Communication Activity

Title: Know Your Roots!

Subject: English II

Description: Students will choose 5 words from this list that they belief represent technical, academic English words used in multiple academic content areas (1A). Words will be approved by the teacher prior to working on the following objectives/tasks. For each of the 5 words:

(1) Analyze the word's overall current denotative and connotative meaning (1E)

(2) Analyze the root(s) involved for each word and determine (1) denotative root meaning and (2) root origin/history (1A, 1D)

(3) Analyze the word's etymology and history in light of #2. How has the meaning of the word changed over time? How does an understanding of the root's meaning and origin deepen an understanding of the word's denotative and connotative meaning today? (1A, 1D, 1E)

Students will choose from Mural.ly, Keynote, and Google Presentations for presenting their findings. In addition to powerful productivity features, each tool has various asynchronous communication potential described below for use with each other and the teacher throughout the creation of their project.

(1) Mural.ly: Students will create their own Mural for the project and share it with each other (and the teacher) so that all Mural contributions and activity is logged by user.  Students will post their ideas about everything from structuring their presentation to presenting their content on the Mural itself. Students will setup their Mural's notifications so that they are emailed anytime there is activity on their Mural.   

(2) Keynote: Students will create Keynote presentations and share them with edit rights with each other and the teacher. One slide, which will become the last slide of the presentation once the presentation is finalized, will be devoted pre-presentation brainstorming and planning. Through the asynchronous placement of content on the slide by students, and the use of comments within the slide(s), ideas and contributions will be logged and accessible by all, including the teacher. 

(3) Google Presentation: Students will create one presentation and share it among all students in the group and their teacher with edit rights. One slide, which will become the last slide of the presentation once the presentation is finalized, will be devoted pre-presentation brainstorming and planning. Through the asynchronous placement of content on the slide by students, Google Presentation's revision history, and the use of comments within the slide(s), ideas and contributions will be logged and accessible by all, including the teacher. 

Enhancing Learning & Critical Thinking Addressed:

All three of these tools will offer opportunities to enhance learning as students will be communicating and collaborating on the same project/presentation. Ideas, content creation/modification, and reflection on all of the above will all be required and chronicled. Through the use of these digital tools, not only will the teacher be able to see who did what and when, but also why.  Through this continued emphasis on chronicling "the why" throughout the creation process, students will gain valuable insight into their own thinking, and critically compare it to their peers. Teachers will be a part of the learning and creation process from the beginning, monitoring and offering course adjustments only when necessary, but in a way that fosters student reflection. This asynchronous interaction will also afford opportunities for the teacher to encourage students to reflect on their learning and the collaboration process itself, and to chronicle that reflection throughout the learning process.

TEKS:

(1)  Reading/Vocabulary Development. Students understand new vocabulary and use it when reading and writing. Students are expected to:

(A)  determine the meaning of grade-level technical academic English words in multiple content areas (e.g., science, mathematics, social studies, the arts) derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots and affixes;

(D)  show the relationship between the origins and meaning of foreign words or phrases used frequently in written English and historical events or developments (e.g., glasnost, avant-garde, coup d'état); and

(E)  use a dictionary, a glossary, or a thesaurus (printed or electronic) to determine or confirm the meanings of words and phrases, including their connotations and denotations, and their etymology.

Sources:

Roots: https://www.msu.edu/~defores1/gre/roots/gre_rts_afx2.htm

TEKS: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter110/ch110c.html#110.32