1. Gabriela Rodriguez NCWP Summer Institute 2015
Quick Write
About Me
About My Students/Our School
A Glimpse into English 11 Unit

2. Think, Write, Share
Think back from the start of your teaching career to today: What types of strategies or tools have you used to assess your students’ reading comprehension? What were some that you decided were not useful/ stopped using and why? What are some of the best you use today and why?

3. Challenger of preconceived ideas Teacher/2nd Parent/Friend
Who Am I?
Wife
Mom
Daughter
Challenger of preconceived ideas
Yearbook Advisor
Teacher/2nd Parent/Friend
Key Club Advisor

4. Live Oak High School Demographics
-Small, rural school in agricultural Live Oak
-Majority of population is Latino- 59%
-Anglo population- 25%
-Asian (mostly E. Indian)- 15%
-American Indian/African American/Pacific Islander- 1%
we had 467 students total
-Free/Reduced Priced Meal Eligibility- 73%
-English Learners-4% of total population

5. English 11 Unit:
Language, Gender & Culture

6. “The Danger Of a Single story” -by Chimamanda Adichie

7. Think, Write, Share
1. What is a “single story” as Ms. Adichie describes?
2. What are some examples she provides of her own experiences with knowing just one story?
3. In what ways have you fallen into the danger of learning just a single story about someone?

8. Visualize & Vocalize
4. What are some of today’s society’s single stories concerning either language, gender, or culture, and how have they proven to be dangerous?
To respond to this question, create a visual representation of a dangerous single story using symbols, signs, an image, etc. You must demonstrate the situation and show that it’s dangerous or risky to participate. You will present your “danger zone” to the class.

9. Preparing to read
1. Vocabulary Awareness Chart- List the following words on your paper vertically:
elucidate, omission, censure, mortality, tyranny, scrutinize, pertinence
2. By yourself, next to each word identify whether you: “know it,” “seen it/don’t know it,” or “no idea.”
3. Find a partner and share what you listed next to each word. Exchange knowledge for the words you know that your partner may not. Together, look up the words you do not know. Use a dictionary, your cell phone, or the computer to look up definitions and list one synonym for each word.
Lastly, write a sentence about which of the above words were the most challenging for you to understand and why…

10. The gist of the text Who is the author?
Audre Lorde—“The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” is a speech from her collection titled The Cancer Journals (1980).
 Audre Lorde ( ) earned a BA from Hunter College and an MA from Columbia University in Library Science. The author of numerous collections of poetry and prose, Lorde was deeply concerned with issues of class, race, age, gender, and health, particularly as they related to the experiences of women in the 1960’s. A librarian, writer, poet, teacher, feminist, and lesbian, Lorde won numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts grant and the American Library Association Gay Caucus Book of the Year Award in 1981 for The Cancer Journals. She died of liver cancer in 1992.
Judging by the title and any other headings, or information, make a prediction about the author’s intended audience, purposes and arguments.

11. Reading for understanding
Conduct a close reading of “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action,” by Audre Lorde. Follow the following guidelines for annotation in order to gain a deeper understanding of the text:
* Before reading, number each paragraph on the left margin
* Circle key terms, cited authors, essential words or numbers
* Underline author’s claims or information relevant to the reading purpose
* In the margins, make comments, ask questions, jot down new insights as you read
Revisit your predictions made earlier. Which of them turned out to be true? What surprised you? Did anything you read confuse you?

12. What do you think?
In your journal, write down what you believe to be the most important information Audre Lorde tried to convey in her speech. Include one power quote to provide evidence.
Share your input with a partner and compare ideas.
After sharing, gather your thoughts once again, and go to Todaysmeet.com. To share your final thought for today’s class: reemphasize what you thought about Lorde’s purpose for her speech, add any new insight after sharing with a partner, introduce any new ideas that have surfaced after discussion…you have many choices!

13. Rhetorical Précis: Summarizing an argument
Part 1: Introduce the writer or speaker, the text, and the central claim
Part 2: Explain how the author develops or advances the argument
Part 3: State the authors purpose in writing the text
Part 4: Describe the intended audience and the author’s relationship to audience
Part 5: Explain the significance of the work

14. Reflection
From the start, I had a problem with having all students use the template.
Many could have easily completed this assignment without it, while several needed it to kick start their writing process.
We were obligated to have students write with the template first semester, and have them write without it by second. It didn’t work out smoothly. Students wanted to see the step-by-step model every time-even the students at grade-level. They lacked confidence in their ability to produce from their own head.
I believe both the students and I got hung up in the outcome of using this template, rather than seeing that we already had the process and smaller steps down pretty well.
I am happy to announce that our site will not be using this next year; rather, we will focus on more journaling and thinking about writing, something I am much more prepared for after NCWPSI!