Lesson Review                       1 ASE Morning                            May 2006

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Monday, May 01, 2006                                      6 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                   Complexity of managing and resolving conflict (Conflict & Resolution)

                                                  Develop reading Vocabulary (Reading)

       WRITING - Communicate thoughts, ideas & information in writing; Create documents (letters, directions, reports, graphs) (Basic

                                                   Develop writing vocabulary (Writing)

May Day - Today and in History

People were asked to write about May Day and what they knew about it.  One student knew

that it is sometimes called "Loyalty Day" here in the US.  Others knew about May baskets. 

Many knew very little about it.

 

We read a little about the history of International Workers Day which began in the May Day

strikes and protests in Chicago in 1886.  Students were reminded that we will be studying the

Chicago Haymarket Riots of 1886 and their connection to Labor Unions, Immigration, and

Communism/Socialism.  We also discussed today's Immigrant Boycotts and read a brief article

about them in today's Recorder. 

 

Students were asked to write on the following questions:

"Should immigrant workers get more rights, benefits, and respect?"  & "Would this help or hurt

Americans who were born here?"

  Student Comments

Male                     18.00 -- 24.99

[Word Bank words:] agitation, citizen

I work[ed] on History and read a newspaper about immigrants and about Darfur.

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

I think you should give people only one chance before kicking some one out but be a little flexible.


Tuesday, May 02, 2006                                      5 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                       Forces affecting continuity and change (Continuity & Change)

                                                  Develop reading Vocabulary (Reading)

          READING - Locate, understand & interpret written information in prose and documents (manuals, graphs, and schedules)

                                                   Develop writing vocabulary (Writing)

                                           Distinguish between fact & opinion (Critical Thinking)

Factories, Cities, and Immigrants (and The Industrial Revolution)

We read and discussed an article about the May 1 (yesterday) "Day without Immigrants".  Then

 we went over the events surrounding the Chicago Haymarket Riots of 1886.  During Individual

Learning Time most people continued to read about the Haymarket Riots using text from

Weinstein's "Freedom and Crisis".  They had about a dozen indviduals, several other elements,

and a chronology to identify from the narrative.  One person started a new essay entitled

"Immigrants, Past and Future".

 

The Haymarket Riots is a true story about immigrants, labor struggles, socialism and anarchism,

mechanization, political influence, the judicial system, and justice.  May Day as "International

  Student Comments

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

[Word Bank words:] uniform/same

[What helped you learn today?] I think it was the one chance before getting booted.

Female                   60.00 +

I started a new essay on immigrants from the past and [future].

Wednesday, May 03, 2006                                7 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                  How individuals and groups interact with and impact systems (Systems)

          Articulate and represent number and data relationships, using words, tables, graphs, and rules (Patterns, Relationships &

                            INTERPRET & COMMUNICATE INFORMATION (Information (Acquiring and Using))

European Immigration Patterns during the late Industrial Revolution (1860-1920)

Graph Reading:

People had some graphs tracing changing Immigration patterns from different regions of Europe

between 1860 and 1920).  They read the graphs and transcribed the numbers to a table.  (They

also then corrected their work and scored themselves with a percentage.  An item was correct if

it was withing 100,000 of the actual number.)

 

Mapping:  Students color coded the following regions of Europe on a map: Northwest Europe,

Scandanavia, Central Europe, Southern Europe, and Eastern Europe.

  Student Comments

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

[I learned today because . . .] I concentrated

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

Organized my notes and binder

Female                   18.00 -- 24.99

[Other Learning (or Work) Efforts:] Worked on Immigration by region, 1860-1920 and colored map

about the regions

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

[What helped you learn today?] I got a lot of sleep and had something to eat before class which

helped out a lot.

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

[Other Learning (or Work) Efforts:] did some work on the Haymarket Riots

[What helped you learn today?] everybody working good


Thursday, May 04, 2006                                   8 Learners Present               3.25 hours

Immigration Graphs and Charts

Monday, May 08, 2006                                      7 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                       Forces affecting continuity and change (Continuity & Change)

       WRITING - Communicate thoughts, ideas & information in writing; Create documents (letters, directions, reports, graphs) (Basic

                                               Select writing topics independently (Writing)

Writing:

In a short, busy group time, we went over possible writing topics related to the Industrial

Revolution.  It was mostly a review, but students also spontaneously brought up topics that we

had not even mentioned in class yet: The Pullman Strike, The Great Railroad Strike etc.  This

shows that they have been taking this theme seriously and doing good research during their

Individual Learning Time.

(We also went over simple connecting words, advanced connecting words, and transition words

& phrases with some students volunteering to make up sentences.)

During Individual Learning Time today lots of people started their May writing project - many of

  Student Comments

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

I researched my project.

[I could have learned more if . . .] I ate breakfast

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

[I learned something new that I will remember . . .] The police statue in the Haymarket was moved.

I read through notes and highlighted stuff for my project/essay!

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

[YOUR CURRENT WRITING PROJECT:] Nativism.   I did some more research on it and I work[ed] on

my gramm[ar] in my GED book.

[Next Steps] To start reading the research

[Your Current Math Efforts:] changing percents into fractions

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

I learned about Haymarket

Female                   18.00 -- 24.99

I researched about the New Deal - Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt

[I learned today because . . .] I listened in Group Time.  [I could have learned more if . . .] I [paid]

attention more. 

How about we stop with history/Indistrial Revolution for a few days. Let]'s] talk about something else

that has nothing to do with the Industrial Revolution.  It's just a suggestion.

Female                   60.00 +

Worked on a couple of more sent[e]nces on my new essay on The Life of Immigrants in America.

[Word Bank words:] punctilious


Tuesday, May 09, 2006                                      8 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                          Where and why there is conflict (Conflict & Resolution)

                                                       Strategic Reading (Reading)

          READING - Locate, understand & interpret written information in prose and documents (manuals, graphs, and schedules)

US History: Reading: The Industrial Revolution: The Chicago Haymarket Riots of 1886

 

Only one person was finished with the identifications.  The rest of the class took an hour and a

half to continue to read and do the identifications.  It was clearly agreed that everyone would

finish reading and doing the identifications by next Tuesday.

 

This was a very quiet group time devoted to reading, and most everyone seemed fairly pleased

with that.  During Individual Learning Time most people continued to do research on various

topics concerning the Industrial Revolution.

 

People were reminded that although a poster is fine for meeting the monthly writing

requirement, the GED requires the ability to write an essay.  People need to make GOOD

DECISIONS!

  Student Comments

Male                     18.00 -- 24.99

[Word Bank words:] enthusiastic, political, sympathetic

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

[What helped you learn today?] quiet time

Wednesday, May 10, 2006                                8 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                  How individuals and groups interact with and impact systems (Systems)

          Articulate and represent number and data relationships, using words, tables, graphs, and rules (Patterns, Relationships &

         MATHEMATICS - Perform basic computations; approach practical problems by choosing from a variety of math techniques

Math: Population, Immigration and Percents

 

Percentages are like fractions when the denominator is 100.  They are also like decimals.  They

are proportions where one of the terms is 100.

 

Given some population and immigration statistics people were asked to deal with percentages. 

One of the activities was a pie graph with one value given.  The rest could be derived (as long as

 someone knew that 1/2 = 50% and 1/4 = 25%).  When people focused on the task (instead of

talking trash) they were able to come up with some ingenious ways to estimate percents.

 

Many of the students were able to at least start dealing with percents as proportions


Thursday, May 11, 2006                                   9 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                  How individuals and groups interact with and impact systems (Systems)

                                                  Develop reading Vocabulary (Reading)

       WRITING - Communicate thoughts, ideas & information in writing; Create documents (letters, directions, reports, graphs) (Basic

                                                   Express thoughts in writing (Writing)

                     Evaluate evidence to critically analyze scientific information generated by themselves and others ()

                                     Recognize there is not always a "right" answer (Critical Thinking)

Science and Human Nature:

 

We started with a writing prompt"

AGREE or DISAGREE:  Science is a self checking/correcting process to build understanding

and control over nature.      (How successful is this? . . . How promising is this? . . .  Could this

or should this be extended to human nature)

 

At first the focus was on the word "Nature".  Eventually people accepted that "nature" could

mean "everything in the physical universe".  There was also some discussion about the word

"control".    Humans could not "control" the path and strength of year's hurricanes.  But many

attempts were made to control the effects of hurricanes (including levees  . . . And knowledge of

 the hurricane's path allowed people with resources to escape it's path.)

 

We read about a study of human females' ability to detect a man's feelings about children just

based on a photograph of the men's' faces.  Some people raised good questions about the

scientific methods and assumptions used.

 

The class then decided to do vocabulary exercises instead of more writing . . .   Lots of people

used book or online dictionaries to look up lots of words like "propagate", "paternal",

"prominent", "cue", "evolution", "denote" "testosterone", and "neuroscience".

  Student Comments

Female                   18.00 -- 24.99

Went on the computer and looked up vocab & printed them out (copy-n-paste)

[Word Bank words:] nature / control / perhaps

[What helped you learn today?] it was rainy outside

Male                     18.00 -- 24.99

[What helped you learn today?] discussions  [&] breakdown on reading paragraph by paragraph

Female                   18.00 -- 24.99

Read about women and how they can tell if a guy wants kids.

[Word Bank words:] paternal - propagating - prominent - cue

[What helped you learn today?] looking up vocab on computer

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

[Word Bank words:] Check my Definitions (too many words to put down.)

Female                   60.00 +

I worked a little on some math problems dealing with measurements with a ruler.

I read from a paper in class about a study on women stud[y]ing men['s] face[s] for paternal clues.


Monday, May 15, 2006                                      6 Learners Present               3.25 hours

       WRITING - Communicate thoughts, ideas & information in writing; Create documents (letters, directions, reports, graphs) (Basic

       W2.4c Compose well constructed complex sentences using a variety of subordinate clauses (Writing: Structure and Mechanics)

Writing

 

Prepositions, Prepositional Phrases and Connecting Words.

 

Given a definition of a "preposition" students generated a list of them and made up some

prepositional phrases.

 

(A preposition is a little word that denotes a simple relationship between things/nouns)

 

They also listed connecting words and transitions. We distinguished between simple connecting

words (coordinating conjunctions) and advanced connecting words.

 

They composed and compared sentences using at least one connecting word and one

prepositional phrase.

 

During Individual Learning Time they worked on their own writing projects (mostly concerning

the Industrial Revolution)

  Student Comments

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

The class was really good today and was quiet.

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

I finished my poster, I worked on my paragraph 4 the poster.

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

[Word Bank words:] hanged

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

looked up research no the Haymarket Riots and 8 hour day.

[What helped you learn today?] qui[e]t time


Tuesday, May 16, 2006                                      8 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                          Where and why there is conflict (Conflict & Resolution)

                                     R3.5a Take notes of key ideas while reading  (Reading Strategies)

       WRITING - Communicate thoughts, ideas & information in writing; Create documents (letters, directions, reports, graphs) (Basic

                                     W1.4c Write a summary of an article or story (Writing Expression)

                              CT1.2c Summarize and prioritize information (Critical Thinking: Problem Solving)

Social Studies: Review of the Haymarket Riots.

First we wrote little summaries of these events in Chicago around 1886.  Then we went over

every story item.

 

Most people had finished their Identifications based on the reading.  These identifications were

designed to help people see how they could take notes independently from a reading. 

(Significant people, Significant concepts, Significant Dates is only one possible way of organizing

 reading notes).

 

At first people didn't want to volunteer answers, but they eventually figured out it was MUCH

less boring to participate than it was to just listen to one or two people.  Most people had

actually done an excellent job on their id's.