Go 4th and Teach

3 Ways to Make Sure the Students are Loving Your Reading Block! Hey everyone! I am excited to share with you again, this time some of my most successful Reading Block structures and activities to engage kids and get them interacting with text in ways that make an impact. Keep reading if you want to make some easy to implement changes to your reading instruction that pack a punch of growth!  1. Teach in Their World with a Variety of Text Selection and Media Text choices that our students can be excited about are more available to us now than ever before. Be aware of what the most popular books are on reputable websites such scholastic book clubs, or in the kids book aisle at target. Make an effort to borrow those titles from your local library (oh yeah, ask the librarians too--they'll be able to tell you which titles are checked out most often by kids in each age group!) or create a wish list on amazon for people who want to donate things to your class and put those books at t...

The incredible Maya Angelou sat down with Oprah on Mother's Day to promote her recent book and to share the wisdom that naturally emanates from her.  Among the topics were her mother-- whom she describes as a terrible mother to young children but a wonderful mother to a young adult, her grandmother-- the woman she and her brother famously went to live with as young children in Stamps, Arkansas after Maya went mute at age 7, and also a bit about her uncle, residing with them in Stamps.   The uncle part was new to me. One of the things that draws me to watching something on Oprah's OWN network is that I agree with her philosophy of learning from all that we do: "Treat your life like a class...", she can often be heard reciting.  Because I so emphatically agree, I often watch Masterclass on OWN (new episodes air Sundays at 9) which sits down some type of celebrity that has made an impression on the viewer, the industry, or the world and allows the to speak freely a...

Screen Reading impacts to Consider on Assessments  In Ohio beginning in 2014, state high stakes standardized testing will be administered online.  Online assessments although valuable will require a whole new approach to test taking strategies and instruction.  This is also coming at a time of great change in all districts in the state to implement curricula fully aligned with the common core state standards, and the new Ohio Teacher Evaluation System which are still relatively new to teachers and administrators. Both are increasing the amount of pressure to perform that hinges on many factors ranging from teaching ability and instructional practice, to progress monitoring, to student achievement data accounting for half of a teacher's professional evaluation from a district.  Below are several points to consider implementing this fall with respect to screen reading and technology which impacts the upcoming year of testing.   Screen Reading, Technology I...