Teaching English, How To.... Essential Ideas

I have summarized the ideas in each chapter for easier reading.

Education and schooling. Lloyd Alexander, noted writer of children’s books, says that the purpose of schooling is to help people learn to educate themselves throughout their lives. p. 35.

Learning how to learn: Independent study. Rationale for the project. Objectives. Activities. Materials. Method of presentation. Evaluation. p. 38.

Thinking in English class. In writing, students organize and shape their thoughts. They discover what they are thinking. In literature they relate literary works to their own experience and compare one work of literature to another. p. 39.

Communication: Method of organizing formal communication. Tell them what you are going to tell them (in writing, opening paragraph concluded by thesis sentence); tell them (paragraphs begun by topic sentences clearly related to the thesis); tell them what you told them (summary paragraph). pp. 43-44.

Problem solving: questions, poems and research papers. Students read poem; raise questions about and discuss what puzzles them with the meanings of words, phrases and the whole poem. Research papers begin with a question for which the student might have hypotheses, but no definite answers. The point; raising questions is useful in solving problems. p. 45.

Critical thinking. Article (“Teenage Corruption”) that uses propaganda techniques, including card stacking (only that information presented which favors the writer’s point of view); name-calling (“misguided left-wing organization”); attacking individuals, not their arguments (“He is worried about keeping his job as a psychologist….”); loaded words, sound good but have little substance (“any human being who loves mankind and dignity….”) false analogies (“Teenagers are like movie sets….”), etc. pp. 40-43.

Active learning. Purpose and questions are keys to active learning. Education has been defined as answering questions students didn’t ask. On the contrary, student learning should begin with student questions. p. 48.

Active learning and reading. Textbook chapters: read first paragraph, first sentence of each intermediate paragraph and last paragraph; raise questions they will read to answer. Novels: read for ten minutes near the beginning, half way through, three-fourths through and near the end. After each section, raise questions. Read novel to answer the questions. pp. 49-54.

Active learning and reading short stories: First, read one sentence in each column or on each page. second, read one paragraph per column or page. Third, read first sentence of each paragraph throughout the story. Raise questions and read, discuss and answer the questions. Chapter 2, pp. 48-57.

Action research, research by classroom teachers, is an excellent method for finding out how effective classroom techniques are. Students’ insights can help improve the effectiveness of the techniques. p. 63.

Academic journal writing. Students write in their academic journals three times a week. They reflect on what they have learned; question what they don’t understand. They try to put into words what they have learned and what they don’t understand, with reflections on both.