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Grammar exercises with feedback and student tracking

If you need "proof" of the merit of journalism programs, look no further than the "enemy" that has been the excuse for killing many journalism programs -- test scores. Read this NCTE position paper about journalism in the curriculum which states: "It is important to note that a body of research provides data showing that students who participate in journalism programs do better on testing and college language arts courses. In Journalism Kids Do Better (Dvorak, Lain, Dickson), research shows students who take journalistic writing courses score higher on the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition exam than students who take only AP or honors English courses. They also score higher on college entrance exams such as the ACT. "We've done a number of research studies that show that high school journalism is equal to or exceeds standard English [courses], Dvorak said. "Journalism students' writing skills, their sensitivity to audience, their use of grammar, punctuation, spelling, their concern with accuracy, their use of sources -- all of these things tended to be significantly higher in their performances."" I would also argue that many students who are not reached by AP or honors courses can be highly engaged in journalistic pursuits. If you want a strong writing program, make sure you have a school newspaper. Share this with your newspaper and annual staff advisors to help reinforce the merit of journalism programs with your board of education and administrators.

This is an interesting article from the Guardian's teacher network about running an independent newspaper using a Grammar school as a case study. I thought this quote is telling: "The key to the success of the newspaper is to establish a trust relationship with the students involved so that they know the boundaries of their independence and know where their responsibilities lie. The editorial team is appointed and led by the editor in chief, a student selected by an interview with me and the outgoing editor."

Elementary teachers using facebook to communicate with parents, practice good grammar, and synthesize infomation. Wow!

FABULOUS books to teach grammar -- with teacher printable posters, coloring sheets, online word games, math and poetry

Spelling games, typing games, vocabulary games and grammar games! Also has links for great kid friendly search engines, book reviews, trailers.

Several books including organized teacher, happy classroom and a grammar book or two that you can download for free in any ebook format.

"I have always believed that reading has a significant impact on our understanding and appreciation of the world. As both a life-long passionate reader and an experienced English Language Arts teacher, I have witnessed first-hand the impact that reading has on the ability of learners in terms of comprehension, grammar, empathy, confidence, vocabulary and expression. This has however, only ever been phenomenological through informal observations in the classroom, and in an effort to incorporate sustained silent reading (SSR) as a regular, valid and essential practice, I have embarked upon this research in order to determine the impacts that daily reading has on middle-school learners, not only in terms of English Language Arts, but also across the curriculum."

"We often talk about the challenges of teacher recruitment and retention, about new initiatives and political landscapes, but day in, day out, teachers and schools are delivering exceptional teaching and most of it is invisible. Ross uncovers, celebrates, analyses and disseminates best practice in teaching. This is supported by case studies and research undertaken by Ross in ten primary and secondary schools across Great Britain, including a pupil referral unit and private, state and grammar schools, as well as explanations from influential educationalists as to why and how these ideas work. Ross explores the issues of marking and assessment, planning, teaching and learning, teacher wellbeing, student mental health, behaviour and exclusions, SEND, curriculum, research-led practice and CPD."

This is a site full of fun ESL games to practise and improve English skills. Games including Hangman and a Spelling Bee and there are lots of topics to choose from. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/English+As+An+Additional+Language

"This idea has been developed from an idea in Talk-Less Teaching by Isabella Wallace and Leah Kirkman. I used it in the context of a SPAG lesson where Y6 pupils were answering test questions in preparation for the SATs test."

A middle school teacher known only as "Seldy" shares his interactive language arts notebook in this blog post. The notebook is truly something special but even more astounding, he acknowledges that many of the pages he found on Pinterest. Pinterest is ideal for teachers and makes it super easy to share. (I have a Pinterest for beginners post for those who want an invite.) if you teach upper elementary into high school language arts, take time to peruse this notebook. Nice work!

Using ipads to teach vocabulary. In this mainstream media article, students are using Toontastic to create stories and learn new vocabulary. My students enjoy Puppetpals, another great one to use.

A superb site for creating a range of English game and activity sheets to use in your class, including word and paragraph scrambles, matching pairs and much more. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/English

A superb complete course for beginners of French language. Find a complete PDF textbook, videos and much more to get you started in no time. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Languages%2C+Culture+%26+International+Projects