Creating a reading community – Goodreads Encouraging young people to read has never been harder – on the one hand. Recess and lunchtimes at our school attest to a full-to-bursting library, but on closer inspection our boys are socialising around the games on their ipads. On the other hand, the technology we sometimes blame for a drop in an interest in literature could also become our saving grace in bringing the passion back in reading. Photo source: This year I’m keen to experiment with Goodreads as a platform for reading, sharing and discussing literature. There’s been a decent amount of interest from Year 9 and 10 English teachers, as well as from my team in the library. Goodreads is the best of social media. Photo source: Reading can be much more than completing a book; within Goodreads it can involve: Of course, there is more than one way to engage our students in reading.
Preparing Students for Success with Reading in the Content Areas Our lesson plans are written and reviewed by educators using current research and the best instructional practices and are aligned to state and national standards. Choose from hundreds of topics and strategies. More Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals. More Teacher Resources by Grade Home › Professional Development › Strategy Guides Strategy Guide Content area teachers can be frightened into paralysis when it comes to reading in their classrooms. The level of preparation necessary for any reading experiences varies widely depending on the students and the content, so a teacher’s professional judgment is key. Preview or preteach key vocabulary. Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson Textmasters: Shaking Up Textbook Reading in Science Classrooms ABC Bookmaking Builds Vocabulary in the Content Areas V is for vocabulary.
The 10 Rights Of A Reader The 90-Second History Of Education 9.93K Views 0 Likes Well here's an insanely detailed infographic to peruse. The 10 Points Of View, Explained. 1.91K Views 0 Likes I don't know why I love this. Extensive reading: why it is good for our students… and for us. | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC What is Extensive Reading (ER)?Extensive Reading is often referred to but it is worth checking on what it actually involves. Richard Day has provided a list of key characteristics of ER (Day 2002). This is complemented by Philip Prowse (2002). Students read a lot and read often.There is a wide variety of text types and topics to choose from.The texts are not just interesting: they are engaging/ compelling.Students choose what to read.Reading purposes focus on: pleasure, information and general understanding.Reading is its own reward.There are no tests, no exercises, no questions and no dictionaries.Materials are within the language competence of the students.Reading is individual, and silent.Speed is faster, not deliberate and slow.The teacher explains the goals and procedures clearly, then monitors and guides the students.The teacher is a role model…a reader, who participates along with the students. The model is very much like that for L1 reading proposed by Atwell (2006). References.
Activities for Children's Book Week, 2013 We're getting close to that time of year in Australia when all who love reading and children's books have a huge celebration known as Children's Book Week. School and public libraries will be offering all sorts of activities and fun according to this year's theme: Read across the Universe. The dates for Children's Book Week Australia 2013 are: Saturday 17 – Friday 23 August. To help in your celebrations, I offer a googol of goodies! 1. 2. 3. In keeping with the Read across the Universe theme, this week might make a great time to nudge your kids towards wider reading. If you're looking for one fantastic creative thing to do with your kids this year, co-create a book with a Universe/Space theme at Storybird. Photographs can make amazing prompts for storytelling. CHALLENGES FOR KIDS These are extra to the free PDF activity booklet I described in 2 (above.) * Use Brainy Box to collect the CBCA's short-listed books that YOU would like to see win awards. * Think you know a lot about the moon?
Year 6 Picture Book Study Another year of Mathematics draws to a close → As the school year slowly begins to come to a close, I have been reflecting on our mathematics program which I have blogged before about here. Overall I think for […] #ukedtravels – Day 1 → Why are schools printing so much? Google Docs in my classroom → Last week I found myself, sitting down on the job during a writing lesson, not the usual stance I take. Perseverence and Persistence → I have had this post in a half written form for some time now ever since in fact I read this quote.
Book Trailers for Readers - How to make a book trailer By Teacher Librarian Michelle Harclerode: www.booktrailersforreaders.com - Keep scrolling all the way down for lots of goodies & links to websites. Are you an author?Educational Standards met with digital presentations : Florida SSS ----- Common Core Standards This is the big picture above. Scroll down for a 7 part break down on how to make a book trailer. Background on Book Trailers Book Trailers are an excellent way to communicate the excitement of reading while promoting new or favorite books. Student Made Book Trailers: Hints and Handouts Look at our Student Made Book Trailers to get ideas. What I have learned about making book trailers : Go explore book trailer sites to get inspired. Photo Story 3 Tips : We still use photostory 3 [with Windows 7] windows photo live has replaced photostory 3 Featured Websites to Explore:
10 Quick Classroom Games to improve Literacy Skills - Edgalaxy - Cool Stuff For Nerdy Teachers A colleague of mine recently shard these 10 great ideas to impove literacy skills in the classroom. They are simple to play and can be applied to nearly all year levesl. Enjoy. Sentence Stretching Start with a short sentence or group of words. Rebus writing Students write sentences or longer texts and substitute drawings for the nouns. It’s in the bag Place an object in a bag- make sure the students don’t see it. Touch and tell An object is passed around a group of students. Alternative Students provide an adjectival phrase or clause to describe the object Verb Draw Students randomly select from a box a picture of an animal, person or objects that move. The students can supply verbs and adverbs They can supply adjectives or adjectival groups Hot Seat Read a text ( this case narrative) and at a particular point stop and ask students to select a character and suggest, for example: What the character is doing, thinking, feeling ( focus on processes) Change the meaning- change one word Toss and write
Total Cruft Abandon all hope: 39 ways to die! [Updated with new insights] Growing up, the first taste I had for interactive media was through “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, which ended each scene with a choice that the reader must make. One choice may continue the plot-line, one might take you on a tangent, and the third would lead to certain doom. Each book varied dramatically in complexity and usually boasted on the front cover the vast number of possible endings… of which, most were death or detention. I loved those books. Given that Twitter limits all content to just 140 characters, how could anyone write a meaningful narrative, much less an interactive one? Planning Obviously the story would have to be broken across multiple tweets and linked by shortened URLs. Then, I needed a way to efficiently write and edit in only 140 characters. Chapter One--SPOILERS! Enter Apple’s Numbers app. Changing Background Images So that’s what I did. In my case, I wanted seven different backgrounds. Post Mortem
How many minutes can our school read in a week? August 10, 2013 by smotlrcblog · 8 Comments · Uncategorized The countdown is on to celebrate The Reading Hour on Saturday, August 24th. Last year we had lots of fun wearing our pajamas to school for The Reading Hour. This year we have a much bigger challenge…. If we add up the minutes everyone at our school reads at home and at school for a week what would the total number of minutes be??? Are YOU ready for our Reading Hour Challenge? We will be reading: Saturday, August 17th – Saturday, August 24th All you need to do is your usual reading and then record the number of minutes you read. You will receive a sheet to record your reading and you can also print it from here if you need to Student Reading Minutes How many minutes will YOU read? How many minutes will your CLASS read? How many minutes will our SCHOOL read? Tags: Reading·Reading Hour
21st Century Literacies: Tools for Reading the World In Intelligence Reframed Howard Gardner contends that "literacies, skills, and disciplines ought to be pursued as tools that allow us to enhance our understanding of important questions, topics, and themes." Today's readers become literate by learning to read the words and symbols in today's world and its antecedents. They analyze, compare, evaluate and interpret multiple representations from a variety of disciplines and subjects, including texts, photographs, artwork, and data. Basic Language Literacy Visual Literacy Spatial Literacy Three Information Literacy Questions to Ask About a Map: Handout Historical Literacy Cultural Literacy Information Literacy Political Literacy and News Media Literacy Scientific Literacy Mathematical Literacy