Assessing ELs / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Tan Huynh · Published 02/14/2022 · Last modified 01/16/2023
Language specialist Tan Huynh shares the process he’s developed to plan a unit for multilingual learners (and all students). Begin with the assessment – the global “forest” view of the unit – then the trees (lessons) and leaves (tasks). Tan walks you through each stage.
The new edition of Debbie Silver’s Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8 is an essential handbook for adults who want to help kids become committed, continuous learners. NBCT Kathie Palmieri finds the book’s attention to self-motivation, ZPD and growth mindset particularly helpful. Highly recommended.
In “Life, Literacy, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Supporting Our Immigrant and Refugee Children Through the Power of Reading,” principal Don Vu explores six conditions he believes are necessary to create a schoolwide culture of literacy that includes and engages all students.
Being a STEM teacher in 2022 will likely be a new experience every day, even for veterans, writes curriculum designer Anne Jolly. To help out, she suggests ways STEM teachers can care for themselves and ways to sustain kids’ STEM skills, sharing many resources that can help.
A Teacher’s Guide to Mentor Texts offers a winning combination – a structured lesson approach, a range of suggested mentor texts, and an overall message adaptable to specific students. Teachers at multiple levels of experience will find it invaluable, writes Sara Pennington.
Close Reading the Media / New Vocabulary
by Frank Baker · Published 01/09/2022 · Last modified 01/10/2022
Metaverse? Prebunking? Zombie claims? The rapid evolution of digital technology and methods of persuasion has unleashed a flood of words and phrases that need to be in students’ vocabularies. Media literacy expert Frank Baker offers examples from across current culture.
Bouncing off a family session of Scattergories gone wrong, Curtis Chandler considers how to tap into multilingual learners’ interest in games and competition – including challenging tasks – by offering opportunities to play with and practice new skills in collaborative settings.
Writing is often overlooked as a positive way to help students and educators relieve stress, explore inner feelings, process their thinking and stretch their imaginations. Everyone at school is busy, writes Jeremy Hyler, but reflective writing is too powerful to put aside.
Frank Buck revisits the Wild West movie days in his quest to help educators defy the daily deluge of unsolicited or redundant email that steals their time. Get the details on how to circle the wagons, energize the pony express, and deny those emails entry to your inbox.
Middle grades teacher Kathleen Palmieri shows how Google’s Applied Digital Skills videos and lesson plans can help students in grades 5-12 tap the power of Google Docs and the Google Drive to learn portable skills like digital collaboration, file sharing, and organization.
