​​​​Jason Wakeman​

As I mentioned in my discussion of unit planning, I like to begin units with a short, frontloading sequence in order to establish the major skills students will be working on in the unit. When students are able to begin grappling with these key skills early on, they can begin practicing the task immediately. That way they have a chance to develop their own understanding of the task which we can then develop over the course of the unit. Talking about elements of narrative or arguments is all well and good but if they don't have an understating of how to write a narrative or argument, that knowledge has no relevance.  

Frontloading also allows me and my students to begin identifying areas of difficulty; something I talk about in more depth in my discussion of formative assessments (Domain 3, Artifact 2). 

When designing a frontloading experience, I attempt create lessons in which students can move through the entire task in one or two brief lessons. Usually this allows us to work through the task at least twice. I also try to select texts that are more accessible. The focus is on exploring the skill from start to finish, not working through a difficult text. Finally, I try to build the lessons around group work, which can help scaffold the task. If we are able to work through the task once as a group, once in groups, and once individually--or some similar variation--struggling students can more easily get the feedback and assistance they need. 

To the right you will see a gallery of picture maps constructed by students during our first narrative argument unit. For this activity, students read a number of vignettes each describing the home-life of a previous Boise High student. They were then asked pick which they thought was the home-life that had the strongest impact on that student's future. The picture needed to convey their claim and the supporting warrant and evidence, which allowed them to work through the Toulmin argument scheme we would use throughout the unit. In the activity, students worked in table groups to construct their picture maps before presenting and explaining them to the class. Students received feedback from their peers and Mrs. Daley and me while also observing how others approached the task.

The second gallery features to poster-sized graphic organizers from the fourth quarter thematic analysis unit I taught with our senior English students while substitute teaching. For this activity, we watched "Mouse-X," a highly-visual short film with very little dialogue. In table groups students then constructed graphic organizers outlining their analysis of the film. Each group had to identify two themes they saw in the film and describe how those interacted to create a new meaning and support that reading with evidence and commentary in order to begin practicing the thematic analysis standards outlined under Common Core (RL.11-12.2 & RL.11-12.1). As with the picture maps, students were then able to present their posters to the class for feedback. We were also able to repeat the task with a second short film, this time each student was responsible for their own graphic organizer so that they could practice the task individually. 

In both cases, I posted a few strong exemplars--the same ones displayed here--around the classroom to act as anchor posters for the unit. Whenever we discussed the skills later in the unit I was able to refer back to the examples.