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Teacher's Guide for COBBLESTONE ® Inventions of the 1800sJanuary 2005
Teacher's Guide prepared by: Mary Shea, Ph.D. Dr. Shea teaches graduate literacy courses and directs the Graduate Literacy Program at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY.
The following guide is designed as an extension to the reading (in whole class or small groups) and discussion of this issue of COBBLESTONE ®. The activities presented would complement and integrate the knowledge students acquire from the issue, textbook information, and other ancillary sources used in a study of inventions and inventors and how both have affected the way we live, our traditions, jobs, and society as a whole.
A focus will be on factors that drove the creative thinking from which inventions sprang and the ordinary people who invented methods and machines that changed our lives in powerful ways. Students will examine the needs that inspired creative problem-solving, the people who responded to the challenge, and the results of their thinking and experimenting.
Students will generate questions before reading each article. These will set a purpose for reading and guide comprehension and discussion of content. Purpose setting before reading enhances personal construction of meaning and attention to key elements in a selection that relate to that purpose. Students will reread, gather information and record notes on a summary organizer. They'll also interview people outside of school to identify a need or problem that needs an invention. An extension activity option is suggested for a later time in the year. This would involve running an "Invention Convention" where students could 'showcase' their own creations.
Objective:
Through the activities designed for this issue, students will: - generate thoughtful questions in pre-reading to guide thinking at surface (literal) and deep levels (e.g. interpretation, critical thinking) while reading.
- read for understanding as reflected in their discussion of articles.
- sufficiently support ideas with 'evidence' from the text or other sources.
- identify/explain the need or problem that motivated various inventions described in articles.
- discuss how each invention affected lives and/or our society as a whole.
- appropriately and efficiently record notes on the summary organizer.
- identify a need or problem awaiting an inventive solution.
- summarize their informant's response to the interview question, meeting expected criteria for quality writing in this format.
- possibly create an invention for the "Invention Convention" (optional).
- work effectively in groups and with partners to complete assigned tasks.
Bloom's Taxonomy (level of skills): Knowledge, Comprehension, Analysis, Application, Synthesis
Materials: Anticipatory Set (Motivation): - Have the following statement on the board or on a transparency. "Necessity is the mother of invention." Ask students to react to the statement with comments, questions, or interpretations.
- Develop the concept that needs or problems stimulate some people to invent solutions. This kind of creative thinking led to the invention of many everyday tools, processes, machines, and materials that we use everyday. Often, ordinary people were responsible for these inventions and ordinary people continue to invent things today.
- Tell the students that, as we read the articles in this issue of COBBLESTONE ®, we'll construct a summary organizer of the needs or problems that stimulated creative thinking, each inventor, his/her invention, and how that invention changed our lives.
Teacher Input: - Introduce the January 2005 COBBLESTONE ® issue, Awesome Inventions That Changed our Lives. Have students examine, read, and discuss the magazine's cover page, About the Cover, and the Editor's Note. Invite comments and predictions about content and information they expect to find and/or questions they have. Record these on chart paper.
In this issue, I predict we'll learn about:
1. . . .
2. . . .
As students read and discuss the issue, these will be revisited.
- The teacher will read-aloud the Editor's Note page, stopping frequently to allow for students' comments, reactions and queries. Explain the patent (and trademark) process as presented in the figure.
- Have students skim the first article, "Off to a Good Start," noting captions and illustrations. Invite them to share predictions on information they expect to find in the article as well as additional questions they hope will be answered. Record these on the chart paper.
In this article, I predict we'll learn about:
1. . . .
2. . . .
As students read and discuss the article, these will be revisited.
- Read-aloud the beginning of the article, page 4 to the end of the paragraph at the top of page 5.
- Introduce the summary organizer. Model how to reread for information and how to record specific details on the organizer.
- Record/reveal information on the transparency summary organizer as students record it on their own copy.
Guided Practice: - Direct students to continue reading the article. Circulate to assist as needed.
- When all have completed the reading, initiate a discussion of the content. The discussion will expand from retelling to include comments, reactions, and wonderings.
- Direct students to reread the pages, select information for their summary organizer, and record it appropriately.
Closure: - Have students share the information they've recorded on their organizer with a partner.
- Students can add information as needed following their sharing.
- Have partners share key points they've recorded with the whole group.
Repeat the Teacher Input and Guided Practice steps for other articles until the issue is completed and the summary organizer has been filled in.
Independent Practice:
Have students respond to the following in their journals after interviewing people outside of school. What need or problem do you have in your everyday life that a new invention would solve? Students will share their journal entries when these are completed.
Optional Extension
Students will be introduced to the idea of a class-wide or school-wide "Invention Convention." They could use the problem identified by their interviewee as a starting point for an invention.
A timeline for submission, designing, and presenting will be shared. The following websites provide suggestions and guidelines for such an event. Evaluation:
With anecdotal notes of observations during discussions, review of students' summary organizers, and an evaluation of students' journal entries, the teacher will assess students' ability to: - generate prediction/questions in prereading that provoke inquiry at surface (literal) and deep levels (interpretation, drawing conclusions, evaluating, etc.). These were charted.
- read with understanding. This is indicated by their predictions posed in pre-reading, expressed understanding of the content, and identification of connections.
- recognize needs or problems that led to inventions.
- record information appropriately in the organizer provided.
- work effectively in a variety of grouping formats - whole class, with a partner, and individually.
- gather information in an interview that addresses the question posed.
- write a summary of their interview that includes information shared by the informant. Written work will be characterized by clarity of expression, substantive information, personal voice, and appropriate grammar and spelling.
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