Janet Cordle
Middle School Media Specialist
An Explanation of Rhetoric with ExampleskidCourses.com. – Jay Heinrichs The above quote is from Jay’s book Thank You For Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About The Art of Persuasion.
You can read more on Jay’s site. Rhetoric, or the art of persuasion, has been practiced since the ancient times and remains a key tool for persuading others to this day. Is a skill practiced by politicians, business people, advertisers, educators, and students. Sometimes rhetorical devices are used by people who don’t even realize they are using them, and many times people don’t realize when they are being exposed to these devices. As a part of the others or audience, it’s great to be able to spot rhetoric and the rhetorical devices used to persuade. Did Someone Say Ancient? Hi, I’m Aristotle. Constructing Rhetoric (Classically) In classical rhetoric, five basic principles form the bones of rhetorical speech, and encompass a system for crafting powerful speeches. Read more about the 5 Canons of Rhetoric. ~Martin Luther King Jr.
Research. Growth mindset. DYI. Goal setting. 10 Cool Ways To Teach With Word Clouds. By Marilyn Pryle Everyone knows Wordles.
These colorful word clouds are everywhere – on posters, playbills, T-shirts, and even take-out menus. We enjoy the color and pattern, and the way new words keep jumping out at us the longer we look. But Wordle can be a powerful teaching tool, too, with the right directions and questions. The premise of Wordle, or its shape-forming counterpart, Tagxedo, is simple: The more frequently a word appears in a text, the larger it appears in the picture. There is a caveat, however: You must be able to copy and paste (or type) your text into the wordle.net or tagxedo.com site.
Usually, I like to use just one slice—a chapter or section—of a longer text so we can examine it closely, but sometimes it’s interesting to paste a complete book into Wordle, to notice overall trends of the work. [Editor’s note: If you have problems using Java (which Wordle requires) on your computer, Tagxedo may be your better choice for making word clouds. A few more ideas and tips. Prism. Persuasion Map.
Search. Edcite. Digital Literacy. CCSS. Results on ReadWriteThink. NEWSELA + Google Docs = Differentiated, Collaborative Reading! This is a guest post from Beth Holland of EdTechTeacher.org, an advertiser on this blog.
Whether you teach elementary, middle, or high school, a common challenge exists: finding non-fiction content at reading level. This is an especially pressing concern for teachers incorporating the CCSS Standards into their curricula. Given that varied reading levels may exist within a single class, it can seem virtually impossible to have all students access the same content in a way that allows them to comprehend the material. Creating differentiated reading groups may seem equally unrealistic since it is impossible for a teacher to work with multiple students or groups all at the same time. To quote Jennie Magiera (@MsMagiera), we also need a means to “clone the teacher.” NEWSELA solves the first dilemma by providing teachers with a database of non-fiction articles. Sample NEWSELA article Sample Google Doc with Comments.
Literacy/reading strategies. Sample Items. Practice Tests/Sample Items. CVBLES 2012 hyperlinked.pdf. Common Core State Standards Initiative.