tengrrl’s thoughts & news on teaching writing, literacy, and literature
November 7, 2006
As the number of English language learners in our classrooms increases, teachers are challenged to find meaningful ways to teach language in context. These resources suggest ways to discuss language issues in the context of literary discussions, giving teachers the chance to connect with these students in pedagogically useful ways.
November 7, 2006
Because I did not want to vote for Republicans, I chose these write-ins:
Sheriff: my manager’s spouse
County Treasurer: my officemate’s spouse
Regional Superintendent of Schools: my manager
Judge of the Circuit Court: my officemate
I couldn’t help it. I did stop the silliness at voting for a motion to impeach Bush and Cheney anyway.
November 3, 2006
In this new ReadWriteThink lesson, students evaluate published children’s picture storybooks. Students then plan, write, illustrate, and publish their own children’s picture books. The lesson was submitted by Junius Wright of Charleston, South Carolina.
November 3, 2006
This writing activity integrates mathematical graphing with writing and can be used to generate a number of different kinds of writing activities, but lends itself well to biographical and narrative writing. Students interview other students, choose significant life events, rate them, graph them, and write about one or more. The lesson plan was written by Susan Spangler of Fredonia, New York.
November 1, 2006
A manuscript has been submitted. Deadline met. And now, I’m allowed to sleep.
October 31, 2006
National American Indian Heritage Month is recognized each November as a time to learn more about the history and heritage of Native American peoples. These resources provide strategies to explore Native American literature and heritage in your own classroom.
October 25, 2006
With Halloween and DÃa de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in the next week, these resources provide seasonal activities that focus on language arts, literature, and writing.
October 20, 2006
SmartQuote from Yesterday’s ASCD SmartBrief:
“I’ll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there’s evidence of any thinking going on inside it.”
October 18, 2006
NCTE and the International Reading Association have created a Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse to build a professional learning community of literacy coaches and to provide the education community with information on literacy coaching.
October 12, 2006
This ReadWriteThink lesson eases students’ fear of interpreting complex poetry by teaching them an inductive strategy with which they determine patterns of imagery, diction, and figurative language in order to unlock meaning. Although the lesson uses Seamus Heaney’s “Blackberry-Picking,” this strategy can be applied to a variety of poems. The lesson was written by Lane Dye of the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project (KMWP) at Kennesaw State University.