Archives: 2011 April 03

@newsfromtengrrl for 2011-04-03

Apr 03

Playing Catch-Up in E-Books – NYTimes.com http://hoki.es/gp1vbA #
Pay of State University Presidents Holds Steady Despite Cuts – NYTimes.com http://hoki.es/ezm8Eu #
Reader Experts Help Students Bring the Write Stuff – The Chronicle of Higher Education http://hoki.es/g9RDaB #
Educating our 'Customers' – Do Your Job Better – The Chronicle of Higher Education http://hoki.es/foftFE #
Legos for the Digital Age: Students Build Imaginary Worlds | MindShift http://hoki.es/g2pdwl #
Speak Up survey highlights gaps in support of ed tech | eSchoolNews.com http://hoki.es/hfm18M #
Call for Applications: CCCC FORUM Editor http://hoki.es/fwAg9k #

April 3 to 9 on ReadWriteThink

Apr 03

By Traci Gardnerclassroom activity, lesson plan, ReadWriteThink Billie Holiday, Drop Everything and Read, Earth Day, haiku, Marian Anderson, Maya Angelou, Pocahontas, poetry Comments Off

The first days of April always make me think of the Prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, and of Whitman’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.”

So many April poems, it’s little wonder that April is National Poetry Month. This week, ReadWriteThink has poetry activities, lesson plans, and calendar resources to support you. Have a great week!

New Resources

Visit the Thinkfinity Community for links to 30 different poetry-writing resources. (For grades K–12)
International Reading Association launches Learning Pages partnership with ePals to engage schools, parents, and students across the entire suite of ePals products with their own collaborative programming.
Prepare students and their families for Drop Everything and Read Day (April 12) with the new Make Time for Reading tip sheet.
ReadWriteThink has a new collection of tips and activities translated into Spanish for use at home that you can use to explain how families can help their children develop as skilled readers and writers.
New lesson plan: What’s Under the Slide? Making Inferences Using Microscopes (for grades 3–5)
Get ready for Earth Day (April 22) with interactive STEM games and lesson plans for teaching students to think green.

From the Calendar

April 4: In 1928, Maya Angelou was born. Ask students to read some of Angelou’s works and reflect on how one’s life and experiences can influence one’s writing. (For grades 7–12)
April 5: Pocahontas married John Rolfe on this date in 1614. Explore the fact and fiction of the legend of Pocahontas through research and discussion. (For grades 7–12)
April 7: Jazz and blues singer Billie Holiday was born in 1915. Identify powerful and descriptive images in Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit” for a mini-lesson on tone and about the lynchings in the South during this time. (For grades 9 –12)
April 9: In 1939, Marian Anderson was denied permission to sing at Constitution Hall. After exploring historical background materials, write a letter to a newspaper editor about social injustice. (For grades 7–12)
Look ahead to next week for literacy activities on copyright, Gary Soto, Seamus Heaney, Noah Webster, Poem in Your Pocket Day, and the RMS Titanic.

Connecting with Other Teachers

Connect with teachers across the country and around the world in our Reading & Language Arts group forum in the Thinkfinity Community.
Will you write a haiku for Thinkfinity? Talk about Thinkfinity as a whole, your favorite partners, lesson plans you love, useful resources, or outstanding webinars. Whatever inspires you. Post one poem or several.
2011 marks the sesquicentennial or 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Sign up for the Civil War Stories from the Smithsonian’s History Explorer, a 30-minute webinar on April 20th at 4pm or on April 23 at 1pm.
Keep students at the center of learning by registering today for the Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards Virtual Conference Series.
Thinkfinity is planning to invite educational figures to discussion events. Who would you like to connect with in the Thinkfinity Community?

If you have feedback or questions about ReadWriteThink, all you have to do is contact us. Have a great week!

[Photo:French Lilac Detail by farlane, on Flickr]

Cake! Bits Flashback for April 3

Apr 03

By Traci GardnerBedford Bits, composition, social media assessment, CCCC11, CCCC2011, comics, graphic novels, inquiry, naming, poetry, storytelling, trauma, TYCA, war, writer's block, writing Comments Off

The solution to writer’s block is cake! A round-up of Tips for Fighting Writer’s Block, from the Inside Higher Ed’s University of Venus blog, includes everything from setting rigid deadlines to sitting down for some cake and coffee.

Cake may not be the answer to every problem, but it can’t hurt to give it a try. My suggestion for curing writer’s block? Why not take a break and read one of the new entries posted on Bedford Bits last week?

Holly Pappas discusses her techniques to foster a sense of curiosity, inquiry, and wonder in Learning to Ask the Questions.
A picture might be worth a thousand words. But words paired with pictures? That’s worth even more! Andrea Lunsford discusses Words . . . and Images, and teaching graphic novels.
What role does the Writing Center play in Writing-About-Writing? Blogger Doug Downs explores how tutors contribute to the pedagogical approach in WAWriting Center.
What kind of progress students can make in one semester? Barclay Barrios shares another student paper and his comments in More Sample Work: Student Progress.
High School Bits blogger Jodi Rice asks why people read literature and what reading will look like in the digital age in Storytelling 2.0.
Where does the military get names for their operations? Reflecting on the Operation Odyssey Dawn, Traci Gardner talks about Naming and the Rhetoric of War.
Susan Naomi Bernstein reflects on classroom assignments and her own writing in Writing for the Catastrophic Moment.

A Few Extra Reminders

National Poetry Month is here, and so is the Third Annual (TYCA) National Poetry Month Celebration!
Read the top intellectual property developments of 2010 in the CCCC IP Caucus Annual. The free document can be downloaded as a Word document or PDF from the CCCC web site.
A Comic Book Lover’s Guide to Going Digital has for resources and tips you can use when discussing comic books graphic novels.
If you’re heading to CCCC, check out C’s the Day! CCCC – the Game? Level up through a series of quests, earn special prizes and titles, and more. Follow the game on Twitter: @csthedaygame.
Don’t forget to tag your Tweets with #CCCC2011 or #CCCC11 so we can follow your comments on this year’s conference online.

We’re still looking for suggestions. Tell me what you want to know about teaching writing or about using digital tools in the composition classroom by leaving a comment. Your response will help shape upcoming posts.

[Photo: Chocolate cake slice by alexanderward12, on Flickr]