Literacy as sustaining practice in every classroom Régine recently decided to plant a flower garden. A friend, who was also a master gardener, volunteered to help. Immediately, this friend began talking about how plants create “themes” in a garden. Would there be a theme of color, height, or texture? That’s when Régine nearly gave up
The importance of getting beyond writing that argues, informs, or narrates From kindergarten through twelfth grade, students learn to make an argument, convey information, and narrate a series of events (NGA Center for Best Practices & CCSSO, 2010). Every year, it’s just those three types of writing. Of course, young people should learn to argue,
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Encouraging student thinking and writing with opportunities for movement. Almost all students will experience writer’s block at one time or another. Helping them work through this common experience with the use of physical activity may add success to the writing process for all students. There are several reasons why students encounter writer’s block, and it
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Effective ways to enhance reading and writing experiences. Recently, I was teaching a language arts class in Logan, West Virginia. The objective of the lesson was to analyze the impact of tradition on human behavior using narrative text. Sounds really dull, doesn’t it? It could have been, had I not used engaging strategies to facilitate
Read More… from 20 Literacy Strategies for Engaging the Middle Level Brain
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Using writing as opportunities for students to grieve and grow. Teachers are perpetual students. Each day we learn some new piece of information from a book, an article, or a podcast, but we often learn a great deal more from our students. This following story is inspired by an experience with an 11-year-old student named
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Imagine students wanting to improve their writing—just because! What if students improved their writing because they wanted to, not just to get a good grade? What if their motivation to do better was fueled by teacher conferences and quick feedback? That fantasy could be closer to reality than you ever imagined. At Danville Middle School
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