Language Arts At Sorenson's Ranch School

The Language Arts classes at Sorenson’s Ranch School are continuing to follow the Common Core curriculum as they learn how to become better writers through use of the writing process and the Six Traits of Writing. By understanding the efficacy of each step of the writing process, students continue to strengthen their ability to plan, write, revise, and publish content-rich, thoughtful essays. During this process, students focus on the Six Traits of writing so that their writing becomes more focused to a specific purpose and provides excellent reasoning backed by research. The Common Core is addressed as students: 1. Learn to develop good writing habits through frequent reading and writing. 2. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. 3. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 4. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. 5. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. 6. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking; demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Mind Mapping for Research and Notes

There are several different methods for taking notes. In college, this author used the Harvard method almost exclusively. This author hadn’t learned any other methods for taking notes, and it seemed to work okay. Usually when taking notes, people end up with pages of detail on each specific sub-topic. However, there is not any overall picture of how these bits of information fit together in the main topic or with each other. This article will discuss a method for taking notes that will overcome this shortcoming of traditional note taking. This form of taking notes is called Mind Mapping, Concept Mapping, Spray Diagrams, or Spider Diagrams. Note: “Mind Map” is a trademark of the Buzan Organization (www.buzan.com). There is no association between Sorenson’s Ranch School and Buzan. Mind Maps were developed by Tony Buzan. They are useful for brainstorming, summarizing, consolidating, studying, memorizing, and thinking through information. Drawing a mind map is simple. Write the main topic in the center of a page, and circle it. Then, draw lines out from the main topic and write sub-topics on the lines. More detail can be added to the sub-topics by drawing further lines out from the primary sub-topics. Effective mind maps can be drawn by using single words/simple phrases, printing words, using colors to differentiate separate ideas from one another, and linking sub-topics with lines to show relationships between them. Working as a teacher in a high school/middle school environment such as Sorenson’s Ranch School makes Mind Mapping especially useful to help students who don’t organize information well. This method of note taking makes a huge improvement in retention of information and reduces frustration with learning about subjects in classes, in this author’s experience. Mind maps generally take up one side of one page, and are meant to make associations, as well as generate new ideas. Students can also add to a mind map once new information is discovered on the topic. So, start with a new subject you are interested in researching, and start mind mapping.

Proper Teaching in the Classroom Involving the Scientific Method

I always try to incorporate the scientific method into my classroom teaching. Let’s take a research report for example. Students always ask me what the steps are for writing a research report. I then respond stating the scientific method steps which flow like this: 1) State the problem (Find a problem to solve) 2) Collect data and research the problem 3) Form a hypothesis 4) Test the hypothesis 5) Come to a conclusion about the problem 6) State whether it has been solved or not (Theory step) Take the following example for instance. Suppose a baseball player breaks his bat at baseball practice. At this point, he obviously has a problem. He needs a new bat! He then begins to ask his coaches about what bats are the best bats to hit with. He also goes to the local sporting goods place and asks about the best bats. He also searches the internet for the best bats and then formulates that the Demarini T6 bat is the best. The coaches also mentioned that the Easton Stealth was a good bat. To test these bats, he then approaches the sporting goods owner and asks if he could use the two demo models. He takes 100 swings with the Demarini and hits 5 home runs, 10 doubles, and 7 triples while at practice. He then swings 100 times with the Easton Stealth and hits 4 home runs, 6 triples, and 7 doubles. He also notes that he likes the feel of the Demarini much more. He then draws a conclusion that the Demarini is better and forms a theory, that until proven false will mean that he will purchase and use the Demarini. I then explain that this problem solving method can be used with any problem in life that students may encounter. As students become better at recognizing and applying the steps of the scientific method, this technique taught in the classroom will make life much easier for students in the future.

Common Core Based Curriculum at Sorenson's Ranch School

A new teacher, new books, and a new Common Core-based curriculum have been welcomed to the Language Arts department at Sorenson’s Ranch School. While school is year round at Sorenson’s Ranch and a new school year comes more often than once a year (because students work through classes at their own pace), the current changes at Sorenson’s have been notable for students and staff. Christy Parrish, recently of Monument Valley High School on the Navajo Reservation, has relocated to Koosharem, Utah to fill the post of Language Arts Teacher here at Sorenson’s Ranch. She trained to become a teacher at BYU in Provo, Utah. During her training, she took specialty classes in ESL which prepared her to scaffold her lessons based on students’ understanding and unique needs. She also studied languages extensively and is thrilled to be able to share her love of language and love of reading with all students she comes into contact with. Additionally, Christy has completed the coursework for a Reading Specialist. Understanding how students develop in their reading as they progress through school has helped her to carefully select and recommend engaging and interesting reading assignments for her students. She is becoming an integral part of both Sorenson’s Ranch School and the Koosharem community. Christy is currently writing new Common Core-based curriculum for the Language Arts classes. While it is no easy feat to concurrently teach and prepare courses for 6th through 12th grade, she is thrilled to have 2012 WriteSource books as a guide to her preparation of writing projects, reading assignments and formative assessments that align with the Utah Common Core. Christy is using the Utah Core to guide all aspects of the Language Arts courses and will continue to create lessons and activities that will meet the unique needs of Sorenson’s Ranch students. As students study the writing process and learn to revise and edit their own work, their own problem-solving and cognitive processes will be strengthened. As students use the Six Traits of writing (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions) to tailor their writing for specific audiences, they will be prepared to write for many real-life occasions. Sorenson’s Ranch School graduates may choose to apply for college, prepare for a technical school or present themselves as the best possible candidate for employment. In all of these potential futures they have to choose from, the burgeoning curriculum at this school gives students the skills and information needed for them to succeed in their future learning or employment opportunities.

New Accreditation under AdvancED

Sorenson’s Ranch School will be going through the accreditation process during the next year. Our accreditation team visit is scheduled for April of 2014. During the last year, the Utah State Office of Education (USOE) has decided to have all schools accredited by AdvancED, an organization which, with the addition of the states in the old Northwest Association, currently accredits schools in forty of the fifty states. Under the old system, a school could earn a maximum term of six years if the visiting team felt that the school was doing a very good job, a 3 year term if the team felt somewhat less confident about the schools performance, or a one year term if the team had significant reservations about the academic environment. The new system allows for only two outcomes: either accreditation is renewed for a five year term, or accreditation is denied. The criteria for accreditation have changed somewhat under AdvancED, and as a result, we will be changing the ways that we do some things in our school. One third of our faculty attended a workshop sponsored by the USOE last fall which was designed to acquaint school personnel with the new standards and indicators. In addition, our principal was able to participate in three accreditation team visits during the month of April. He reported that this experience was very helpful, not only because he had the chance to go over the standards and indicators in depth with the other members of the visiting team, but also because he was able to see how other schools with a mission similar to ours are implementing reforms and gathering data to comply with the new standards. As part of this process, a new stakeholder survey will be conducted within the next few months which will give respondents an opportunity to give us feedback on our performance and make suggestions about how we can better serve our students and their families. Along with implementing suggestions from our stakeholder surveys, we will be setting up some new assessments to help us better measure where our students are academically when they come to us and how much learning has taken place while they attended our school. The visiting team consists of a representative from the USOE (representing AdvancED) and other education professionals from similar schools. Together, these members conduct classroom observations, faculty and support personnel interviews, stakeholder interviews, and a documentation review in an effort to accurately assess whether or not the school is adequately performing its stated mission and complying with the stated objectives of AdvancED and the USOE. This process allows the school to be commended for “powerful practices” and to be given “required actions” in those areas that the team feels need improvement. We welcome the chance to work our way through the process of self-evaluation and the formal team visit in the coming months.

Teaching Philosophy

As a classroom teacher, I believe that it is important to develop a working relationship with students. It is important to communicate in some way daily with each student, so that he/she feels comfortable to learn in my classroom. Students can all learn if the environment is correct. I am not saying that a teacher will get along with every student all the time, but there needs to be a mutual respect in the classroom in order for learning to take place. I want the students to feel success. Success breeds success. Without this feeling of success, goals will not be reached. One thing is for sure, a teacher better teach because he/she enjoys teaching or students will figure it out very quickly. I really enjoy watching students catch up and excel with their academic goals. It is a great joy to watch the eyes of student light up (and even become full of tears at times) from their successes in the classroom. Watching students work really hard on Spanish pronunciation only to see them succeed is a great reward to both the student and to me. I have come to realize my successes here through understanding and developing my listening skills. It does not do any good to provide lip service here without any action. Students can tell if a person is genuine or not. I love teaching and guiding my students to success. For these reasons, I believe we have the ability to change lives at SRS. Steve Nielson, Teacher SRS

Our Trip to the Utah Shakespearean Festival

I have asked two students to write about our trip to the Shakespearean Festival, and I wanted to preface their remarks by saying that we go to the festival for the students to learn many lessons. One of these lessons is how to be courteous at a formal play and how to have respect for other patrons and the actors. The Shakespearean Festival offers not only plays by Shakespeare but also many other famous playwrights. We want the students to come away learning something valuable. In this situation, the students learned about the author of “Scapin”, Moliere, and the style in which he wrote. We also talk about the deeper meanings of the plays we attend. It is important to have follow-up discussions so that the students learn the importance of Shakespeare and other authors to the literary canon. The Shakespearean Festival has been recognized with a Tony award. To be able to yearly attend such a magnificent production is truly a gift. Students’ viewpoints: On August 21, Donny and Tina Somers, Ron Cazier and Justin Barrie, took 10 boys and 10 girls, level 3 and higher to the World Renowned Utah Shakespearean Festival. After driving to Cedar City, Utah, we arrived at a local park where we enjoyed a wonderful picnic lunch. After lunch, we drove directly to the Randall L. Jones Theatre to watch the play, “Scapin”, a French adaptation from Moliere. When we walked into the building, it was so beautiful and a man was playing piano and they were songs from “Phantom of the Opera.” We walked up to the balcony in the theatre and took our seats. The play began, and it was so funny. It was about the high-jinx of two servants and the families they worked for. The play kept us laughing the entire 2 hrs. We were there. And the end of the play turned out well for all the characters involved. After that, we went to Taco Bell for dinner and we got to have tons of food. It was delicious! Then, we walked across the street and got to experience a new ice cream adventure, Root Beer ice cream. It was so good too. We then loaded up an headed for home. We had a fun-filled day at the festival and we couldn’t quit talking about it all the way home. We are so thankful to Jill for allowing us to go each year. This was written by Students of Sorenson’s Ranch School