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Oct 12

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Tools of The Trade: Student-Friendly News Sources

by Kelly Virgin

I recently gave my high school students a twenty-five question formative current events quiz with names such as Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Keith Lamont Scott, terms such as Republican, Libertarian, and Pipeline, and places such as Syria, North Carolina, and Brazil. I asked students to match the names, terms, and places with the reasons they were recently featured in the news. On average, students scored a seven out of twenty-five, with some students scoring as low as a one or a two out of twenty-five. This quiz led to self-reflection and an insightful discussion about the importance of knowing what is going on in the world around us.

In their most recent book, Reading Nonfiction: Notice & Note Stances, Signposts, and Strategies, Kylene Beers and Robert Probst insist, “Far more important than the ability to capture the teacher’s information and thoughts is the ability to acquire information on ones’ own, to test ideas against one another, and to decide for one’s self what notions have merit and which should be rejected or abandoned” (32). It was clear from my students’ quiz results that they needed more opportunities to practice the acquisition of information on their own. Read more

Oct 10

A Writerly Life: Wisdom from Donald Graves

Teachers can empower their students with conventions.

-Kelly Virgin (2016 facilitator of Grammar Matters)

Adobe Spark (3)

Oct 5

11 Comments

Season of Inquiry

By Janice Ewing

Make a quick written or mental list: when you think of October, what are five words or phrases that pop into your mind? This is a month and a season of colorful and flavorful transitions. Maybe you had Halloween on your list, or changing leaves, or candy, or pumpkins, or pumpkin spice latte…

Most likely, as teachers, there are other transitions occurring as well. Whatever your grade level, whether you teach 25 students or 150, you have gotten to know them by now, perhaps not as well as you’d like, but more deeply than you did when you first greeted them in late August or early September. With that knowledge comes great fuel for teaching and relationship-building, but great challenges as well.

Think about what you’ve learned from formative assessment – conversations, observations, anecdotal records, reading and writing conferences, and all the other ways you get insight into your students’ processes and products. Regardless of your grade level or subject, you are probably seeing vast differences in interests, learning styles, strengths, and areas of need. This is important to know, right? Yes, but it can also be overwhelming. For many teachers, this is a time in the school year when we look at the information we’ve acquired about our students, and ask ourselves some questions: Read more

Oct 3

Books on the Blog: The Ominous Eye: The Nocturnals Book 2

by Linda Walker

The Nocturnal Brigade returns:

the-nocturnalsDawn is a poised fox ever on the alert for whatever may threaten the valley. She is the leader of the Nocturnal Brigade.

Bismarck is the sugar glider, bold and brash, who likes to sprinkle his vocabulary with foreign phrases. Bismarck just adores Dawn.

Tobin is the scaly pangolin with a huge appetite for tasty treats especially termites. Tobin is a trusted and loyal friend.

 

BOOM!!!!the earth shakes, a violent jolt. The wind whips up ashy gray smoke. A rotting smell creeps into the fresh air. The valley animals are frightened and with good reason. A beast is on the loose. But who and where is this illusive creature? Enter the Nocturnal Brigade to investigate this catastrophic mystery.

On their search they meet a stranger, Polyphema. She convinces the valley animals that there is an angry monster roaming their land. To be safe from the creature a certain group, the birds, must LEAVE! Dawn is suspicious. Why would Polyphema single out just the birds? How would banishing winged animals keep all the others safe? Why were the valley animals listening and following Polyphema’s demands?

Follow the Nocturnal Brigade on another exciting adventure filled with mystery and humor. Make sure to read the first book, The Mysterious Abductions and follow the Nocturnals at www.nocturnalsworld.com

The short chapters, fast-paced action and interesting animal facts will appeal to middle grade readers and keep them turning pages and wanting more!

 

Linda Walker was a teacher for 33 years with experience in several grade levels including teaching children with diverse learning abilities. She is a 2005 Fellow of the National Writing Project. For many summers Linda has facilitated writing specialty courses for the PAWLP Young Writers and Readers Program.

Oct 3

A Writerly Life: Wisdom from Kate Messner

This quote removes the fear and turns revision into something powerful and celebrated.

Jen Greene (2016 facilitator of Grammar Matters)

Messner's Magical Revision

Sep 26

2 Comments

A Writerly Life: Wisdom from Lynne Dorfman and Diane Dougherty

The children in our classrooms need to be encouraged to tell their stories, and when they do we must cherish and respect those stories, not simply mark them up with a red pen.

-Melinda Sterenczak (2016 participant of Grammar Matters)

Sterenczak

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