GCHS Language Arts

This forum has been created for the Garden City High School Language Arts Team. It will provide us with a virtual location to communicate with each other.

To post a comment, ask a question, request a resource, or share an idea with the team, click on the "Add new comment" button below.

Please feel free to email or call Kristi directly for assistance: kristio@essdack.org * 620-694-7561

November 2008:

• Announcements, notes, and changes to curriculum

December 2008:

• Agenda for Dec 9-10 Professional Development
• Notes & Recommendations following Dec 9-10 PD
• Text Structure PowerPoint
• Passages - Expository, Persuasive, & Technical
• Good Reading on the Web - Links to variety of sites to find engaging articles for teens
• Kansas Reading Standards Chart (one-page, condensed)
• High School Flip Chart - Kansas Reading Standards
• Question Stems for tested reading indicators
• Gradual Release of Responsibility Chart

January 2009:

• Text Structure Overview -Lesson Plan for two-week text structure unit for 10th & 11th grade English
• Pre-test and Key to Pre-test for 2 week Text Structure Unit
• PowerPoint for Week 1 -Targeting Text Structure to Improve Reading: (Allow extra time for download). Teaching notes are provided in the "Notes" section of each PPT slide.
  • Click here to download a six-slide-per-page version (without notes). This will provide a shorter copy for teachers to print.
  • Click here to download a PDF version (without notes). You should not need this unless you are unable to open the PPT.
  • Handouts to print for Week 1
    • Click here to download graphic organizers to copy for students.
    • Click here to download student and teacher copies of text structure activities and articles.
• PowerPoint for Week 2-Targeting Text Structure to Improve Reading: (Allow extra time for download). Teaching notes are provided in the "Notes" section of each PPT slide.
  • Passages for Week 2 (by text structure)
  • Handout for Week 2: Text Structure Frames

  Post-test and Key to Post-Test for Text Structure Unit

• • Jan 15-16 Curriculum Development
    • • Agenda (revised)
      • Curriculum Unit Development Protocol
      • Fry Readability Tool
      • Reading Standards Sort Activity
      • Lesson Plan Website - readwritethink.org
      • Scholastic Classroom Magazines HS
      • KSDE Learning Station Test Builder
        • KanEd Web Desktop
      • Instructional Guides - Note: These are all book-length documents and will take a few minutes to download.
        • Florida Comprehension PD Book
        • Reading Teacher's Sourcebook
        • Texas Secondary Struggling Readers Guide
        • Strategies to Guide Learning 4-12

    Sort Activities

    • Figurative Language Definitions Sort - Cut these examples of figurative language and their definitions into strips. Make enough for 4-5 groups. Arrange students into small groups to sort and discuss.
      
    • Figurative Language Meanings Sort - Cut these examples of figurative language and their literal meanings into strips. Make enough for 4-5 groups. Arrange students in small groups to sort and discuss.
    • Text Structure Sort - Cut-apart these paragraphs and ask students to use signal words and phrases to identify the main text structure of each paragraph.
    • Reading Standards Sort - Have students sort these reading terms into their appropriate categories of assessed reading indicators.

February 2009

Collaborative Test Prep Units - developed by GCHS LA Teachers

• Expository & Technical Units - Main Idea, Inferences, Summarizing
  • Pre-Test and Key to Pre-Test (for both 10th & 11th)
  • Post-Test and Key to Post-Test (for both 10th & 11th)
  • 10th Lesson Plan & Handouts (VanTreese, Johnson)
  • 10th PowerPoint (VanTreese, Johnson)
  • 10th Lesson Plan & Handouts (Hurd, Witt)
  • 10th PowerPoint (Hurd, Witt)

• Narrative Units - plot, subplot/parallel epd., character, setting
  • Pre-Test and Key to Pre-Test (for both 10th & 11th)
  • Post-Test and Key to Post-Test (for both 10th & 11th)
  • 10th Lesson Plan (Regier, Farrell, Sandiego)
  • 10th PowerPoint and Handouts (Regier, Farrell, Sandiego)
  • 11th Lesson Plan and Hero Log (Upton, Dugaard, Terpstra)
  • 11th Narrative Handouts and extra Expository Handouts for extending the narrative lessons into a unit on heroes (Upton, Dugaard, Terpstra)

• Persuasive Units - persuasive techniques, author's purpose, fact/opinion/bias, text features
  • Pre-Test and Key to Pre-Test (for both 10th & 11th)
  • Post-Test and Key to Post-Test (for both 10th & 11th)
  • 10th Lesson Plan and Handouts (Edwards, Byrne, Long)
  • 10th PowerPoint (Edwards, Byrne, Long)
  • 11th Lesson Plan and Handouts (Shull, Kelly)
  • 11th PowerPoint (Shull, Kelly, Hurd) *See note in Lesson Plan.