Topic: Research Elementary School Style

10-second review: How help students complete a research project? Students select subject. Begin with dictionary. Use table of contents and index to see if available books deal with the subject. Skim pages on which subject is supposed to be dealt with. Prepare reference cards. Record info in their own words.

Source: RE Sabaroff. Elementary English. 398. Elementary English preceded Language Arts as the elementary school publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: These steps taken in the fifth and sixth grades are extremely important. However, the author does not say anything about the format for the elementary school research paper. RayS.

Topic: Research-based Characteristics of Successful Reading Instruction

Topic: Research-based Characteristics of Successful Reading Instruction

One-minute review:

Direct instruction in phonemic awareness.

Explicit, systematic phonics instruction.

Instruction in fluency.

Direct and indirect vocabulary instruction.;

Comprehension strategies instruction.

Provide direct instruction that includes.

Making learning goals clear.

Asking questions to monitor student understanding and providing feedback to students about their progress.

Modeling and direct explanation to teach students strategies.

Coaching teaching style vs. telling.

Engage students in higher level responses.

Source: BM Taylor, et al. Reading Research Quarterly (January/February/March 2005), 44-45. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: This list of research-based traits of successful reading instruction could provide an interesting discussion. What does “coaching teaching style” mean? How is “direct explanation” different from “telling?” What exactly is meant by “modeling”? How do you define “phonemic awareness” and how do you use direct instruction in teaching it? How do you make “learning goals” clear? I have my own answers to these questions, but I’m not sure others would agree. RayS.

Topic: Children's Books

10-second review: How are picture books changing? Growing importance of nonfiction picture books.

Source: CD Wolfenberger and LB Sipe. Language Arts (January 2007), 276. The elementary school publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: And many of these nonfiction picture books are outstanding. RayS.

Topic: Fiction vs. Nonfiction in Elementary Schools

10-second review: Author is disturbed by the overemphasis in elementary schools on fiction vs. nonfiction.

Source: P Colman. Language Arts (January 2007), 257-268. Elementary school publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: This complaint has been made a number of times in the past. I’m surprised that the overemphasis on fiction is still a problem in 2007, especially with the emphasis on whole language and the use of trade books instead of basals. . RayS.

Topic: Books about Native Americans.

10-second review: Books about native Americans often reinforce false stereotypes. We need to find books about native Americans that present an accurate portrayal of their culture.

Source: D Reese. Language Arts (January 2007), 245-256. The elementary school publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: Start with the Internet: http://www.kporterfield.com/aicttw/excerpts/antibiasbooks.html. “Resources for Selecting Fair and Accurate American Indian Books for Libraries, Schools and Home.” RayS.

Topic: Response to Literature

10-second review: Encourage children to respond non-judgmentally to what they are reading as a basis for later judgments. They can do so in "reading journals" in which they discuss what they are thinking while they are reading.

Source: JF Copenhaver-Johnson, et al. Language Arts (January 2007), 234-244. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: I don’t know whether it matters all that much whether the students make judgments. Writing their responses as they read is a good idea. RayS.

Topic: Storytelling

10-second review: Where can you find stories for story telling? Tell stories based on chapters in children’s, YA and Adult books.

Source: M Garthwaite. Elementary English. 600-603. Elementary English was the elementary school publication before it was replaced by Language Arts, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: Will also encourage students to read the books. RayS.

Topic: Storytelling

10-second review: How prepare for story telling? “Ruth Sawyer (The Way of the Storyteller, Viking Press, 1965) suggests that would-be storytellers begin by learning their story incident by incident or picture by picture—never word by word. Work by the instinctive method of seeing your story first, of making it live for you to the point that you can make it live for others.”

Source: CM Kirkton. “Once Upon a Time… Folk Tales and Storytelling.” 1026.

Comment: Motivates me to want to try to become a storyteller. It’ll take lots of practice. RayS.

Topic: Storytelling

10-second review: Why tell stories instead of reading them? Telling folk tales (rather than reading them) enriches and entertains in an unforgettable way.

Source: CM Kirkton. “Once Upon a Time… Folk Tales and Storytelling.” 1025.

Comment: For those of us who are not gifted storytellers, reading aloud to even older students can have a magical effect. The teachers that many students remember are those who read aloud to them. Dickens, a gifted reader, was supposed to have said when he observed his listeners crying, “That is power.” I, too, remember reading aloud the story, “Two Soldiers” by William Faulkner, looking up and seeing the students crying. If you can’t tell stories, at least read to them aloud. And they don’t have to make you cry. They can make you laugh. I remember reading the many anecdotes about the Brooklyn Dodgers that I read to one of my classes. They howled when the manager asked the runner why he didn’t slide into home plate. “What, and bust my cigars?” [in his back pocket]. RayS.

Topic: Interviewing Skills

10-second review: How improve students’ interviewing skills? If your subject is biased, don’t begin to argue. Take it all in. Your purpose is to gather information, not to win debate points. Write out key questions in advance. Cluster questions. Use non-questions like, “Tell me about….” Hypothetical questions can elicit surprising answers.

Source: J Brady. The Writer (November 2004), 28-31. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Comment: I have only one response to hypothetical questions: “When it happens, I’ll talk about it—and not before.” RayS.

Topic: Student Questions

10-second review: How help students improve their questions? Students analyze the questions they ask—what type of questions are they? What is the purpose of the question?

Source: Suggested by R Fischbaugh. Reading Teacher (November 2004), 296-299. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: Should make students think before they ask questions. Are they questions of fact, questions of interpretation (why?), questions of application (How does this apply to…?) or questions of criticism ? Are they questions or are they “dissertations” intended to express the questioner’s point of view? RayS.

Topic: Classroom Discussion

10-second review: How improve classroom discussion? Rules for classroom discussion, the acronym, “TRAFFIC”: Turn and look at the people you are speaking to; Repeat what has just been said to show that you understand; Answer to the best of your ability; Face to Face when you are speaking directly to one person; Include evidence for your answer; Conclude or summarize.

Source: D DiMarco. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (May 2005), 403-405. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: The “R,” I think, is the most significant step in discussion because so few people do it—in the classroom, in conversation, in debates and in community meeting situations. A significant step in improving listening, in general. RayS.

Topic: Shakespeare

10-second review: Introducing Shakespeare. Students select from among some of Shakespeare’s most famous groups of lines and then memorize and present them. Setting can be contemporary.

Source: R Laughlin. Classroom Notes Plus (April 2005), 11-13. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Topic: Textbooks

10-second review: Textbooks should include at the end of each chapter proposed extension activities in which the students use or extend the ideas contained in the chapter.

Comment: Might be better than the questions that usually conclude each chapter. Give students something to do with the ideas. Example: After a chapter on the major uses of the comma, ask students to take a magazine, any magazine, and see on a given page how many sentences contain commas after introductory expressions, around interrupters, and before afterthoughts.

After a chapter on the circulatory system, students search the Internet for applications of what is known about the circulatory system in today's world.

RayS.

Topic: Teaching and Expectations

10-second review: Do teachers’ expectations for students influence the results? The effect of expectations on the achievement of young boys learning to read: When teachers expected boys to be successful in reading, they were; when teachers did not expect boys to be successful, they were not.

Source: Palardy. Elementary English (April 1971), 271. Elementary English preceded Language Arts as the elementary school publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: I wonder how many teachers have low expectations for their students? No one in teacher education ever said much to me about high expectations, but in my personal experience as a student and as a supervisor of teachers, I have found that the majority of teachers do not expect much of their students. Having high expectations of one’s students should be a fundamental attitude of teachers, and those who do not have that attitude should not be teachers. RayS.

Topic: Writing Assignment

10-second review: Students use pictures of people and places that “matter” as source for topics on which to write.

Source: R Reissman. Notes Plus (October 2004), 12-15. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: The pictures can come from newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and personal photographs. RayS.

Topic: Writing Assignment

10-second review: Give students a wordless picture book and have them write the words of the story that the pictures tell.

Source: DJ Bissett. “Literature in the Classroom.” 1190.

Comment: An interesting idea. Even first- or second-grade students could do it. RayS.

Topic: Writing Assignment

10-second review: Students measure off a square foot outside, study the area using a magnifying glass from 20 to 30 minutes, take notes and then return to the classroom and write.

Source: R Webb. “Heaven Is Under Our Feet.” 1106-1108.

Comment: I’ve often read about a technique like this, but I’ve never actually carried it out. I would need to try it myself before trying it with the students. RayS.