[pdf version here: MacBride-Infographic-activity] Objective: To encourage the use of charts, graphs, maps, and other infographics in student writing. Approximate Time Required: 30 minutes Materials Needed: A computer with access to the internet and access to the video “Kurt Vonnegut on the shapes of stories” available a number of online locations, including: https://vimeo.com/53286941 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-84vuR1f90 … Continue reading Infographic-Making Activity by Michael MacBride
What Is a Civic-Minded Student and How Can We Foster This in Our Classrooms? by Heidi Burns
[pdf version here: Burns, Heidi--News Summary Activity] (Burns also has a new book forthcoming, which contains similar activities ready to plug into your classroom. Check it out here: http://amzn.to/1U4195g) Civic-minded students are those who are both engaged and informed about the realities that exist outside of their world as students. College composition classrooms are a great … Continue reading What Is a Civic-Minded Student and How Can We Foster This in Our Classrooms? by Heidi Burns
Five Ways in Which High-Quality Literacy Instruction Can Increase Student Interest in Our Content Areas by Kelly Birkett
[pdf version here: Birkett-FiveWays] Each year, on the day after Labor Day, the invasion begins. We stand in the hall next to our classrooms at the sound of the warning bell, and feel the adrenaline rush through our veins as we hear the sound of excited chatter of our new students. It continues to pulse … Continue reading Five Ways in Which High-Quality Literacy Instruction Can Increase Student Interest in Our Content Areas by Kelly Birkett
Increasing Student Motivation in the Classroom by Mary Jo Kerekes
[pdf version here: MaryJoKerekes-StudentMotivation] How do I increase student motivation in my classroom? It is a question that I ask daily. Some students have a desire to “get a good grade”, others have a desire to learn something new, and others….well um...just really don’t seem to care. They are in class because they “have to be” … Continue reading Increasing Student Motivation in the Classroom by Mary Jo Kerekes
Building Literacy in all classrooms by Melissa Brandt
[pdf version here: Brandt-BuildlingLiteracy] As new teachers embark on the challenge of the classroom, they are given a barrage of guidance: be nice to students, but not friends; care, but be firm; establish rules, but let the kids work out the procedures; incorporate high-quality literacy, but … Continue reading Building Literacy in all classrooms by Melissa Brandt
The “Write” Track: Effectively Leading Your School to Incorporate Writing in Every Classroom by Jennifer Simpson
[pdf version here: Simpson-TheWriteTrack] Currently, 42 states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Common Core State Standards (NGA). Minnesota adopted the ELA standards, but not the math. Within the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts, there are specific writing standards that have been a … Continue reading The “Write” Track: Effectively Leading Your School to Incorporate Writing in Every Classroom by Jennifer Simpson
Read Them Together: Paired Book Reading for Global Literature by Jongsun Wee & Barbara A. Lehman
[pdf version here: Wee-Lehman-ReadThemTogether] Abstract: The need for global literature is growing as the society rapidly becomes more diverse. This study documented American children’s responses to global literature when it was paired with a home country book. The data were collected in a third grade classroom in a midwestern state. The results showed that in paired … Continue reading Read Them Together: Paired Book Reading for Global Literature by Jongsun Wee & Barbara A. Lehman
Implementing Tabletop Gaming in the English Classroom: Promoting Literacy through Interactive Gameplay by Mike P. Cook, Ryan Morgan, & Matthew Gremo
[pdf version here: cook-implementing-tabletop-gaming-in-the-english-classroom] Introduction Table-top gaming, at its core, is simply a term used to refer to any social game that is traditionally played in person around a table. Over the years, the term itself has become an umbrella for all forms of board games, but in gaming culture it is most commonly applied … Continue reading Implementing Tabletop Gaming in the English Classroom: Promoting Literacy through Interactive Gameplay by Mike P. Cook, Ryan Morgan, & Matthew Gremo
Theory in Practice in the High School Classroom: Using The Kite Runner to Teach Literary Theory by Taya Sazama
[pdf version here: Sazama-Using The Kite Runner to Teach Literary Theory] Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel, The Kite Runner, is one of the newer modern sensations to hit high school classrooms. In a setting where a majority of the studied texts were written before the start of the twentieth century, this is quite an achievement. Especially … Continue reading Theory in Practice in the High School Classroom: Using The Kite Runner to Teach Literary Theory by Taya Sazama
Comics, Dickens, and Teaching by Serial Publication by Michael MacBride
Teaching the "huge" text s-l-o-w-l-y: taking your time with Dickens and Comic Books How do you teach a 500- or 900-page Dickens’ novel—heaven forbid a 1,500-page Richardson novel? (1) How do you teach a comic book, like Detective Comics, that has been running since 1937, or a comic strip, like Katzenjammer Kids, that's been around … Continue reading Comics, Dickens, and Teaching by Serial Publication by Michael MacBride
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