Novels to Know: Middle School Edition As part of our preparation for Common Core standards our district asked the librarians to put together a list of noteworthy novels that would help meet the higher standards for text complexity and reading level. My two middle grade partners, Monique German and Kristen Hearne, and I will be putting together the list for our level. Priority number one for me was to become as much of an expert on Common Core as I can so I have been spending time learning the details of our new standards. If you haven't read the details on how texts are evaluated I highly suggest reading Appendix A of the standards document. There are three considerations when evaluating text: quantitative, qualitative, reader and task. Quantitative can be measured with Lexile or a similar tool. To look at a diagram comparing current Lexile bands by grade and the "stretch" bands for Common Core visit the Lexile site. This list does not impress me. I have been deliberately choosing books lately with this in mind.
15 Great Video Sites for Educators YouTube: The undisputed king of all video sites. Whilst all the others are great and offer you a little more safety in regards to content, pretty much all the great content from those sites can also be found here in most cases. TED-Ed: From a site that’s long been known for big ideas, you’ll find TED-Ed, videos specifically designed to act as highly engaging and fun lessons. TeacherTube: This YouTube for teachers is an amazing resource for finding educationally-focused videos to share with your classroom. You can find videos uploaded by other teachers or share your own. Edutopia: An awesome place to find learning ideas and resources, Edutopia has videos, blogs, and more, all sorted into grade levels. YouTube EDU: A YouTube channel just for education, you can find primary and secondary education, university-level videos, and even lifelong learning. Classroom Clips: Classroom Clips offers media for educators and students alike, including video and audio in a browseable format.
Tools for the Common Core Standards | News about tools that are being developed to support implementation of the Common Core State Standards Common Core Resources: DarkeNet Resources for the Common Core English Language Arts Standards We are in a very transitional time with revised standards in the state of Ohio. We (the State of Ohio) have adopted the common core standards as our English Language Arts Standards. If you have questions about information provided on this site, please email me. The Standards and Appendices (A-C) can be found on the Core Standards Website.Learning Targets - you will find a PDF document for each grade level.
A Brief Life of Fitzgerald The dominant influences on F. Scott Fitzgerald were aspiration, literature, Princeton, Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, and alcohol. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24, 1896, the namesake and second cousin three times removed of the author of the National Anthem. Fitzgerald’s given names indicate his parents’ pride in his father’s ancestry. Edward Fitzgerald failed as a manufacturer of wicker furniture in St. During 1911-1913 he attended the Newman School, a Catholic prep school in New Jersey, where he met Father Sigourney Fay, who encouraged his ambitions for personal distinction and achievement. In June 1918 Fitzgerald was assigned to Camp Sheridan, near Montgomery, Alabama. Fitzgerald quit his job in July 1919 and returned to St. In the fall-winter of 1919 Fitzgerald commenced his career as a writer of stories for the mass-circulation magazines. The Fitzgeralds expected to become affluent from his play, The Vegetable. F. Matthew J.
Fountas & Pinnell The Common Core Standards for Language and Literacy and The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades PreK–8: A Guide to Teaching There is a strong relationship between the new Common Core Standards for Language and Literacy and Fountas and Pinnell’s The Continuum of Literacy Learning. The goal of both documents is to ensure that all students are college-/and career-ready literate no later than the end of high school. Click on the links below to review: © Copyright 2010. The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Fountas & Pinnell LLI System Test Preparation The Common Core State Standards align with Test Preparation items in the Fountas & Pinnell LLI Intermediate Systems. State Specific Resources Prekindergarten State Specific Standards for Language and Literacy and The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades PreK-8: A Guide to Teaching The Continuum of Literacy Learning, PreK can also be found in Literacy Beginnings: A Prekindergarten Handbook
Brush of Truth: CC aligned lessons 8-12 year olds Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) September 28, 2012 Brush of Truth, a book app for kids 8-12 recognized for its appeal to reluctant readers, is now offering free lesson plans that are aligned with Common Core State Standards. Curriculum can be downloaded from the app website, Brush of Truth, geared to third- through sixth-graders, is the first book app created by Story Bayou, a mom’s vision to get tweens to read. Brush of Truth recently won the 2012 Media of the Year award in the Interactive Book App category in Creative Child Magazine’s Creative Toy Awards. The language arts lessons created for Brush of Truth include Powerpoint presentations, worksheets and teacher answer keys. “Brush of Truth is unique in that it is a narrative where children can choose different scenarios as the story progresses. The app tells the story of two tweens who find an enchanted paintbrush. Laviolette, a New Orleans native, is a former columnist and editor for The Times-Picayune.
EdWeek: Other Country's Schools For the Media Featured Stories American educators comb the data from school systems in other countries for clues to what might work closer to home. Concern over U.S. students' middling test scores vies with caution about cultural and other factors that shape school improvement. Why is it important to study schools from other countries? Watch and listen to Education Week's reporters who studied the issue at large for Quality Counts. Prestige and respect, not just salary, prove crucial in assuring a truly professional teacher workforce. The right mix of content instruction and pedagogy is seen as crucial in preparing prospective teachers. Assessment looms large even beyond the U.S., while other accountability measures also flourish. Other nations' curricula and standards were important in putting crafting the learning goals most states have adopted. Immigration policies, culture, and other factors complicate efforts to help foreign-born students and those learning a new language. Commentary
Common Core Curriculum Maps | Digital Resources These digital resources and tools for creating, collaborating, researching, and sharing can be found in the Common Core Curriculum Maps. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, as the technologies are constantly evolving. Consider it a beginning! Free Online Resources Bookmarking These programs allow teachers to store bookmarks in one place, and allow others to access them. Edmodo Edmodo is an easy and engaging way to manage assignments, provide a way for students to communicate and create an online classroom. Edmodo Glogster Students can easily create and share interactive posters. Glogster Google Docs Google Docs is “storage in the clouds” — a place that allows many students to collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and forms. Google Docs Google Earth Google Earth lets students view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, canyons of the ocean, and other features and physical locations from their computers. Google Earth Jing Jing Open Educational Resources Picasa Picasa
How to Organize Digital Information: Web sites, blogs, and more “The flood of data on the Web has reached mind-boggling proportions.” (NPR, 2010) So many websites, blogs, online newsletters … so little time. How can we keep up in the digital world? What is Personal Knowledge Management (PKM)? The System to PKM The first and essential component to effective management of digital information is the system itself. Find the right tool or application to manage your digital content. 1) The Tool There are many tools to choose from for managing and sharing digital information, yet the selection of the tool is critical, it can make or break your system. Pealtrees: I discovered Pearltrees, which is a fluid and intuitive tool that allows me to manage digital information easily. 2) The Knowledge – My Categories The image below illustrates my ‘trees’ which are the main topics or categories of interest to me. To expand a ‘tree’ I simply click on the circle associated with the category. 3) The method Like this: Like Loading...
Common-Core Writers Craft Curriculum Criteria Published Online: July 22, 2011 New guidelines on crafting curriculum materials for the common standards in English/language arts are reigniting debate about how to ensure a marketplace of good instructional materials for the new standards without crossing the line into telling teachers how to teach. The focal point of the conversations is a set of “publishers’ criteria” issued recently by the two lead writers of the English/language arts section of the common standards, which have been adopted by all but five states. Working under a contract with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an avid backer of the standards, David Coleman and Susan Pimentel wrote a pair of documents highlighting the key ideas of the standards and describing the qualities of instructional materials they consider a faithful reflection of them. The criteria center on aspects of the standards that represent a significant shift. . The impetus behind the criteria, Ms. Validating Materials Teacher Training Linda P. Mr. Mr.
17 Animations of Classic Literary Works: From Plato and Shakespeare, to Kafka, Hemingway and Gaiman Yesterday we featured Piotr Dumala's 2000 animation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic novel, Crime and Punishment, and it reminded us of many other literary works that have been wonderfully re-imagined by animators -- many that we've featured here over the years. Rather than leaving these wondrous works buried in the archives, we're bringing them back and putting them all on display. And what better place to start than with a foundational text -- Plato's Republic. We were tempted to show you a claymation version of the seminal philosophical work (watch here), but we decided to go instead with Orson Welles' 1973 narration of The Cave Allegory, which features the surreal artistic work of Dick Oden. Staying with the Greeks for another moment ... This one may have Sophocles and Aeschylus spinning in their graves. Eight years before Piotr Dumala tackled Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Dumala produced a short animated film based on The Diaries of Franz Kafka. E.B.