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The age demanded an image. -Ezra Pound Rationale In our world of multi- and visual media, we must expand our notion of what a text is and how we must read it. As more texts are used to convey information print once did, we must bring to these visual texts critical literacies that will help us construct meaning from their elements. The following questions are designed to help readers make sense of images they encounter in various contexts. Ask the Following Questions * Why are we looking at this? * What are we looking for? * How should we look at this? * What choices did the artist make and how did they affect its meaning? * Is this image in its original state (i.e., no manipulation or "doctoring")? * What are the different components in this image? * How are they related to each other? * What is the main idea or argument the image expresses? * In what context or under what conditions was this image originally created? Displayed? * Who created it? * Was it commissioned? (If so, by whom? And for what purpose?) * What was the creator trying to do here? (i.e., narrate, explain, describe, persuade-or some combination?) * Can you find any tension or examples of conflict within the image? If so, what are they? What is their source? How are they represented? * Do you like this image? (Regardless of your answer: Why?) * How would you describe the artist's technique? * What conventions govern this image? How do they contribute to or detract from its ability to convey its message? * What does it consist of? * Why are parts arranged the way they are? * What is the main idea behind this image? * What does this image show (i.e., objectively; see Vietnam Memorial image) * What does it mean (subjectively; see Vietnam Memorial image) * Is this presented as an interpretation? Factual record? Impression? * What is the larger context of which this image is a part? * What is it made fro

The age demanded an image. -Ezra Pound Rationale In our world of multi- and visual media, we must expand our notion of what a text is and how we must read it. As more texts are used to convey information print once did, we must bring to these visual texts critical literacies that will help us construct meaning from their elements. The following questions are designed to help readers make sense of images they encounter in various contexts. Ask the Following Questions * Why are we looking at this? * What are we looking for? * How should we look at this? * What choices did the artist make and how did they affect its meaning? * Is this image in its original state (i.e., no manipulation or "doctoring")? * What are the different components in this image? * How are they related to each other? * What is the main idea or argument the image expresses? * In what context or under what conditions was this image originally created? Displayed? * Who created it? * Was it commissioned? (If so, by whom? And for what purpose?) * What was the creator trying to do here? (i.e., narrate, explain, describe, persuade-or some combination?) * Can you find any tension or examples of conflict within the image? If so, what are they? What is their source? How are they represented? * Do you like this image? (Regardless of your answer: Why?) * How would you describe the artist's technique? * What conventions govern this image? How do they contribute to or detract from its ability to convey its message? * What does it consist of? * Why are parts arranged the way they are? * What is the main idea behind this image? * What does this image show (i.e., objectively; see Vietnam Memorial image) * What does it mean (subjectively; see Vietnam Memorial image) * Is this presented as an interpretation? Factual record? Impression? * What is the larger context of which this image is a part? * What is it made fro

History of English (Source: A History of English by Barbara A. Fennell) The English language is spoken by 750 million people in the world as either the official language of a nation, a second language, or in a mixture with other languages (such as pidgins and creoles.) English is the (or an) official language in England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; however, the United States has no official language. Indo-European language and people English is classified genetically as a Low West Germanic language of the Indo-European family of languages. The early history of the Germanic languages is based on reconstruction of a Proto-Germanic language that evolved into German, English, Dutch, Afrikaans, Yiddish, and the Scandinavian languages. In 1786, Sir William Jones discovered that Sanskrit contained many cognates to Greek and Latin. He conjectured a Proto-Indo-European language had existed many years before. Although there is no concrete proof to support this one language had existed, it is believed that many languages spoken in Europe and Western Asia are all derived from a common language. A few languages that are not included in the Indo-European branch of languages include Basque, Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian; of which the last three belong to the Finno-Ugric language family. Speakers of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) lived in Southwest Russia around 4,000 to 5,000 BCE. They had words for animals such as bear or wolf (as evidenced in the similarity of the words for these animals in the modern I-E languages.) They also had domesticated animals, and used horse-drawn wheeled carts. They drank alcohol made from grain, and not wine, indicating they did not live in a warm climate. They belonged to a patriarchal society where the lineage was determined through males only (because of a lack of words referring to the female's side of the family.) They also made use of a decimal counting system by 10's, and formed words by compounding. This PIE language was also highly infl

Chronology of Events in the History of English pre-600 A.D. THE PRE-ENGLISH PERIOD ca. 3000 B.C. (or 6000 B.C?) Proto-Indo-European spoken in Baltic area. (or Anatolia?) ca. 1000 B.C. After many migrations, the various branches of Indo-European have become distinct. Celtic becomes most widespread branch of I.E. in Europe; Celtic peoples inhabit what is now Spain, France, Germany, Austria, eastern Europe, and the British Isles. 55 B.C. Beginning of Roman raids on British Isles. 43 A.D. Roman occupation of Britain. Roman colony of "Britannia" established. Eventually, many Celtic Britons become Romanized. (Others continually rebel). 200 B.C.-200 A.D. Germanic peoples move down from Scandinavia and spread over Central Europe in successive waves. Supplant Celts. Come into contact (at times antagonistic, at times commercial) with northward-expanding empire of Romans. Early 5th century. Roman Empire collapses. Romans pull out of Britain and other colonies, attempting to shore up defense on the home front; but it's useless. Rome sacked by Goths. Germanic tribes on the continent continue migrations west and south; consolidate into ever larger units. Those taking over in Rome call themselves "Roman emperors" even though the imperial administration had relocated to Byzantium in the 300s. The new Germanic rulers adopted the Christianity of the late Roman state, and began what later evolved into the not-very-Roman "Holy Roman Empire". ca. 410 A.D. First Germanic tribes arrive in England. 410-600 Settlement of most of Britain by Germanic peoples (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, some Frisians) speaking West Germanic dialects descended from Proto-Germanic. These dialects are distantly related to Latin, but also have a sprinkling of Latin borrowings due to earlier cultural contact with the Romans on the continent. Celtic peoples, most of whom are Christianized, are pushed increasingly (despite occasional violent uprisings) into the marginal areas of Britain: Ireland, Scotland, Wales.

[DOC] Instructions for Classroom Dynamic Criteria Mapping Instructions for Classroom Dynamic Criteria Mapping © 2005 Bob Broad Dynamic Criteria Mapping (DCM) is a process by which you and your students can discover what you, the instructor, value in student work. DCM yields a more empirically grounded, more detailed, and more useful account of your values than traditional rubrics can. The process is a streamlined form of grounded theory (as summarized by Strauss and Corbin in Basics of Qualitative Research, Sage 1998). Here is a brief set of instructions by which you can try classroom DCM. Read What We Really Value: Beyond Rubrics in Teaching and Assessing Writing by Bob Broad (Utah State University Press, 2003). The book offers historical and theoretical background on DCM, a detailed example of DCM in action, and more specific instructions on how to undertake the process at both the classroom and programmatic levels. Collect data. Once you have handed back to your students two or three substantial sets of responses to their work, ask your students to gather together those responses and bring them to class on the appointed day. Ask students to prepare by noting specific comments you made, in response to specific aspects of their work, that show something(s) you value. Note: you show what you value both in those qualities whose presence you praise and in those qualities whose absence you lament. On the appointed day, ask students to work together to generate a long list of qualities, features, or elements of their work that you have shown you value. Ask for illustrations or quotations that demonstrate each value they identify. Ask for passages or excerpts from their work that demonstrate those values. Analyze the data. After you and your students have created a large "pile" of evaluative statements and indicators, it is time to analyze the data to create a representation ("map") of your values. The key is not to rush this

I'm always looking for great self-help books and there tons of new ones getting released all the time. Sometimes we forget about all the great old self help books out there which a lot of the newer ones are philosophically based on. The cool thing is, many of them are old enough that they actually are in the public domain, so you can usually find them for free. This page compiles a list of some of the best and where to find them online in the public domain. Woo!

Great article about how kids can help teachers when it comes to PD

Sometimes it's hard to explain exactly how you feel. This handy vocabulary wheel helps you narrow down exactly what word best expresses your current emotional state.

Sometimes it's hard to explain exactly how you feel. This handy vocabulary wheel helps you narrow down exactly what word best expresses your current emotional state.

The Absurd English Language: I take it you already know\nOf tough and bough and cough and dough?

Shakespeare gets it right again. Washing your hands may help "scrub away the inner turmoil you feel."

Where English teachers meet to help each other

Great resource of technologies and web sites that help us align w/ the Common Core.

Great site about developing a sense of community and togetherness in your classroom.

For beginning teachers who want to go over seas. This site help teacher to go to Japan or anywhere be prepared.

A new study may help explain why extroverts are more motivated to seek the company of others than are introverts.

NewsTrust.net helps people find good journalism online. Each lesson takes about 45 minutes. During that time, we invite you and your students to read a work of journalism (news or opinion) and evaluate it for journalistic quality using NewsTrust review tools. Students will be asked to rate that story on a variety of criteria, such as: facts, fairness and sourcing (news); insights, information and style (opinion).

These presentations should help spark some ideas for teachers new to using digital tools in the classroom.