Reading Response 6

RR6: CREATE a Personal Learning Network (PLN)

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Reading Response 5

RR5: As a school team, IDENTIFY a theme for your ITU and SHARE ideas and a draft for a Cover Sheet with you ITU team.

Theme: Carlsbad Lagoon Preservation

Ideas for Cover Sheet: Emphasis on the local nature of the theme. One of our group members is experienced in art, so we will all discuss ideas next time we meet.

Reading Response 4

RR4: IDENTIFY what tasks you would be well skilled at leading and contributing to for the ITU assignment.

•         Task 4: Unit Rationale - Enduring Understandings, Essential Questions

•         Task 5: Unit Overview of Activities

•         Task 6: Unit Objectives, Standards & Assessments

•         Task 7: Unit Calendar

•         Task 9. Art Component

•         Task 10: Social Justice & Equity

•         Tasks 13-17: Unit Differentiation – Strategies for each of the 5 Students (described in Task 12)

Reading Response 3

RR 3: MAKE a list or highlight models & resources to share with your ITU team. Bring hard copy to next class meeting.

I highlighted the Roberts PDF file.

Reading Response 2

RR2: COMPLETE Activities 7.1 & 7.2, pgs. 172-173

Activity 7.1

1. The sources we consulted before selecting an appropriate theme included: course handouts and readings, textbook references, California standards, and internet resources such as Google and local news websites.

2. Create a word Web

3. We discussed our subject areas and tried to find topics that can successfully link them. We also considered topics that will prove relevant to the students at Carlsbad High School. We tried to take into consideration the location of the school and some of the issues that actually affect the students' lifestyles. Our main focus was to choose a topic that will allow for discussion and hands-on learning as much as possible.

Activity 7.2

Topic: Carlsbad Lagoon Preservation

Essential Questions (In Progress)

- What role do the Carlsbad Lagoons play in my life?

- How much responsibility does a community have for preserving its natural resources/landscape?

- How does being an educated citizen affect my role in preservation?

Reading Response 1

RR1: IDENTIFY research-based instructional strategies you can use in your ITU.

After reading through the various "Focus On" research-based teaching practices, I found that all of the articles emphasized similar strategies. Some of the most important strategies include the issue of relevancy. Students need to understand how the material that they are learning is relevant to their life outside of school. The articles mentioned helping students see “the big picture” of the work they do in school. Strategies that help deal with the issue of relevancy include actively connecting their work to their communities and families, showcasing student work, considering issues of safety, and a valuing of the culture they are a part of outside of school (language, customs, social norms). Helping students bridge the divide between school and their lives outside of school will help their achievement levels. Since an ITU values cooperation and collaboration, we will hopefully be able to create a unit that will prove to bridge that gap as best as possible.

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