English 12 - Comprehend and Respond (Strategies and Skills)

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will:

• use and evaluate a wide variety of strategies before, during, and after reading, viewing, and listening for different purposes
• describe and evaluate a variety of strategies for locating information in print and electronic resources, including mass media
• describe what they already know about and experiences they have had with specific topics
• use efficient strategies for recording, organizing, and storing information that they read, hear, or view
• describe and apply a variety of literary devices and techniques to create particular effects, including figurative language, symbolism, parody, and irony

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Comprehend and Respond (Strategies and Skills) in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Have students brainstorm ways to receive or gather information, including reading, listening, and viewing. Divide the class into three groups. Present a single selection, such as a scene from 1984, in a different way to each group (e.g., one group reads the passage, one has it read aloud, one views the video). Have students change groups, and present each group with a different piece. Ask groups to compare their recall of information as well as their level of engagement for each rendition. Try to use factual, emotive, and literary passages. Ask students if their responses differ. Repeat the three-group cycle, this time asking students in each group to use different note-taking methods (e.g., lists, mapping). Have a class discussion about appropriate techniques for specific purposes.
• Ask students to write individual strategic plans for gathering information using their personal learning strengths.
• Give a lesson on note-taking and questioning techniques. Invite several employers or business people to talk to students about employment prospects, educational prerequisites, and expectations for language skill requirements in their fields. Have students ask questions and take notes, then use their notes and appropriate specialized and technical language to prepare résumés and letters of application for jobs in one of those fields.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• Provide frequent opportunities for students to discuss and assess their strategies for locating and using information from various sources. Their notes and records can be assessed as part of a research project. Work with students to establish criteria such as the following for a checklist or rating scale:
  • search strategy is logical and relevant, and shows awareness of key features of various types of information sources (e.g., electronic databases, library sources, government or private agencies, key informants)
  • notes and records are clear and easy to use, relevant, and at an appropriate level of detail, and include complete and accurate source information
• Have students work in small groups to brainstorm a list of the most useful reading, viewing, listening, and research strategies they have developed. Each student in the group selects one or two strategies to describe in detail. Students' descriptions should include:
  • short descriptions of how to effectively apply the strategies
  • examples of when and how they have used the strategies to solve problems or to support them in challenging activities
  • three to five general applications, purposes, or situations where the strategies can be particularly helpful
  Look for evidence that descriptions are clear and logical, examples are detailed and relevant, and applications show understanding of the effect of purpose, media, and context.

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

• Discovering Poetry
• An Enemy of the People
• Nineteenth Century Short Stories
• Notes on a Prison Wall
• On The Edge
• The Oxford Dictionary of Current English
• The Prentice Hall Reader
• Quartet of Poems
• Reflections
• The Stolen Party
• Stories from Asia
• The Storyteller
• Voices 2
• The Way We Word
• What A Writer Needs
• World Literature, Signature Edition
• Worlds in Small
• Your Voice and Mine

• Ellen's Story

• In Perspective

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