Experiential focus of Unit Five: : A community of learners requires an intellectually curious, collaborative teacher who can lead the learners' intellectual discourse and activities to maximize the likelihood that meaningful learning will occur. Some level of intellectual dissonance [Piaget's disequilibrium] must be established, either through peers sharing their diverse perspectives or through teacher prompts that highlight sources of cognitive dissatisfaction. Tasks must be within the students' collective reach--that is, more advanced than any individual within the group could likely complete independently, but not so far advanced that learning shuts down.

The purpose of an approach that fosters a community of learners is to help students restructure their current theories. Teachers must seek to understand student readiness to generate certain types of knowledge by determining the students' present hunches, conceptions, and beliefs. Teachers must then provide opportunities for students to replace their understandings with richer and deeper ones--[deep knowledge] this characterizes the processes of cognitive growth and learning.

Jacqueline Grennon Brooks, Schooling for Life: Reclaiming the Essence of Learning (2002), pp. 96-97.

Michigan Standards for Entry-Level Teaching:

#3: A commitment to student learning and achievement, including the understanding and ability to….
3.f: Engage students in practical activities that demonstrate the relevance, purpose, and function of subject matter: Plans and instructs in ways that make evident to students the relevance of content; Provides engaging activities that connect content to relevant experiences outside the classroom; Employs instructional techniques that are supported by current research.

Standards for Reading Instruction for Secondary Certification:

SEMINAR #1 -- TALKING TO LEARN:

Reading Standard 17: Teach and model effective listening and speaking strategies within content areas: assist students in selecting and using various methods of interpersonal, small group, and public discourse to explore an idea. 28: Facilitate student use of inquiry and communication processes to convey meaning in content area subject matter; facilitate student determination of purposes and audiences for communication and investigation; create an environment for authentic inquiry and effective oral, written, and visual discourse.

SEMINAR #2 -- WRITING TO LEARN:

Reading Standard 24: Understand the importance of having students respond in a variety of ways to texts; utilize personal, analytical, and critical responses and 25: Utilize the writing process; understand the nature of the writing process; teach prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing; provide appropriate scaffolding strategies, and evaluate student use within content areas.

SEMINAR #3 -- DEVELOPING VOCABULARY:

Reading Standard 20: Present and utilize a variety of strategies for learning content-area vocabulary; utilize strategies for conceptual development including graphic organizers; utilize context clues; utilize reference tools including dictionary, thesaurus, and electronic resources; utilize word study including roots, prefixes and suffixes.

SEMINAR #4 -- BUILDING STUDY SKILLS:

Reading Standard: 19: Understand that readers need to have and use a variety of word identification approaches and strategies in reading content area materials; model and teach strategies for using structural analysis, context clues, spelling, and prior knowledge. 26: Know and utilize a variety of study strategies for comprehending and learning content-area information; locate and use a variety of print, non-print, and electronic reference sources; vary reading rate according to purpose(s) and difficulty of the material; teach techniques for effective time management, organizing and remembering information and test taking.

SEMINAR #5 -- PROMOTING VISUAL LITERACY:

Reading Standard 22: Analyze how oral, written, and visual texts convey meaning; identify aspects of the craft of the speaker, writer, and illustrator that creatively express ideas in content areas; 23: understand the characteristics of texts and how textual aids enhance comprehension; include textual aids such as pictures, graphs, charts, italics bold, etc.; 28: Create an environment for authentic inquiry and effective oral, written, and visual discourse.

SEMINAR #6 -- MAKING READING INTERACTIVE:

Reading Standard: 21: Know and utilize a variety of ways to promote comprehension of texts within the content areas; use comprehension strategies that support interactions with a variety of texts before, during, and after reading; model a variety of fix-up strategies to use when meaning breaks down; model a variety of questioning strategies; connect prior knowledge with new information. 23: Recognize elements of fiction and non-fiction, including imaginative, narrative, and expository texts. 24: Understand the importance of having students respond in a variety of ways to texts; utilize personal, analytical, and critical response.

Technology Standard: 3b. Help students access and use information, technology, and other resources to become independent learners and problem solvers; Create opportunities for students to access and use a variety of sources of information including computers and other technology.