Explanation
1. Microteaching--In your mentor teacher's classroom, teach a language concept. You may use groups for this microteaching (or in #6). Examples: grammar, lang. + power, dialects, vocabulary building, word choice, spelling, connotation/denotation. Also, see McCracken in Linguistics for Teachers for some ideas. Consider using the Concept Attainment Model or try your hand at some effective lecturing, along with other methods.
You have the option to do a Hunter model of lesson plan for this lesson- Turn in one plan to your mentor teacher and one to the instructor.
3. Turn in an individual self-evaluation; use the questions
4. Teacher evaluation- Have your teacher evaluate your lesson, focussing on strengths and things to work on.
Things To Think About: Try the use of the concept attainment model or lecture to teach the langauge concept. See the descriptions below.
1. What are my significant assumptions about language?
2. Clear opening
3. How can the students connect with the concept you are teaching? How does that concept connect to their own worlds or the external world?
4. Seating arrangement (if you are using groups)
5. Use of board or other visual aids
Concept Attainment Model: Objective and Subjective Reporting
Rationale: The concept attainment model will provide students with an opportunity to discover a concept through an inquiry and discovery method which utilizes classroom participation. The model allows the teacher to introduce a concept or unit by enabling the students to join in the introduction process. If students are made to recognize the difference between objective and subjective reporting, it will enable them to read between the lines in newspaper and magazine articles. Also, students will be able to formulate news articles and essays with a clearer idea of objectivity and subjectivity in mind.
Objective: The objective of the lesson is to have students discover the concept of objective reporting by examining news story leads. The students should be able to recognize characteristics familiar to all objective news stories. The student should be able to identify specific facts (who, what, when, where, why, how) while at the same time recognizing that some kinds of reporting, while based on facts, have a subjective or bias slant.
Method: Students will be told that a new subject is being introduced through a concept attainment model approach to learning. Students will be told that they will be shown an example of the concept, followed by another example which, though similar, will not be an example of the concept. The examples will be written on cards and held up for the students to examine. The first example will be labeled a "yes" example and placed in a "yes" pile. The second example will be labeled a "no" example and placed in a "no" pile. Students will then be shown subsequent examples and be asked to guess whether or not the examples are "yes" or "no" examples. Examples should be left in clear view of the students, distinctly categorized "yes" or "no." When students make an appropriate or inappropriate choice, they will be asked to state why they have made a particular choice. Students will be asked to identify like characteristics in both "yes" and "no" examples. Students should slowly be led to guess the concept.
Evaluation: Students will be able to identify examples as "yes" or "no" examples correctly. Students will be able to give reasons for their selection. Students will be able to identify characteristics familiar to objective news reporting. Students will be able to identify specific facts contained in the example leads presented, and in subsequent leads contained in actual newspapers. Students will be able to write leads objectively during a follow-up lesson.
Uses of the Lecture
To Convey Information: A lecture can be used to convey information otherwise inaccessible to the students. For example, a specialist can offer information unavailable in textbooks.
To Reinforce Written Work: A lecture covering previously-learned material reinforces student learning through repetition. Use of this sort of lecture should be limited to emphasis of main points in the material.
To Change the Pace: Any teaching method, used exclusively, is boring. A teacher who relies only on classroom discussions might well profit by lecturing occasionally.
To Synthesize Many Sources: Lecturing is economical. A teacher is able to synthesize several sources, thus saving his students the trouble.
To Inform Students of Expected Results: A lecturer can be a means of informing students of the expected results of a learning activity. If used in this way, it functions as an introduction to the activity by focusing the students' attention on the most important aspects of the material.
To Convey Enthusiasm: A lecture can convey to students the teacher's enthusiasm for a subject. An exciting lecture demonstrates the teacher's interest, which will stir the students also.
There is evidence that lectures are not appropriate when:
1. the instructional objective is other than the acquisition of
information,
2. the instructional objective involves the application of skills,
3. the instructional objective involves the changing of attitudes
or behavior,
4. the information acquired is to be retained for a long time,
5. the material is complex or abstract,
6. student participation in the learning activity is required,
7. the levels of intelligence and educational experience of the
students are below average.
EFFECTIVE LECTURING
Effective use of the lecture technique requires thoughtful consideration of the following factors:
Personality of the Lecturer: A lecturer should be warm, friendly, and confident. He should speak clearly. He should have control of the English language--syntax, word selection, enunciation, pronunciation, the use of meaningful figures, and so on. A teacher who lacks these characteristics should avoid using lecture.
Consideration of the Audience: Students must be sufficiently verbal to understand and respond to a lecture. For students who are not verbal to understand and respond to a lecture. For students who are not verbally skilled, a lecture is rarely appropriate. Slow learners also find it difficult to respond to the concentrated material of a lecture. Other oral media, such as classroom discussion, are more effective for these students.
Preparation of the Audience: Students must be prepared to respond to the lecturing technique. The teacher should be sure that his students know how to listen for main ideas. Many students lack this skill.
Planning and Organization: Effective lectures are planned lectures. The teacher's main points must be sharply defined, and the supporting material well-organized. "Tell them, what you're going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you've told them" is an old but useful guideline. Summaries of main ideas, both at the beginning and at the end--and sometimes interspersed throughout the lecture--add to the students' retention. Summaries give the students an outline on which to hang details.
Vocabulary: A teacher only communicates to students who can understand his language. For this reason, the teacher must carefully choose the vocabulary of his lecture.
Repetition: Repetition of the lecture's main ideas increases the chances that students will remember them. Repetition appears to be more effective than verbal emphasis, pauses, or gestures for stressing main points. But the teacher should avoid excessive repetition. Four or five repetitions of a single point will normally produce restlessness or boredom.
Varied Stimuli: Reading a lecture is usually less effective than speaking freely from a well-thought-out lecture plan. Reading tends to result in monotonic, dull delivery. Good lecturers vary voice pitch, loudness, intensity, and speed of delivery. Such variety of stimuli is more likely to hold attention. The speed of delivery should vary between 115 and 160 words per minute. Simple material should be delivered quickly; difficult material more slowly.
Time Length: Most lectures are too long. Even with a good lecturer and an interesting topic, the attention span of most audiences is short. For most school children, a lecture should be kept short; thirty minutes or less.
Illustrative Devices: Illustrative devices enhance a lecture and increase learning. But audio-visual materials must not be used for their own sake. To be appropriate, they must complement the lecture and enhance its effectiveness. Furthermore, students must be adequately prepared for their use.
Watch the film "Lecturing". Observe gestures, pacing, pitch and intensity of voice and rate of delivery of the speaker.
Prepare a short lecture to deliver. Be sure you can justify use of lecture for this particular instruction. Consider it as a possibility for Microteaching #4.
If used, Microteaching #4, evaluate as usual. Watch the videotape. Was your lecture well organized? Was the purpose understood? Did it logically progress? Check with your faculty supervisor and re-do if he thinks you need to.
Abstract ideas are easier to understand if related to concrete situations so teachers frequently give example and illustrations. Failure to provide examples or give illustrations may lead students to doubt the teachers' grasp of a concept. There are two basic ways to use examples. In the deductiveapproach a teacher states an idea, gives clarifying examples to substantiate it and then asks students to give examples and relate these to the main idea.
In the deductive approach, the teacher starts with examples. Students are asked to generalize from these to the desired conclusion. Failure to do so may result from poor skills in drawing references, or poor examples. Both of these are within the teacher's power to change.
Analogies and metaphors are frequently used verbal illustrations. Comparisons that highlight the similarities between what is already known and what is being learned are analogies. These should be used carefully; they should not be stretched too far. Metaphors suggest resemblances beyond literal bounds, e.g. "His mind is like a sieve."
Using the inductive approach, the teacher does not start with the idea. Instead, he starts the examples illustrating the idea. After studying the examples, the students try to generalize and make inferences. If the students fail to arrive at the main idea, then either they have not induce correctly, or the examples were misleading. In the former case, the teacher points out the fallacies in their inferences; the latter, the teacher finds better examples. The teacher does not tell the students what the examples illustrate. Eventually, the students arrive at the correct generalization themselves.
Two kinds of verbal illustration merit special consideration: the analogy and the metaphor. An analogy usually highlights similarities between a thing that is already understood and a thing that is not thus bridging the gap between the known and the unknown. For example, comparisons that indicate the similarities between a human heart and a pump, or a tank's armor and a crab's shell, are analogies. However, a teacher must be careful not to stretch analogies too far, as perfect ones are rare. Both of those given above, for example, are useful but imperfect. Imperfect analogies presented as perfect ones confuse students rather than enlighten them. The teacher should emphasize only those parts of the analogy that hold true, and he should point out imperfections.
A metaphor suggests a resemblance and is more vivid than a literal example. A metaphor is a word or phrase applied to something to which it is not literally applicable. The sentences, "his mind is a sieve," and "That horse is a bag of bones," each uses a metaphor. Metaphors and analogies, interspersed with literal examples, can enliven a teacher's explanation of a concept.
The following are guidelines for the effective use of examples:
1. Start with the simplest examples. Work from simple examples to complex ones. A basic principle of concept formation is that examples given to illustrate a concept confront the learner with a complex sorting task. Some of the information conveyed by the examples is relevant; some is not. If you begin with complex examples, the students may become confused by excess information and miss the point. Therefore, begin with simple examples and work up to complex ones, emphasizing only the relevant aspects of each.
2. If examples are not within the range of the students' experience and knowledge, then they are useless as illustrations of a concept. How do you know that an example is appropriate for your students? This information is a function of your familiarity with your students' backgrounds. The more you know about your students, the more you will be able to select relevant examples.
3. After presenting some examples, sharpen your students' understanding by offering an irrelevant example- one that has no relation to the concept. In other words, once the students have acquired a basic understanding of the concept, present them with examples that do not illustrate the concept. This use of "non-examples" helps students discriminate between the concept you are teaching and other, similar concepts. However, do not include a non-example too early in the presentation. Wait until the students are likely not to be confused by it.
4. Don't assume that the more examples you give the better the students will understand the concept. Unless the additional examples illustrate new aspects of the concept, or provide more information about it, they will add nothing to the students' understanding.
5. Remember that the point of using examples is to illustrate, clarify, or substantiate an idea. Therefore, you must relate the examples to the idea. Don't assume that students will automatically connect examples they are given with an idea. Either relate the examples to the idea yourself, or have the students do it.
6. One way to make sure that students have understood a concept is to ask them to give you additional examples of it. If their examples are good, they have probably grasped the concept. If their examples are faulty, they have probably misunderstood, and you can adjust the lesson accordingly.
Madeline Hunter's Mastery Teaching-Critical Attributes
OBJECTIVES-- Know, state, and teach your objectives
MOTIVATION-- Level of concern - Moderate level is essential
for learning.
Feeling tone - Situation must be pleasant for the student.
Success - Must be possible for student to achieve.
Interest - Must be useful to student's life.
Knowledge of results - Student must be aware of when the goal
is accomplished.
ANTICIPATORY SET: Getting students ready to learn
INPUT AND MODELING: Determine basic information and organization
use of critical attributes.
Present basic info in simplest and clearest form.
Model info or process.
CHECKING STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING AND GUIDING PRACTICE: Monitoring
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE: Independent practice
CLOSURE: Summarize
ANTICIPATORY SET:
OBJECTIVE:
REASON IT'S IMPORTANT:
INPUT:
MODELING:
CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING:
GUIDED PRACTICE:
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:
CLOSURE:
Student Examples
T. Williams
Madeline Hunter Model
Objectives: It is important for students to learn the difference between dialects and correctness. I want the students to see how they use language in school as opposed to other areas. I want them to examine some of the different words that they use and hear around the school and form a slang dictionary that can be used around the school.
Motivation: Hopefully this dictionary will be fun for the students to complete. I will explain that he teachers in the school sometimes have trouble with the words they use, and by completing the dictionary they will help the teachers with the slang around the school. I would like to publish the dictionary and sell it in the school for one dollar a-piece. The money that is raised would go towards new books for our classroom library. This would also be a positive influence for the students to see their names and work circulated around the school. The dictionary would be fun and easy for the students because it would be their own work with prior knowledge involved. I would like the students to base the dictionary on their own slang words and those of their peers. To accomplish this they can interview others in the school to complete the dictionary.
Anticipatory Set: I will give a brief introduction on slang and how it is used. I will give examples of slang and ask them to volunteer any of their own. After this I will explain the purpose of the dictionary and how they should go about finishing it.
Input and Modeling: The students can use any slang that they can come up with, either through interviewing or brainstorming on their own. One rule that I will enforce is that no obscene language can be used in the dictionary. I will give them the chance to work in groups in order to brainstorm with each other. I will also stress the importance of interviewing so they get a bigger variety. I will model by giving them some of my own slang words that might be outdated or funny to them.
Checking Students' Understanding and Guided Practice: I will circulate around the room when the students are in their groups to check for questions and help if they get stuck.
Independent Practice: The students will work on their own during the interviews and when they record the definitions of the slang words.
Closure: I will stress the importance of the dictionary to help the teachers better understand the students. I will also ask if there are any questions and ask some of my own in order to test their understanding.
Micro-teaching #3
Erin Streblow
Elaboration
Anticipatory Set: Reveal a drawing of a plain stick figure on an overhead transparency.
Objective: To give students a listing impression through the use of drawing of the importance of elaboration in writing. Students will improve their elaboration skills through practice with their own writing.
Reason It's Important: Students need to recognize that sometimes just writing "the facts" isn't enough to create an engaging and effective piece of writing. Elaboration through detail, description and examples will make a work "come to life."
Input and Modeling: (5 min) I will reveal a second stick figure which I will start to elaborate by drawing hair, a face, clothes, etc. which will give it more character and interest. I will explain the analogy between bare bones writing and the plain stick figure in contrast to the much more interesting stick figure and elaborated writing.
Checking for Understanding: (5 min) I will ask the students which adjectives describe the plain stick figure and those that describe the elaborated stick figure. Then ask them which type of writing would they rather read.
Guided Practice: (15 min) I will pass out paper and markers for everyone to draw two stick figures and elaborate one of them.
Independent Practice: (20 min) The students will take out a piece of writing they have been working on and will try to elaborate it by adding color, texture, character, details, description etc.
Closure: (5 min) Students will share pictures/and writing with a neighbor and put pictures in writing folder as a reminder that elaboration is important in writing.
Microteaching #4 - Teaching Language - Self-Evaluation
1. Describe in one sentence the way that you used group work in one of your microteachings. From your observations of that tape, what benefits did those group experiences provide the class? How do you think you might have set up the group work or the assignment so that it would have been more productive for the groups?
2. What language concept did you teach to the class? Did you teach it inductively or deductively? In viewing the tape how would or did your method affect the grasp that your students had upon the concept when your lesson was complete?
3. Review your tape for Microteaching #1. How are you getting stronger as a teacher? What should your next steps be in becoming a fine teacher?
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