SECNDED 426 Methods of Teaching English

Fall 2007

Resource Guide For Planning

Due September 17, 2007

Purpose of the assignment: To be able to plan instruction in student teaching and beyond, it is useful to be able to locate a variety of resources to enrich students’ experience.

WTS Addressed: 1, 2

Description: Prepare a 300-500 word (2-3 pages) essay review of a set of five planning resources you might use when putting together a lesson or unit on a single topic. The guide is to be shared with other teachers who might be planning a lesson on the same topic (a work of literature, a theme, an aspect of spoken language or grammar, a reading strategy, etc.)

Specific steps:

1. Select a topic that you might be called upon to teach in a middle- or high-school English class.
   
   
2. Browse library and other resources related to the topic.
   
   
3. Select the five resources that look to be the most useful to you in the planning process. Among them, be sure to include
1. At least one lesson plan or teaching activity
2. At least one print source
3. At least one nonprint/media source
   
   
4. Write a well-organized essay in which you do the following:
1. Introduce the topic and say why you think it’s important for teaching
2. Introduce the set of resources with some general characterization
3. Describe each resource with a paragraph that starts with the complete bibliographic citation (include right in the text rather than in a list of references)
4. Conclude with an evaluative paragraph stating how, and to what extent, the resources might be useful for instruction.

Evaluation criteria:

Papers will be evaluated on

• Evidence of understanding of the subject
• Selection of resources in appropriate categories
• Organization and clarity of writing