Topic: Reading on the Internet

10-second review: Do the strategies of reading print text transfer to reading on the Internet? Do students need to be taught to apply [to the Internet] the same strategies as in print environment? Does the online environment require a set of new strategies for comprehension?

Source: A Kymes. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (March 2005), 492-500. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: Interesting question. I find that the Internet requires me to read what is presented to me in order. I can’t easily read the first paragraph, the last paragraph, the first sentences of the middle paragraphs which I like to do with articles. It’s just not as easy as turning pages in a magazine or a book.

Also, the Internet presents headlines that I reject because they do not seem interesting to me, whereas in a book or magazine, I might try reading the first and last paragraphs and might delve more deeply into the article.

And, of course, the Internet does present the opportunity to look up background information while I am reading that would not be as readily available in print in a magazine. RayS.

Topic: Reading Response

10-second review: How can comprehension questions destroy the joy of reading? “Kim’s students reported being in tears over their inability to correctly answer the detailed questions on the books, even when they had read and enjoyed the selection.”

Source: WC Kasten & LG Wilfong. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (May 2005), 656. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: In my experience, there is nothing duller than the questions at the end of the chapter. For a satisfying response to reading, focus on the STUDENTS’ questions about what they read. RayS.

Topic: Reading and the Police

10-second review: What can police officers gain from reading books? “Police officers in Nezahualcoyotl, a working class suburb of Mexico City, have been ordered by the mayor to read one book a month or lose their chance of promotion. Mayor Luis Sanchez tells the London Guardian that 'reading will improve their vocabulary and their writing skills, help them express themselves, order their ideas and communicate with the public. Reading will make them better police officers and better people.’ ”

Source: The Writer (July 2005), 8. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Comment: I always ask people how they learned to write. Many say that they never learned to write in school, but they read all the time. I am convinced that people learn almost naturally how to write because they read. They unconsciously model their writing, including grammar and style, on what they have read. RayS.

Topic: American Readers

10-second review: Are Americans readers? Garrison Keillor: “Most books that are sold in America are not read, and we know this.”

Source: The Writer (April 2005), 8. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Comment: The question is, why should Americans read when they have so many other things to do for entertainment (TV and movies), information (Internet), cell phones, text messaging, video games, etc. My answer? Read for ideas. Expand your consciousness. RayS.

Middle School topic: Literature and Writing

10-second review: What are some creative activities for responding to literature? Students respond to a book by using 10 different types of writing, “Multigenre.” For example: letter; essay; report; advertisement; advice column; autobiography of a character; biography of a character; book review; dictionary; how to; interview; lesson plan; memo; obituary; play; talk show transcript; TV newscast.

Source: J Gillespie. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (May 2005), 678-684. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: Sounds like fun. Students will be responding to the literature from many different perspectives. RayS.

Secondary School Topic: Shakespeare

10-second review: How help students to “translate” Shakespeare? “I asked them then to move their chairs into their groups and to spend the next hour of class writing out formal, polished translations of the soliloquy.”

Source: KL Kleypas. Teaching English in Two-Year Colleges (December 2004), 176. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Topic: Why Teach Certain Literary Works?

10-second review: What are some reasons for selecting literature to teach? “I select literature that connects to what they are learning in other classes.”

Source: J Koszoru. English Journal (July 2005), 27. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: An interesting reason for choosing literature to study. Never thought of it before. Step #1: Who’s studying what in the other disciplines? As an English teacher, I never knew nor asked. Hmmmm. RayS.

Topic: Response to Literature

10-second review: What was the influence of Louise Rosenblatt on teaching literature? “At a time when New Criticism was the major theory in the field, Rosenblatt presented a strong albeit minority voice calling for the legitimacy of personal response to the reading of literature.”

Source: D. Roen, and N. Karolides, N. College English (July 2005), 565. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: Hers is still a minority voice in the teaching of literature. RayS.

Middle School: Creative Writing

10-second review: How teach students to construct a story? Using 12 photo shots, students create a photo story with accompanying text on index cards.

Source: R Wilder. Classroom Notes Plus (August 2005), 14-15. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: Worth a try. RayS.

Topic: Standardized Writing Tests

10-second review: What don’t standardized writing tests tell us about student writers? “Standardized tests like the SAT II and our own writing placement test, while they do provide some data about student writers, do not capture some of the qualities—like motivation, task persistence, and the metacognitive abilities that allow students to take courses strategically—that count most heavily toward success in the university. (That is why high school GPA remains the most accurate single predictor of success in college.)”

Source: S McLeod, H Horn & RH Haswell. College Composition and Communication (June 2005), 556-580. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: “Metacognitive abilities” means the ability of students to learn from problems they encounter and to organize their learning consciously, that is, the ability to understand how they learn best.

Timed writings do not reveal how students can improve their writing by revising over a period of time. I think timed writings need to be supplemented by portfolio collections of students’ writing. But who has the time for that? RayS.

Topic: The Risks of Writing

10-second review: How long does it take writers to write books? Roald Dahl: “I have written only two long children’s books myself, and for all I know they may be completely worthless…. Each of them took somewhere between eight and nine months to complete, with no time off for other work, and eight or nine months is a big slice out of the life of any writer….”

Source: The Writer (April 2005), 8. The Writer is a magazine written by writers for writers.

Comment: It took a year and a half for me to write my book, Teaching English, How To…. Almost nobody read it. I’m not alone. Thoreau wrote and self-published his first book and nobody bought it. He once said that his library consisted of 1,000 books, and 999 of them were copies of his book. RayS.

Topic: Writing the Beginnings of Stories

10-second review: What is the most effective way to begin stories? “The most common mistake we writers make, especially in first drafts, is to back into the tale and wait too many pages to start the real story. Start with a bang, not a whimper. That play on TS Eliot’s famous line from ‘The Hollow Men’ offers fiction writers good advice for two major reasons. A bang-up opening to the narrative not only hooks the reader but also helps focus the writer’s tone and intent on what follows. Noted writers have long affirmed just how crucial the opening is…. But the best way to master a good opening is to see how classic authors…have done it best.”

Source: S Dimeo. The Writer (April 2005), 31. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Comment: How about a creative writing unit on opening paragraphs in classical and contemporary novels? RayS.

Topic: Building Confidence in Writing

10-second review: In addition to teaching students how to write, try to help “basic” writing students to overcome their fears and doubts concerning their writing. “Basic” writing students have great difficulty in expressing their ideas. They have considerable problems with sentence structure, usage, spelling and punctuation. They also feel that they have nothing to say that will be of any interest to anyone.

Source: A. Reichert. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (December2004), 171. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: How can teachers plan to build confidence into students’ view of themselves as poor writers? They might try ten minutes a day for three weeks. The students begin the class by writing for ten minutes on a topic of their choice. At night, the teacher rewrites mistakes in sentence structure, usage, spelling and punctuation. The students then re-write the corrected 10-minute essay so that they can compare the two versions. By the end of three weeks teachers will be surprised at how much students are able to improve both their 10-minute and full-length essays. If the class is an entire year in length, the teacher repeats the three-week ten minute essays in the second semester.

Since the ten-minute essays take time to correct, use one class at a time for three weeks. Then shift to the next class. RayS.

But there is another problem. How does a teacher overcome the students’ feelings that nobody wants to read what they write? Try responding as a reader to the interesting ideas they express. Ask questions about their ideas. RayS.

Topic: Writing Assignments

10-second review: “But the main insight I have about my own literacy history is that none of the important or meaningful writing I have produced happened as a result of a writing assignment given in a classroom.”

Source: —Lillian Bridwell Bowles, 1995 in KB Yancey, College Composition and Communication (December 2004), 298.

10-second review: Have students write for real audiences and send that writing to the real person.

Source: H Mancina. English Journal (July 2005), 31-35.

Comment: Something to remember when planning writing assignments. RayS.

Topic: Writing Assignments

Question: What are some interesting writing assignments?

10-second review: Students recall and try to re-create in writing a scene from nature, when they said, “That’s beautiful.”

Source: R Laughlin. Classroom Notes Plus (January 2005), 3. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Topic: Writing Arguments

Question: How should the writer prepare for writing an argument?

10-second review: In examining cartoons as well as arguments, what assumptions must the audience share with the cartoonist and the polemicist?

Source: BL Brunk-Chavez. Teaching English in a Two-Year College (December 2004), 179-185.

Comment: Never thought of preparing for the writing of argument in that way. How does the writer establish those assumptions so that readers are aware of them? RayS.

Topic: How to Start Writing a Book

Question: What are some purposes for writing a book?

10-second review: Writing Advice: “Write the book you want to read.”

Source: Marilynne Robinson. The Writer (April 2005), 25. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Comment: You would be surprised at how many writers wrote a book for just that reason. However, I wrote the book that I wanted to read and nobody else wanted to read it. RayS.

Topic: Formal Speaking and Writing

Question: How can speaking help students to write effectively?

10-second summary: “…I find that the more opportunities students have to practice formal oral language, the better their academic writing becomes.”

Source: M Cruz. English Journal (July 2005), 15.

Comment: Interesting thought. Could get rid of “like” and “y’know,” as well. Would help in defining for students what formal speaking and writing mean. Eliminate needlessly repeated words. RayS.

Topic: Book Proposal

Question: How construct a book proposal?

10-second review: "A good book proposal tells publishers the things they most need to know: what your book is about, why it's important, and whom it's important to. Perhaps the best way to approach your proposal is to ask those questions of yourself--not as a writer, but as a reader. What would persuade you to pick this book from the shelf? What would make you want to buy it? The answers just might be the arguments you need to make a sale."

Source: M Allen. The Writer (September 2004), 34-37. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Comment: One of these days I’m going to write a book for writers who have never written a book. This piece of advice will be an important part of my advice. I wish I had done this type of thinking before publishing my book. RayS.

Topic: Book Proposal

Question: What are the elements of a book publishing proposal?

10-second review: Elements of a book proposal: title; content; rationale (reason for writing); competition (others who have written on the same topic and how yours is different); format (# of words, charts, illustrations, appendices, glossary, sidebars); market (or, how to sell the book); chapter-by-chapter summary; credentials; sample chapters.

Source: M Allen. The Writer (September. 2004), 34-37. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Comment: The real world of publishing. RayS.