Traditional vocabulary strategies are passive exercises that have little impact in the long run, write Lynne Dorfman and Aileen Hower. Students need lots of exposure to a word before they can fully understand and apply it. They need frequent, engaging and meaningful encounters with words.
Literacy champions Lynne Dorfman and Aileen Hower join children’s author Frank Murphy in a frank, well-informed review of the book banning controversy. Students need books that help them see themselves and understand others. “The opposite of censorship is intellectual freedom.”
In this unprecedented school year, as teachers and school leaders set goals and decide what to keep and what to change, Lynne Dorfman and Aileen Hower argue that “it is social-emotional learning – not academics – that should be the focus for the first month of school.”
Whether it’s our students or our colleagues, the mentor relationship is a win-win for mentor and mentee. As mentors, we can realize a unique personal fulfillment and grow as a listener, a coach, a friend, a leader. And one day, our mentees may decide to “pay it forward.”
Literacy mavens Brenda Krupp, Lynne Dorfman and Aileen Hower are more than excited about the possibilities of summer reading this year. Check out their many ideas for choice-based summer programs, including book swaps, virtual author visits, online clubs and more. Plan now!
