Literature circles / ELP years 5–8 / Comprehension / Reading / Reviewed resources Many teachers use literature circles as a way of encouraging their students to think and talk about a wide range of literary texts. A literature circle is like a book club for students. Small groups of students read the same text independently and share their interpretations and personal responses with others in the group. The students generate the discussion. found a passage particularly impressive, interesting, or confusing;want to ask the group questions about the plot, characters, or information;want to clarify their thoughts about the theme or meaning of the text;found the language or writing style impressive or memorable;can relate an event or episode in the text to personal experience;can relate the text to other texts on the same topic or theme or by the same author. Literature circles enable students to extend their comprehension and critical analysis skills as they explore, in depth, texts by a particular author or on a specific theme.
Storyboard That: The World's Best FREE Online Storyboard Creator Learning Doesn’t Stop At 3 O’Clock – Tools to Maximize Communication | Teachers Matter Learning Doesn’t Stop At 3 O’Clock: Four Reasons Teachers and Students Need a Class Blog Last March I received an email from my superintendent thanking me for my outstanding work. At first I was a bit confused. Four Reasons Teachers Need a Class Blog 1. 2. 3. 4. Click this link to access the Pearltrees collection of tools introduced in this post. Like this: Like Loading... About Lee Araoz K-12 Technology Coordinator, instructional coach, staff developer, speaker and author. This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Classroom, Common Core, Ed Tech Apps, Education, Educational technology, Educators, ELA, Highly effective, Instructional Strategies, K through 12, Student, Teacher, Tech for Teachers.
Tech Isn’t Everything – Teachers Are! | Teachers Matter “Technology has exceeded our humanity” (Photo credit: Toban B.) As a lover of all things tech, I sometimes forget that everyone doesn’t feel the same way that I do about it. In fact, there are many teachers who become uneasy and even anxious when technology in education is discussed. My father, a professor at a local university, is one of those educators. This edict caused a tremendous amount of stress among the faculty members at my father’s university. I’ve been in the classroom for 24 years now and I’ve seen a lot of educational fads come and go (and come back again with new names). Teachers have always been and are always going to be the driving force in education. Teachers are on the front-lines with their sleeves rolled up, working closely with their students. Teachers have the power to motivate, inspire and instill a love of learning onto their students. In the school community, teachers have a direct influence on the children. Tech can assist in this, but it CANNOT do it alone.
Modern Learning Environments – the underlying philosophy to success | Karen Boyes Speaker Modern Learning Environments (MLE) are all the talk in educational circles right now. Schools, around the world, are knocking out walls and creating bright stimulating classrooms with multi purpose furniture and giving students access to technology. On the surface it looks fantastic, however I am concerned that without a big pedagogy shift, students will be simply just learning the same way many teachers have been teaching – just in bigger classrooms with new furniture. MLE’s are so much more than the bright new furniture and the technology. What makes an MLE work, and in fact ANY successful classroom is the relationship between the teacher and student and the underlying ethos of learning to learn. When moving from a structured, and often heavily teacher-dominated classroom, to a less formal student led environment it is paramount students understand their role and responsibilities as the learner and indeed the learning process. Be clear on your underlying philosophy of learning.
hadriangate001 App Smashing For Educators: Leveraging Tools To Maximize Communication | Imagine Easy Blog Parent-teacher communication has always been a cornerstone for success in education. For decades, schools have attempted to build and maintain this crucial bridge to lasting learning. Research shows that the stronger the connection between home and school, the greater the academic achievement can be for students. In socioeconomically challenged school districts, this correlation is magnified tenfold! Highly Effective Communication Tools Device-agnostic applications have been game changers in the field of educational technology. Smore, Kahoot! Each of these applications is a powerful tool by itself, but when “smashed” together, their value to teachers increases exponentially. App Smashing:The process of using multiple apps in conjunction with one another to complete a final task or project. Quizlet + Remind One of the most frustrating things teachers and parents hear children say is, “Test? This common problem can be easily eliminated with the following app smash: Smore + Quizlet + Kahoot!
The Differentiator Try Respondo! → ← Back to Byrdseed.com The Differentiator The Differentiator is based on Bloom's Taxonomy, Kaplan and Gould's Depth and Complexity, and David Chung's product menu. Try It In: French Dutch • Tweet It • Like Byrdseed • Pin It Students will judge the ethics of the [click to edit] using a textbook and create an essay in groups of three. Revised Bloom's Taxonomy adapted from "A Taxonomy for Learning,Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives" by Anderson and Krathwohl Depth and Complexity adapted from The Flip Book by Sandra N. Depth Big Idea Unanswered Questions Ethics Patterns Rules Language of the Discipline Essential Details Trends Complexity Multiple Points Of View Change Over Time Across the Disciplines Imperatives Origin Convergence Parallels Paradox Contribution Key Words Consequences Motivations Implications Significance Adapted from David Chung and The Flip Book, Too by Sandra N. Group Size One Two Three Four
8 ways teachers can talk less and get kids talking more If you do fewer teacher-directed activities, that means the kids will naturally do more talking, doesn’t it? Not necessarily. I have often found myself talking almost constantly during group work and student-directed projects because I’m trying to push kids’ thinking, provide feedback, and help them stay on task. Even when the learning has been turned over to the students, it’s still tempting to spend too much time giving directions, repeating important information, and telling students how they did instead of asking them to reflect on their work. 1. It can be uncomfortable to watch kids struggle to figure out an answer, but they need time and silence to work through it. 2. It’s easy to get in an instructional rut when you stand at the same place near the board all day long. 3. Cut down on conversations about bathroom/water/pencil sharpening/etc by teaching kids to use sign language to request permission: use sign language to indicate your answer back: yes, no, or wait. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
hadriangate002 The Best 8 Tools to Create Posters for your Classroom Today, we are sharing with you some great web tools that you can use to create your own posters and customize them the way you want. Check out the list below and share with us what you think of them. Enjoy 1- Poster My Wall This is one of the most popular web tools out there. 2- Befunky This is basically a photo editor that allows users to create posters. 3- Picassa This is a powerful free image hosting and editing tool. 4- Art Skills You can use the poster making wizard of Arts Skills to create engaging posters. 5- Muzy Thoughts This is a really cool web tool to use to create posters for your classroom. 6- Posterini This is an online web tool that lets you create posters with WYSIWYC interface. 7- Smore This is an ideal web tool for those interested in creating flyers. 8- Zeen Zeen is another great tool you should consider when thinking about creating engaging posters to use with your students.