ABCs of Teaching Reading

Project Appendix D Promote the inclusion of diverse voices in K-12 classrooms with a unique model for culturally responsive text selection and a growing list of teacher-recommended titles. A Tool for Selecting Diverse Texts Appendix D: A Tool for Selecting Diverse Texts walks users through four distinct—but interconnected—considerations: complexity, diversity and representation, critical literacy, and reader and task, modeling the method we used to identify texts for our K-12 anti-bias curriculum, Perspectives for a Diverse America. Traditionally, tools that aid text selection have focused on quantitative and qualitative measures, giving teachers the means to select based on inherent text complexities; for example, word and sentence length, text cohesion, language features and knowledge demands. These tools have not provided ways for teachers to include diversity and representation, critical literacy and reader and task considerations in their text selection process. A List of Diverse Texts

Action ABC's: Learning Vocabulary With Verbs ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you. 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 Your students can save their work with Student Interactives. More Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans Lesson Plan Overview Featured Resources From Theory to Practice Students are likely to know many more words than they use in their writing. back to top Alphabet Organizer: This interactive tool allows students to create an alphabet chart or letter pages with words that start with each letter of the alphabet. Johnson, D.D. (2000).

Toss and Blend: A Carnival Game Have you ever played the carnival game where you try to toss chips into a cup to win a fabulous prize? This version may not snag your kid a life size stuffed giraffe, but it will give him a boost with writing and spelling. Sure it's fun, but beneath the carnival atmosphere is a game that helps reinforce beginning sound-letter combinations. What You Do: Using a thick marker, write one of the following beginning blends on the inside lip of each paper cup: BL-TW-QU-CH-SH Next, tape the cups to the floor so they are touching, and visible when viewed from a standing position by you and your child. How many words did you come up with for each blend? Alicia Danyali taught primary-level students for four years at the International School of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Top 10 Picture Books for the Secondary Classroom As a teacher of future English teachers, I am always trying to open my students’ eyes to the wonder and power of the picture book, both as an art form and as a terrific instructional tool for the secondary classroom. Being students of capital-L literature, my teacher-babies sometimes forget to consider these compact and powerful texts. It’s the best way I know to get numerous, diverse and COMPLETE texts into students’ minds. It’s hard enough to squeeze out the time in the overcrowded middle and high school English curriculum to read young adult and classic novels, but with picture books, you can read the entire work aloud, model the focus you want students to concentrate on, let them explore the craft, have the discussion, and even try it out in their own writing–all in one period! So here, in no particular order: my top ten. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Nerdy friends, you are never too old for picture books–I feel like you know that!

10 Things Not to Say to Your Kids - The Kid Counselor™ When I think about all of the phrases, anecdotes, and sayings about the power of the spoken word I am reminded of how I changed my way of communicating with children upon learning Play Therapy principles. I realize that using Play Therapy based language is a learned and practiced skill that requires time and effort, so I thought it would be helpful to share ten commonly used phrases parents say to their kids. I will also give the Play Therapy based alternative with a short explanation of why it is more effective. 1. No (running, hitting, yelling, fill in the verb)! Kids hear the word “no” far too frequently (Read more about that here). 2. I have spent a good deal of time on articles on the difference between Praise vs. 3. Children are programmed to question, analyze and wonder about situations. 4. This does two things. 5. I can’t tell you the number of times I hear that phrase when around other parents, even though it is highly ineffective. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Please share this post

60second Recap® - Classic literature, books for teens, and more. Thesis Statements: Four Steps to a Great Essay, using an example from "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne | Excerpt from "How to Write an A+ Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide" by Jenny Sawyer. Writing the thesis statement. Overview.0:19 What you must do BEFORE you begin writing your thesis statement,0:26 Sample assignment: from "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne0:37 Writing the thesis statement: Step One. Answer the question1:08 Writing the thesis statement: Step Two. Refine your answer2:10 Writing the thesis statement: Step Three. Choose the right supporting examples.3:20 Writing the thesis statement: Step Four. Go Deeper! At Amazon's Kindle Store... I'm going to make a confession. No, I knew how to write essays. I’ll show you how you can, too. A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO CONQUERING YOUR NEXT ESSAY ASSIGNMENTMy name is Jenny Sawyer. Most people think A+ essays require hours of hard work. How? YOUR A+ AWAITS.

3 minute reading assessments: Word Recognition, Fluency & Comprehension Language Arts Rearrange the letters to make a word. Use the clue below to help to reveal the mystery word. Rearrange the letters to make a word. Correctly spell the Back To School words below each picture. Match the words to the pictures. Drag and drop each word label onto the matching picture. Correctly spell the Color words below each picture. It's Pacman with a twist. Read each clue. Practice your typing skills Winter style! It's color by Alphabet! Complete the crossword puzzle by typing the name of picture that appears by each row or column. Correctly spell the Autumn words below each picture. It's Pacman with a twist. It's color by Alphabet! How many words can you find in two minutes? Connect dots to make each letter of the alphabet from A To Z. It's color by Alphabet! Correctly spell the Winter words below each picture. Match the words to the pictures. Practice your typing skills Christmas style! Practice your typing skills Zombie style! Eat the letters in the correct order to spell each word.

Five close reading strategies to support the Common Core I walked in to my first college class, Political Science 101, eager to learn. For my inaugural college assignment, my professor asked the class to read the first three chapters of the textbook for the next class period. That night, I returned to my dorm room, determined to learn everything I could in those three chapters. I pulled out my textbook and highlighter. Growing up, that is what I always saw the “older kids” using when they read a textbook. In my naïve 18-year-old mind, I believed that highlighters must have some magical power that transports the words on the page directly to your brain. However, when I opened my textbook it was unlike anything I had read in high school. I shrugged, pulled out my highlighter and started highlighting. I quickly realized that I had no real game plan for reading this complicated textbook. Flash forward to my first few years of teaching. Last fall, I attended an AVID workshop about critical reading strategies. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. · Ask questions.

3 Ways To Create a Differentiated Learning PD Menu There is no need to explain why teachers should have the same benefit of differentiated learning as students do. Fundamentally, most people agree with the idea, but for some reason the differentiated professional development experience seems more the exception than the rule. Here are three juicy options to give teachers what they’re craving. Appetizer: Pick Strategically, Not Randomly Pre-assessments and formative assessments are critical to the DI experience. 1.) what teachers know Here are a few ideas on how you can make the most of your summer vacation away... So let’s look at a few simple teaching strategies teachers can use to take... Here's how you can implement gamification into your classroom. Here are a few ways to bring technology in the classroom safely and responsibly. Here are a few end of the year activities and tips that you can share with... 2.) what they are really interested in learning 3.) how they learn Main Dish: Pick Doing, Not Talking 1.) listening/watching presentations

Reading and Math ProgramsLearning Today School-Home Links Reading Kit: Third Grade Activities Table of Contents A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n School-Home Links Reading Kit - February 1999 Cover page | A Word to Families and Tutors Listed below are 100 School-Home Links activities for the third grade. The activities are organized by reading and literacy skills appropriate to this grade. Under each specific skill, there are varying numbers of activities to help children develop their ability to read and write. The School-Home Links activities below are available for download as PDF files. If you need information on using these PDF files or the Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to our Adobe Help Guide. NOTE:You may also download the entire Third Grade Activities volume [2.8 MB] in PDF format. Reading and Literacy Skills Book Links Acknowledgments [Compact for Reading Home]

CliffsNotes Study Guides: The Hunger Games, Of Mice and Men, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Divine Comedy Inferno, Night, Gulliver's Travels, The Prince and the Pauper, Heart of Darkness, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, A Separate Peace, and more Top 12 Ways to Motivate Students If there is one thing we know about kids, it’s that they have short attention spans and prefer now to later. This is especially true at the beginning of the year. Teachers, more than any district or schoolwide programs, have the most power to know how to motivate students because they’re on the front lines. ***Obviously, not enough can be said about parent involvement, but that’s a Top 12 list for another day*** How to Motivate Students In Your Classroom or School 1. Recognize work in class, display good work in the classroom and send positive notes home to parents, hold weekly awards in your classroom, organize academic pep rallies to honor the honor roll, and even sponsor a Teacher Shoutout section in the student newspaper to acknowledge student’s hard work. 2. Set high, yet realistic expectations. We offer up some new classroom activities for Groundhog Day, and a few twists... Our look at the cutting-edge technology in the classroom concept known as... 3. 4. 5. Classroom Job Examples 6.