Monday, April 16, 2007

English Updates. April 16, 2007. WSJ, RRQ, CN+ and RT 07

Curriculum….. Business….. Fighting burnout in business. Companies hold meeting-free days. Do something everyday that is pleasurable and unrelated to business. Yoga. Volunteer work like coaching wrestling. Wall Street Journal. (Apr. 16, 07), Internet.

Literature….. Poetry….. Students select lines of poetry because they are memorable, use them as models for poetry writing. I Wendt. Classroom Notes Plus (Apr. 07), 1-12.

Writing….. Poetry….. Write “I remember….” poems. JS O’Connnor. Classroom Notes Plus (Apr. 07), 12-14.

Reading….. Practices….. Suggests that adult teachers of low-level adult readers study and use the actual practices of these readers rather than ignoring them or even changing them. Emphasis on their actual practices can lead to improved reading. D. Mallard, et al. Reading Research Quarterly (Apr/May/Jun 07), 188-213.

Reading….. Internet….. Does reading on the Internet and digitally as opposed to reading printed text on paper require different strategies? This study suggests it does. Used skilled sixth-grade readers. Requires a greater need for inference, for example. Suggests a need to adjust reading to different formats on the Internet. [Ray: However, readers need to adjust to different formats in printed text as well.] J Coiro and E Dobler. Reading Research Quarterly (Apr/May/Jun 07) 214-257.

Reading….. Kenya….. Early experiences in reading in Kenya led to negative attitudes toward reading because it was forced and did not deal with Kenyan heritage and choice in reading materials. Need to emphasize more than one method for teaching reading—emphasis on the direct-instruction method, for example. K Commeyras and HN Inyga. Reading Research Quarterly. (Apr/May/Jun 07), 258-281.

Reading….. Phonics….. Student when asked to decode the first letter of the word “made,” did so, but then gave the first letter as “d.” He didn’t understand the word “first” in “first letter.” Don’t assume students of ESL (English as a second language) understand what are basic assumptions to you, the teacher. M Aukerman. Reading Teacher (Apr. 07), 626-634.

Reading….. Defined….. Is “reading” defined the way most legislators define it? “…making of meaning from print with an emphasis on phonemic awareness, vocabulary, phonics, fluency and comprehension”? TL Williams. Reading Teacher (Apr. 07), 636-652.

Reading….. Comprehension….. Meaning is developed by activities, explanations and reflections. In other words, meaning does not stop with decoding print. CH Ikpeze and FB Boyd. Reading Teacher (Apr. 07), 644-654.

Reading….. Issue….. Emphasis on phonics today leads to students’ becoming word callers rather than comprehenders. Antidotes to word calling are thoughtful questions, not the ready—made, easily identifiable rote questions and another is to allow children to talk about what they have read. DD Massey. Reading Teacher (Apr. 07), 657-666.

Writing/Reading….. Summaries….. Teach students to write summaries by creating magazine covers with graphics and including summaries. L Assap and R Garza. Reading Teacher (Apr. 07), 678-680.

Reading….. Comprehension….. “Can you picture it?” Key to visualization. K Onofrey and JL Theurea. Reading Teacher. (Apr. 07), 681-684.

Reading….. Tutoring….. Planning sessions: Need assessment (Why are paraprofessionals needed?); strategy, rationale, brief research and application. Paraprofessionals should discuss what happened after using the strategies with children. Examples of strategies: echo reading, choral reading, preview, repeated readings, phrased readings, sorts of various kinds; summarizing, asking questions, inferring, guided discussion. C Cobb. Reading Teacher (Apr. 07), 186-188. [Examples of these strategies can be found on the Internet.]

Curriculum….. Coaching….. One model of coaching teachers is problem-solving based on the students’ problems. J Hasbrouck and CA Denton. Reading Teacher. (Apr. 07), 690-693.

Curriculum….. Parents….. Prepare parents to use specific activities with their children. Introduce, model and briefly practice. Then use at home. Discuss what happened. JR Paratore and G Jordan. Reading Teacher (Apr. 0078), 694-696.

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