the community college of baltimore county aclt 052: integrating reading, writing, and thinking for...

THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF BALTIMORE COUNTY

ACLT 052: Integrating Reading, Writing, and

Thinking for Student Success

Presenters

Professor Sharon Hayes, Reading Faculty and Coordinator

Professor Ryan Donnelly, English Faculty

Dr. Jeanine Williams, Reading Faculty and Coordinator of Reading Acceleration Initiatives

Workshop Overview

Introduction to ACLT 052

Skill-embedded Curriculum

Thinking-focused Pedagogy

Growth-centered Assessment

Group Activity and Gallery Walk

Discussion and Questions

Got Questions?

Well, we have answers!

As questions arise, please make note of them on your index card.

We will answer 2-3 pertinent questions after each segment.

We have allotted plenty of time for discussion and questions at the end of the workshop.

Introduction to ACLT 052

Developmental Reading and English at CCBC

Reading 051 –5 hours (36-60)

Reading 052—4 hours (61-78)

English 051—4 hours (up to 57)

English 052—3 hours (58-89)

Reading 052/English 101 Learning Community—8 hours

English 052/101 Accelerated Course—6 hours

Why Rethink Developmental Reading?

Successful accelerated courses in developmental English and math

Persistence issues—compounded by multi-level sequence

Problems with placement testingAffective issues and changing student

populationLack of skill transfer from developmental

reading to credit coursesThe Completion AgendaChanges in federal aid guidelines

What is ACLT 052?

5-credit integrated Reading and English course focused on critical thinking

Students with the following placements are eligible to enroll in ACLT 052:ENGL 051 and RDNG 051 ENGL 051 and RDNG

052ENGL 052 and RDNG 051 ENGL 052 and RDNG

052

Successful students move directly to credit courses with developmental reading and English pre-requisites

ACLT 052 Student Placements

Spring 201268 students

23 (34%) R051/E051

35 (51%) R051/E052

4 (6%) R052/E0515 (7%) R052/E0521 (2%) R051/E101

Fall 2012177 students

32 (19%) R051/E051

119 (70%) R051/E052

5 (3%) R052/E05111 (6%) R052/E0521 (.5%) R051/E1011 (.5%) R052/E1012 (1%) CEED/E051

Benefits of ACLT 052

Authentic college-level experience

Multiple low-risk opportunities for students to discuss, think, and write

Increases students' familiarity with academic culture by attending to the affective domain

Eliminates exit points and shortens pipeline for students

Lowers cost of developmental coursework for students

Capitalizes on the heterogeneous class environment and eliminates the mental classifications of 051 and 052

Skill-Embedded Curriculum

Guiding Principles: Curriculum

Not based on the outcomes for the existing courses

College-level tasks with an emphasis on English 101 and other 100-level credit courses

Students “practice college” instead of working on pre-college skills

Whole, complex reading instead of paragraphs

Address affective issues through course assignments and activities

Not a literature course 

Embedded Course Reading, Writing and Thinking Skills

Academic literacy and academic discourseThe reading-writing processOrganizational patterns and rhetorical modesCritical reading, writing, and thinkingReader responseUsing source materialsWriting and evaluating argumentsGrammar, punctuation, spelling, and usageAudience awarenessEssay organization and development

Unit Plan

Theme Reading Writing Readings Essay

Education and Acquiring Knowledge

ProcessMain Idea and Supporting DetailsTHIEVESMetacognitionTalk-to-the- Text

ProcessThesisSupportPrewritingDraftingRevising CARDEditing

Superman and MeThe Banking Concept of Educationfrom The Narrative of the Life of Frederick DouglasI Just Wanna Be AverageLearning to read

Educational Autobiography  Acquiring Knowledge

Other Units

THEME READINGS ESSAYS

Cultural Differences

Myth of the Latin WomanNight WalkerVeiled IntentionsFish Cheeks

Assimilation: Reality or Fantasy(synthesis)

Social Issues The Ghetto Made Me Do ItSeeking the Roots of ViolenceIs Torture Ever Justified?Death and Justice

I-Search(research)

Media and Technology

The Future of the WebSociety is Dead: We Have Retreated Into the iWorldIs Google Making Us Stupid?The Information Revolution Will Not Be a Panacea

Society, Technology, and Our Future(argument)

Materials

Central Text: No Impact Man, Colin BeavanSupplemental readings:

Newspaper and magazine articles. Scholarly journal articles Peer writing

Videos: food production system, “Story of Stuff,” happiness, etc.

Major Assignments

4 Essays (including a research project)Weekly discussion board posts1 Educational autobiography1 Presentation1 Final Portfolio

Unit Format

Themes and Texts

Reading/Writing Skills Mini-Lessons

Pre-reading/Pre-writing Activities

Independent Reading w/ Guide Questions

In-class, Post-reading Activities

Unit Exam (In-class Writing Assignment)

Essay

Typical Class

Quiz on homework

Small group comprehension-based activity

Quick-write on theme-related critical thinking question

Mini lesson on a timely reading/writing skill

Exam preparation— “Speed Dating”

Essay planning and drafting

Peer editing

Instructor-student conferencing

Everyday is different—“No Autopilot”

“We Don’t Need No Education”: The Politics of Schooling

Essential Questions—provide the larger context for critical thinking and discussion

Embedded Skills—introduce students to the “academic state of mind” and basics of academic reading and writing

Affective Issues—address lack of “student posture”, provide space to interrogate previous educational experiences, and provide an opportunity to create a new “narrative”

College-level Texts—examine various educational narratives as a springboard for self-examination

Exam and Essay—focus on “big ideas” and critical thinking

Embedding Skills

Brief, but explicit discussion of academic habits of mind to set the stage

Students move to immediate practice of college-level tasks via class work and homework assignments

Focusing on the big ideas of the reading selection students practice:

• Activating prior knowledge• Annotation and note-taking• Finding main ideas• Questioning the text and hypothesizing• Inferences and conclusions• Basic writing/ paragraph structure• Supporting Assertions

Thinking-Focused Pedagogy

Guiding Principles: Pedagogy

 Turn our assumptions on their head or “before they can do this, they have to do this.” Start with the real academic tasks right away—not baby steps

Use a thematic approach

Use active learning techniques

Use triage to deal with student areas that need support rather than lowering the entire curriculum to sub-skills—“just in time remediation”

Have a “growth mindset” towards students and their progress

Help grow student sense of responsibility

Scavenger Hunt Scenarios

What happens if you and your friend “share” the answers to a homework assignment?

Your friend, Mario, asks to see your homework. He tells you that his mother was sick and he had to take her to the hospital and couldn’t do it. He promises that he’ll only ask to copy this one time if you would just help him out now. How do you respond to his request?

The Syllabus

Reading Integrated

Discussion of fast food and obesity Read “Weight of Blame” Identify the main idea and

supporting details Intervention:

Use of quotation marks? Who is the author?

Publication? Audience? Revise main idea and supporting

details

Entry 1: Free write: “fast food and obesity”

Discussion Entry 2: If you were the editor of

Restaurants and Institutions, what point would you make about eating out and obesity?

Discussion Read “Weight of Blame” Entry 3: What was the author’s point and

why do you think that? Discussion (agreement or discrepancy

between entries 2 and 3) Small group/pairs: analyze the major point

in ¶6. Entry 4: Analyze ¶7 or ¶8. Entry 5: What is your “take away” from

this reading experience?

The Integration

Reading Integrated

Main idea practice Supporting details practice Read carefully

No future transference or even memory of the intervention discussion (purpose, audience, etc.)

Main idea practice Supporting details practice Read carefully

+ Author’s purpose and audience+ Critical thinking+ Accountability for learning

+ Transference of concepts (purpose, audience, etc. ) to future discussions

Comparison of Results

Guide QuestionsCritical Thought

Questions

How did Douglas’ mistress change?    What role did bread play in

Douglas’ reading instruction?

How did the understanding of the term abolition change Douglas?

  Why did Douglas begin to envy his

fellow slaves?  How did Douglas learn to write?

Why would slave owners want to ensure that their slaves were kept illiterate?

  Why would the ability to read and write

become so important to Douglas?   Why did Douglas “[come] to feel that

learning to read had become a curse rather than a blessing”?

  Who might have been the audience for

Douglass’ work?  What similarities exist between

Douglas’ experience and that of Malcolm X or Sherman Alexie?

The “So What?” Factor

Large group discussion

Given a “before” and “after” model

In groups, evaluate which is better and why

Share results with class

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

Discussion of the video

In groups, identify areas in first drafts could be rewritten for more effectiveness.

The Art of Revision

The Challenge of Critical Thought

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSMCKNkKyFA

How can you relate this group to this class?

Growth-Centered Assessment

Guiding Principles: Assessment

Holistic approach to assessing student work—look at content as well as grammar

Progressive approach to grading: tolerance for less than perfect work early in the semester

Provide a lot of “low-risk” opportunities to talk, think, and write before graded, higher-stakes assignments

Embrace 3 Goals: Independently read and understand complex academic texts Critically respond to the ideas and information in those texts Write essays integrating ideas and information from those

texts

Assessment Structure

Three stages1. Pre-reading2. Reading3. Post-reading

Pre-Reading

Goal: Tap into existing knowledge

Free-writeWatch videoClass discussionKey concepts and terms

Pre-Reading

Example: Prep for a reading on importance of biodiversity Free-write and discussion

What is a food web? Why is it important to understand?

During discussion: How do food webs work?What is extinction and why is it a problem?What would happen if a disease killed all the

spiders in the world?

Pre-Reading

Lecture: Reinforce concept of systems and how

they function. Reinforce “relationships” of organisms to

each other. Introduce “biodiversity” as a term.

Reading

Goal: Guide students to facilitate comprehension.AnnotationsGuiding questionsDual-entry journalsWritten responses

Reading

Article: “Will we soon be extinct?” by Josh Clark. Annotations Guiding Questions:

Why is nitrogen important to humans? How do worms keep up us alive? What will happen if species continue to die? How much biodiversity is in your neighborhood?

Count as many different kinds of life as you can (think about large animals like humans, about small ones like insects, and about bacteria, mold, and fungus as well.)

Post-Reading

Goal: Assess comprehension and engage with concepts. Quizzes Response papers Discussion Group activity Further research

Post-Reading

Short Quiz: How do many advances in technology depend on

nature?

Discussion: Why is biodiversity important? What places might have high and low levels of

biodiversity?

Follow-up: How bio-diverse is our campus?

Post-Reading

Essay Problem: How can we increase biodiversity on the

community, national, and international level? Make a case for biodiversity Offer solutions for species extinction

Individual actionCollective action

Discussion/Essay Prompts

Integrated Directly address content Prompt sophisticated writing

Critical Thinking Students should cognitively engage with

content(e.g. craft an argument)

Discussion/Essay Prompts

Article: “Sex Selection Should be Regulated,” by Hattie Kaufman.

 Dr. Steinburg and Dr. Caplan disagree on this issue. Explain each of their ideas, and then write an argument in which you take a side on the issue of if we should have government regulation of this issue.

Discussion/Essay Prompts

Article: “Will we soon be extinct?” by Josh Clark. How can we increase biodiversity on the

community, national, and international level? Make a case for biodiversity, citing

Clark’s article. Offer solutions for species extinction.

Remember to think about individual action as well as collective action.

Focus on heavily… Focus some on…

Emergent skills Engaging with

contentGauging

comprehension

Sentence complexity

Academic toneMajor grammar

issues e.g. sentence

boundaries, subject-verb.

Responding to Writing

Responding to Writing

• Incorporating quotes.• Engaging with those

statements. • Drawing inferences.

• “Thousands of dollars”?

• How do you think Walton feels about the “low-benefit model”?

• Should you introduce the paragraph material first?

• Tone.

• Walmart founder Sam Walton once said, "I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We're going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment." So what does that tell you? Well I can tell you, what I think of that statement. I think that, If Wal-Mart wants to continue making thousands of dollars per year, than Walmart should not only worry about how much money Walmart can make, but how successful Walmart employees could be, what they can learn, and employees can make more money by working full time schedules, if that’s what the employee prefers.

Responding to Writing

The Grammar QuestionTriage / Just-in-time

Most urgent needs first Assess group needs One-on-one or brief lectures

Always practice grammar in context

Group Activity and Gallery Walk

Workshop

Directions:1. Develop a lesson plan.2. Remember integration, embedding, &

critical thinking. 3. Use the following organizational model:

Pre-reading Reading Post-reading

4. Create group poster

Discussion and Questions

ACLT 052 Final Grades

Spring 2012

27 (40%) S33 (48%) U 1 (2%) I5 (7%) FX 2 (3%) W

Fall 2012

101 (57%) S45 (25%) U 1 (1%) I23 (14%) FX 7 (3%) W

Pass Rates by Placements

Spring 201249%

R051/E05235%

R051/E051 40%

R052/E052

Fall 201260%

R051/E052 50%

R051/E051 82%

R052/E05260%

R052/E051

Fall 2012 to Spring 2013 Retention Rates

Total Cohort 72%

Passing Students 83%

African Americans 72%

Contact Information

Dr. Jeanine L. WilliamsCoordinator of Reading Acceleration Initiativesjwilliams4@ccbcmd.edu443-840-3031

Prof. Sharon Hayesshayes@ccbcmd.edu

Prof. Ryan Donnellyrdonnelly@ccbcmd.edu