Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

"Read It Again!": Storytelling To Imitate The Great Teacher, Kate Whatley

Senior Honors Theses

The student’s mind is bent on stories, asking mothers around the world to ‘read it again’. These stories preserve information and emotions for centuries. In the classroom, stories enliven motivation and empathy in ways that result in higher academic achievement and social awareness. Learning to use stories as a key instructional strategy will allow for more equitable opportunities in classrooms, encourage mental health and truth telling for the teacher and the student collectively, and allow the academic community to imitate Christ by contributing to the bigger story taking place across time. In application of using stories as teachers, this thesis …

Something American, Carolina S. Souto

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

SOMETHING AMERICAN is a poetry collection written from the perspective of a first-generation American navigating a growing family, a political crisis, and a global pandemic. Influences on this collection include Robert Hass’s THE ESSENTIAL HAIKU and FIELD GUIDE, which attend to nature and the poet-speaker’s immediate surroundings with diligence and precision. Ariel Francisco’s place poems and creative titles in ALL MY HEROES ARE BROKE provide important touchstones for Souto’s commitment to here-and-now writing. And Sylvia Plath’s frank and complex writing about motherhood in ARIEL grants the poet permission to probe these subjects as well.

In SOMETHING AMERICAN, experimental poems sprawl …

Monarch Butterfly., Bermudez J. Ferrell

ESL for Academic Purposes

This unit covers the migration of the monarch butterflies from Michoacan, Mexico, to the Northern parts of America. This Monarch Butterfly unit is geared toward WIDA level 3: developing or CEFR B2 English language learners in middle school or high school. The primary focus of this unit is reading and writing; however, the last day has a speaking activity. The scaffolding for reading included in this unit are pre-readings, during-reading activities, and vocabulary acquisition worksheets. The unit’s content goes over an introductory section, followed by an article, finally wrapping up with a cause and effect activity and tips students can …

Academic Literacy For Deaf Postsecondary Students Through Integrated Reading And Writing Instruction, Sue Livingston

Publications and Research

Based on theoretical findings from the literature on the integration of reading and writing pedagogies used with hearing postsecondary students to advance academic literacy, this article offers a model of instruction for achieving academic literacy in developmental and freshman composition courses composed of deaf students. Academic literacy is viewed as the product of acts of composing in reading and writing which best transpire through reciprocal rather than separate reading and writing activities. Pedagogical practices based on theoretical findings and teacher experience are presented as a model of instruction, exemplified as artifacts in online supplementary materials and juxtaposed with practices used …

Emperor Penguins, Dan Wu

ESL for Academic Purposes

The purpose of this unit is to develop students’ English skills and familiarize them with emperor penguins. The topic of the unit is about emperor penguins. Students will be able to learn the basic information of the species and its huddle behavior, incubating and parenting, as well as human impact on the species. The unit is designed for intermediate level ESL or EFL pre-academic students on the A2-B1 level of the CEFR scale. The assessments involve pair work, group work and individual tasks, through which students will be able to develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.

Teacher's Guide To Using Literature To Promote Inclusion Of People With Disabilities, Bruce Menchetti

Open Educational Resources

The Teacher’s Guide to Using Literature to Promote Inclusion of People with Disabilities has been designed to assist teachers who wish to use literature to promote inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of life. The Guide consists of two parts. Part 1 is a rubric for evaluating how short stories, books, poems, TV programs, movies, digital media, and other forms of literature portray characters with disabilities. Part 2 of the Teacher’s Guide to Using Literature to Promote Inclusion of People with Disabilities is a curriculum guide with learning objectives, lesson activities, and strategies for outcome evaluation. The curriculum …

Essential Or Optional? Effects Of Creative Writing On Expository Skills And Attitude In Middle School Students, Nicole Samuelson

Honors Program Projects

Creative writing's effectiveness has not been clearly established through research, especially in regards to expository writing skills. However, other benefits of creative writing have been shown such as emotional benefits and general writing improvement. This study was conducted with two groups of middle school students. One group received ten creative writing interventions over a month and the other group continued with normal instruction. The goal was to discover if these interventions would improve students' expository writing skills as well as their attitude towards and confidence in writing. Surprisingly, while the experimental group did not improve significantly in either area, the …

Implementing Digital Portfolios To Document The Writing Process, Patricia George

Open Educational Resources

Implementing digital portfolios to document the writing process offers students a way to curate an exhibit of their work. The Google Sites application provides online spaces for students to upload permanent artifacts. It is user friendly and provides a visual document of student growth over the course of a semester. By publishing drafts and revisions, students are reminded of the progress they have made as writers. In addition, using visual approaches to organizing work also assists students with time management.

Silent Film: A Visual Narrative For Developing Linguistic Competence, Patricia George

Open Educational Resources

Visual narratives in silent films are an effective method for developing linguistic competence in English language education and are equally constructive in developing critical thinking skills across disciplines. “Silent film, more than any other film property, capitalizes on ESL students’ visual literacy, using it as both a foundation and a catalyst for honing the verbal language skills that are key to acquiring and articulating complex knowledge in English” (Kasper and Singer, 2001). Silent films rely on the power of vivid, interactive visual imagery to depict personal struggles, character interactions, and plot development. This medium grabs the attention of ESL students …

Autism: The Life Of Present And Future, Jong Moon Kim

ESL for Academic Purposes

This unit addresses people with autism and the inherent characteristics and struggles people affected by autism strive to overcome. Students can understand the traits of autism, the challenges autistic people have, and ways to support them. The unit is aimed at English Language Learners and is written to help ELLs learn more autism and the people who live with autism. Also, it is useful for teenagers and adults living with people who are autistic. It is intended for secondary school students with a B1 level on the CEFR scale. Students can improve their academic vocabulary related to autism, reading, listening, …

Forgotten History: The Stonewall Riots, Kaitlin Comfort

ESL for Academic Purposes

This unit covers the underrepresented history of LGBTQ+ people in the United States by exploring the landmark event: The Stonewall Riots. It primarily focuses on listening and writing domains supported by jigsaw and vocabulary acquisition activities. The use of prepositions, identifying supporting details, and summarizing are also covered. As a final project, students will have the chance to explore an underrepresented event from their own culture. This unit is targeted at high school, college, or adult students at a B2 level or higher on the CEFR scale and incorporates the use of technology. The content in the unit will serve …

The Unknown Heroes Of Wwii, Okumura Melissa

ESL for Academic Purposes

This unit introduces ESL students to the history of the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS), its students, and their contributions as English-Japanese translators and interpreters during WWII. It is intended to be used as a U.S. history unit in an ESL context for high school and college students. It is designed for EL learners at a CEFR B2—C1 Level. The goal of the exercises in this unit are to introduce historical academic vocabulary, develop students’ reading and listening comprehension about a historical topic, and explore the cultural complexities of the MISLS students’ lives through writing, speaking, and visual projects. …

Che Guevara: Hero Or Villain?, Alberto Ramos

ESL for Academic Purposes

This integrated unit covers the life and political ideology of the revolutionary Che Guevara. This unit is intended for B2 CEFR ESL or EFL college students. By engaging in this unit, students will enhance their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in English. Students will be engaged and challenged to think critically about current political issues and how to become more responsible global citizens.

Climate Vocabulary, A Minnesota Experience, Eve Thao

ESL for Academic Purposes

This unit explores the four seasons in the state of Minnesota, United States of America. The goal of this unit is to introduce various climate-related vocabulary to ELL’s, while providing them with an opportunity to describe climate in their own words and usage in real or authentic conversations. The preferred audience for this unit is young adult English Language Learners ages 18-21, in either the ESL or EFL context. This unit is best suited for students with an ELL proficiency level of A2 based on the CEFR scale.

Chief Joseph, Eric Daeuber

ESL for Academic Purposes

This unit introduces ESL and EFL students to the ongoing struggle between the Indigenous people of the Unites States and the United States federal government with reference to the events of the Nez Perce War of 1877 and the leader of the Nez Perce, Chief Joseph. The unit is aimed at young adult and adult learners at the B2 level with 93% of the vocabulary included in the first 1000 most used English words. Exercises use contemporary readings as well as archival material to cover vocabulary topics such as long definitions as well as structural elements such as finding the …

Volcanoes., Frances H. Goldsmith

ESL for Academic Purposes

This learning unit explores the basic information about volcanoes from a scientific and safety perspective. This unit is intended for a beginning to middle level ESL or EFL course intended for elementary school students on the A2 level of the CEFR scale. With this unit, students are able to work on their skills including vocabulary, writing, speaking, and be able to conduct hands-on activities. This includes a blend of individual work, group work, and physical activities. The purpose of this unit is to teach students more about volcanoes in a simple, yet engaging style.

Esperanza Rising And Identity: Exploring Literature And Self In Upper Elementary School, Emma Fuller

Honors Theses

Upper elementary students benefit from exposure to windows and mirrors in literature. The term “mirrors” refers to when students can relate to characters and situations, and see their own lives valued in an academic context. Mirrors are important for representation in schools because it allows students to reflect on their own learning. “Windows” allow students to see a perspective into other people’s lives. They are important because they encourage reflection on different ideas and empathy among students. One of many literary works with strong “windows” and “mirrors” is Pam Munoz Ryan’s Esperanza Rising. In this Senior Project, I focused on …

Educating For Global Competence: Co-Constructing Outcomes In The Field: An Action Research Project, Kristina A. Van Winkle

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Capacity building for globally competent educators is a 21st Century imperative to address contemporary complex and constantly changing challenges. This action research project is grounded in positive psychology, positive organizational scholarship, relational cultural theory, and relational leadership practices. It sought to identify adaptive challenges educators face as they try to integrate globally competent teaching practices into their curricula, demonstrate learning and growth experienced by the educators in this project, and provide guidance and solutions to the challenges globally competent educators face. Six educators participated in this three-phase project, which included focus groups, reflective journal entries, and an exit interview. Data …