Article Summary for Lucy Peters

[Lucy Elise Peters]

Here is my article summary, I will also have copies available in the morning at class.  Sorry, my errand went haywire.  --Lucy

NNWP-ISI:  Lucy Peters

Schmoker, M.
(April, 2007) Reading, writing, and thinking
for all.  Educational Leadership,       Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 64 (7), 63-66.  Retrieved from EBSCO database.    

Summary:

This article
outlines the importance of common curriculum and challenging discussion to
improve students’ test scores.  The
article stresses the importance of this type of argumentative literature to
engage students in discussion and exchange. 
Schmoker found in his study that college bound students are usually
taught with this type of method.  This is
not always the case with students who plan to enter the workforce or attend an
alternative post-secondary school.  Most
of these students do not enroll in AP classes where argumentative discussion
skills are taught.  Student’s schema
needs to be challenged, and critical thinking skills need to be honed.   Schmoker refers to passages he wrote with
Marzano, pertaining to cross curricular rigor and focus.  He refers to two schools, one serving
impoverished children and one a charter prep school, to compare the strategy of
argumentative literacy.   Schmoker
concludes the article with the evidence of higher quality work being the payoff
of this strategy for learning. 

Analysis:

This article
pertains to my presentation because the strategy of presenting students with
challenging literature, or questions to discuss and respond to is what I hope
to implement this next school year.  I
currently have students engage in lower level, (1-3), Bloom’s vocabulary for
recall and listing activities. I would like this next year to utilize this type
of reading and discussion to evoke a better understanding for students in my
Culinary Arts program, (i.e. 4-6 level for critical thinking.) 

Many of the
students in my program may attend alternative post-secondary institutions.  I currently meet with my district colleagues
to discuss many topics.  I want to
develop a common curriculum for the Culinary classes in Washoe County School
District, one that involves in depth analysis of our text and encourages deeper
thinking of our students. 

I hope to
engage students with the journaling of critical thinking questions to encourage
authentic writing and discussion with my culinary students.  After, I hope to engage my Foods class
students to respond to the culinary students to give feedback on their written
work.  The title of the article stresses
the importance of writing for all segments of society, an argument I definitely
believe in.