The Common Core experience may leave a sour taste on some educators’ palates, middle school ELA teacher Amber Chandler concedes. But she and her colleagues are coping with new challenges and limited resources by making their own brand of CCSS lemonade.
What do your students need to succeed in close reading? Literacy consultant Nancy Boyles outlines 10 steps in this article, drawn from her recent Corwin book “Closer Reading.” She also includes five questions to consider before students get started.
Movies and television are recognized in the Common Core standards as forms of “text” that deserve serious study. Media literacy expert Frank W. Baker suggests ways that the Emmy Awards might serve as a way to engage students around familiar media.
What happens, wonders teacher & technology coach Emily Vickery, when schools rethink the use of space – “shifting from traditional approaches to an emphasis on participatory spaces that take advantage of learning research and digital technologies?”
Book Reviews / Gradual Release of Responsibility
by MiddleWeb · Published 08/16/2014 · Last modified 12/10/2019
In the 2nd edition of Better Learning Through Structured Teaching, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey use specific classroom examples and deep knowledge in the field to explain how students can become independent learners. Sarah Cooper says read it now!
Teaching with Text-Based Questions: Helping Students Analyze Nonfiction and Visual Texts is precisely what teachers will need to jumpstart critical thinking, high quality conversations, and tight writing, says reviewer Tess Alfonsin.
On the lookout for motivation strategies that work? Read our roundup of blog posts, interviews and studies for fresh ideas to engage learners.
The most effective teachers know that if you want to have a great lesson, you need to plan a great lesson, say experts Todd Whitaker and Annette Breaux. Novice teachers will appreciate their handy planning checklist. Bonus download: How to overplan!
We can thank the Common Core for making “close reading” a buzz phrase. We can thank educators for building the bare concept into strategies that help students more fully understand the texts they encounter. Our Resource Roundup offers some of the what, why and how.
Girls are smart, creative, and talented – they have the right stuff for STEM careers. So where are they? It’s still a front-burner issue – the lack of women in STEM. Anne Jolly talks with several experts, including Chevron executive Blair Blackwell.
