[NIFL-4EFF:2943] Re: Shared Priorities

From: David Rosen (DJRosen@theworld.com)
Date: Sat Apr 02 2005 - 13:11:31 EST


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From: David Rosen <DJRosen@theworld.com>
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Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2943] Re: Shared Priorities
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FirstFind Correction:

Sorry. The correct Web address for FirstFind is:

http://firstfind.info



David J. Rosen
djrosen@comcast.net

On Apr 2, 2005, at 1:04 PM, David Rosen wrote:

> Amy and others,
>
> On Mar 23, 2005, at 12:42 PM, Amy R. Trawick wrote:
>>
>> I think about a shared priority as being a 'hot topic' or a
>> student-generated unit of study through which skills are used and 
>> developed.
>> I am not in the classroom right now but am working with teachers who,
>> although they value using life-based topics/activities to guide 
>> instruction,
>> find it a challenge to find topics and activities that are meaningful 
>> to
>> students.  If anyone has used a technique or an approach that worked 
>> well
>> for you in identifying a shared priority, I think a bunch of us would
>> benefit from your sharing that on the list.
>
> Amy, sometimes narrowing the topic area helps a group choose a topic 
> they are all interested in.  In Massachusetts the Department of 
> Education has funded small, participatory grants on health literacy, 
> for example.  The teacher tells the students in a class that they need 
> to come up with a health topic that is important to everyone in the 
> class.  Health is often a good area to start with.  Another is "next 
> steps: work or college." Another is "schools: how the K-12 schools 
> work."  If you look at www.firstfind.org -- a collection of plain 
> English web pages for low-literate adults who go to libraries to get 
> information, the topics chosen are for the most part ones which are of 
> high interest to adult learners.
>
> It helps sometimes to define what the product is that the class will 
> produce: a brochure, newsletter, presentation (for other groups) web 
> page, health fair, etc.
>
> Once the topic area is settled, brainstorming questions -- in the 
> class -- is the next step.  Then these can be voted on -- for 
> importance to the students -- or pairs or small groups of students can 
> investigate certain questions.
>
> If you are interested I can send some links to web-based student 
> projects in health, and next steps work or college,  that were made 
> using this process.
>
> Hope this is what you were asking for.
>
> David
>
> David J. Rosen
> djrosen@comcast.net
>



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