Connected Reading: Teaching Adolescent Readers in a Digital World lays out the rationale, as well as a path forward, for expanding the definitions of reading, showing how to engage readers in authentic experiences using varied texts, says Kevin Hodgson.
As a school leader, consultant Frank Buck’s experience was that “if I wanted to launch something new, re-tool something old, or do some course correction, October was my best shot.” Here, Buck suggests several organizational ideas to pursue during the October Oasis.
Pam Robbins’ Peer Coaching offers recent research, broad questions and discussions, and practical applications which coach Holly Foley believes can advance student achievement while supporting professional growth and contributing to positive school culture.
In a dialogue with Kevin Hodgson, educator-authors Debbie Zacarian and Michael Silverstone share ways to energize teaching and learning by reaching out to students’ families and communities, all with the goal of building partnerships that help students become confident learners.
Most educators who teach propaganda use examples from the World Wars, says media literacy expert Frank Baker. “But propaganda is happening today—all around us.” Baker introduces a new resource that can help teachers and students exert their “minds over media.”
Social studies classes are digging into primary sources, learning how to use historians’ methods. Toni Blackwell Rhodes offers medieval and ancient graffiti as an engaging primary source idea in her new book. MS teacher-reviewer Joanne Bell plans to apply the methods to other historical eras.
Knowing how to respond to counterclaims while developing their own claims in argumentative writing helps students in school and beyond. Educators Leslie Skantz-Hodgson and Jamilla Jones report on their summer studying “They Say/I Say” with teacher colleagues.
With Moss and Brookhart’s book “Formative Classroom Walkthroughs,” educator teams can transform classroom walkthroughs into collaborations that share responsibility and help build a positive school culture, says assistant principal Mike Janatovich.
In his ELA classroom, David Sebek focuses on four aspects of what it means to be a “good citizen” – truthfulness, justice, equality and responsibility – and uses whistleblower stories and dystopian fiction to explore the elusive definition of citizenship.
When you think of Greek and Latin roots, you think high student engagement, right? No? ELA teacher Amber Chandler plans to make all those old roots rock this fall as she introduces the concepts of language development and acquisition to her students.
