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Stenhouse Newslinks
December 1, 2006

C O N T E N T S

1) Asking Better Questions
2) Author Conversations: Jeff Anderson
3) Spotlight on secondary literacy
4) PD Corner: Exploring mechanics as craft
5) Alfred Tatum wins Britton Award

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1) Asking Better Questions
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What does it take to become an effective questioner? The new 
edition of the classic book Asking Better Questions helps teachers 
encourage active learning and democratic participation by 
providing models, techniques, and activities that promote better 
questioning by both teachers and students.

Authors Norah Morgan and Juliana Saxton offer a way to classify 
questions that teachers need to ask to acquire information, build 
understanding, and generate reflection. They take readers on a 
tour of all types of questions and how they can be used to 
generate, sustain, and deepen dialogue in the classroom. And they 
provide detailed example lessons with transcripts of classroom 
interactions to illustrate key concepts.

Asking Better Questions, 2nd Edition, is available now in print 
and you can also review the entire book online:

http://www.stenhouse.com/8209.asp?r=n101

Asking Better Questions, 2nd Edition
Norah Morgan and Juliana Saxton
160 pp/paper * $19.00 * Available now
http://www.stenhouse.com/8209.asp?r=n101

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2) Author Conversations: Jeff Anderson
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"How do you teach grammar and mechanics in an approachable, 
inviting way rather than teaching that all that matters is finding 
the errors and rooting them out? What about making text beautiful? 
What about making text clear?"

In this audio podcast recorded at the NCTE conference in 
Nashville, Jeff Anderson describes the classroom experiences that 
led to his book Mechanically Inclined and tells us about his next 
book on using mentor texts to teach craft, mechanics, grammar, and 
editing skills:

http://www.stenhouse.com/anderson.asp?r=n101

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3) Spotlight on secondary literacy
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We've just posted "Spotlight on Literacy in the Secondary 
Classroom," a collection of books and online resources from 
Stenhouse authors for teaching reading, writing, and critical 
thinking:

http://www.stenhouse.com/secondarylit.asp?n=101

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4) PD Corner: Exploring mechanics as craft
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*December Quote of the Month*

"Grammar and logic free language from being at the mercy of the 
tone of voice. Grammar protects us against misunderstanding the 
sound of an uttered name; logic protects us against what we say 
having double meaning."
--Eugene Rosenstock-Huessy

The Writing@Case website at Case Western Reserve University raises 
the nagging issue of grammar instruction and students' continued 
inability to write "correctly," suggesting that students are more 
likely to master the subtleties of grammar and punctuation when 
given frequent opportunities to explore language conventions 
through their own writing:

http://www.case.edu/artsci/engl/writing/pedagogy/usage.html

In Chapter 3 of his book Mechanically Inclined, Jeff Anderson 
shares how he uses writers' notebooks with students as a 
playground for composing, revising, and experimenting with 
mechanics. He embeds mechanics instruction within his notebook to 
show students the power of punctuation and how it can shape 
meaning and voice:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0412.asp?r=n101
(Click on the Chapter 3 link in the Table of Contents.)

Looking for a quick answer to that pesky grammar or mechanics 
question? The popular site Fact Monster has reference pages for 
parts of speech, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation:

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0882902.html

Aimee Buckner provides strategies to help students hone their 
editing skills in authentic contexts in Chapter 6 of her book 
Notebook Know-How:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0413.asp?r=n101
(Click on the Chapter 6 link in the Table of Contents.)

Bruce Morgan takes a constructivist approach to spelling and 
punctuation instruction. In Chapter 9 of his book Writing Through 
the Tween Years, Bruce shares how he uses demonstration lessons 
and inquiry groups to help students internalize the correct use of 
punctuation:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0406.asp?r=n101
(Click on the Chapter 9 link in the Table of Contents.)

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5) Alfred Tatum wins Britton Award
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Congratulations to Stenhouse author Alfred Tatum, who was chosen 
to receive NCTE's James N. Britton Award for his book Teaching 
Reading to Black Adolescent Males. The award is given for 
exemplary works that encourage English teacher development and was 
presented on November 17 at the NCTE Convention in Nashville.

For details, including a link to the book where you can read the 
full text of Chapter 1, go here:

http://www.stenhouse.com/tatum.asp?n=101



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