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Independent Reading Project: Creating a Museum of Living Literature
1. Problem Statement
In preparation for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition exam, high school students must read many kinds of literature during the year-long course to familiarize themselves with different time periods, movements, philosophies, and genres. Advanced Placement students must learn to think critically, and be ready to find, analyze, and express literary connections through written analysis. The biggest challenge of teaching and learning Advanced Placement English is the difficulty covering the entire scope of literature in two semesters. Twentieth century literature often gets neglected. The pace of the curriculum can also limit the creativity of lesson planning and evaluation. Many teachers rely heavily on lecture, discussion, and a traditional analysis paper.
To add some variety to traditional teaching and learning strategies, a teacher might design an independent project where students work in teams and focus collaboratively on a single novel from the twentieth century. Each team would read a selected book and work together to create artifacts that would be shared with the other teams. Through collaborative work and sharing, students would be able to grasp the concepts and connections of several works of literature. The project outlined in section 5 will target twentieth century literature.
2. Target Audience
The target audience is two sections of the Advanced Placement English Class. There are approximately 24 students in each class. These students are in their final year of high school at St. Pius X Catholic High School. The classes are coed, ranging in ages between 17-18 years old. The...
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7. Works Cited
Blumenfeld, P. C., Solloway, E., Marx, R. W., Krajcik, J. S., Guzdial, M., & Palincsar, A. (1991). Motivating project‑based learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning. Educational Psychologist, 26(3 & 4), 369‑398. Available October 17, 2002, from Professional Development Collection database: http://search.epnet.com
Turner, J., & Paris, S. G. (1995). How literacy tasks influence children�s motivation for literacy. The Reading Teacher, 48(8), 662‑673. Available October 17, 2002, from Professional Database Collection database: http://search.epnet.com/
Wang, S.‑K., & Han, S. (2001). Six c�s of motivation. In M. Orey (Ed.), Learning, teaching, & technology. Retrieved September 15, 2002, from University of Georgia, Dept. of Instructional Technology Web site: http://itstudio.coe.uga.edu/ebook/6csmotivation.htm
“It’s motivation that is the key, not the emphasis or innate ability or personality… its finding a way to engage every child in meaningful activities and helping them to enjoy learning” (Groundwater Smith, 2006, p. 84) Students are motivated in many different ways, some can be motivated by the social side of school, being involved in extracurricular activities. Another student may be more interested in the learning delivered in the classroom setting and excelling in set tasks given by the teachers. Ormrod (2010) discusses how motivation affects students in a positive way, directing their behavior towards particular goal and leading to increased effort and energy and also increasing initiation of and persistence in activities. I believe that motivation helped in achieving certain goals in my schooling days. An example of this is shown in the awards system that is som...
English Composition II has unexpectedly improved my writing into an academic level. As I studied various English reading and writing courses, this class “English Composition II” did not immediately caught my eye. However as I researched about the concepts of this class, the decision to make was not so difficult since I was lacking in critical thinking and the interpretation of works. Also as a Business Major, it made sense that the subject of English would be of interest to me and as a career requirement. During the first weeks, I thought that I would be fully prepared for this course after taking an accelerated course in English during the spring semester. However, after attending class for about a month, I certainly did not expect to learn an entirely new process of writing
Keller, John M. (2006). What Are the Elements of Learner Motivation? Retrieved July 4, 2011
Lei, Simon A. "Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Evaluating Benefits and Drawbacks from College Instructors' Perspectives." Journal of Instructional Psychology 37.2 (2010): 153-160. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Mar. 2011.
“Motivation is the process whereby goal-orientated activity is instigated and sustained” (Schunk, Pintrich & Meece, 2008. As cited in Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, p.284). Motivation comes in many forms and can be divided into two broad categories - extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivators are external factors which can motivate a student; rewards are an example of this. An issue with extrinsic motivators is that the desire for the learner to participate often lessens, once the rewards are withdrawn (McCullers, 1987). On the other hand intrinsic motivation comes from within - learning for the joy of it - where the desire to learn leads to a higher level of knowledge, and is a reward in itself. Kohn (1996, p.285) states that research suggests, “Rewards actually decrease interest in intrinsically motivating tasks, therefore sending the wrong message about learning” (as cited in Eggen & Kauchak, 2010a)
When reflecting on the past semester of English 2328, there are several lessons I feel I have learned which have contributed to the development of my intellect. Throughout this semester, I have repeatedly encountered various lessons that I feel have the potential to advance academically, personally and professionally. I attribute the lessons I have learned to the nature of the assignments and the method of teaching used in this class. To clarify, I feel that I have broadened my knowledge, learned the importance of my personal responsibilities, and learned to interpret differing opinions. Combined, I have recognized that this class has helped me grow, not only as a student, but as an individual as well.
As a first time, English student in the university, I begin to understand what writing and literacy means. As I work halfway through out my semester, I have come to read and learn about different situations and meanings in many articles and books. Taking this course allowed me to understand and develop my writing process even further than I did before. As I read these articles, I notice certain aspects that these authors were trying to teach and inform us about. I shall demonstrate and identify what I have learned throughout this semester by creating points below.
In the process of teaching and learning, motivation is regarded as an important element that allows the students to be actively involved, the learning process becomes the last in a meaningful, worthwhile and enjoyable (Hj Kamarudin Husin, 1993)
World Lit. Advanced Comp. equates to the class I so despised my Sophomore year of High School. My teacher, Mrs. Sterner, embodies the most stern English teacher I hope to ever have. I knew going into this class it would present difficulty, but I did not imagined how much work it would entail. I took this class thinking it qualified as the logical class to take, and maybe I would gain some important knowledge or skills, but mainly because I thought I needed it as a prerequisite for Composition I and II. However, one of these assumptions proved incorrect.
In the field of education there is a broad spectrum of strategies to motivate students. Through research only a sample of the spectrum was covered, which consisted of twenty-nine sources. Four interrelated categories were created that individually provide strategies to motivate students. The four categories consist of teaching strategies to motivate students, program structure to motivate students, self-motivational strategies, and parent strategies to motivate students. All of these categories conclude that a positive environment provided by parents, school officials, and the students themselves, act to enhance a students motivational drive to succeed in the classroom.
It is first important to understand how motivation works in the classroom. There are infinite procedures teachers use to achieve desired effects from their students, but there are general patterns these motivational tools follow. In order for teachers to communicate with their students, they must identify with their needs on an individual basis (Gawel, 1997). This proposal is much akin to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which states five basic needs that must be met in order to achieve full motivation. These needs, in ascending order, are as follows: physiological, security, love and belongingness, esteem and self-respect, and self-actualization (Gawel, 1997). Each of these needs details a very important issue in motivation inside the classroom and out.
As I researched for articles dealing with motivation, the most common information that I found was strategies for increasing motivation. Some of the articles showed actual studies where certain strategies helped the student want to learn. The “Intrigue Model” by Lewkowicz is one strategy example that I will be writing about. Another article I found explained different types of motivation, which motivation is the best to have, and factors that influences the development of student motivation. Robert Case wrote a paper about a study he did in an India high school wat...
The question now is what strategies can teachers use to promote motivation? As numerous theorists state, an important first step is to create a safe and supportive classroom environment that promotes learning. The classroom must be an environment where students feel secure in expressing their feelings, concerns and asking questions (Kursurkar,…). Classrooms should be organized, devoid of distractions, and offer encouragement and inspiration. Walls can showcase words of affirmation, student accomplishments, and class expectations. Outlining specific goals for the year can help instill the inspiration to be goal-oriented as well. Students can visualize past accomplishments and monitor how far the class has advanced, which results in higher confidence and
The article introduced the RISE model to motivate students. It encompasses “Relevant subject matter, Interesting instruction, Satisfied learner, and Expectations of success.
Linnenbrink, E. A. & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Motivation as an enabler for success. School Psychology Review, 31 (3), 313-327