March
11
February
27
Argument
February
26
Open eBooks for Title 1 and Special Education Students
February
2
Reading Apprenticeship Resources
RA resources at your fingertips! Follow this link to access information from Reading for Understanding.
https://readingapprenticeship.org/publications/downloadable-resources/
February
2
New Semester – New Norms
As we move into the new semester, remember to set your classroom norms. It’s also important to remember to set norms for the routines in your classroom. A day or two before you plan to have students work in groups, set norms for this. A day or two before they begin SSR+, set norms for this. Do this for all the routines that will be in place for the semester. Setting time aside for students to have a voice in classroom norms will pay off dividends in the end.
January
14
Reaching Reluctant Readers
This article presents great ideas for reaching kids that just don’t want to read. Check this out before creating classroom libraries.
Reaching Reluctant Readers – Random House
https://www.randomhouse.com/highschool/RHI_magazine/reluctant_readers/scales.html
January
7
January is “Read a Poem a Day” Month
Can’t take credit for knowing this. Thanks Julia Martin. Thought everyone should know that January is “Read a Poem a Day” Month. Poetry is a great way to teach voice and tone in writing. Since there are many ways to interpret poetry, it lends itself well to close reading. Poems make great mentor texts! So . . . read a poem a day with your students this month.
December
20
Great Article of the Week!
This link provides access to a terrific article of the week; complete with graphs and a quick video. It could also be used to build an argument.
How a medical device maker kept U.S. hospitals in the dark about deadly infections.
December
17
Social Studies Sources
Provide student with reading that is outside the textbook. At edutopia.org you will find links to a plethora of resources to help you build your text sets.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/online-resources-primary-source-documents-monica-burns
December
17
Charts and Graphs
Reading charts and graphs is a skill that our students must possess. World Resources Institute provides text around current events and charts and graphs to support. Apprentice students in the moves readers make when analyzing this information. https://www.wri.org/resources
Strategies might include:
- Evaluate the source
- Look for dates
- Identify the labels on the x & y axis
- Annotate the title . . . What does it mean? What information is being presented?
- Identify patterns
Don’t assume that students have these skills. They need apprenticing in the ways that expert readers read. You posses that skill!!
December
11
Metacognitive Funnel
The metacognitive funnel is a way to help students build an awareness of their reading process. This is addressed on pages 127 – 130 under “Deepening Disciplinary Uses of Metacognitive Conversation” with a graphic of the funnel in Box 4.17 on p. 128. The link below includes some different prompts to guide student thinking and discussion about thinking. Use either one to get kids active in the cognitive dimension.
December
4
Frame Guiding Questions – NOT F.O.R.
Just a reminder about the frame in a Thinking Map. The “Map Guiding Question” drives the content of the map. The “Frame Guiding Question” is the Cognitive Dimension or students’ thinking about their thinking and learning. It is not a frame of reference or F.O.R. Follow the link below for a cheat sheet of map and frame guiding questions.
November
20
Science Text Sets!!
Newsela does not disappoint. They have created science text sets for us. Access to current news articles around the science topics we are teaching are at our fingertips. Follow this link for more:
https://newsela.com/text-sets/#/science?utm_source=nws&utm_campaign=ngss&utm_medium=eml
November
13
Top 100 Speeches
November
11
RA Framework Lesson Planning Tool
November
5
There’s an app for that!
November
3
Goal Setting Videos
November
3