English Language Arts CCSS

The English Language Arts Common Core State Standards(CCSS) have standards that progressively challenge students more and more the higher grade level they get. The standards for reading literature focus on a student being able to cite quotations from the text and explain why they are important to the story or piece of literature. This is important for students to be able to explain in papers and through oral communication why certain sentences or sections of a text are important to the overall piece of literature. It also focuses on how specific chapters or pieces of information fit into the overall structure of the text.

As the grades get higher, there is more emphasis on the important of defining a theme of a story and finding textual evidence to support theme. The standards include that students be able to identify characters who evolve throughout the story and why they are important to the overall text. These two things are very important for reading a piece of literature because it is important to see how characters change and progress throughout a story and why and what makes them change. It is equally important for students to be able to pick out a central theme of a story and support why the theme is the theme through the text.

In 11-12th grades Reading Standards for Literature, the standards include that students should be able to point out more than one theme for the literature which is important for a student to realize that there isn't just one theme for a piece of literature and that there can be multiple. This is important because it allows the deeper thinking to take place with students and it shows their ability to be able to accept the fact that there may be multiple answers instead of just one.

The Reading Standards for Informational Text is similar in that in focuses on students being able to pull a centralized theme out of the text and identifying how the author supports their claim or theme. The standards incorporate that students read important speeches in history such as the Gettysburg Address and are able to identify why they were important for their time. I believe this is very important and I am satisfied knowing that the standards have included a part for American History. The standards also list that students be able to analyze important documents for their literary and historical value such as the Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights which, as a social studies major, I think is very important. I used to tutor for Government 100 and there were freshman who didn't even know what the Bill of Rights were. Therefore, it is very important for students to read these documents in their Language Arts and Social Studies classes.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the standards.

Discussion as a Way of Teaching

This article was all about discussion in the classroom and how when used effectively it can prove quite useful to both students and the teacher. I agreed with the fact that discussion in the classroom can help students learn from one another when students are using discussion appropriately, appropriately meaning that they aren’t abusing it by taking advantage of the fact that the teacher isn’t just standing in front of the classroom lecturing. Collaborative learning between students can be a result of a teacher using discussion in the classroom. Students hearing different viewpoints on a topic may enable them to be more open minded. I also agree with the article when it said that students disagreeing with each other can even be good because they can learn how to argue their opinion without being rude. This also helps students be able to explain their view points, make a valid argument, and helps them with speaking in front of their peers.

I also liked when the article began discussing ways that the teacher can make sure discussion in the classroom is used correctly. It said that the teacher has to make sure students are prepared enough for the discussion. The article suggested that teachers first model a correct discussion and then also make specific guidelines and procedures for students to follow so they don’t get to the discussion and get confused. It also said that teachers should make the correct incentive for students to want to participate in a classroom discussion by awarding points that will make a valid impact on a student’s grade. It added that if students feel that there isn’t much incentive for them to participate then they won’t.

Overall, I agreed with the majority of what this article had to say.

Introductory Letter Assignment

My name is Josh Gallegos and I am in my fourth year as an undergrad student at Eastern Washington University. I am pursuing a degree in Secondary Education with endorsements in both Social Studies and English. As a teacher candidate I have completed courses involving classroom management strategies and assessment strategies. I have yet to make a lesson plan or teach a lesson plan for an actual classroom of middle school or high school students but I did facilitate the Government 100 Plus Group here at EWU for a year and a half. My duties in this position were to make a lesson plan for each session, with a learning target for each meeting. I had to come up with different strategies on how to go over the material to accommodate for different learning styles and answer questions that students had. So although I have not been in an actual classroom yet, I have had experience being in front of a group of students and teaching.

My weaknesses as a future teacher of English is that I don't feel one hundred percent confident that I can write a paper that is grammatical correct and has no errors. I also have trouble being creative so coming up with different strategies to introduce an idea or topic might be hard. My strengths are my enthusiasm for reading. I love to read and the idea of being able to read a book and to teach a lesson or even a course on the themes, plots, character development, etc. of a book that I love sounds like so much fun. Also my ability to be open minded and except the fact that people interpret literature different will help as a future English teacher. I may have read something and believed it always to mean one thing while I may have a student who interprets it as something completely different.

My goals for this course is to improve my ability to interpret literature differently, meaning, that I can find multiple interpretations for a single passage of literature. Also to be able to effectively teach a lesson on a book and to gain helpful strategies to improve my ability to teach literature to students.