Literacy Moment

So many of our kids struggle with writing summaries.  Even some 8th graders.  It's not an easy skill and if the content is challenging, summarizing may be quite a tough challenge.    The Common Core asks that students begin summarizing in grade 3 so I thought this strategy might be a good one to share.  One strategy which scaffolds it is called GIST.  For students who need that scaffolding,  they can plan a summary using the graphic organizer.  Here is a link to ReadWriteThinks lesson plan and template.

Hope you find this useful.

Castine Humor

ELA Teachers Might Find This Resource Useful

One of my favorite things to do is blog.  Last count I had 6 current blogs going!  What is wrong with me!!   However, the Teacher Talk blog stalled out last Spring, but I've returned, with my Literacy Facilitator hat on,  to a commitment of posting regularly.

First, I must say this.  If anyone needs resources to build lesson plans that include a specific literacy component, please please let me know.  My Masters is for Literacy,  and a great deal of the work we've been doing on the Literacy Team has been focused on content literacy.

My first blog of the new school year is this…I am emailing a link to all Staff and offering a set of materials you might like to use these first few days.  They may need tweaking for younger ones, but I will be using these with Grades 6-8;  I'll share with you.  They came from Erika Forth, a TpT person (though she specifies single classroom only, copyright allows my purchase to be used for nonprofit in schools).

Hope you have a positive and productive start to your year.

Cutler Harbor Summer 2015

International Children's Book Day

This Week!!

A special day we can all appreciate...  It's International Children's Book Day. 

This link to the International Children's Digital Library may lead you to the perfect book to share with your students, your children, your grandchildren.  So if you have a wonderful folktale from the Inuit culture or a fairy tale from China or a nonfiction book about spring time in the Andes or a story set in Mexico....might make for the perfect read aloud and discussion in your class. 

A little nugget for a discussion goal:  lead the story's big idea to meaning beyond the text  Here are a few questions to help your young one make meaning beyond the text (p. 76  Comprehension Through Conversation/ Allington):

Is the character believable?

Why did the author craft the character this way?

Would you behave this way?

What does the author want us to really do or think about?

Who should read this?

Who has the power in the story?

Is this a fair representation of our world?

Should it be this way?

Just a sampling of questions from the text the Lit Team read this year.

Rebekah Raye's books may be perrrrrfect for ICBD.

If you have a idea, please share.

Jacquie

To write...what say you?

Please read the article posted below and join the discussion.  Prize awarded to one lucky contributor who participates in the discussion (share, reply, share some more (-:

Recently posted on a Teacher Talk group, this got me thinking.  I understand our younger students are involved in a curriculum called Handwriting without Tears and that this topic might be really timely...for all of us.  Hoping to spark conversation among those of us who are teaching handwriting and /or those of us who embrace the skill or ...don't...I've posted one article on the topic (below).  

 What do you think?  I have wavered on this one for years but am leaning leaning leaning and ready topple.   Must we, should we teach children the skill of handwriting?  Does it matter in the real world?  Will it matter to our students and their future real worlds?  Do you believe handwriting makes you think better?

From the NY Times Science section: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/science/whats-lost-as-handwriting-fades.html?_r=2

Any other good articles out there you care to share?