Standard Alignment
Materials
Charts of new SPIs
Strips of old SPIs
Tape
Picture of trash can
Description
This is a hands-on activity that will enable participants to visualize the changes in SPIs,
which ones are the same as the old, which ones are new, and which ones have been
discarded.
Step-by-Step
1. Post charts on the wall.
2. Give participants strips of old SPIs (about 2 per person)
3. Ask them to open their notebook and see if they can find these old SPIs anywhere
or something that is similar.
4. Tell them when they locate them on the new list, to tape them on the poster over
the new SPI is they are the same, beside the new SPI if they are similar, and on
the trash can if they are no longer on the list.
5. Discuss
6. Participants can now highlight the new SPIs in their notebooks.
1
Sentence Strips
Materials
2 envelopes for each pair (one with sentence strips and the other with corrections)
Description
Sentence Strips is a versatile approach to applying rules of grammar, mechanics,
punctuation, organization, parallel structure, sentence combining, and many other skills.
Sentences can be tailored to address a wide array of language skills. The teacher can
create sentences that address specific skills being taught.
Step-by-Step
1. Divide participants into groups of two or more.
2. Give each group the baggie with the sentence parts. Tell them there are three
different sentences, and each one is a different color.
3. Ask them to put the three sentences in order to make three complete, logical
sentences.
4. Give the participants the other baggie.
5. Tell them to use any of the punctuation marks or words to make corrections in the
three sentences.
6. Discuss what each group did to make the sentences correct.
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CONTENT STANDARD 1.0 LANGUAGE
Course Level Expectations
CLE 3001.1.2 Demonstrate control of Standard English through the use
of grammar, usage, and mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, spelling).
CLE 3002.1.1 Demonstrate control of standard English through the
use of grammar, usage, and mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, and
spelling)
State Performance Indicators
SPI 3001.1.13, SPI 3002.1.13, SPI 3003.1.6 Select the appropriate word
in frequently confused pairs.
SPI 3001.1.7, SPI 3002.1.8 Recognize correct subject-verb agreement
with intervening elements.
SPI 3001.1.4, SPI 3002.1.3 Combine a set of simple sentence into a
single compound or complex sentence.
SPI 3002.1.4 Use sentence combining techniques, effectively avoiding
problematic comma splices, run-on sentences, and sentence fragments.
SPI 3001.1.5, SPI 3002.1.5 Use commas correctly with appositives and
introductory words, phrases, or clauses.
SPI 3001.1.5, SPI 3002.1.5 Use commas to set off nonessential elements
in a sentence.
SPI 3001.1.11, SPI 3002.1.9 Select correct pronoun-antecedent
agreement using collective nouns and indefinite pronouns.
SPI 3001.1.10, SPI 3002.1.12 Recognize the correct placement of end
marks and other marks of punctuation with quotation marks used in
dialogue.
Materials needed:
•Laminated copies of sentence strips in envelopes
Assessment Activity Title: Sentence Strips
Description of Activity:
1. Distribute the envelopes of sentence strips to groups of three or four.
2. Put the sentences in logical order. (Each sentence is a different color)
3. Distribute second envelope with corrections.
4. Make corrections to the original strips.
Assignment Extensions:
The sentence strip strategy can be used to identify any grammar, usage,
and/or mechanic errors at every course level. Use dictation or daily oral grammar
to teach skills.
3
Mary said
We can learn much
from the literature
of the passed
by reading Greek Drama
one of the principle Greek dramatists
was Aeschylus
who wrote Oresteia
a powerful story
of murdering
getting revenge
and divine mercy
in his plays
all roles
including those of a female character
was performed by men
murder
revenge
,
“
.
and
committing murder
and asking for divine mercy
.
,
but
,
or
,
,
,
therefore however
.
“
past
;
,
,
.
principal
4
Word Sorts
Materials
Bags of prefix (2) and suffix (1) sorts
Description
Sorting is a wonderful activity to develop vocabulary and comprehension skills. It works
because students actively become involved in how words, processes, formulas, and
concepts are connected within the content. In classes where sorts are used regularly,
students look forward to learning new words and begin thinking about where they fit with
what they already know. As students manipulate words, they learn to use what they
know about them and make new connections that transfer to their reading and writing.
Step-by-Step
1. Randomly give out sorts to groups of two. Some will work with scientific
prefixes, some with common prefixes, and others with suffixes.
2. Tell them one card has a prefix or suffix and a word with that affix; the other
card has a definition or meaning for the affix.
3. They are to match the affix to its meaning.
4. To close, tell participants there are several kinds of sorts. This was a closed
sort, which is the one most used. There are open sorts in which the teacher
provides only the words, and students decide the sort categories based on the
words they have. There are speed sorts, a timed sort. Students can record the
time it takes to sort and then try to beat their own record. Blind sorts are
auditory closed sorts in which the teacher calls out the words. The students
point to or say the categories they see listed on the worksheet, board, or
overhead. In writing sorts, students have a sorting card with key words
written as column headers. They write words under the appropriate categories
as the teacher calls them out.
5
CONTENT STANDARD 1.0 LANGUAGE
Course Level Expectations
CLE 3001.1.2, CLE 3002.1.2, CLE 3003.1.2, CLE 3005.1.2 Employ a
variety of strategies and resources to determine the definition,
pronunciation, etymology, spelling, and usage of words and phrases.
State Performance Indicators
SPI 3001.1.12, SPI 3002.1.14 Use context clues and/or knowledge of
roots, affixes, and cognates to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.
SPI 3003.1.5 Use previously learned techniques such as recognizing
cognates, root words, affixes, allusions, and textual contest to identify
unfamiliar words.
Materials needed:
• Copies of laminated affixes sorts for small groups.
Assessment Activity Title: Word Sorts
Description of Activity:
1. Distribute word sorts.
2. Match affixes to their meaning.
Assignment Extensions:
Use sorts for root words, suffixes, and vocabulary
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Aero
Aerobic, aerospace
Bio
Biology, biotic
Cardi, cardio
De
Cardiac, cardiology dehydrate
Exo
Exoskeleton,
exocytosis
Geno
genotype
Hepato
Heparin, hepatitis
Inter
Interphase
Leuc, leuko
Leukemia,
leukocyte
Lyso, lysis
Lysol, lysosome
Eco
Ecology
Mort
Mortality,
mortician
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Osteo
Osteoarthritis,
osteoporosis
Paleo
Paleontology,
Paleolithic
Pneumo
pneumonia
Pre
Prehistoric
Silica
silicosis
Terra
Terrarium
Toxi
toxicology
Tele, telo
Telephone,
telophase
race
Destruction
Air, oxygen
Old
8
land
environment
lung
Poison
Heart
Between, among
Outside
Death
Sand, glass,
crystal
Before
Bone
Removal,
separation
9
White
life
10
Teaching Communication using Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech
Materials
“I Have a Dream” script
Video clip of speech
Guided viewing cards
Paraphrase samples
Description
Reader's Theater is a strategy in which students read from scripts. Lines are not
memorized, but students are encouraged to read with expression. Students love to
perform Reader's Theater scripts more than once which is a good idea; repeated reading
builds comprehension and fluency as it improves students' self-esteem, reading
confidence, and enthusiasm for reading. Somebody Wanted But So (SWBS) is a
summarizing strategy where the reader identifies the main idea by completing the
Somebody (character) Wanted (motivation) But (conflict) So (resolution) graphic
organizer. The Guided Viewing Cards give students a purpose for listening.
Paraphrase Samples give students a chance to select the best paraphrase for a speech.
Step-by-Step
1. Assign parts and read the script.
2. Discuss the thesis using SWBS.
3. Give participants the guided viewing cards (one for each group of 5).
4. Watch the video clip.
5. Share answers to guided viewing cards.
6. Give out envelopes of paraphrasing.
7. Have participants select the best paraphrase for the excerpt from the speech.
11
CONTENT STANDARD 2.0 COMMUNICATION
Course Level Expectations
CLE 3001.2.1, CLE 3002.2.1, CLE 3003.2.1, CLE 3005.2.1 Demonstrate
critical listening skills essential for comprehension, evaluation, problem
solving, and task completion.
CLE 3001.2.2, CLE 3002.2.2, CLE 3003.2.2, CLE 3005.2.4 Analyze the
style and structure of a challenging/complex speech.
State Performance Indicators
SPI 3001.2.1, SPI 3002.2.1, SPI 3003.2.1 Identify the thesis and main
points of a challenging speech.
SPI 3001.2.2, SPI 3002.2.2, SPI 3003.2.3 Select the best paraphrase of a
challenging speech.
SPI 3001.2.3, SPI 3002.2.3, SPI 3003.2.2 Discern the structure of a
challenging/complex speech (e.g., sequential, problem-solution, comparecontrast, cause-effect.
SPI 3001.2.4, SPI 3002.2.4, SPI 3003.2.4 Identify rhetorical devices used
in a challenging/complex speech (e.g., rhetorical questions, parallelism
and repetition, analogies, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, antithesis).
SPI 3001.2.5, SPI 3002.3.5 Determine the most effective methods of
engaging an audience during an oral presentation (e.g., making eye
contact, adjusting speaking rate).
Materials needed:
Copies of Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have A Dream” adapted for
reader’s theater.
Video clip of “I Have A Dream”.
Guided Viewing Cards
Paraphrase samples
Assessment Activity Title:
skills.
Using “I Have A Dream” for communication
Description of Activity:
1. Assign parts and read script.
2. Discuss thesis using SWBS and discuss structure.
3. Distribute guided viewing cards.
4. Watch video clip
5. Share answers to guided viewing cards.
6. Select best paraphrase from scenarios.
Assignment Extensions:
Do research on Martin Luther King.
12
Excerpt from “I Have a Dream” speech:
Reader 1: I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of
today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American
dream.
Reader 2: I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created
equal."
Reader 3: I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former
slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood.
Reader 4: I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering
with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into
an oasis of freedom and justice.
Reader 5: I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
All: I have a dream today.
Reader 6: I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with
its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one
day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands
with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
All: I have a dream today.
Reader 7: I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and
mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places
will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it
together.
Reader 3: This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this
faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this
faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful
symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray
together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together,
knowing that we will be free one day.
Reader 5: This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new
meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my
fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
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Reader 2: And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom
ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty
mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania!
Boys: Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Girls: Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
Boys: But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Girls: Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Boys: Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every
mountainside, let freedom ring.
Reader 1: And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring
from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to
speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and
Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the
old Negro spiritual,
All: "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
14
Guided Viewing Cards
Write a summary of
the speech
Write a critique of
the speech
Identify parallel
structure in the
speech
Listen for and
identify repetition in
the speech
Look for ways the
speaker engages the
audience
15
Teamwork Posters
Materials
Markers
Construction paper
Masking tape
White board
Description
In this lesson students learn how to work in groups. They will define teamwork and
develop 3 or 4 guidelines for working in a group together.
Step-by-Step
1. Put participants in groups of 4 or 5.
2. Tell them to give their group a name—be creative.
3. Each group will have 3 minutes to brainstorm words that mean teamwork to them.
They may want to write these words on a sheet of paper. (Maybe the white
board)
4. Each group is to come up with its own definition of teamwork—in a sentence or
two what does team work mean to them.
5. Each group will now come up with “three” guidelines for working in groups.
6. Give each group a piece of construction paper and markers.
7. On the construction paper, they are to put the group’s name, definition of
teamwork, guidelines for working in groups, and post them on the wall.
16
Maze
Materials
4 volunteers
Blindfold
Chairs and desk arranged in a maze
Description
The maze activity is a fund way of demonstrating the importance of working as a team to
accomplish a goal. It demonstrates the different kind of people who often end up in a
group: the poor worker trying to get the job done, the real helper, and the worker who
throws obstacles in the way.
Step by Step
1. Arrange desks, chairs, etc. into a maze.
2. Ask for 4 volunteers
3. One person will be blindfolded.
4. One person will be the “good” worker and help the blindfolded person get
through the maze.
5. One person will be the “poor” worker and gives negative advice and comments.
6. The other person will try to throw obstacles in the way.
CONTENT STANDARD 2.0 COMMUNICATION
Course Level Expectations
CLE 3001.2.4, CLE 3002.2.5, CLE 3003.2.7, CLE 3005.2.7 Participate in
work teams and group discussions.
State Performance Indicators
• SPI 3001.2.7, SPI 3002.2.7, SPI 3003.2.5 Select the most appropriate
strategies for participating productively in a work team.
Materials needed:
Markers
Construction Paper
Masking Tape
Assessment Activity Title: Teamwork Posters and Maze
Description of Activity:
1. Name teams in your city or region (Examples: Bradford Argos, Blue
Jays, Volunteers, Mockingbirds, Super Stars)
2. Give each group a piece of paper and markers. Each group is to
17
brainstorm 3 minutes words that mean teamwork to them.
3. Each group is to come up with its own definition of teamwork—in a
sentence or two what does team work mean to them.
4. Each group will come up with “three” guidelines for working in groups
which will help all groups succeed.
5. On construction paper, put group’s name, definition of teamwork,
guideline for working in groups, and post them on the wall.
Assignment Extensions:
Give an oral presentation of meaning and guidelines for teamwork.
18