Lesson
Review 1 ASE
Morning October
2004
Tuesday, October
26, 2004 8
Learners present. 3.25
hours
--Means and varieties of civic participation
(Power, Authority, & Participation)
Recognize a speaker's
point of view (Critical Thinking) CREATIVE THINKING - Generate new ideas
(Thinking Skills)
Before Alfred J. Siano arrived at 10:00 we spent the first hour
generating questions and comments in
three areas
1. Growth, Development, and the Economy (including change, loss of old
factory jobs, the need for
new jobs, retail stores, Wal-Mart, and high rents)
2. Levels of government under Federalism and their revenue and spending
systems (Federal, State, and
Local systems, taxes, and
grants, Constitutions and Charters, Limited Government and free enterprise(
3. Politics and Participation (We didn't spend much time on political
parties and factions except to note
that they exist. Alfred did go
through the recent history of moving from a Limited Town Meeting to a
Board of Selectmen/Town Manager system to the current system with a
strong Mayor and a Council.
He also went over how the
Council Meetings were run with a standing agenda where "New
Business" is strictly defined.
Alfred invited everyone to watch City Council Meetings on Channel 15 or
to come to City Hall on
every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month.
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Monday, October 25,
2004 10
Learners present. 3.25
hours
--
Awareness of rules for grammar and mechanics (Writing) Development of
comprehension strategies
(Reading) INTERPRET & COMMUNICATE INFORMATION (Information
(Acquiring and Using))
We reviewed "Adjectives Shifted Out of Order, "Participle
Phrases", and
"Absolutes" before working
with Appositive, those helpful little parenthetical phrases.
We didn't get a chance to make up sentences with appositives during
Group Time, but will do that next
Monday. We did spend a lot of
time identifying appositives and discussing how they are used so
frequently on the GED. (The GED
almost never uses difficult or technical terms without explaining
them. One of the ways to explain
a term is to use an appositive.)
Marguerite started the class with questions and discussion about the
words "relic" and "obsolete".
The best sentences today came from the review of "absolutes"
Hope's: "Stomachs churning, the students waited in
line for the mystery meats."
Irene's: "Ankle bleeding, Curt Shilling took to the
mound"
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Thursday, October
21, 2004 9
Learners present. 3.25
hours
-- human body systems (physical, mental,
social, and spiritual), their interdependence, and their roles in
health protection (Systems and
Interdependence) Strategic Reading
(Reading) How everything is made up
of a small number of building blocks
(Similarity and Diversity) REASONING - Discover rules/principles
underlying relationships between various
objects & apply them to problem solving (Thinking Skills)
Protein Synthesis: Process 2
(TRANSLATION)
Started with a surprise (open book, open mouth) Quiz on what we've
covered in Protein Synthesis so
far.
After another review activity, we then did a Cloze Reading activity
(with lots of diagrams and tables)
covering TRANSLATION (when the genetic code is converted into a chain of
amino acids). This
time people all worked together in small groups and there were very few
items wrong when we went
over the answers.
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Wednesday, October
20, 2004 10 Learners
present. 3.25
hours
--
Use computers as learning & research tool (Critical Thinking)
Articulate and represent number and data
relationships, using words, tables, graphs, and rules (Patterns,
Relationships & Functions) Technology as a
process of problem solving (Doing Science
& Technology) REASONING - Discover rules/principles underlying
relationships between various objects & apply them to problem
solving (Thinking Skills)
Linear Functions and Coordinate
Graphing
We filled in x,y function tables using simple linear equations. People entered these tables into Excel
and used the X,Y scatterpoint graph functions to graph straight
lines. (If the line was straight all
the
calculations were correct.).
Some learners experimented with spreadsheet functions to . . .
1. Make the spreadsheet do calculations, and
2. Graph lines with curves
A few people used graph paper to plot lines based on equations.
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Monday, October 18,
2004 9
Learners present. 3.25
hours
--
Awareness of rules for grammar and mechanics (Writing) SEE WITH THE MIND'S EYE - Organize &
process symbols, pictures, graphs,
objects, and other information (Thinking Skills)
An Absolute is a phrase set off by commas - based on a noun followed by
a participle. It is a creative
writing devise designed to "zoom in" onto a detail or part of
a scene.
We started by reviewing "Adjectives Shifted out of Order" and
"Participles"
Then we did sentence writing exercises based on Absolutes like . . .
Eyes flashing,
Lips quivering,
Heels clicking,
Clouds thundering,
Hopes falling,
We wrote sentences like.
Fists clenching, King George III read the Declaration of Independence.
Eyes darting, the officer saluted crisply.
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Thursday, October
14, 2004 7
Learners present. 3.25
hours
-- human body systems (physical, mental,
social, and spiritual), their interdependence, and their roles in
health protection (Systems and
Interdependence) Develop writing vocabulary (Writing) Development of
comprehension strategies (Reading) Use appropriate tools for gathering
information (Critical Thinking)
How everything is made up of a small
number of building blocks (Similarity and Diversity) INTERPRET &
COMMUNICATE INFORMATION (Information
(Acquiring and Using))
We started with a review. People
had time to write down all that they remembered about protein
synthesis. We were able to turn
these into board notes which people could discuss and question.
Then we did a Cloze reading activity on "Transcription" (coping
the code from DNA to RNA) first
individually (or in small groups) and then all together. (Some people took home extra
"blanks" for
review).
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Wednesday, October
13, 2004 10 Learners
present. 3.25
hours
--
Articulate and represent number and data relationships, using words,
tables, graphs, and rules
(Patterns, Relationships &
Functions) USE COMPUTERS TO PROCESS
INFORMATION (Information
People received some graphs and tables portraying how tax dollars are
spent by the federal
government.
They were asked to make two graphs based on some given spending
categories.
Suggestions for basing the graph were:
The Status Quo - the state of things NOW
The Feasible - what is possible or DOABLE
The IDEAL - what would be perfect (Utopia = "nowhere"?)
People were very creative: not everybody used Excel.
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Tuesday, October
12, 2004 10
Learners present. 3.25
hours
--
Express thoughts in writing (Writing) WRITING - Communicate thoughts, ideas & information in
writing; Create documents (letters,
directions, reports, graphs) (Basic Skills)
How to make this class better
Looked at the Student Handbook after processing questions like:
How do you learn?
How do these classes differed from what you expected?
Has the way you learn changed?
Why? Why not? How?
What should there be more of in these classes?
What should there be less of in these classes?
People did writing as well as discussion before we spent some time
reviewing key sections of the
student handbook.
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Thursday, October
07, 2004 12
Learners present. 3.25
hours
-- human body systems (physical, mental,
social, and spiritual), their interdependence, and their roles in
health protection (Systems and
Interdependence) Development of
comprehension strategies (Reading)
How
everything is made up of a small number of
building blocks (Similarity and Diversity) READING - Locate,
understand & interpret written
information in prose and documents (manuals, graphs, and schedules) (Basic
First we did an "overview" of an overview of this Unit.
This consisted in reviewing our "Building Blocks of Life"
framework and also giving broad definitions
to the major processes involved in Protein Synthesis.
Then we did a "CLOZE" close reading activity covering a broad
overview of some of the steps and
concepts of Protein Synthesis.
People could use information on the board, diagrams, and
grammatical/contextual cues to "fill in the blanks."
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Wednesday, October
06, 2004 12 Learners
present. 3.25
hours
--Means and varieties of civic participation
(Power, Authority, & Participation)
Construct, read &
interpret tables, charts & graphs
(Statistics and Probability) How models assist or hinder us in problem
solving (Measurement, Magnitude, and
Models) Participate as a TEAM MEMBER - Contribute to group effort
(Interpersonal Skills (Working with
Others))
Class started with a discussion about the debates and the meaning and
responsibilities of "citizenship".
There were also some issues that came up around the RESPONSIBILITIES of
citizenship/membership in this class.
We assume that people sometimes come late due to
circumstances beyond their control, but there is no toleration for being
late because you were hanging
out on the sidewalk . . .
Graphs . . . (working definition: a graph is numeric information
represented by a 'picture')
1. People found a graph (on the
internet or GED book)
2. They made a numeric table based
on that graph
3. They entered the table into Excel
and "remade" the original graph from those numbers.
People spent a lot of time getting the tables arranged so the program
could make the graph. They also
spent time formatting and labeling the graph so it could be
understood. People also had to check
and
make sure that the program was creating a graph that made sense.
Some people also created simple surveys for the class (pets, smoking
habits) which they arranged in a
table and then graphed.
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Tuesday, October
05, 2004 13
Learners present. 3.25
hours
--What influences perspective and
interpretation (Perspective & Interpretation) Express thoughts in writing
(Writing) Recognize there is not always a "right" answer
(Critical Thinking) WRITING -
Communicate
thoughts, ideas & information in
writing; Create documents (letters, directions, reports, graphs) (Basic Skills)
Starting with the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, western society has
had conflicting views about
freedom and authority.
People looked at questions like . . .
"To what extent does "GOD" control the fate of "men
and nations"?
"To what extend to we all need guidance from "authority"?
. . . and many others. They
made up their own questions that related to these "starter" questions,
and
chose which question they would
most like to pursue.
Most people chose: "To what extent do individuals control their own
fate?"
(We also looked at some chronology frameworks for Western and US
history, and related these
questions and attitudes to Cheney and Edwards.)
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Monday, October 04,
2004 9
Learners present. 3.5
hours
--
Awareness and control of tone & style (Writing) CREATIVE THINKING - Generate new ideas
(Thinking
Skills)
The participle:
Did writing activities creating sentences based on the following
patterns:
Growling, the dog blocked the entrance.
The dog, growling fiercely, blocked the entrance.
A participle is BOTH a verb and an adjective. (To avoid unnecessarily bitter grammatical arguments,
we just call it a participle).
Some participles end in "ing". They can also have "ed" or "en" endings.
Participles are forms of a verb used as an adjective.
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Saturday, October
02, 2004 11
Learners present. 6.5
hours
--
Managing TIME - Select goal-relevant activities & rank them,
allocate time, prepare & follow
schedules (Resource Skills (Organizing,
Planning & Allocating)
Make Up Day = 2 classes
Field Trip to Renaissance Faire:
This was the culmination of some sewing, some cooking, and some
discussion of the Renaissance and
"Transitions".
A fun day (mostly)
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Friday, October 01,
2004 4
Learners present. 6.5
hours
--
Make Up Day
Field trip to Rural Poverty Conference at the University of Massachusetts
at Amherst. Four students
attended the keynote address and attended workshops.
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