A New School Year / Kids on the Cusp
by Mary Tarashuk · Published 09/07/2014 · Last modified 11/13/2019
“What we choose to BE defines us.” That’s the message Mary Tarashuk’s students found as they arrived at her door this year. Her bright red bulletin board is filled with possibilities she hopes will focus kids on important social-emotional skills.
Technology allows us to record and reflect on the writing process in ways that pencil and paper could not, says digital writing expert Troy Hicks. The MS teacher turned college prof demonstrates with a video demo’ing how we might teach sentence combining.
Future of History / History Resources
by Jody & Shara · Published 09/03/2014 · Last modified 11/12/2019
Pressed for time at the end of the year but determined to engage her history students in the post-Civil War era, Jody Passanisi turned to a pre-made lesson from SHEG. Before long her students were debating the impact of Reconstruction on American history.
“Close Reading in Elementary School,” by Betsy and Diana Sisson, offers upper elementary teachers a framework for creating lessons; ways to link close reading, writing and talking; a model for gauging text complexity, and a reasonable approach to rigor, says reviewer and 4th grade teacher Linda Biondi.
Teachers, coaches, administrators, and teacher educators will want to keep Nancy Boyles’ Closer Reading Grades 3-6 nearby, says reviewer Linda Biondi, because it shows “how to teach the art of close reading” from start to finish across content areas.
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.
When students are challenged to “close read” a movie, they must not only learn how to deconstruct the story, they must also understand the many techniques that are used by filmmakers to create the total effect, says expert Frank Baker.
In principal Matt Renwick’s school, digital portfolios are comprehensive collections of student work that teachers and their students curate and reflect upon on a regular basis. Here, Renwick offers a close-up look at the portfolio process.
While we want students to fall in love with reading through text choices that excite them, says literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo, teachers must also address challenging skills and content and make sure students grow their background knowledge base. Tantillo shares ideas about finding the balance.
The Teaching Life / Working Draft
by Kevin Hodgson · Published 07/08/2014 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Professional growth & student engagement should be “a central daily goal of every teacher in every classroom,” writes our blogger Kevin Hodgson. He points to THRIVE, a new book by teacher leader Meenoo Rami, as a source of guidance and inspiration.
