn't for IED's. They began when the war began because the Iraqis/foreign fighters do not have the skills or training to compete with US forces in a shooting fight or "traditional" means of fighting. IEDs are a cheap and easy way to get a lot of "bang for your buck" -- emplace one at night, and watch it explode on a convoy of US forces traveling from one city to another -- you can easily kill 6 Americans in a few seconds with the explosion from the bomb. Once the Iraqis/foreign fighters realized how successful they were, they gradually increased. And once Iraq became a playground for terrorists all over the world, mostly starting in 2004, a year after the war started, the IEDs have steadily increased. For my primary sources I am going to use government handbooks on IEDs and Army handbooks. These explain to soldiers the whole concept and how to "defeat" IEDs. For my secondary sources I am going to use newspaper articles from reporters that have heard information about IEDs.
Erin Kerley: My inquiy topic is the conflict diamonds of western Africa, in particular Sierra Leone, the Congo, Liberia, and Guinea. I've always been inerested in knowing more about Africa. There are always seem to be so many struggles occuring in Africa that get so little attention from the news. It seems as if people have almost become desensitized to problems in Africa, which is why I wanted to study about one. I want to know the effect diamond mining has had on regular civilians: the amputations, land distruction, civil warfare, etc.
Terri Galeazzi: Inspired after reading the "The Black Pearl," by Scott O'dell, I want to know more about the Baja Peninsula. I want to learn about the land, the economy, the government, the history, and how all of these things affect the current culture of the people of the Baja Peninsula.
Ashley Patterson: How were the roles of women impacted by WWII? As a mother, I have always been interested in how the roles of women and mothers have changed over time. WWII was a time for great change and impact for women. Women began working and raising their families on their own. The husbands were either at war or sometimes died while fighting for their country. I will focus portions of the inquiry on "Rosie the Riveter" and the emergence of single mothers.
Ashley Coe: What determines the presentation of information on national voting ballots? I have often wondered how our nation determines what language and/or diction are used for ballots. My interest was only encouraged by the ballot presentation confusion in Palm Beach during the 2000 presidential elections. As a voter, I'm personally interested to know what deems a ballot understandable by all of my fellow US citizens and what knowledgable body/persons officiates.
Emily Formicola: Who are the Amish, and why do they live the way they do?- I changed my topic to the Amish, b/c I have always been interested in them, and their way of life. I am curious about their culture. When I was a kid we used to visit the Amish community in Indiana, and I really liked going there to see these people who live like it is 1800. I am going to use a documentary film from 2002 called "The Devil's Playground" for my primary source. This film follows the lives of Amish teens who are required to go out into the "real world" and experience modern life. I have seen maybe half of this film before, and it is a real life account, with real Amish teens. I am planning on renting the dvd to use for my paper. For my secondary source, I am going to use a book called Amish Society and also some various reliable internet sources.
Shanika Mack: I would like to devise an inquiry base project on the Hurricane Katrina its causes and Aftermath. This devistating natural disaster not only changed the geography of the Gulf Coast, but it destroyed and changed lives forever. So where do the people of New Orleans go from here? What will the United States Government do to pick up the pieces that Katrina has left behind one year later? I have researched my topic and have found a lot of books and reports. I was surprised to find that many resources on a Hurricane Katrina given that it is a current event. The primary resources I will use will be documentaries and interviews that capture the thoughts of Hurricane Katrina victims. Director Spike Lee has created a documentary titled: When the Levies broke. I plan to watch and review this work to gather a better understanding of the Hurricane Katrina event. Therefore, interviews, documentaries will be the primary sources for my inquiry. The books from the DH Hill library and ebooks online will be my secondary resources.
Aly Parks: What is the importance of content area reading instruction in schools? I wanted to look at something that would help me out later on when I begin teaching. Therefore, I would like to look at the strategies teachers use for teaching content area reading. This is something that I didn't really get a lot of in the reading class we had to take. I started out in math education and would eventually like to end up teaching math. I still think that reading is important no matter what subject you are in. Students need to learn to pick out important information in text and read critically in all areas. I will be using the topic "How did WWI change women's role in American society?" to discover how I could apply content area reading instruction to something in the middle school curriculum. I will be able to use first hand accounts of life during the Industrial Revolution to see how women were treated.
Sheryl Grady: I would like to do my inquiry project on Native Americans. Specifically Cherokee Indians. Why did they adopt or conform to the western style of living? How, if at all, were they affected by the Trail of Tears? Why are the suicide and alcoholism rates so high on reservations? Also, I would like to find out more about the Cherokee beliefs.
Ryan Cooper: I hope to learn more about the uses of music in the classroom. I plan on using the ISearch method to find out more on the subject. Having worked closely with a friend last year in writing a song for a middle school novel project, I became very aware of the potential music has. I want to see how others have used music in their own classrooms as well as how it affects student learning on the whole.
The Known World
Characters from the Townsend Plantation (click for character sketches)
Henry Townsend, Caldonia Townsend, Loretta, Zeddia, Bennett, Moses, Pricilla, Jamie, Elias, Celeste, Tessie, Grant, Elwood, Alice, Stamford, Gloria, Delphia, and Cassandra
Characters outside of the Townsend Plantation from Manchester County
Augustus Townsend, Mildred Townsend, Fern Elston, Ramsey Elston, Zeus, John Skiffington, Winfred Skiffington, Minerva Skiffington, Clara Martin, Ralph, William Robbins, Ethel Robins, Patience Robbins, Philomena Cartwright, Dora Cartwright, Louis Cartwright, Barnum Kinsey, Oden Peoples, Harvey Travis, Calvin Newman, Maude Newman, Robert Colfax, Anderson Frazier, Jebediah Dickinson, and Valtims Moffett,
Characters outside of the Townsend Plantation from beyond Manchester County
Counsel Skiffington, Belle Skiffington, and Stennis
Insights on Journals / Journaling
1. What We Know In General About Journals / Journaling
2. What the Education Journal Articles / Experts in the Field have to Say About Journals / Journaling
4. Purposes of Journals / Journaling
5. Formats for Journals / Journaling
6. Other Observations, Questions, Comments on Journals / Journaling
Defining Reading / Writing Workshop
1. What We Know In General About R/W Workshop
2. What Atwell and Rief Have to Say About R/W Workshop
3. What we’re seeing in the field
4. Other Observations, Information, Questions About R/W Workshop
North Carolina Native Indians
Thoughts, information, and resources related to North Carolina's Native Indians
Our KNoWLedGe about Native Indians (Americans?) in North Carolina
What we Know about Native Indians in North Carolina
-different groups (culturally diverse)
-Cherokee (eastern band)
-Lumbee Indians (Lumberton); do not have a language base; not nationally recognized
-Cherokee Indians are matriarchal
-Native Americans along the coast
-Might be some groups in NC that have to do with groups in VA
-Pocahontas!
-Suicide rates and alcoholism are very high on reservations
-Lost Colony- question on whether the colonists lived along with Native Americans, etc.
-Cherokees had the first written alphabet- syllabary
What we Need to know about Native Indians in North Carolina
-language groups represented in NC; 3 major groups: Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan
-history of interaction between Europeans and Native Indians; begins in early 1500s and continues today
What we Want to know about Native Indians in North Carolina
-more about NC Cherokees
-Rites of passages; Vision Quests
-Waxhaw Indians; how names of places deal with different Indian groups; Catawba, Pontiac, Waccamaw, Chocowinity
What we have Learned about Native Americans in North Carolina
How we can Give our knowledge about Native Americans in North Carolina to others
Websites related to North Carolina Native Indians
Resources, Links, and Files
(organized so that most recent additions appear first)
Milners' Ch. 15 "The Complete Teacher": http://courses.ncsu.edu/eci430/lec/001/M_and_M_Ch_15_Complete_T.pdf
Milners' Ch. 13 "Evaluating Learning" (2 Parts): 1)http://courses.ncsu.edu/eci430/lec/001/M_and_M_Ch_13_Eval_Part1of2.pdf; 2) http://courses.ncsu.edu/eci430/lec/001/M_and_M_Ch_13_Eval_Part2of2.pdf
Milners' Ch. 5 "Responding to Literature" Excerpts (3 Parts): 1) http://courses.ncsu.edu/eci430/lec/001/Milners_Ch_5_Part_1of3.pdf; 2) http://courses.ncsu.edu/eci430/lec/001/Milners_Ch_5_Part_2of3.pdf; 3) http://courses.ncsu.edu/eci430/lec/001/Milners_Ch_5_Part_3of3.pdf
NCTE News Release 10/24/06 -- NCTE's Position Unchanged: Isolated Grammar Drills Do Not Produce Good Writers: http://www.ncte.org/about/press/rel/125932.htm
Facing History and Ourselves website: http://www.facinghistory.org/campus/reslib.nsf
Teaching Tolerance website: http://www.tolerance.org/
November: Native American Indian Heritage Month -- NCTE Resources: 1) http://www.ncte.org/about/over/inbox/ideas/125959.htm 2) http://www.ncte.org/about/over/inbox/announce/pubs/125960.htm
Beyond Grammar Drills: How Language Works in Learning to Write. The Council Chronicle Online, October 25, 2006: http://www.ncte.org/pubs/chron/highlights/125935.htm
NCTE Guideline: Some Questions and Answers about Grammar: http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/gram/107646.htm?source=gs
Online Magnetic Poetry Websites: 1) http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/word_mover/words.01.html 2) http://www.magneticpoetry.com/play.html; 3) http://www.magneticpoetry.com/magnet/
Sentence Composing Maxims Overhead: http://courses.ncsu.edu/eci430/lec/001/SC_Maxims_HO.pdf
Quotation Marks Review Overhead: http://courses.ncsu.edu/eci430/lec/001/Q-Marks_Review_HO.pdf
NCTE Censorship Challenge News, September 2006: http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/slate/125618.htm
The Andrews Language Exploration and Awareness PowerPoint Part I is available at: http://courses.ncsu.edu/eci430/lec/001/Andrews_1.ppt.
The inquiry packet from Dr. Young is available at http://courses.ncsu.edu/eci435/lec/001/files/Inq_Packet_1.pdf
Inquiry based learning powerpoint presentation from Tuesday 9/12 class available at http://gdhp.org/files/inquiry_based_learning.ppt