Category Archives: Reading Instruction

A NEW Assignment?

An interesting conversation is beginning to take shape on the English Companion Ning relevant to yesterday’s piece in the NY Times about providing choice to student readers. I was surprised (and kind of saddened) that this approach was touted as the “future of reading” and that it was contrasted so sharply with other forms of [...]

Discovering Words

I’ve watched Erin McKean speak to redefining the dictionary with quite a few different teachers this year, particularly during conversations that focus on vocabulary instruction. Check it out:

So now…….I’m kinda loving what’s she (and a team of friends) are up to here.

Tossing a Pebble Through the Old Beehive

I’m just wondering: how many people who adamantly oppose book censorship actually tolerate the ways in which the web is censored for students and teachers (and of course, so many others)? Perhaps it isn’t fair to make this comparison, but I’m playing with doing exactly that. What do you think?

Recommended Reading: The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

The Chosen One is Carol Lynch Williams’ harrowing account of one child’s journey toward truth, faith, and freedom. Thirteen-year-old Kyra Leigh is forced to explore the complexities of her family and her community when confronted with a reality that she is unable to accept. Raised within the confines of a polygamist compound, Kyra nurtures several forbidden [...]

Summer Reading “List”

A few people that I know are in the process of populating their shiny new RSS feeds this week. I spent some time updating my links toward the bottom of the left sidebar recently, so take a peek at some of my favorite edublogs, and please suggest others that I might want to add! I’m [...]

What Should I Read Next?

You know the kid: the one who grows his bangs a little longer to hide the eyes beneath his glasses. This way, you’ll never know exactly where he’s looking…..up at you or his peers….or inside his desk, where the work that matters most to him awaits. We’ve all had students who are so immersed in [...]

Teaching Content is Teaching Reading

Dan Willingham has been known to challenge a popular theory or two. I find his work provocative, and I have refined my own perspectives a bit upon consideration of some of his arguments. Take a peek. Discuss. I’m wondering what others think……

Beyond the Book-Report: Connecting With an Audience

Teachers ask for alternatives to traditional book reporting because they know that if there is anything worse than writing and reading a four paragraph text summary to a classroom full of your peers, it would be assuming the position of audience member AND evaluator. I know that there are more than a few WNY teachers [...]

Other Alternatives to the Book Report: Remixing the 6 Word Memoir and 3 Word Video

Six-Word Memoir book preview from SMITHmag on Vimeo.
My six words?
Could work well for book-reporting!

Hamlet on Facebook OR How Social Networking Tools Killed the Book Report

Shakespeare On Facebook
Published at Scribd
A few years ago, Sue Rooney,  a teacher at Cleveland Hill High School shared her Facebook literature project with me. The resulting products were very similar to the example above, and I was really impressed by the fact that she was willing to offer up the use of this tool [...]