Teachers can help students explore important connections across different genres and subjects using “text sets” – collections of books and other media with a common theme. In this MiddleWeb article, teacher educator Amanda Wall details an assignment creating text sets for ELA and math.
Too much close reading is boring, say Mike Fisher & Danielle Hardt, as students comb through fiction, constantly analyzing lots of text. Ask them to read and write digital microstories. They’ll build evaluation & synthesis skills and have some fun.
Sixth grade teacher Kevin Hodgson uses What’s the Big Idea?, a philosophy website for middle schoolers, to guide his students through a close reading of movie and TV clips, exploring ethical questions and examining filmmaker’s intentions.
Continuing a long tradition, Mary Tarashuk reads a novel aloud to her fourth graders after lunch. But this year, in pursuit of “close reading,” she tries out several graphic organizers to help them probe deeper into the dramatic novel Red Kayak.
Middle grades educator Jeremy Hyler & college professor Troy Hicks introduce some key ideas from their new book about reading, writing and student-driven digital learning – including several ways to use Schoology in the classroom.
Jeff Wilhelm’s practical strategies – including unique frontloading ideas for addressing prior knowledge – will set students up for using visualization techniques that can improve reading comprehension, says literacy consultant Anne Anderson.
What does the annual avalanche of diet advertising mean to the classroom teacher? It’s a teachable moment, says media literacy expert Frank Baker — an opportunity to sharpen visual literacy and critical thinking skills and bring the Common Core standard for argument writing into play.
What makes Jim Burke’s The Common Core Companion so valuable to teachers? The layout, says reviewer Anne Anderson. The 2-page spread gives teachers a big picture view of standards, “what they say, what they mean, and how to teach them.”
Kevin Hodgson tells how he helps students learn to read and interpret diagrams, maps, and infographics “packed with numbers and statistics and images.”
Media literacy consultant Frank W. Baker considers some of the ways that media arts intersect with STEM and present STEAM learning opportunities.
