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A teaching strategy to help students make connections between the ideas in readings, their own experiences and beliefs, and events in history and the world. Facing History offers teaching strategies that nurture students growth; literacy and critical thinking skills within a respectful classroom climate. By giving a purpose to students' reading (i.e. focusing students on paying close attention to text to find connections), this strategy helps students comprehend and make meaning of the ideas in the text. This strategy can be used when reading any text - historical or literary - and it can also be used with other media as well, including films. It can be used at the beginning, middle or end of the reading process - to get students engaged with a text, to help students understand the text more deeply or to evaluate students' understanding of the text.

In this strategy guide, you'll learn how to model how students can make three different kinds of connections (text-to-text, text-to-self, text-to-world). Students then use this knowledge to find their own personal connections to a text.

"Instead of matching students to texts they can breeze through, literacy guru Tim Shanahan says that students should be engaging with challenging texts that push them out of their comfort zones."

Historically, fiction texts have dominated classroom instruction and school library collections but there is a significant body of research that suggests the early engagement of primary students with quality non-fiction texts has a positive effect on literacy achievement, reading engagement and the ability to use the expository material students encounter in higher education.

Students need to be taught how to read complex texts. One of the strategies for learning how is close reading. A different take on interactive readalouds.

Students need to be taught how to read complex texts. One of the strategies for learning how is close reading. A different take on interactive readalouds.

At the secondary level, wellbeing is taught to groups of 12 students in four 50-minute coaching sessions each week. They meet three times as a group, and on Fridays, that time is used for one-on-one coaching sessions. They explore topics like bullying, identity, and race through grounding texts such as Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah, and even picture books, like Sailing Boats in the Sky by Quentin Blake.

Critical writing depends on critical reading. Most of the papers you write will involve reflection on written texts - the thinking and research that has already been done on your subject. In order to write your own analysis of this subject, you will need to do careful critical reading of sources and to use them critically to make your own argument. The judgments and interpretations you make of the texts you read are the first steps towards formulating your own approach.

A Digital Novel (2012) ... set in a technology saturated near future, Inanimate Alice tells the story of a girl called Alice, merging text with animation, videos, music and games to explore what it means to conduct your life online. Requires user action to drive the story forward.Uses text, images, music, sound effects, puzzles and games to illustrate and enhance the narrative. Each a self-contained story, the chapters become more complex as the narrative unfolds reflecting Alice's age and competency as she develops towards her calling as a game animator and designer. See the Teacher's Notes for information on using this title with students.

Teaching science in middle school is fraught with challenges. The textbooks are dense with unfamiliar concepts, the vocabulary unique and difficult, and the students reticent to talk about the text (Fang 2006). Often, the teacher does not have the necessary hands-on materials, and has no supplementary texts in the class - room. Because there is so much to cover in the curriculum, ever y minute in class is valuable (Abell and Lederman 2007). So, how can reading aloud to middle school students be a valuable use of time?

What does it mean to be a reader in the 21st century? Many studies indicate that reading print offers increased metacognition and comprehension over online reading. However, is this truly the case or is it simply the result of studying students that have not had explicit instruction in how to read online? Although many of us use online and digital text formats, how much instruction have we had in how to navigate and comprehend it? Do these studies illuminate the reality that we need to learn how to be both an effective reader of digital AND print texts?

What do you look for when selecting print texts for your high school students to teach them about visual literacy? Appropriate themes, complexity of ideas, rich and beautiful illustrations, evidence of depth and layers of meaning, a variety of text type. This post present 6 titles that meet each of those requirements with the added bonus of all being by Australian authors and illustrators. Teachers notes and essays are provided for each title

" Sway works by adding cards to build a presentation (similar to slides). You can add a text card (heading or straight text), media (images, video, audio, embed, or file upload), or a group. "

" When students are able to fully "read" images, they can understand beyond the text and delve deeply into the author's message. Imagine close reading, but instead of text, they're examining images. Visual literacy encompasses the ability to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media."

Online non-fiction texts aimed at young students. Audio options (American accent). Great range of information on different animals.

Online non-fiction texts aimed at young students. Audio options (American accent). Great range of information on different animals.

Barnes and Noble has a really nice selection of very well known (and many award winning) children's books. The voices of the readers are nice to listen to and kids will recognize many of their favorites. Partial portrayal of the illustrations, without text showing, and with some zooming in and out.

Barnes and Noble has a really nice selection of very well known (and many award winning) children's books. The voices of the readers are nice to listen to and kids will recognize many of their favorites. Partial portrayal of the illustrations, without text showing, and with some zooming in and out.

Free audio retellings of a large range of stories from traditional to unpublished. Supporting illustrations (not from the published texts) and some information about the story or characters is also provided. Files can be listened to online or downloaded.

Free audio retellings of a large range of stories from traditional to unpublished. Supporting illustrations (not from the published texts) and some information about the story or characters is also provided. Files can be listened to online or downloaded.

Teacher read-alouds demonstrate the power of stories. By showing students the ways that involvement with text engages us, we give them energy for learning how reading works. By showing them how to search for meaning, we introduce strategies of understanding we can reinforce in shared, guided, and independent reading.

Teacher read-alouds demonstrate the power of stories. By showing students the ways that involvement with text engages us, we give them energy for learning how reading works. By showing them how to search for meaning, we introduce strategies of understanding we can reinforce in shared, guided, and independent reading.

Free digital picture books which focus on local family and community events. English text can be supported with audio in English (by default) or in a growing number of different languages.

Free digital picture books which focus on local family and community events. English text can be supported with audio in English (by default) or in a growing number of different languages.

Wonderopolis is uniquely rooted in the power of learning through curiosity, exploration, and everyday moments, providing thousands of "Wonders of the Day"- fun units of learning and questions such as "What does it mean to stand up for something?" or "Why is the Statue of Liberty green?" Each Wonder of the Day is a launching pad for students reading and learning, maximising multi-disciplinary content with non-fiction text and multimedia as well as commenting, submit-your-own Wonder, and other features designed to keep students-and entire classrooms-engaged with the site. Wonderopolis facilitates students' studies in the classroom as well as self-guided learning at home and on the go.

This site explores approaches to address learning needs of minority student populations and presents a strong case for the use of non-fiction texts to build comprehension and increase fluency and to tap into students' personal interests to increase engagement