Plagiarism

The Colbert Report April 14, 2010 interview. It's perfect. The interview is with David Shields is a great starting point for a discussion on plagiarism. In the interview, Shields argees for more lenient copyright laws, because he feels like having to quote and cite and source everything limits the writer's freedom of expression. After all Thomas Jefferson and William Shakespeare borrowed heavily from others without correct citations and their writing is revered and taught at most schools. So why can't the average writer do the same thing?

Watch the clip, and then ask students to respond. Why do we worry so much about plagiarizing? Why can't we use other people's ideas to enhance our own?

After the discussion, you'll of course want to emphasize the reason for copyright laws and strict punishments for plagiarizing is to allow for more creativity. If people were afraid they weren't going to get paid for their writing, then they might stop writing. Also, it's only fair to attribute greatness to the originator. And, most importantly for students, the reason you have the write is not to see how well they can copy and paste but to see how well they write and understand the information. And so, still, even after the discussion, no plagiarizing, but wasn't it nice to get involved in your own education?

Rhymes

Recently my husband and I have taken to making up nursery rhymes. Our son has a ton of musical toys that play the diddy that goes along with a rhyme without the actual words, so we make them up. This got me thinking, why not use this as a lesson?

Start by teaching students the different types of rhymes (end rhyme, slant rhyme, eye rhyme, internal). Make a list on the board of rhyming words and examples of each type of rhyme.

Now allow the students to practice. To practice have students complete the "This old man.." rhyme up to 10. (This old man, he played one [or two, three], he played knick-knack on my _____ or with my _____. ) Allow students to change in the ending preposition to suit their needs. Require students to use at least one of each type of rhyme and to identify the type of rhyme used for each number. For example, "This old man, he played ten, he played knick-knack with my hen--end rhyme. Have students share their answers with the class and correct their rhymes as necessary. Review any missed concepts.

Next, have an inter-period competition. Have all students sit on their desks. Have the entire class sing the rhyme until the last preposition, and then have one student finish the rhyme. Continue counting up with the student behind the first student. If a student can't think of a rhyme for their number, that student must sit down and is out. The last student sitting on his or her desk gets extra credit--or your voice on their home answer machine! (See Listener Limerick Challenge). The period that counts to the highest number also gets extra credit as a class.

The next day as a review repeat the above game with the Down by the Bay rhyme (Down by the bay, where the watermelon grows, back to my home, I dare not go, for if I do, my mother will say, "Have you ever seen a llama wearing pajamas" down by the bay. or a mouse kissing his spouse or a bat hitting a rat or a lady carrin' a baby. ) Keep track of the number of rhymes the class keeps up with and compare the periods at the end of the day.

Try using other partial rhymes as well. We have a lot of fun with this in our house.

All American youth need to understand that..

I was just reading in Developing the Curriculum 7th Ed. by Peter F. Oliva and happened upon this list of things that all American youth should understand. I thought it would be an interesting list to discuss in class as part of a contemporary history unit and then assign groups short (or long) presentations on a topic or research papers. But if all youth should understand these things, it wouldn't hurt to make them go into a little more depth on one topic and example to their peers why "all American Youth need to understand that...

1. the world's population is rapidly outstripping its resources.
2. there is more poverty in the world than riches.
3. more than one-third of the world's population is illiterate.
4. there are more people of color in the world than white.
5. there are more non-Christians in the world than Christians.
6. our actions at home are sources of propaganda abroad.
7. nationalism is on the march as never before.
8. most of the nations of the world are struggling for technical advances.
9. you can reach by air any point on the globe within thirty-six hours [(Oliva adds) Today I would reduce the number of hours of air journey to reflect supersonic flight and would add "you can reach distant spots on the planet almost instantaneously via electronic mail at a minuscule cost."]
10. in spite of our problems at home, thousands of foreigners abroad want to migrate to the land of the free and the home of the brave."

Oliva, Peter F. Developing the Curriculum 7th Ed. Boston: Pearson Education Inc., 2009. ISBN 978-0-205-59350-7

Listener Limerick Challenge

I got this idea from NPR's news quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't tell me, and I think it would be really fun in class, especially a combined English/history class.

This lesson teaches limericks by incorporating them into the history/current event lesson plan and avoids those oh-so-boring limericks about Suzy crossing the street--you know the kind students write just to get the assignment done.

First, teach limericks--what they are, how to write them, and write a few as a class. Next, explain that the next day or two days or however long you want to give the students on this assignment (I recommend 3 or 4 days), there will be a competition in class. Each student is to write 3 limericks, each about a different current event from that week. They will turn their limericks into you with copies of the newspaper or internet article they used as references. Mix up the limericks and play a game of Round Robin.

To play Round Robin start at one end of the class and have one student stand up. Read that student one of the limericks, but leave out the last word. The student standing must use his or her knowledge of limericks and current events to fill in the blank. If the student succeeds, he or she gets one point. The student who wrote the limerick then stands up and explains the current event in about 3 or 4 sentences.

At this point, you must make a choice of how to precede. You can allow the first student to continue to fill in the blank until he or she can't, but then the attention is focused mainly on one student. You could move to the next student behind the first and give each student a chance. You could have the student who wrote the limerick get a chance to fill in the blank on the next one. Decide which will work best for your class. If a student fails to fill in the blank, you could allow the person behind the student to fill in the blank, or the first hand up. Either way, I would not just give the students the answer--make them work for it. Keep track of how many limericks each student answers, and as on NPR, the winner gets your voice on his or her home answering machine! That really could be a good prize; I've called home to tell students' parents how great they are doing in class with some very positive results.

To make the lesson run a little smoother, I would have the students write their limericks on 3x5 cards so that shuffling is easier and you can give the students the limericks they answer as a way to keep score.

The Purpose of Education...

So today in my Theory of Curriculum class we talked about the purpose of education and we all came up with really high-minded reasons full of big words and multiple clauses. Mine was something like "To create thoughtful, critically-thinking, rational adults who function highly in a complex, emotionally traumatic global society." What?

After I wrote that I thought, if I were in eighth grade I would have written something like "To prepare me for college" or "To ruin my life."

Would it be so terrible to spend a day or even 10 minutes discussing what the purpose of education is and allow the class to make a statement of what they expect to get out of your class? This conversation could happen tomorrow--that's right, midyear, as a way to pump up the students and allow them some control of their education. If your class has a common goal, maybe the students will actually do their homework.

Prepositions Unit (...the box)

Summary:

This is a short unit on prepositions and will teach students what a preposition is, how to locate one in a sentence, and how to correctly use prepositions. The unit centers around children's books and culminates with the students performing their own skit based on the children's books read in class, using prepositions, for the class.

Days:

5. Of course, you could skip the whole presentation part and just read the two children's books and call it good--that would be 1 to 2 days. It depends on how much time you have.

Objectives:

1. Students will be able to define "preposition."

2. Students will be able to locate prepositions in a sentence.

3. Students will be able to correctly use prepositions in a sentence.

Cross Curricular:

1. Students may use knowledge gained in other classes as a basis for their presentation at the end of the unit. (So, no, not really.)

Unit Outline:

Day 1: Introduction

Begin with defining what a preposition is and giving students a few examples. Read Inside, Outside, Upside Down by Stan and Jan Bernstein to students. As a class, underline the prepositions in the book (be careful of words that are usually prepositions but that are not used as prepositions). Get out a box and, using the box as a guide, make a list of prepositions on the board (of the box, in the box, by the box, etc.). Give students time to study the list and then play a game of Knock Out (all the students stand and go around the room saying a preposition, students sit when they repeat a preposition or can't think of one. Have the students pass the box around to help them think.)

Homework/Classwork: Complete a review page from the grammar book, preferably one that requires students to identify prepositions.

Day 2: Practice

Review the previous day's homework. Read Go, Dog, Go by P. D. Eastman. As partners, have students underline the prepositions in the book. Review as a class. Assign students to groups of 3 or 4 and assign The Preposition Project. The Preposition Project will be a 2 minute presentation where each group will act out a story using at least 20 prepositions. Each student in the group should speak in the presentation; students should use at least 1 prop; students must submit a type-written copy of their presentation on the due date; the presentation should be cohesive and not just a list of prepositions.

Homework/Classwork: Complete a second review page on prepositions from the grammar book., preferably one that requires students to use prepositions.

Day 3: Practice

Review the previous day's homework. Allow students time to work on their presentations. Play

Knock Out to review.

Homework/Classwork: Work on The Preposition Project.

Day 4: Work

Read a short article from the newspaper or elsewhere. Have students work independently to locate all the prepositions. Review as a class. Allow students to work on their presentations.

Homework/Classwork: Work on The Preposition Project.

Day 5: Presentations

Have each group present. At the end of the presentations, pass out a short quiz that requires students to define what a preposition is; to locate several prepositions in sentences; and to write sentences using prepositions.

Just a thought on book reports...

When I was teaching, my school required that my students do a book report each month on top of a mile-high pile of homework. I found it somewhat ridiculous and rarely assigned the book reports--the students didn't tattle, they didn't want any more homework. Aside from not wanting to stress my students more than necessary, I felt that having to "do" something with the book kind of killed the enjoyment of reading it. I wanted my students to just enjoy reading.

But at the same time, the teacher next door to me had a list of books she wanted the students to read that supplemented what they were learning in English and history and then she had an individual book talk with each student each month so that all the students had to do was read the book and come prepared to share their thoughts on the book. This worked well for her as it allowed her to get to know her students and push their thinking past "I like it" or "I don't like it", but I was never able to find the time to meet with each student individually.

And so, I thought the other day, why not create mini book clubs in the classroom? Buy three or four copies of nine books that supplement what the students are learning in English and history, and then teach them how to run a book group. This allows the students to read for enjoyment; to read a variety of books; to make connections between pleasure reading and class; and to learn to discuss a book without having their hands held by the teacher.

The logostics would be a little tricky, I admit. You would need nine books--one for each month of the school year, or fewer if you wanted. Allow the students to chose which book they want to read each month, but they must read each book. I would have students switch groups each month so that they get a variety of viewpoints and learn to get along with people who aren't their best friend. That's the tricky part--by the end of the year, it will take a bit of shuffling to make sure everyone has read every book.

On the first school day of the month, pass out the books and have each group figure out how many pages they will have to read each week to finish by the end of the month. Then, once a week, have students get into their groups for part of a period to review the reading. Start the session with students each writing 1-2 real questions about the book. You will have to teach the students how to ask open-ended, thought-provoking questions about the novels, but this can be done by demonstrating with the books that the class reads together. Questions should focus on theme, application to the real world, and connection to topics studied in history and English. At the end of the 20 minute period (that's how long I would allow the sessions to go), have students take a few minutes to write their thoughts about the session and the book. Collect these and move on, possibly to a short grammar lesson or some silent reading.

I like this idea, one because it was my idea; two because it allows the students to read fun books and to talk about those fun books; three because it fulfils the book report requirement without putting too much extra stress on the students (or extra grading on the teacher); and four because it supplements the ideas discussed in class with some less stuffy reading.

As a PS here are some books that I would consider for my 8th grade (I taught post-World War II to present so focused on the end of the world thinking of the Cold War and the us vs them complex)

*Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

*The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

*Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

*Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

*Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

*Flush by Carl Hiaasen