Speed Dating Books I come back from lunch to join my second block of students, whom I always greet with “Did everyone have a good lunch?" There are the usual grumblings about the cafeteria food, brief interjections about someone who got in trouble for throwing food, or who left a mess that caused their whole table to have to stay behind to clean up. But inevitably, there is my ever-so-eloquent Violet, with her daily blotter on who is dating whom, or who just broke up. It’s still mind blowing to me that kids are dating at the ripe age of 12, which I have deduced (in general) to mean that they text each other in the evenings and occasionally hang out in groups on the weekends. Harmless, yes, but for many, this is the center of their social universe, and truly, kids want to feel a connection. I arranged my classroom tables in several rows with chairs on both sides facing one another. Me: As you all know, we take time each week to share as a class the books that we are reading. Whispers . . . Giggles.
Watch. Connect. Read. The Teacher's Guide To Flipped Classrooms Since Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams first experimented with the idea in their Colorado classrooms in 2004, flipped learning has exploded onto the larger educational scene. It’s been one of the hottest topics in education for several years running and doesn’t seem to be losing steam. Basically, it all started when Bergman and Sams first came across a technology that makes it easy to record videos. They had a lot of students that regularly missed class and saw an opportunity to make sure that missing class didn’t mean missing out on the lessons. Once students had the option of reviewing the lessons at home, the teachers quickly realized the shift opened up additional time in class for more productive, interactive activities than the lectures they’d been giving. And voila: a movement began. A 2014 survey from the Flipped Learning network found that 78% of teachers said they’d flipped a lesson, and 96% of those that tried it said they’d recommend it. What is a flipped classroom? 1. 2. 3. 1.
Book Talks by Katherine Sokolowski I recently gave my students an end of the quarter survey to see how they felt the year was going. In looking at survey after survey, my seventh graders repeatedly listed our daily book talks as one of their favorite parts of our class. They had positive things to say about finding other kids in class who liked the same books they did, discovering new books to add to their to read list, and the community feel of all of us gathering in the front of the room to begin our day. While I did begin the year with weeks of book talks from me, the students have taken over and manage this routine day to day. Today I asked them to give you some advice from the experts, what makes a great book talk? It’s all in the planning Ben reminded us of the importance of planning, “I think you have to know what you are going to say when you get up there.” No spoilers please We all know this one, right? Eye contact Short, but sweet Pick the Lonely Ones Read a bit of text Leave them hanging Presentation Like this:
Evidence base | Heart of the School Share17 Have a look at some of these reports, all of which stress the importance of reading for pleasure and educational achievement. A well run and professional school library can address these difficulties. (Most recent reports first.) Book ownership, literacy engagement and mental wellbeing National Literacy Trust 2018 School Libraries: why children and young people use them or not National Literacy Trust 2018 The Impact of Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment The Reading Agency June 2015 Reading, the next steps: supporting higher standards in schools March 2015 DFE Subject to background: what promotes better achievement for bright but disadvantaged students? Reading for Pleasure – what we know works. ‘The neuroscience of your brain on fiction’ New York Times Sunday Review April 2012 Boys’ Reading Commission National Literacy Trust 2012 Research Evidence on Reading for Pleasure May 2012 DFE report Truth, lies and the Internet: a report into young people’s digital fluency. Skip to toolbar
5 Free Tools for Creating Book Trailer Videos The traditional book report that asks students to critique the books that they read is a staple of many classrooms. If you would like to add a new element to book reports try having students add visual and audio components to book reports by having students create book trailers. Book trailers are short videos designed to spark a viewer's interest in a book. A great place to find examples of book trailers is Book Trailers for Readers. If you would like to have your students try to create book trailers, here are five free video tools that are well-suited to that purpose. Animoto makes it possible to quickly create a video using still images, music, video clips, and text. Stupeflix is a service that allows user to quickly and easily create video montages using their favorite images and audio clips. Shwup is a service similar to Animoto and Stupeflix for creating videos based on your images and audio files. Masher is a free tool for creating video mash-ups.
Cooperative and Collaborative Learning: Explanation What are cooperative and collaborative learning? Collaborative learning is a method of teaching and learning in which students team together to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project. A group of students discussing a lecture or students from different schools working together over the Internet on a shared assignment are both examples of collaborative learning. Cooperative learning, which will be the primary focus of this workshop, is a specific kind of collaborative learning. In small groups, students can share strengths and also develop their weaker skills. In order to create an environment in which cooperative learning can take place, three things are necessary. Also, in cooperative learning small groups provide a place where: For more detailed descriptions of cooperative and collaborative learning, check out the books, articles, and Web sites listed on our Resources page.
Choice Literacy - Articles & Videos - Full Article In her article Room for Beliefs, Debbie Miller says, "Step outside your classroom door and look back in, as if for the first time. What do you see? Do you want to come back inside? Or do you want to run and hide?" I loved this article when I first read it and it helped me to think about the messages my classroom gave to the students who entered. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the struggling readers in our classroom and schools. I have been trying to imagine what those struggling readers see when they look at the classroom libraries and school libraries. Since most students in the upper elementary grades are reading chapter books, those have always taken up a huge portion of our classroom library and of the fiction section of the school library. But I am starting to ask myself whether the books I display really span the range of needs of the readers in the classroom and school. Look at your classroom and school libraries from the eyes of your most struggling readers.
Trelease Brochures on Reading "Do you have a free handout about reading that we can give to parents?" o many teachers and administrators asked Jim Trelease that question, one of his first retirement projects was to create a series of such free handouts. Based on his books, lectures, and films, the tri-fold double-sided brochures are aimed at parents, teachers, librarians—even future teachers and parents. Written in an uncomplicated, to-the-point style, along with some of the charts and statistics Jim has used in his books and lectures, the brochures are free for downloading and may be easily duplicated by nonprofit institutions dealing with parents and community members. The subject matter includes: How do we obtain the brochures? First, email Jim Trelease (click HERE) and seek permission to print the brochures, including in your correspondence the name and address of the requesting organization, its nonprofit status, and how it will be used. . Would any of the brochures apply to the faculty?
7 Tips for Successful Collaboration Who We Are and What We Do We are National Board Certified Teachers who have been collaborative partners for almost a decade at Oceanside High School in New York. Our collaboration works because we're working together towards a common goal: helping our students reach their fullest potential. We teach two integrated sections of ninth grade Honors English and Social Studies, where our students move as a cohort between our classes, giving them an experience that illustrates how English and Social Studies are related by providing them with the opportunity to read text deeply, and link themes occurring across both classrooms. In addition, we team teach a Conference class where students delve deeper into the humanities, exploring concepts that link us all in the human experience. Every year we have the opportunity to teach grades other than the ninth grade integrated program, and we choose to stay together. Carve Out Common Planning Time Use Your School Schedule To Your Advantage Maintain Hope
The science of revision: nine ways pupils can revise for exams more effectively | Teacher Network The weeks and months leading up to exams can be challenging for students (and parents and teachers alike). Now more than ever, young people seem to be feeling the pressure. So how can students revise better? Which techniques really work, and which don’t? What can students do to improve their memory, mood and concentration? Before you do any revision 1. 2. During revision sessions 3. 4. Leading researchers in the field of memory consider testing yourself as one of the most effective ways to improve your ability to recall information (pdf). 5. 6. 8. 9. As research into psychology continues to develop, we learn more and more about how best to help students learn.
Learning To Read Alone Is Not Enough. Your Students Need A Reading Champion. I don't know about you, but... I did not become a reader because someone held me accountable for reading. I did not become a reader because someone offered me "points" or other incentives for the quantity of books or pages I read. I did not become a reader because someone limited my reading selections to only to those titles on a certain reading level or within a specific lexile band. And I did not become a reader because someone forced me to complete reading logs, write book reports or create (and then reuse) the occasional diorama. I became a reader because a kind librarian, whose name I do not remember, at McDermoth Elementary School, (in Aberdeen, Washington), found me hiding under a table in the library on my first day at that school. I became a reader because one of my 4th grade teachers, Miss Lynch at Madison Elementary School, (in Olympia, Washington), read Wilson Rawls' Where The Red Fern Grows aloud to our class. Learning to read alone is not enough.
Scholastic Releases New National Research on Children’s Reading (Kids & Family Reading Report, 6th Ed.) From Scholastic: Scholastic today released results from the Kids & Family Reading Report: 6th Edition, a biannual national survey of children ages 6–17 and their parents, as well as parents of kids ages 0–5, exploring their attitudes and behaviors around reading. Key findings reveal what kids and parents look for in children’s books—including types of storylines and characters; the importance and increase in reading aloud to children from an early age; views on summer reading; as well as the inequities around access to books in the home. The report also provides data regarding parents’ views on diversity in children’s literature as well as data on books and reading in Hispanic and African-American families.The Kids & Family Reading Report: 6th Edition released today has encouraging news showing that reading aloud to children ages 0–5 is happening in more families than it was just two years ago when the movement for reading from birth began. Direct to International Editions of Report
S.O.S. for Information Literacy Collaboration is an evolving process that does not happen overnight. Here are some of our tips for developing successful collaborative relationships. Develop a "collaborative mentality." This means your collaboration "antennae" are always seeking out collaboration opportunities wherever and whenever they arise.Get "up close and personal" with the curricula for each grade level in your school and determine the most likely "payoff points," where you can immediately provide services and resources to meet the needs of both teachers and students.Hang out with teachers; have lunch in the teachers' room, go to team planning meetings, join curriculum and technology committees---whatever it takes to be able to interact and learn what's important to them and their students.Be enthusiastic, approachable, and a good listener. You might also find the brief ERIC Digest "Teachers and Librarians: Collaborative Relationships" to be helpful as a background on collaborative relationships.