Literacy Now

In my article "Six Recommendations for Implemeting State- or District-Created CCSS Curriculum Units" in the October/November 2013 issue of Reading Today, I discussed that many state departments of education have devoted resources to providing curriculum units for educators to use. Here are some examples:

• New York State, on its comprehensive EngageNY.org website (www.engageny.org/common-core-curriculum), offers curriculum that local districts may adopt or adapt.  These curriculum modules are designed PreK-12 and offer curriculum maps, unit plans, lesson plans, materials, and professional development guidance.

• Massachusetts (http://www.doe.mass.edu/candi/model/) provides model curriculum units that include an overview, standards, curriculum-embedded performance assessment, and lesson plans, written in an Understanding By Design (UBD) template (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998).

• Colorado has created a template and curriculum process for translating standards into curriculum, (http://www.cde.state.co.us/standardsandinstruction/SampleCurriculum-Resources.asp) based on the work of Dr. Lynn Erickson and her book, “Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom” (2007).

These selections are just illustrative of the work that has been done across the country. Many other states have also produced model curriculum and curriculum maps and curriculum guides.

References

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Erickson, H. L. (2007). Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Lori DiGisi is Director of Curriculum and professional Development for the Farmingham Public Schools, Farmingham, MA. She was formerly on staff at the Massachusetts Department of Education, ldigisi@gmail.com.

This article is an addendum to an article from the October/November 2013 issue of Reading Today. IRA members can read the interactive digital version of the magazine here. Nonmembers: join today!

Back in April I wrote a Teaching Tip in which I described what I consider to be the three most effective types of “brain-friendly” strategies that we teachers have at our disposal in our effort to improve student learning and energize the overall classroom environment—those involving movement, songs, and stories. I refer to this collection of strategies as the “3 Game Changers.”

p: Bread for the World via photopin cc

Ever since I started incorporating elements of movement, music, and storytelling into my instructional practice several years ago, I have been fascinated by how well students respond to these strategies. The classroom simply becomes a different place whenever we begin one of these activities because the lessons are so engaging and the results so powerful. Specifically, the 3 Game Changers offer unparalleled novelty, interest, stimulation, excitement, and joy. As a result, students become emotionally involved in these activities, pay more attention, remember better, and, in short, learn better. Strategies that incorporate movement, music, and storytelling also improve class morale, build self-esteem and enthusiasm for learning, and increase feelings of student “connectedness” to the class and to one another.

Approximately six years ago my belief in the effectiveness of music, movement, and storytelling became so absolute that I dedicated myself to gathering, adapting, and creating as many strategies and activities as I could that feature these elements. I put over 100 of these ideas into my new teacher resource book ROCK IT! TRANSFORM CLASSROOM LEARNING WITH MOVEMENT, SONGS, AND STORIES. In this article I am excited to share two of my favorite ideas for improving student learning in the area of the English Language Arts.

The first activity, “The Jumping Game,” features a specific type of movement that I call “concept-embedded” movement, in which the activity itself features a type of movement that represents, matches, or embodies the meaning of the content students are expected to learn. Thus, when students move around and participate in the activity, they are actually bringing the content to life.

The next, “The Book Parts Song,” capitalizes on the finding shared by Jerry Evanski in his book CLASSROOM ACTIVATORS that “music can...be used to ‘entrain’ information into the brain.” By entrain, Evanski means that teachers can set academic content to music to help students learn and memorize it. The best way to do this is through the use of familiar tunes that Amy Schwed and Janice Melichar-Utter, authors of BRAIN-FRIENDLY STUDY STRATEGIES, GRADES 2-8, refer to as “piggyback songs.”

The Jumping Game

The Jumping Game helps reinforce the definition of synonyms and antonyms. Prepare a list of words for which your students can think of synonyms or antonyms. Pair students and have them face their partners. They should stand a few feet away from their partners, with adequate space between each pair. Announce the first word. The kids jump up and down on two feet twice, and then stick out one leg. It’s like playing rock-paper-scissors with feet.

To keep the kids jumping at the same speed as their partners, call out, “Jump, jump, show.” If the partners show opposite legs, they think of as many antonyms as possible for the word and say them quietly to each other. If they show legs from the same side of their bodies, they brainstorm synonyms. For example: The word is mean. The kids jump once, jump twice, and show their feet. The pairs who show either two right feet or two left feet brainstorm synonyms, such as cruel, rotten, and unkind. The pairs that show one left and one right foot brainstorm antonyms, such as friendly, kind, and nice. Give the groups about 30 seconds to brainstorm their synonyms and antonyms, and then bring everyone together for a quick whole class share. Check for accuracy, reinforce the meaning of the two terms, and compliment students who demonstrate excellent word choice.

Have your students do two to four words per session of the Jumping Game.

 
The Book Parts Song

Elementary students are frequently expected to learn four specific parts of a book: the title page, table of contents, index, and glossary. This song helps make that task an enjoyable event that kids will remember. As the kids are singing the song, hold up a book and display each of these parts. Repeat the song twice so the kids receive more practice with these ideas.

“The Book Parts Song”
(Sung to the tune of the theme from the ’60’s TV show, “The Addams Family”)

Turn to the front (snap, snap)
Turn to the front (snap, snap)
Turn to the front, Turn to the front, Turn to the front (snap, snap)

The title page contains / the author and the title
Plus some other info / about how the book was made

The table of contents / shows the chapter names
And the page numbers / on which the chapters start

Turn to the back (snap, snap)
Turn to the back (snap, snap)
Turn to the back, Turn to the back, Turn to the back (snap, snap)

The glossary is a / little dictionary
with key words from the book / a-n-d what they mean

The ind - ex shows you / key terms from the book
And the page numbers / where they can be found

As teachers, once we unleash the power of movement, songs, and stories in the classroom, we turn potentially dry academic lessons into engaging, multi-modal experiences that students will enjoy and remember.

Access a free ROCK IT! “Mini-Pack” here.

Steve Reifman is a National Board Certified elementary school teacher, author, and speaker in Santa Monica, CA. He has written several resource books for educators and parents, including CHANGING KIDS’ LIVES ONE QUOTE AT A TIME, EIGHT ESSENTIALS FOR EMPOWERED TEACHING AND LEARNING, K-8, and ROCK IT! In addition, Steve has created a series of shorter, e-book resources for educators, including THE FIRST 10 MINUTES: A CLASSROOM MORNING ROUTINE THAT REACHES AND TEACHES THE WHOLE CHILD, THE FIRST 30 DAYS: START YOUR SCHOOL YEAR WITH 4 PRIORITIES IN MIND, and 2-MINUTE BIOGRAPHIES FOR KIDS: INSPIRATIONAL SUCCESS STORIES ABOUT 19 FAMOUS PEOPLE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION. He is also the creator of the CHASE MANNING MYSTERY SERIESfor children 8-12 years of age. For teaching tips, articles, and other valuable resources and strategies on teaching the whole child, visit and subscribe at www.stevereifman.com. Follow Steve on Twitter(@stevereifman), “Like” his “Teaching the Whole Child” Facebook page, subscribe to his“Teaching Kids” YouTube channel, check out his two professional development courses for educators on Udemy.com, and visit his TeachersPayTeachers page.

Did you know that October is “Connected Educator Month?” In an effort to raise awareness of social learning and collaboration through technology, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology in partnership with other organizations encourage you to connect with educators within online communities of practice. Being a connected educator can help you learn more about the craft of teaching as well as the diverse tools available to support that process.

Complementing traditional professional development, online communities can break down the walls of the classroom, school, or district and encourage the sharing of ideas with educators from around the world. Whether it is responding to a blog entry, replying to a social network post, or discussions during a videoconference, the interaction of multiple perspectives can lead to new thinking and new ideas. Engaging in professional dialogue with other educators has the potential to strengthen professional relationships and build upon existing thinking and good practice.

Online communities can also be utilized to meet diverse needs of teacher interests. Learning can be more personalized and informal as the learner can seek out the information he or she needs through their learning network. Connected educators support one another and connect each other to educators who can support the process of seeking more information related to specific inquiries. There are many examples of how this kind of learning has impacted educators within this NY Times article.

To get started with being a connected educator, many online events are taking place this month. You can learn along with educators from around the globe through the connected educator website or by joining an online literacy community like Literacy in Learning Exchange. Sites like Reading Today Online and the online home of the National Writing Project offer online resources such as blogs and podcasts for educators to learn new topics as well as participate in conversations. 

There are many social media tools that can also support your growth. The English Companion Ning, an online community for K-12 English teachers, received the 2009/2010 Edublog award for best use of social networking in education. You can also participate in many literacy communities or social groups organized within Google+ and Edmodo. Twitter can also be a great way to find new ideas by following conversations or other literacy educators.

Videoconferencing is also another way of discussing ideas with other literacy educators. Some districts are using tools like Google Hangout or Skype to connect with experts in other parts of the world or gain feedback from them as they virtually observe lessons. Google sponsors educational “hangouts” on their site while Skype also has a series of speakers in the area of reading and writing where you can participate in the conversations.

So during this month, try engaging in one of the many ways to be a connected educator. After a while, you’ll find yourself being a connected educator not just in the month of October but year round!

William Yang is an educational technology teacher and staff developer for the Scarsdale Public Schools in New York.

This article is part of a series from the International Reading Association Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

Over the past couple of years I have been increasingly using online technologies to allow my students to learn, create, and communicate in hybrid learning spaces. In working with pre-service and veteran teachers in graduate level classes, or in professional development workshops, I try to provide an online learning resource that individuals can use after the day is over and they are back home. 

I build these online learning resources and communities to be as device agnostic and location agnostic as possible. This means that you can learn, create, and communicate at work on a PC, on your couch on an iPad, or in line at the coffee shop on your mobile device. In my humble opinion, the best of these online technologies over the past year or two is Google+.

What is Google+ and how do I get started?

Google+ is a social network developed and run by Google. If you already use gMail, or Google Apps (Docs, Presenter, Spreadsheets), then you already have an account with Google+. There are many reasons to use Google+ in addition to Facebook or Twitter. One of the most important reasons is that it is run by Google, and if someone searches for information about you using the online search engine, Google will bump your Google+ content to the top. This is important as you create and curate your online brand. There are also many other features that make this a powerful, and worthwhile use of your time.

To create a profile in Google+ you need to navigate to https://plus.google.com/. If you already have a Google Account (e.g. gMail or Google Apps) then add this information and confirm some of the details that Google already has about you. Google likes this information to be as close to your offline identity as possible. Please consider the identity you most want to promote with this tool and include those details. If you do not have a Google Account, please click here and create one. When you first log in to Google+, it will ask you to “circle” a bunch of people. This is the equivalent of friending, or following people on Facebook or Twitter. Google+ will also ask you to join a bunch of Communities. My advice is to not circle anyone, or join any Communities just yet. Google+ will give you a warning that you’ll be “lonely and bored” if you don’t follow anyone. Ignore these warnings and follow my advice.

The next step of getting started up involves personalizing your profile on Google+ and creating connections to your other online identities. This is terribly important given my earlier indication that Google will bump up their own information about you when someone “Googles” you. Let’s face it, many of us Google ourselves. You can be sure that colleagues, potential employers, or parents and students will and do Google you. What information is online about you and how can you shape what is being said about you? Having a rich, thorough description on Google+, with tons of shared content and discussion is a great first step. So please take the time to create and review your Google+ Profile, and connect your account to other work you do online. Connect your YouTube channel, your cooking blog, and your Pinterest feed. This allows your online identity to be as exciting and robust as your offline identity. For more in-depth discussion about how to thoughtfully and effectively create and personalize your Google+ Profile, please click here.

Now that you’ve signed in to Google+, there are a ton of different things that you can do with this tool. I use Google+ to research, learn, and discuss new ideas with others.

Use Google+ to develop your Personal Learning Network

Once you’ve created an account for Google+, I would start looking around online for people to “circle.” A circle is the Google+ version of following or friending someone. You can also quickly add other people by adding a curated circle developed by some other people on Google+. I recommend add people from this circle by Martin Shervington and this circle by Rich Kiker if you’re interested in some great dialogue about teaching, learning, and technology.

Another quick way to use Google+ as your personal learning network is to find Communities to follow. A Google+ Community is the equivalent of a group in which the members all have a common interest. I’m an active member of a number of Communities, some of my favorites include the Connected Learning Community, Chromebook EDU Community, Rapsberry Pi Community, and the Using Google as a Free LMS Community.

By joining these Communities, the links and news shared in the group are automatically pushed to your home feed. I find these Communities to be invaluable resources to keep on top of new events in a field, or direct questions to a global panel of experts.

Use Google+ as a communication tool for personal and academic work

Because Google+ is facilitated by Google, you have access to the wealth of tools offered free in the Google Apps toolkit. This means that you can use Docs, Presenter, Forms, and Spreadsheets seamlessly within Google+. One of the most invaluable tools that is part of the Google+ ecosystem is Hangouts. Hangouts is a mix between an instant messenger and video conferencing communication tool, and it’s a powerful way to text chat, or video chat with colleagues and students globally. The tool is free and allows you to video conference with up to ten people.

The most powerful feature of Hangouts is that it is device and platform agnostic. That means that you can video conference with people using your computer, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, or Android tablet. You can now keep in touch with individuals almost instantly, no matter where they are. I use Hangouts to provide my students with an online office hour. They are given an hour two nights a week that they can use to drop in and Hangout with me to ask questions or get homework help.

Google also provides a function called Hangouts on Air. This connects to your YouTube account and allows you to live “broadcast” your video conference to your YouTube channel. After the show is complete, your broadcast is saved on your YouTube channel for peers or students that may have missed the original meeting. This is a great tool for lecture capture, help groups, and planning sessions. 

Use Google+ to build your own learning management system

In developing classes for my pre-service teachers I prefer not to use Blackboard. The rationale for this is that I don’t see the reason to teach them how to get around the learning management system (LMS) if they’ll never be able to use or create one on their own for their students. As a result I only use free online tools in my classes.

One of the best LMS environments that I create involves a mix of Google Sites and Google+. Google Sites allows you to create high quality websites for free. By integrating Google+, I can keep some of the interactivity that is lost by not using Blackboard. An example of this can be seen at a MOOC that I just built and will be launching soon.

I developed the Online Research and Media Skills (ORMS) model along with Greg McVerry as a way to effectively and authentically embed the new Mozilla Web Literacy Standards into the Common Core State Standards. We developed a MOOC to teach educators what is included in the ORMS model, and share their work with others. The MOOC is open, online, and free. We’ve already had students enroll from around the globe.

Through the use of Google Sites and Google+, I was able to develop a slick looking, professional LMS...for free. I also built up the MOOC to provide an exemplar for my students to show what could be achieved through the use of free online tools and a little time. To learn more about the ORMS model and the MOOC, check out this blog post on a Hangout on Air I recently conducted.

What can you do with Google+?

Some of the wonder, and also some of the challenge, with this environment is that you really can do everything. So, with that I urge you to check out Google+. See what it can do for you. Please come “circle” me on Google+ and share your ideas...or just say hi.

W. Ian O'Byrne is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technologies at UNH. His research examines the literacy practices of individuals as they read/write in online spaces. You can read more of his work at his blog, Digitally Literate (http://wiobyrne.com/). You can also follow him online at Google+, or Twitter...or email at wiobyrne@gmail.com.

Close reading is a challenge for many of us. The concept may not be, but inviting students to enjoy and be active in close reading is...well...interesting.

Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey's Teaching Edge presentation at the 2013 IRA Convention affirmed the power of annotating. However, the act of annotating—the act of close reading—is often personal to the reader. How we model or portray our close reading for developing readers can be perceived as communicating the “right way to read,” which may stunt a reader's confidence. Showing students and giving them ideas on how to think, rather than what to think, requires a layer of scaffolding and confidence-building before students can accept the practice of close reading for their own, beyond a mini-lesson.

I’ve always thought that one of the most attractive books is a “gently loved” book, one covered with highlights, annotations, circles, and underlines. Consequently, I mark texts into oblivion. One for the Murphy's, Counting by 7's, My Life As A Book, and Elijah of Buxton are among my most pillaged—excuse me, gently loved books. Marking up the text allowed me to reflect, analyze writing, and thinking through strategic reading (i.e. reciprocal teaching strategies). My theory is: if students can see what how I am reading, they will be more encouraged to mimic my close reading. For many struggling readers and curious readers, the greatest blessing benefitting their reading is found in books I have read...and annotated.

I leave these texts in the classroom library for readers. My fifth and sixth grade readers love the “thinking” found within the margins of gently loved books. They are attracted to these books because they feel comprehension is more accessible. One reader, while reading One for the Murphy's wrote down two phrases from the text and told everyone how and why they were important lines, something new to this 11-year-old reader. Upon conferring with the student, I realized that she borrowed the phrases I had already underlined, as her own. When asking her why the two lines were important, she identified the implicit humor in one line and “everlasting” idea in the second line. The scaffold worked. She now looks for phrases in her own reading.

The already underlined phrases (and other annotations) presented a scaffold in two ways: 1) They are training the reader to look for subtle nuances and author's style within the text that influence meaning, theme, and overall comprehension (a.k.a. close reading); and 2) while modeling close reading in a mini-lesson exposes the concept, for some learners, seeing the thinking, the physical action of close reading within the text, is believing! Having the chance to look at someone's physical writing in margins, gives the maturing readers and chance to ponder how and why another reader arrived at a prediction, question, or clarification, invites intrigue in act of reading and reading comprehension. Some students just need that gentle scaffold, of borrowing someone else's work, to give them a jolt of confidence that inspires them to take “thinking” risks during their independent reading.

Portraying our reading lives helps students develop their reading lives. Annotating text and leaving maturing readers the blue prints is one more way to help maturing readers, not only enjoy reading, but find the treasures author's leave for discovery.

Justin Stygles (@JustinStygles) is a Grade 5/6 ELA/Humanities teacher at Guy E. Rowe School in Norway, Maine, justin.vocabularyteacher@yahoo.com.

Teaching in ACTion is a series from the Advisory Committee of Teachers (ACT), an International Reading Association committee comprised of exemplary reading and literacy teachers from around the world. Educators who best exemplify the mission of IRA are chosen from a pool of applicants to serve a three-year term. Among other responsibilities, the main charge of ACT is to be the conduit between IRA’s members and the board of directors.

ACT invites member to engage in the conversation by sending responses to us. ACT’s goal is to get a feel for how members feel about current hot topics, so that we may better serve members by sharing their concerns with the board of directors.