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LeAnn Maynard

Journal #1: The Connection Between Literacy and History | Teachinghistory.org - 7 views

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    Journal #1 I really like this article because it spoke to my content area, social studies. I think it is important that students understand how they read a novel for English will be different than reading a history textbook or a newspaper article, and therefore require a different strategy. I use primary and secondary documents, as well as text books, and so students sometimes struggle with comprehension of these different materials. I also use Supreme Court case documents and students have difficulty with those especially. Part of it is vocabulary, but part of it they really don't have a strategy for figuring it out. I think providing them with a strategy of how newspaper articles are structured vs. text books would be very helpful for those learners who have difficulty understanding what they are reading. I was also happy to find out that there is a website that I can access that may assist me with helping teach literacy for social studies. Yea!
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    This article also provides concrete examples of students reading history like historians, which is really important. And text structure and features defintely plays into this as well. I am so glad you found something meaningful for you as a teacher and learner! Nice use of tags! (Is this for your Journal #1?)
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    LeAnn, I also think it is very important that students read a textbook differently from the way they would read a novel. Having students take on the persona of a Historian I believe would help them better understand history and how it went about developing our country and our pasts as well. That is wonderful that you are searching for ways to make a more meaningful connection between the students and history textbooks.
Lori Losinski

Journal #2 Talking in Class Build English Learners' Proficiency - 1 views

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    Ross, A. & Fisher, D. (2009). Talking in class builds English learners' proficiency. California English, 14(4), 10-12. This week in class we touched on the importance of "talk" in the classroom and so when I found this article I thought it was a great connection to what we discussed in class. The article talks about the importance of purposeful talk in the classroom and how it allows students to be actively involved in the learning process. Two of the key components that must first be done by the teacher are to set a purpose and model the academic language and thinking that is needed to complete the task. After the purpose is set and the modeling is finished, student must have time to work with their peers. It is during this work time that students talk with one another using academic language and create meaning by being active learners. For me this article reminds us that "talk" in the classroom is a necessary part of the learning process for all students, not just English language learners. My classroom was always a place of active learning, a place where students were encouraged to talk about what they were learning and I found that when students could talk with their peers, they could explain the subject in a way that was meaningful and peer friendly. I also like that this article discusses ways that teachers can facilitate student talk such as, reciprocal teaching, collaborative posters ( I have never heard of this technique, but love it), and learning stations. I think that this article would be a great one to share with staff and school leaders, especially those that frown on "talk" in the classroom because there is too much learning to be done and not enough time.
Renee Spaman

Making the Student the Star - 1 views

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    The article I read was inspirational and made me think about my teaching style/methods in a whole new way. The article was about helping children use literature as a way to grow intellectually and emotionally. This article described that no matter what the medium, we must create educational experiences that strive to make the individual learner the central focus-the star of the lesson. If we do this, then the lessons have an outstanding chance of helping children grow. Throughout the reading, a study of an inner city, African American adolescent named Kevin is depicted. Kevin struggled to succeed in school and in life. He received tutoring from the author of this article (Terrence Hackett). After getting to know Kevin, Hackett realized that he had a difficult life and the fact that Kevin saw himself as a survivor. Kevin's home life was in turmoil in ways that are unfortunately all too common for inner-city single parent families. As his tutor, Hackett decided to have him read the novel, "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. This book united his world in a meaningful way. Kevin's real life was a survival story. This book matched his lived experience. It was personally relevant to him, and as a result he was interested and engaged.
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    He continued to fail in school, despite being tutored by Hackett. Kevin saw the lessons he was being taught in school as completely irrelevant. They had no relation to his lived experience. They were remote and distant, did not appeal to his interests, and were presented in ways that failed to engage and motivate him in the least. The lessons did not consider his strengths and weaknesses as a leaner. The school's ditto sheets, textbooks, and workbooks were meaningless to him, so he tossed them aside. Something that was particularly noticeable to me was that Kevin attended a school that stressed remembering over thinking and acceptance over inquiry. Faced with the prospect of being turned into an object that memorizes and repeats irrelevant information, he chose to rebel. Hackett's tutoring sessions helped Kevin grow intellectually and emotionally, unlike school. To me, as a reader, this article demonstrates the power of personal relevance for learning. At school, If Kevin was the focus -the star of the activity-his level of concentration and determination devoted would have been enormously high. I am now a firm believer in making sure that my students are the "star" of every educational experience I provide for them. This article helped me understand what separates meaningful, effective learning environments from ineffective, frivolous ones.
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    It's probably not realistic to make every student a star in every lesson. Being aware of different ways to reach different students--and being wiling to try--is important. Thanks for sharing this article.
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    I believe we need to make learning and reading relevant to all students. It is a challenge to find ways to engage all students, but I think we can come up with common themes with kids in our classrooms as a springboard for doing this. Thanks for the link! :)
Lori Losinski

Text Book Reveiw: 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It! - 5 views

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    Zimmerman, S., & Hutchins, C. (2003). 7 keys to comprehension: How to help your kids read it and get it. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press. 7 Keys to Comprehension is a powerful read that I would recommend for both teachers and parents that want to encourage reading for enjoyment and understanding. This book is simply written and well organized making it an easy read for teachers and parents. The book outlines the 7 key strategies that good readers use in order to create meaning. What I really like about this book is that each chapter is designated to one of the key strategies, making it easy to look up and refer back to. Inside each chapter the authors discuss each strategy and why it is important to reading success. The authors also provide examples of how to help children at varying levels (preschool, emerging, and advanced) with each strategy. As a teacher, one of my favorite things about each individual chapter is that a list of picture books and more advance books is given to use when working on the specific strategy. I also like that at the end of each chapter tips are provided to highlight the main idea of the chapter and simple ideas to implement the strategy. When I was teaching first and second grade, this book was always on my bookshelf because it was so easy to pick up and refer back to when I had students that were struggling. This was also a book that I had shared with my coworkers and parents because the strategies are used in every grade on some level and are not geared specifically for classroom use, but also for parents to use at home while reading with their children. Many times parents would ask me how they could help their child with reading and I would often lend them this book or give them strategies from this book to use at home. In lower elementary so much time is spent on decoding skills and learning to read the words, but a huge part of reading is comprehension and although stude
Dianna Morrison

Journal #2: Cool Books for Tough Guys: 50 Books Out of the Mainstream of Adolescent Lit... - 2 views

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    "Teachers of English need to reach the tough guys out there, and they are probably not going to do it by prescribing another go at The Sound and the Fury. The problem is not so much that tough guys lack the brainpower to read: they simply do not want to." I like the suggestions given for books to motivate adolescent male readers given in this article. I appreciate how Lawrence Baines has collected information over the years to share with us as teachers.
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    I smiled when I saw this... I have had some "tough guys" in middle school Language Arts, especially when we read only 1 text that has a male protagonist in the 8th grade. Luckily, we just started teaching Glory Road, a screen play about a college basketball team during the 1960s and my boys connected very well to that text. I actually found "Crime Lab 101: Experimenting with Crime Detection" at the Salvation Army over the summer and bought it. (It was one of my "grab everything on the shelf and buy it" days). A student that "hates reading" found that book and I actually have heard from other teachers that he "doesn't pay attention in class because of that book." I think there could be worse reasons for not paying attention. :)
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    What ideas do you have for getting "tough guys" to read.?
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    I always try to do an interest inventory with students and find books that fall into these interests to offer for independent reading time. I also love informational books that center around sports and life oddities, such as Ripley's or Guiness Book of World Records. Boys seem to like these types of books. I have used Sports Illustrated for Kids also as an offer for reading. For class books, I have used "The Air Down Here" by Gil Alicea, a teenage boy from the Bronx. It is written in journal format and tells about his life in his own words. I used this with 8th graders and the boys especially seemed to "grudgingly" get interested and want to read more! I also found that books about aliens, Big Foot, Sasquatch and those types of informational books were interesting to them as well!
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    When I was a media center teacher, I could not keep the Guinness or Ripley books on the shelf! I think besides the "ew" factor, another draw is (of course) the pictures, and small chunks of text.
Michaela Klusman

Journal #2 - 1 views

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    I know that this isn't *exactly* about reading and learning.  However, this article was so revealing of our culture and mindsets.  I read it with a reading comprehension group I lead at school.  Basically, we (society) spend almost all of our time consuming and, consequently, judging information from all sorts of electronic screens.  We create very little and are so afraid that what we are capable of creating will be judged as "not good enough" because of our judgments of the creations of others.  So, it encourages the reader to go out and create something - write, draw, dance, and learn what makes him or her tick. 
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    Actually, I think this article has a lot to do with reading and learning. Based on what you read, what would you apply in your teaching practice? (And what did your comprehension group have to say?)
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    We make a LOT of things in my Spanish classes. Creativity is stretched and encouraged. As far as my comprehension group, they all said, "this is boring... Is it almost over...??" except for one student who loved it and said, "So, we just need to do things that make us happy! It doesn't matter what other people think!" So, I am not sure how much they got out of it...
Linda Clinton

Reader's Theatre: Giving Students a Reason to Read Aloud - 6 views

Lots of free online resources for readers theater, too!

TEMS520 reading

Michelle Repokis

Journal # 2-Reading 101 for English Language Learners - 8 views

Professor Clinton- It also makes me realize that teaching these students the position of their mouth/tongue/etc when producing these sounds is extremely important. When speaking to a Title I Aide t...

TEMS520 reading ELL strategies phonemic awareness phonics vocabulary fluency comprehension

Linda Clinton

Journal 2: 10 Strategies to Enhance Students' memory - 5 views

Nice job picking out the highlights of--what was the article about again-- lol Seriously, some great points that apply to more than just reading.

TEMS520 reading strategies memory

Erin Visger

Book Review: After The End......Written By: Barry Lane - 7 views

If you are a English/Language Arts teacher then this book is for you. Barry Lane is brillant and creative in this book entitled, After The End. How many times do students approach two minutes after...

TEMS520

started by Erin Visger on 13 Feb 12 no follow-up yet
Linda Clinton

Book Review: 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read and Get It - 5 views

I haven't seen too many books that are equally useful for teachers and parents. I'll have to take a look at this book. Might be something to pick up for door prizes for our parent involvement activ...

TEMS520 bookreview

Michelle Repokis

Book Review: The Daily 5 - 18 views

This book is a wonderful! The students become very independent and teachers are able to work with guided reading groups or individual conferences. It amazing what students can be trained to do with...

TEMS 520 reading literacy strategies

Anna Scott

Book Review: The Cafe Book - 0 views

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    The Café Book is written by The Two Sisters, Joan Moser and Gail Boushey. The book is written in conjunction with The Daily 5, also written by them. The Daily 5 is a management system for a readers workshop style literacy block. The Café Book is the content to go along. Café is centered around the Café Board. Each letter for Café represents a reading strategy, which are also the heading on the board. The four heading are comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanded vocabulary. The idea behind Café is that during the Daily 5 mini lessons the teacher teaches different strategies to go under each heading on the Café board. For example, one of the first Café lessons taught to the students is "Go Back and Reread." This strategy goes under the comprehension heading on the Café Board. This board gives students a reference for all of the different reading strategies that they learn throughout the year. Along with the mini-lessons and Café Board, The Café Book also focuses on strategy groups and reading conferencing. The Two Sisters suggests that rather than meeting with students of the same abilities, meeting with students that are focusing on the same reading strategy. Along with the strategy groups, the teachers meet with individuals during reading conferences. During this time the teacher can ensure that each student is reading just right books and practicing the reading strategy that they are focusing on. I run both The Daily 5 and Café currently in my classroom. I believe both are amazing. Although I have not tried it, I think that Café is most successful when The Daily 5 is also implemented. My students reference the Café board daily. They use the strategies to help them be more successful readers. This year was the first year that I have used The Daily 5 and Café. I have not fully implemented all aspects of Café. I am using the board, but have yet to use strategy groups. I am still grouping my students based on ability
Linda Clinton

Book Review: The Cafe Book: Engaging All Students in Daily Literary Assessment and Inst... - 1 views

by Anna Scott (reposted as a topic) The Café Book is written by The Two Sisters, Joan Moser and Gail Boushey. The book is written in conjunction with The Daily 5, also written by them. The Daily...

TEMS520 bookreview

started by Linda Clinton on 27 Feb 12 no follow-up yet
Wendy Morales

Book Review - Amazon.com: The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tune... - 7 views

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     http://www.amazon.com/Motivation-Breakthrough-Secrets-Turning-Tuned-Out/dp/0743289617/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1328620537&sr=1-2-catcorr The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child, author Richard Lavoie, is a well written resource guide for teachers who wish to figure out how to motivate their students. Parents can learn from the guide as well, but the author primarily addresses educators who seek to improve relations with their students and figure out how to help them work to potential. Richard Lavoie is a consultant and a lecturer with over thirty years of experience as a teacher and an administrator at special education facilities. He explores strategies and techniques that are proven to inspire children to learn. He outlines strategies that will be most effective in igniting the interest and eagerness of kids, especially given their different needs. He outlines several different ways that children are motivated to do their best work. He teaches of the six Ps to motivate children. Some seek praise; others seek prizes, power, projects, or prestige. Some are people-oriented and are motivated when they work with people. Six different chapters address the various motivating factors and how they can be identified and used in the classroom. Personal accounts from Lavoie's years as a teacher allow us to see how he has put his lessons into practice. I appreciate the way that Lavoie challenges teachers to find out what motivates their students, even those students with special needs or who are classified as difficult. He encourages parents and teachers to work together to spark any child to reach his/her full potential. He covers learned hel
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    great article!! Thanks :)
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    This sounds like an excellent book! I think I am going to have to add this to my professional resources. I believe motivating students is one of the hardest parts of being a teacher. It is very difficult for me to motivate students to do something they have absolutely no interest in doing. I am excited to read this book :) Thanks for sharing!
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    Wendy, it looks like maybe your review got cut off. You can add to it by adding an additional comment.
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    This sounds like an interesting book, and strategies for inspiring students to learn is always a good thing. I would like to add this book to my professional library. Even though I will not be a special education teacher per se, I have special education students in my classroom. Anything that I can do to help them will be valuable.
Linda Clinton

Using Drama in the History Classroom - 0 views

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    Suggested activities for engaging students in historical narrative.
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    Our topic next week is read-alouds and shared reading. This page has some activities dealing more with oral language, but the skills of summarizing, determining importance, sequencing and more are also in play.
Dianna Morrison

Book Review: Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About it - 4 views

This definitely sounds like a worthwhile read! I often feel we kill the joy of reading by always trying to move on quickly and tie every bit to testing! I always try to carefully look at where to...

TEMS520 reading Literacy strategies education research bookreview

Jamie Facine

Symbaloo Website Corkboard - 0 views

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    This website allows you to create a "corkboard" page where you can link all your favorite websites for your students to use.
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    http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/mrsfacineatoia?searched=true This is the link to the Symbaloo page I created!
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    Well done, Jamie! This could also be a way to curate resources for a content unit.
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    What an interesting idea! I would love to create one for the math classes I teach. I always have parents asking what they can do at home for review. Having a central location for them to go to would be a great educational tool. Thanks for sharing.
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