Return-Path: <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id fBJDU1028765; Wed, 19 Dec 2001 08:30:01 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 08:30:01 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <3C20A3A1.99E5D865@ccsdistrict.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Jane Meyer <meyer_j@ccsdistrict.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:534] RE: Curriculum responses X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.74 [en] (WinNT; U) Status: O Content-Length: 1552 Lines: 29 Jon Lee wrote: I have always felt that commercial products have removed the"down to earth" nature of the content. Commercial products are too glossyand clean, so that the nature of the environment and people the materials are meant for is lost. Hopefully we can get around the commercial issues by using authentic materials from programs like yours and others that have responded to these questions. What do the rest of you all think? I think its not the commercial products themselves that are limiting, its how we use them. These products can be very helpful if you use them as resources and don't feel obligated to go straight through them. The curriculum framework we have designed for our Even Start program uses units based on the EFF common activities (broad topics like "gather, analyze, and use information" that allow us to go lots of different directions with student needs and interests). We keep files on each unit and add things we find in real life like a magazine article or food labels or a credit card bill. We also go through the commercial products we have and pull them apart putting sections in the appropriate file. We even take the GED workbooks and cut them apart, putting pages into units where they might fit. Then when we get to each unit we have files of ideas to select from based on the direction the students want/need to take the unit. There is plenty of good stuff in commercial resources and it saves teachers time, we just need to use it wisely. Jane Meyer Canton, Ohio Even Start meyer_j@ccsdistrict.org >
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