In the new school year ELA teachers are looking for fresh ideas to encourage students to read closely and think deeply. Here are five adaptable activities from teacher-author and NBCT Marilyn Pryle to add to your toolbox and keep students creatively interacting with texts.
From the classroom to the whole school, Dr. Myles Cooley’s revised Practical Guide for Mental Health and Learning Disorders will help new and veteran educators understand specific student challenges and support kids affected by them, writes educator Elizabeth OBrien.
ELA and Equity / I Will Screw This Up
by Dina Strasser · Published 08/21/2019 · Last modified 09/03/2020
Meaning well and teaching well are not the same – a painful truth that ELA teacher Dina Strasser’s exponential learning about race has helped her realize. She uses the story of her unit based on Gary Paulsen’s “Nightjohn” to underscore the difference between intent and impact.
Traditional questioning routines can send unintended messages to some students that they are not “smart” enough to engage in classroom conversations, writes author and teaching expert Jackie Walsh. Learn how to weave SEL-friendly questioning into your daily practice.
In their sequel to “Making Number Talks Matter,” Ruth Parker and Cathy Humphreys go deeper and include videos of real students. They thoroughly explain the how and why of Number Talks and suggest updates to their method, writes math and algebra teacher Michael Hernandez.
If you are searching for a comprehensive way to explore the complexities of climate change, address student (and popular) misconceptions and involve students in the search for solutions, you’ll want “Understanding Climate Change,” says science teacher Virginia Brackett.
Future of History / Word Choice
by Lauren S. Brown · Published 08/14/2019 · Last modified 06/24/2020
American Indian or Native American? Latina or Latino or Latinx? African American or Black? History teacher Lauren Brown shares activities and resources she uses to help students understand the background and history of such naming choices and why it’s important to teach.
If we want our students to be readers, we have to let them read, writes principal and reading teacher Rita Platt. We have to give them time for the kind of reading that is guided by curiosity, joy, and love of story. Platt shows exactly how her school made this work.
Close Reading the Media / News Literacy
by Frank Baker · Published 08/07/2019 · Last modified 11/20/2019
With the 2020 election underway fake news and deceptive social media posts and imagery are expected to become commonplace. Media literacy expert Frank Baker offers a lesson to help our always-connected students acquire some of the “healthy skepticism” skills they’ll need.
New educators – particularly those in the middle grades – find themselves at the edge of the high dive, filled with enthusiasm and uncertainty. As they leap into the profession, Curtis Chandler shows how we can seek opportunities to provide support and collaboration.
