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Ann M. Johns | |
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Since 1985, I have been teaching in the Freshman Success Program, a learning communities program designed for first semester freshmen students. Over the years, many of the students have been local bilingual students, often first in their families to attend university. Much of my research has been devoted to the literacy practices (reading and writing tasks) that these students are assigned during their first university years. Since 2002, I have been presented with opportunities to use my accumulated knowledge in producing teaching and learning materials for secondary students, thus attempting to develop a better-prepared student body at my university and elsewhere. A Manual for Student Research The first collection of materials was developed under the auspices of the San Diego State College Readiness Program. During the 2002-03 school year, I conducted focus groups on the topic of students research with teachers and librarians in the Grossmont and Sweetwater Union High School Districts in San Diego County. Using the information gathered, I wrote a Manual for Student Research. The table of contents for the manual tells the story: the manual consists of a question and answer section for teachers, suggestions for designing research projects, and "Tailored Research Activities," twenty student activities devoted to improving their research reading/writing processes. My secondary school teacher-colleagues and I, especially Marsha Zandi and Sharon Leslie, from Sweetwater (in San Diego County), conducted a number of workshops, and the manual continues to be integral to history and English classes in that district. The materials are public domain. Contact me at ajohns@cox.net for information. AVID: Senior Seminar Research Component My second and much more extensive curriculum design project has been for AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), "an in-school academic support program for grades 5-12 that prepares students for college eligibility and success." (Quote from the AVID website.) While meeting periodically with experienced AVID teachers, I have developed a curriculum for the final years of secondary school (junior and senior years), called AVID College Readiness: Working with Sources. [An overview of the first unit is linked with this page.] These materials include a complete scope and sequence for each semester (Units I, II, for junior year; Unit III for senior year), as well as instructions for teachers and activities for students. Based upon this essential question, "How have leaders been catalysts for change," the materials emphasize processes for academic literacy, notably four essential academic skills: analyzing a prompt or academic task, selective and purpose-driven reading, focused note-taking, and integrating sources into texts. The curriculum has been expanded and revised, and it is used in training for the AVID Summer Institutes and sessions for teachers held throughout the year. All materials are under the AVID copyright, and are designed to be integrated into a much more comprehensive AVID implementation program.
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