According to the DOE website, FCAT 2.0 will include a “greater number of test items that require reasonable inferences and reasonable prior knowledge.” It will also include a “greater number of reading passages from the public domain, such as historical documents and works by classical authors.”
Good teachers practice inferencing every day using tried and true questioning techniques. But what constitutes “reasonable prior knowledge?” How can we help our students acquire “reasonable prior knowledge?”
Building prior knowledge is extremely important when introducing new units of study (Science and Social Studies) or a new piece of literature, especially if the genre is unfamiliar to the students. When building prior knowledge, time is of the essence. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a short video clip is worth even more. Try to incorporate these into your lessons.
“Reading passages from the public domain” can be found here:
Using authentic historical documents, such as newspaper articles and letters, in your classroom gives students an opportunity to interpret history on their own. Try it!
Chef Tanner is using the visual dictionary in his Culinary Arts class. Students are encouraged to use the visual dictionary to help remember vocabulary words from their coursework. The visual dictionary was the subject of one of my first posts last year. It is located at :
Cheff Tanner recieved a copy of I Read It But I Don’t Get It by Cris Tovani.
Chef Tanner also promotes reading by using academy-related articles and worksheets in his classroom. Thank you Chef Tanner for incorporating literacy into your academy!
Teachers-the positive vibes and conversations I witnessed yesterday in the breakout sessions is testament to the professionalism and dedication that will continue to elevate our school. We appreciate the support from the Quality Assurance Team and I know we made them feel welcomed.
I am in the process of tallying the results of the Personal Reflection Survey, and will publish those soon. In the meantime, please take a few minutes to watch the video below, which presents some interesting insight on human motivation (free giveaways for a lesson plan idea based on the video!!):
Check out this blog from Ms. Kathyrn Dixon, a fellow teacher from Seminole County. We have the Quack SAT video series at South Tech-see me if you would like to borrow a copy. Also, be sure to check out her “Dixonary” of vocabulary words. Great job Ms. Dixon!
South Tech Social Studies teacher Mr. Cox has recieved a very prestigious award from the Florida Govenor’s Award Program. Mr. Cox has been very sucessful in creating interdisciplinary projects that combine content area research with literacy and mathematics skills. The following is from an email by South Tech Vice Principal Lisa Chirikjian:
“Congratulations to our very own Mr. Cox!
Mr. Cox has been invited to attend the Florida Council of Economic Education’s annual Florida Governor’s Awards Program. The FCEE holds this Awards ceremony to recognize outstanding Economics teachers in Florida. Mr. Cox has been chosen to attend this event for outstanding lesson plans and Economics projects which were submitted to their organization. A panel of business and government officials selected Mr. Cox’s lessons and projects to be considered as a semi-finalist for the Awards presentations. Mr. Cox was honored at last year’s conference for his ‘Create a business ‘ project and this year he submitted his ‘Financial Pyramid of Investments’ project and lesson plans, which placed him as a semi-finalist for Economics teacher of the year.”
On Friday April 9, 2010 two South Tech students went home with brand new portable DVD players for entering the Reading Counts contest. More prizes, including t-shirts, gift coupons and more will be awarded next week. After that, our final drawing will be in March. Remember, you only need to take one Reading Counts test to be entered into the drawing- but the more you read, the bigger the prizes get!
See Ms. Kukec in the Media Center or Mr. Benoliel in room 108 for more details.
A random drawing will be held tomorrow during A lunch for the winners of the South Tech Reading Counts Contest. Winners will be notified after Spring Break. So far, the class with the highest participation has completed over three hundred Reading Counts Quizzes. Way to go! The next and final drawing will be held in May. Thanks to all who participated!
A Glog is a one-page Blog that is best described as a multimedia poster. Check out their homepage to create your own account. You can then add students if you wish, or simply create a Glog that has an assignment built in to it. Here is an example of a Glog from the website:
