Choose one of the documents. Write
its name and source here.
Think of two students with whom
you have worked. The first (A) is highly skilled, a reader, attentive, has
good work habits and, for his/her age, a pretty sophisticated world view.
The second (B) is the student about whom you worry the most because one or
more of these qualities is problematic. As you go through the rest of the
exercise, you might use these students as touchstones.
What prior knowledge will the
student have to bring to this document to make sense of it?
Does A have it? If not, probably
no one else does. In that case, does it make sense to teach that needed
information? How will you do it? How much time will it take to do it?
Do the answers to these questions rule out this document as a good choice?
Does B have it? If not, what
will you do to support him/her and other students who don't have it?
Where's your rule-out line
on prior knowledge? How many people need to show up without the right
prior information before you say "never mind"?
What reading and related language
skills will students need to be able to make sense of the document?
Does A have them? If not,
probably no one else does. In that case, does it make sense to teach those
needed skills? How will you do it? How much time will it take to do it?
Do the answers to these questions rule out this document as a good choice?
Does B have them? If not,
what will you do to support him/her and other students who don't have
them?
Where's your rule-out line
on prior knowledge? How many people need to show up without the right
skills before you say "never mind"?
How much time do you feel it should
take for your average student to read and process the document? What will
you do to support students who need more time?
What tech skills will students
need? How will you support students who don't have these?
What group work skills will students
need? How will you support students who don't have these?
