Curriculum and Instruction Essay Example for Free

Curriculum and Instruction Essay Alvermann, D. E. Strickland, D. S. , (Eds. ); (2006): Bridging the literacy achievement gap, grades 4–12. New York: Teachers College Press. This focuses on literacy achievement gap in achievement of those who underperform especially adolescents. Literacy characteristics have been examined and the varied challenges groups of learners face. School wide and classroom practices have also been described in this book. Alvermann worked with instructors and hence was able to know the issues related to instruction. The shortcoming of this resource is that it uses very limited age bracket of adolescents and its main focus is the adolescents. It would be more resourceful for those below twelve years and not stretch too far to adolescents which it does not focus on. Anderson, T. H. Armbruster, B. B. , (1998): On selecting â€Å"considerate† content area Textbooks; Remedial and Special Education, 9(1), 47–52. The article discusses three features that relate to content-area textbooks which make them â€Å"considerate† for readers in terms of coherence, structure, and audience appropriateness. The authors discuss what the books those are in existence lack and offer suggestions to educators on how best they can improve the existing books to make them learner appropriate. The authors are seasoned educators thus giving what they advocate for credibility. Beers, K. (2005). When kids can’t read: A guide for teachers 6–12; Portsmouth, Heinemann Beers uses student oriented and classroom explanations in guiding teachers through the planning, assessing and implementing reading kinds of instructions for teachers and learners in middle and high schools. The components of an effective reading instruction which includes strategies and the resources that teachers may use in the classrooms to improve their reading. Beers himself is a knowledgeable author in issues relate with early childhood education and targets teachers of the young kids. The material is relevant to the kids only although some illustrations in it may be applicable to those who start reading late in life. Carlisle, F. J Rice, M. S. (2002): Improving reading comprehension. Baltimore: York Publishers. This text gives a comprehensive discussion on the theoretical basis of comprehension reading and how it is related to other components of reading. It aims at improving the reading comprehension through the author’s giving of the instructional principles that guide in selecting and using practices so as to teach reading comprehension and how it relates to other components of reading in depth. This book is vital for those learners who have problems in issues relating to comprehension. The book is an all-round one, drawing other components of reading into perspective. The learners will not therefore find in it a wholesome study of comprehension. Cibrowski, J. (1995): Using textbooks with students who cannot read them. Remedial and Special Education, 16(2), 90–100. Cibrowski summarizes the materials that have been written on effective instructions using textbooks. His article describes the strategies that a content-area or special teacher can use with his/ her students who have proved to be fast readers. The designed techniques help such learners widen their conceptual thinking. It further gives the levels of analysis, before instruction, during and after in addition to stating the criteria for effective strategies: a committed teacher, student belief and teacher’s ability to model strategic thinking. This material is superb for higher achievers. Coyne, M. D. et. al (2007): Effective teaching strategies that accommodate diverse learners. New York, Prentice Hall. This book outlines how learners with different physical cognitive, cultural and other diversities can be catered for in a classroom. The strategies expounded are vital for teachers in that in every classroom situation, there must be an element of diversity which they have to address for meaningful learning to take place. The material is thus gives a comprehensive to teaching-learning experience and therefore highly recommended. Davis, M. H. Guthrie, J. T. , (2005): Motivating struggling readers in middle school through an engagement model of classroom practice. Reading Writing Quarterly, 19, 60–85. The authors discuss six dimensions of change in disengagement and low motivation in elementary and middle school learners. The authors further suggest six classroom practices that can be used by middle school teachers in changing the learners’ attitudes resulting from changes in classroom. The authors, being educators themselves give ample information to other educators being challenged by low motivation and disengagement from their learners. Deshler, D. Swanson, H. L. , (2003). Instructing adolescents with learning disabilities: Converting a meta-analysis to practice. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36(2), 125–135. The authors summarize the results obtained from meta-analysis of some educational interventions for disabled students. Some interventions were used in the instruction and it was found that a good deal of these components can be incorporated into the classroom instruction with impressive results. The authors are specialist in education of disabled persons. This material is important for those who wish to make instruction of disabled learners a success and a lot easier and interesting. Gersten, R et. al; (2001): Teaching reading Comprehension strategies to students with learning disabilities: A review of Research. Review of Educational Research, 71(2), 279–320. This review of research on effective instruction for reading comprehension for students with disabilities gives detailed study on the expository and narrative texts. The authors of this material give the summary of cumulative knowledge gained through research based knowledge. The authors work with a panel of analysts on educational matters. It is a good material if one wants to know the material in depth courtesy of the review provided. It can assist educators a great deal in their attempt to gain more knowledge in comprehension strategies that they can use on their learners. Hilden, K. Pressley, M. (2004): Toward more ambitious comprehension instruction . In E. R. Silliman L . C. Wilkinson (Eds. ), Language and literacy learning in schools (pp. 152-174). New York: Guilford. Pressley and Hilden, who are educators, bring forth in this resource the thinking of comprehensive instruction by critically analyzing sources which support ambitious comprehensive instruction. The resource thus reviews research history of comprehension and the evolution of knowledge base. The resource is a good one because it further discusses in its conclusion the relationship comprehension and other reading instruction elements. Jetton, J. T. Dole, A. J. (Eds. ); (2007): Adolescent literacy research and practice. New York: Guilford. This volume is a compilation of contributions from researchers in the important literacy areas of students in middle and high school. It centers on research and interventions for adolescents with problems in reading. Students, according to the researches, have issues that may affect their reading for instance motivation, assessment and cultural influence. The curriculum should be tailored to provide for the problems that these learners may have. The book states this in detail and thus a critical resource for Adolescent literacy. Meltzer, J. , et. al (2001): Adolescent literacy resources: Linking research and practice. Providence Education Alliance, Brown University Retrieved 20th March, 2006 from http://www. alliance. brown. edu/topics/literacy. shtml This is research for secondary school teachers who would wish to incorporate instruction across the content area. It is a review of literacy research materials from various fields and focuses them to the classroom situations. Important concepts that aid adolescent literacy have been discussed. This material is best for secondary school teachers and is vital for them since it gives the results of current researches and links them to classroom practice. The authors are practitioners in the education sector. McKeown, G. M. Beck L. I (2007): Improving comprehension with Questioning the Author: A fresh and expanded view of a powerful approach. New York: Scholastic In this book the authors explain why implementing the questioning technique is good and suggest its optimal implementation. It is aimed at supporting students to gain meaning from a given text. They have provided several classroom cases, of which they individually participated, which give realistic explanations and illustrations of the process. The book is good enough for teachers and learners in informing the use of Questioning of the author in order to guide the students’ comprehension reading. The authors have worked closely with educators meaning that their information is as they saw in the field. I highly recommend the book for both teachers and students who need to improve their/ their learners’ comprehension. Moje, E. B. (2006): Motivating texts, motivating contexts, motivating adolescents: An examination of the role of motivation in adolescent literacy practices and Development; Perspectives, 32(3), 10–14. This is a brief synopsis of research findings based on the role that different contexts and texts play in the motivation of adolescents to face the various challenges associated with literacy practices. It advocates for changes in texts used and the contexts in which they are used saying this is the essence of motivation since motivation is not static. Moje is a renowned educator who weaves a positive criticism on the existing instruction materials making his ideas worth putting in practice. National Association of Secondary School Principals ;( 2005): Creating a culture of Literacy: A guide for middle and high school principals. Reston, V. A This is a guide that provides Secondary School administrators with tools for creating Schoolwide literacy plans aimed at addressing the needs of learners whose reading is below the basic levels. It draws its premises from components that influence the ultimate achievement of the learners. The study gives a proposal on the reforms that can be done to minimize the problem for instance commitment of leaders in instruction, balancing assessment of formal and informal natures among others. The association encompasses head teachers from all schools in the country and who are administrators in their respective schools thus versed with many educational issues. The limitation of the resource is that it used the ideas from head teachers only and left out other stake holders who may have different views Nystrand, M. (2007): Research on the role of classroom discourse as it affects Reading comprehension; Research in the Teaching of English, 40(4), 392–412. Nystrand, in this article reviews 150 years of empirical research that target on classroom discourse. There are various research methodologies used and the research vouches for discussion within the classroom setting in improving reading and comprehension. The author is an English teacher of many years. The review is qualitative based on the number of varied reviews it has made and thus the reference to a variety of cases and researches thus highly recommended for all instructors; not just those teaching English. O’Brian, D. G et al. (1999): Why content literacy is difficult to infuse into the secondary school: Complexities of curriculum pedagogy, and school culture. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 440–460 The authors of this material discuss the inadequacy and of the traditional model of professional development in building the proficiency of students in the instruction of content literacy. It recommends a change in curriculum via looking at the social and cultural contexts in which the schools are set. The society, the resource says, has values, beliefs and practices embedded in it that the teachers, learners and the school community identify with. O’Brian is a sociologist thus understands the influence of the environment in learning. I find the book very important because it highlights the importance of the environment in the learning processes Pressley, M. and Block, D. (Eds. ): (2007). Comprehension Instruction: Research-based Best practices. New York: Guilford. This material resulted from contributions from thirty nine scholars who contributed their understanding in reading exercise related to comprehension. It has varied but harmonized experiences and thus can be used as the best resource for the understanding of the nature of comprehension instruction. The research also charts a way forward for researchers in consolidating research knowledge and further expounds on the nature of comprehension in different levels of schooling. The material targets all instructors in the field of comprehension learning. I recommend the material for instructors because of extensive research that brought it forth hence making it qualitative. Rosenshine, B. , et. al (1996). Teaching students to generate questions: A review of the intervention studies. Review of Educational Research, 66, 182–220 This intervention studies review is aimed at teaching students on how they can generate questions so as to improve their reading comprehension using prompts. It analyzed 26 research studies which showed that the use of signal and generic question stems provided the best positive effects of comprehension standardization. The research cannot be qualified as having weaknesses because it gives the learner a center stage in learning how to comprehend better. The authors have teaching experiences in various schools and levels. Swanson, H. L. (2004): Research on interventions for adolescents with learning disabilities: A meta-analysis of outcomes related to higher-order processing. The Elementary School Journal, 101(3), 331–348. The analysis here was carried out on 58 studies related to problem solving interventions meant for those students with disabilities. Several factors that increase student performance were identified and categorized into short term. Swanson is a researcher and educator giving credibility to his work. The focus of this material is on adolescents with disability Sweet, A. P. , Snow, C. E. (Eds. ): (2003). Rethinking reading comprehension; New York: Guilford. The authors inform of effective teaching by building on comprehension reading research that was developed by a research group, RAND. Key issues in comprehension reading and research findings related to adolescents and the strategies used to address student needs are highlighted. The material is helpful especially due to it being tied to the researches conducted. It makes the issues real because they were stumbled on during the research. The author himself is a researcher in various fields. I highly recommend this material for teachers and learners targeted by the research (Adolescents) Tanner, D. , Tanner, L. (2007) Curriculum development: Theory into practice. Pearson. Tanner and Tanner purpose to highlight what a comprehensive curriculum should entail so as to bring forth an all rounded learner after instruction has taken place. It gives the principles to be followed in curriculum and how the theoretical perspectives advocated for in the texts are put into practice. Learners should be orientated so as to internalize that which they learn easily. Trabasso, T. , Bouchard, E. (2004): Teaching readers how to comprehend text strategically. (In C. Block and M. Pressley) (Eds. ), Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices p. 170– 194. New York: Guilford. The authors explain the findings of 205 investigations on the impact that cognitive strategy of instruction on reading comprehension. The authors are researchers in psychologists and researchers in the field. Strategy instruction, the research postulated, was more effective than the traditional mode of instruction. Further, the authors discuss twelve types of comprehension strategies and two instructional strategies identified as effective in improving the comprehension of students. Teachers will find this book useful in improving comprehension in their students. Meyer, BF. Walker, CH. (1980): Integrating different types of information in Text; Journal of Verbal behavior and Learning, 19:263–275. This is a discussion on the knowledge integration theory which provides a contextual field for exploration on learners’ formation of relationships between background and new information. The authors give a summary of the research which investigates this theory. Walker and Meyer are regular contributors to psychology related journals. The material is a good one because it gives some practical examples for educators on how to integrate new and old information for learners so as to enable them participate in tasks which require sophisticated comprehension Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved on 2nd April, 2009 available at http://www. all4ed. org/publications/AdolescentsAndLiteracy. pdf The discussion here centers on the crisis facing the literacy adolescents. It examines four reviews that deal with reading research and presents students with measures to improve their reading. There are factors that teachers should also consider for instance motivation, although this is also aimed at the learners themselves. Students will find this material very useful in improving their reading. Evaluative summary of the Bibliographies This selected bibliography of the items on adolescents’ literacy resources is a result of broad review of research carried out by professionals mostly in the educational sector. The students mostly addressed are those of 4-12 years of age. The contents of the various resources have been summarized and therefore whoever wants to have a quick overview of what there is to adolescents’ curriculum and instruction will surely get something worthwhile. The issues addressed in the bibliography can be summed up as follows: Some researches done for instance Nystrand’s, article which reviews 150 years of empirical research that target on classroom discourse show a great deal of traverse on time that the researchers have done to bring the best for Adolescents. There are various research methodologies used and the research vouches for discussion within the classroom setting in improving reading and comprehension. The review is qualitative based on the number of varied reviews it has made and thus the reference to a variety of cases and researches thus highly recommended for all instructors; not just those teaching English. Other reviews too give a lot of excellent information from educationists who give their own experiences. An example is Pressley’s whose material resulted from contributions from thirty nine scholars who contributed their understanding in reading exercise related to comprehension. It gives varied but harmonized experiences and thus can be used as the best resource for the understanding of the nature of comprehension instruction. The research also charts a way forward for researchers in consolidating research knowledge and further expounds on the nature of comprehension in different levels of schooling. The material targets all instructors in the field of comprehension learning thus highly recommended for them. Beers uses student oriented and classroom explanations in guiding teachers through the planning, assessing and implementing reading kinds of instructions for teachers and learners in middle and high schools. This is a critical material since it combines the basic factors that need to be considered in teaching: student oriented and classroom explanations. It makes the learner be the focus of the teaching- learning process. The components of an effective reading instruction which includes strategies and the resources that teachers may use in the classrooms to improve their reading. Beers himself is a knowledgeable author in issues relate with early childhood education and targets teachers of the young kids. The material is relevant to the kids only although some illustrations in it may be applicable to those who start reading late in life. The reviews in some of the researches focus on effective instruction for reading comprehension for students with disabilities, giving detailed study on the expository and narrative texts. The authors of these materials, for instance Gersten (2001) give the summary of cumulative knowledge gained through research- based knowledge. The material gives in depth information due to the detailed research conducted in writing it. Davies and Guthrie discuss six dimensions of change in disengagement and low motivation in elementary and middle school learners. They authors further suggest six classroom practices that can be used by middle school teachers in changing the learners’ attitudes resulting from classroom changes. The authors, who are educators, give vital information to other educators facing challenges from low motivation and disengagement from their learners. Cibrowski, in his work summarizes the materials that have been written on effective instructions using textbooks. His article describes the strategies that a content-area or special teacher can use with his/ her students who have proved to be fast readers. The designed techniques help such learners widen their conceptual thinking. It further gives the levels of analysis, before instruction, during and after in addition to stating the criteria for effective strategies: a committed teacher, student belief and teacher’s ability to model strategic thinking. Fast students therefore are also catered for in this bibliography in terms of how they can be taught without affecting their enthusiasm. This bibliography also has materials that show the impact of cognitive instruction strategy, which is shown as the most effective mode of instruction as opposed to the traditional mode. Authors in this issue also discuss types of comprehension strategies that educators can refer to in their teaching. In conclusion, the materials chosen in this bibliography will go a long way in assisting educators know how to manage better the issues related to instruction and at the same time give them an opportunity to expand their scope. The learners also have a reason to have a look at this bibliography. There are materials summarized whose focus is the learner. The influence of the environment on the learning process has also been given in one of the resource materials in this bibliography. It is, in short, a detailed bibliography but other sources can still be sought for the purposes expounding or adding to what has been given.

education Essay -- essays research papers

Education in contemporary American society is one aspect in the process of socialization in which people learn how to act correctly in society and learn specific behaviors needed to be able to function in today’s society. In the United States schools teach what it means to be American and the traits that go along with it. For example children are taught the English language, learn the common heritage shared by all Americans, and are reiterated the basics of society. The education system also attempts to give children from different cultural backgrounds the same Anglo education. The education system also acts as an intergrator of the lower class children into the mainstream of the rest of the children. Also the education system acts as a type of screening process by finding which students are best suited for certain jobs. The education system by issuing diplomas, degrees, and other credentials, determines which student will have access to the more financially gratifying positi ons in society. In a way schools also prepare children for day-to-day work by going through the same routines everyday. The system of grades parallels the wage system in society as well. The education system in the United States is primarily used for the preparation of the young child’s socialization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prejudice refers to attitudes of aversion and hostility toward the members of a group simply because they belong to it and hence are presumed to have the objectionable qual...

Larkin’s use of language Essay

The poems that I have chosen to comment on from the collection The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin are Here, Nothing to be said and Faith Healing. I have chosen to write about these three because they are all very different in terms of theme, language, verse form and Larkin’s message and purpose. Here is the opening poem of The Whitsun Weddings. It locates the reader in Larkin’s England and centres around a journey the protagonist is making from London to Northumberland via Larkin’s hometown of Hull. Larkin uses a range of language and writing devices to express his feelings and at times his prejudices through his poetry and he does this especially well in Here. The first stanza begins with â€Å"swerving east†. The word â€Å"swerving† suggests a dangerous movement and a lack of control from the person or thing that is swerving. When someone swerves it is usually to avoid something so by using the word â€Å"swerving† Larkin is immediately presenting the reader with a sense of avoidance and lack of control. Larkin then goes on to say that the fields are â€Å"too thin and thistled to be called meadows†. This shows that he is passing through an area of land, which cannot quite be classed as countryside but is not quite urban. This could possibly be a representation of how Larkin is feeling at the time about life because even the countryside is not genuine; therefore Larkin may be commenting on the falsity of life because of its in-between state. The words â€Å"Thin† and â€Å"thistled† are harsh sounding words that make up alliteration. This alliteration may have been used to mimic the gentle hissing sound of the train or can moving along the track or road. The harsh sounding words are probably applied as a vent for Larkin’s disdain on a philosophical level for the falsity and lack of true meaning in life and on a smaller level for the land he is passing through that is not quite beautiful enough to be countryside. A technique that interests me is used in the line â€Å"harsh-named halt†. This phrase uses a repetition of the /h/ sound, which is quite a hard sound to pronounce and therefore actually halts the reader’s rhythm. This includes alliteration of the /h/ sound but also a kind of onomatopoeia because the word â€Å"halt† is actually a word that sounds like a stoppage or halt and actively brings the reader to a momentary pause. The word â€Å"harsh† is actually a harsh word, which adds more emphasis to the phrase. This technique is very effective because it immerses the reader in the journey of the protagonist as it actually halts their flow when the protagonist’s train comes to a halt. Larkin uses a lot of alliteration in Here, an example of this occurs in the first stanza when alliteration occurs four times in the space of two lines: â€Å"Swerving to solitude of skies and scarecrows, haystacks, hares and pheasants†. There is a repetition of the word â€Å"swerving† which reiterates the lack of control of the protagonist. It also shows the part of the journey that is taking him through the countryside and he is â€Å"swerving† east away from the towns and towards the countryside. The repetition of the /s/ hissing sound gives a sense of speed and also replicates the sound of the train or car moving. The /s/ sound runs throughout two lines which links them together and helps demonstrate the onward movement of the protagonist and the passage of time. The actual shape of the letter /s/ is flowing and therefore mimics the journey flowing onward. In the last line of the first stanza Larkin describes the entrance to a town by saying â€Å"the shining gull-marked mud gathers to the surprise of a large town†. â€Å"Gull-marked mud† can be used as a comparison to â€Å"harsh-named halt† a few lines previously and demonstrates the difference between town and country. The comparison between â€Å"harsh-named halt† and â€Å"gull-marked mud† can also be drawn through the hyphen between the first two words (which could be used to show the onward motion of the journey) and the alliteration used of the /h/ and /m/ sounds.

Hope Is The Thing With Feathers By Emily Dickinson And...

The word hope is often used in moments of despair, more precisely to lift people out of those moments. For so many, hope is the light at the end of the tunnel, in the moments when it is hard to get back up it is often this ambiguous term that helps them get up. Of course, all words take on several meanings, and there are always different ways someone can interpret a word. However, according to the Oxford Online Dictionary hope is â€Å"a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen†(Oxford Dictionaries). More often than not, hope is a feeling rather than something people express verbally. The poems â€Å"Hope is the thing with feathers† by Emily Dickinson and â€Å"Dare I Hope?† by Sophia White both address the term hope. Although†¦show more content†¦Both of the poems that I previously mentioned are focused around interpreting the term hope. As seen in the paragraphs before, it is easy to interpret the word in different ways, and t hat is precisely what these two poems are doing. Although both poems take their own approach to the word hope and do not share the same structure, there are some consistencies between each author’s interpretation. Both the poems by Sophia White and Emily Dickinson are centered around hope, however, the interpretations are very different, using symbols, metaphors and the structure of the poem to get their points across. The poem â€Å"â€Å"Hope is the thing with feathers† by Emily Dickinson begins its first two lines with a metaphor. â€Å"That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words†(2-3). These opening lines bring us into the rest of the poem where the author is describing the word hope through the metaphor of a bird. Dickinson continues to use metaphors throughout the poem. Later in the poem, she describes different aspects of hope. â€Å"And sore must be the storm/That could abash the little Bird/That kept so many warm†(6-8). This section is referring to difficult times, and telling us that hope does not falter when hardship comes. In this case, hardship is the storm. She follows this by giving the reader a metaphor for where hope can be