Archive for December 2012
Reading Comprehension Strategies
From the desk of Carol C… Recently I worked with a bright middle school child who needed some support with reading and writing. We were working on what I thought was a difficult poem, but it was a suggested exemplar from the Common Core for the grade below this child’s. At first I thought my…
Read MoreThe Anti-Workbook Classroom
From the desk of Alice… I recently had a conversation with someone about instruction in the elementary school. In that particular school system, a program is in place that requires reading workbooks for Kindergarten students. If this happens to be the case in your school or system, I am so sorry. Having our youngest learners…
Read MoreReading in 8th Grade and Beyond
From the desk of Ailce… My youngest children are 5 year old twins on the verge of Kindergarten. They naturally love books and without prompting will crawl into someone’s lap to hear a story or book about something they are interested in. They ask questions about pictures, words, make predictions, infer and generally throw themselves…
Read MoreParent Involvement in the Middle School
From the desk of Carol C… Have you ever had a conversation with your teenager that went something like this? What did you do at school today? Nothing. You must have done something. We did a bunch of stuff. It was boring. I gotta big history test tomorrow. Have you studied? Yeah, some. I’ll study…
Read MoreShouldn't They Already Know How to Read This?
From the desk of Alice… I am fortunate to be able to work in middle and high school classrooms as part of my weekly work. The classes are always full of energy and there is rarely a dull moment. When I am in these classes, my role is to support the literacy development of the…
Read MoreWriting Across the Curriculum
From the desk of Carol C… Writing across the curriculum…it’s a phrase we hear often these days. Any grade level can look through the exemplars and see the level of rigor expected in writing assignments in all areas, not just Language Arts. The first step in helping students attain these expected levels is to make…
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