Blog Archives

Parent tip of the week #87: Still more summer resources

6/28/2018

http://writelike.org– This free, game-like middle-grade site aims to improve students’ writing craft through analysis, writing exercises, and emulation of master authors. The site has self-guided lessons that scaffold learning on key writing topics like semicolons, similes, and metaphors and ask students to mimic a particular writer’s language and style.
https://www.icivics.org/products/drafting-board– This free online tool is part of the middle- and high-school civics education site, founded by retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The iCivics site has resources on the Constitution, civil rights, and the three branches of government, as well as mini-lessons and brief readings and activities on historical figures, events, and court cases.
https://thinkcerca.com– This grade 3-12 site focuses on reading and writing history, current events, science, and math (CERCA is an acronym for making claims, supporting claims with evidence, reasoning, counterarguments, and using audience-appropriate language).

“The Right Tool for the Job: Improving Reading and Writing in the Classroom” by Melody Arabo, Jonathan Budd, Shannon Garrison, and Tabitha Pacheco, edited by Victoria McDougald, Thomas B. Fordham Institute, March 2017, https://bit.ly/2M0namr

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Parent tip of the week #86: more summer resources

6/22/2018

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https://www.waterford.org/curriculet/– This online grade 3-12 free digital library has books and news articles for students’ independent reading. Although the store’s search feature, which does not allow users to select texts based on Lexile level or interest outside of basic categories such as new releases, poetry, children’s literature, and historical fiction. Despite this limitation, however, Curriculet is a helpful resource.
https://www.quill.org– This free website has grade 1-12 Common Core-aligned digital worksheets in grammar, vocabulary, and writing skills. The site has a variety of materials and genres, including fiction, mythology, and historical documents. This site has no multiple-choice questions; students have to respond to reading passages by writing complete sentences, and if their response is incorrect or incomplete, they have to try again.

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Parent tip of the week #85: What is text complexity?

6/15/2018

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What does text complexity mean? Texts usually have a Lexile or readability level. In another post, I talked about texts and books having lexiles, not kids. Kids can have a range of lexile levels they may best read within, but only texts can be given a specific level. this is based on the length of the words and sentences, their syllables, and how many sentences there are per paragraph. the higher these numbers are, the higher the lexile is. This is just one piece of text complexity. Text complexity is measured by the nuances and background requirements of a text. Ii is also measured by what a teacher is asking the student to do with the text, or what a student is choosing to do with a text.

For more information, see textproject.org

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Parent tip of the week #84: More on Libraries

6/8/2018

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Besides summer reading programs, parents can use libraries to establish partnerships to research, tap into services, and find opportunities to improve the literacy of their children. What are some of these opportunities?

The Library of Congress Blog found at loc.gov

Comprehensive lists of Children’s book, print, and media award winners at www.ala.org

Information on how to handle parental challenges to books at ala.org/advocacy/banned/aboutbannedbooks

The Harvard Classics and the Shelf of Fiction anthology found at Bartleby.com

A library locator for teachers who live in unincorporated areas not served by a public library. Here , educators can find nonprofits libraries, higher-ed, and museum collections, atyourlibrary.org

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Parent tip of the week #83: Myths about the common core

6/1/2018

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When the common core first came out, a lot of people thought everything had to be a cold read and teachers could no longer pre teach material. We knew that was wrong! What else is myth of common core?

What other myths surround this initiative? Some parents think the standards say literature no longer has a place in literature classes. Not so! A deeper reading of the exemplars found in Appendix B (corestandards.org) show many of the classic literary texts are on the list. The Exemplars are simply guides and examples, not curriculum directives.

The next myth is that teachers should instruct at frustration levels. Our teachers have been very successful by teaching your students at levels that do not frustrate them. Students continue to grow in the curriculum without further falling behind. Additionally, the idea that instructing students at only easy texts in order to improve reading has never been validated by research. Teachers should use easier, grade level, and challenging texts throughout instruction.

Online CCSS supports
¨ Center for K-12 assessment http://www.k12center.org (click assessment
consortia)
¨ Reading- http://isbe.net/common_core/pdf/elawebsites.pdf

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Parent tip of the week #87: Still more summer resources

Parent tip of the week #86: more summer resources

Parent tip of the week #85: What is text complexity?

Parent tip of the week #84: More on Libraries

Parent tip of the week #83: Myths about the common core

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