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Stenhouse Newslinks
October 21, 2004

C O N T E N T S

1) Helping students tackle challenging texts
2) The rise and fall of school reform
3) PD Corner: The "Winds of Change" in Writing Programs
4) Teaching the Best Practice Way is now on-line
5) Too much tech?

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1) Helping students tackle challenging texts
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Kelly Gallagher, author of Reading Reasons, has written a new book 
filled with classroom-tested strategies for moving students to the 
deepest levels of comprehension in both fiction and nonfiction 
reading.

Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12, provides 
dozens of practical exercises and classroom examples. Chapter 
topics include focusing readers, teaching first- and second-draft 
reading, effective collaboration, using metaphor, meaningful 
reflection, and critical thinking. A chapter on lesson planning 
presents four key questions to guide instructional design for 
using the strategies.

Deeper Reading is now available in print, and can also be reviewed 
on-line in its entirety:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0384.asp?r=n57

* Special for Newslinks subscribers *
Order your copy of Deeper Reading on our Web site by October 31, 
and we'll waive the shipping charge (a $5 value!). Just enter the 
coupon code NL57 at the first checkout screen.

Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12
Kelly Gallagher * 240 pp/paper * $19.50 * Available Now!
http://www.stenhouse.com/0384.asp?r=n57

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2) The rise and fall of school reform
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"I know that there are reasons for the mandates coming down. I 
know there are teachers that shouldn't be teaching. But we're not 
that school. We're not those teachers. And we've proven it how 
many times?"
--Cathy La Luz, Washington Irving Elementary School, Chicago

In last week's episode of This American Life, host Ira Glass 
revisits the school where he did a year-long series as a reporter 
for National Public Radio ten years ago. Back then, Irving 
Elementary was becoming a local and national model of school 
reform. Recent changes are prompting an outstanding teacher to 
consider leaving. The story underscores the vital role that 
literacy leaders must play to inspire teachers and support 
innovative practices:

http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/04/275.html
Click on the blue "RA" icon to listen to an audio stream of the 
entire program--it requires the RealPlayer software, which you can 
download at:
http://www.real.com/freeplayer/?rppr=npr.org

Stenhouse authors Steve Zemelman (who appears in the episode), 
Harvey Daniels, and Marilyn Bizar have led best practice 
initiatives in Chicago, and Washington Irving teacher Cathy La Luz 
is featured in Chapter 13 of Daniels's book, Literature Circles:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0333.asp?r=n57

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3) PD Corner: The "Winds of Change" in Writing Programs
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Samuel Totten tackles the connections between change, leadership, 
and professional development for improving writing instruction in 
this article on "The Need to Lead":

http://www.writingproject.org/pub/nwpr/quarterly/2003no1/totten.html

A fine companion to Totten's ideas is the book Why Workshop? 
Changing Course in 7-12 English. This collection of essays 
documents teachers making changes in how they implement writing 
workshops (warts and all). To read a sample chapter on-line, go 
to:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0084.asp?r=n57

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4) Teaching the Best Practice Way is now on-line
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We've just posted the entire text of the new book Teaching the 
Best Practice Way, by Harvey Daniels and Marilyn Bizar. Fully 
updating and expanding the book Methods that Matter, this is the 
essential resource for educators who believe the big ideas about 
teaching really do cross all grade levels and subject areas:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0405.asp?r=n57

Teaching the Best Practice Way will be available in print in 
November. You can order your copy now and we will ship it as soon 
as it arrives from the printer!

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5) Too much tech?
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The Alliance for Childhood has released a new report on 
Educational Technology titled "Tech Tonic: Towards a New Literacy 
of Technology." The organization, which has challenged the 
increasing emphasis on computers in early childhood and elementary 
schools, asserts in the report that a "screen-centered lifestyle" 
has harmful effects on young children while the benefits of high-
tech are largely unproven:

http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/projects/computers/
(This press release contains a link to the full report.)

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