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Stenhouse Newslinks
December 8, 2004

C O N T E N T S

1) Creating ELL-friendly classrooms
2) PD Corner: Time for talk
3) Another perspective on teacher education
4) And the winners are...
5) Teaching writing with zines

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1) Creating ELL-friendly classrooms
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"English language learners are as capable as any child. Often 
English language learners are thought of as having limited 
background knowledge. In fact, they have background knowledge; 
it's just that it may be very different from some of their peers 
and teachers."

Education World's latest "Wire Side Chat" features Stenhouse 
authors Kathleen Fay and Suzanne Whaley (Becoming One Community). 
They discuss their approaches to helping ELL students develop 
literacy skills, and how teachers can make their classrooms 
welcoming and supportive of ELL students:

http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat124.shtml

You can review the entire text of the book Becoming One Community 
here:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0368.asp?r=n59a

And check out this excellent series of articles from the Boston 
Globe, which chronicle one family's experience with English 
immersion in Massachusetts:

http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/specials/immersion/

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2) PD Corner: Time for talk
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*December Quote of the Month*

"Teachers have unruly students, so they structure more, but that 
allows children even less interaction time. Students don't learn 
the interaction skills they need so they remain unruly. Then the 
teachers must structure even more."
--Mary Pipher, from the book The Shelter of Each Other

Talk and learning are inextricably linked. As Mary Pipher notes, 
it's tempting to get into a vicious cycle in classrooms of less 
talk and more structure in order to gain a sense of control. Yet 
the control often comes at the expense of learning. Teachers are 
trying to break this cycle by developing a deeper awareness of the 
links between talk, literacy, and achievement. Here are some 
resources for a staff discussion of these connections.

Chapter 3 of Ruth Charney's book, Habits of Goodness, chronicles 
one kindergarten teacher's attempt to encourage her students to 
communicate more thoughtfully with their peers:
 
http://www.stenhouse.com/6365.asp?r=n59b
(Click on the link for Chapter 3 in the Table of Contents.)

The new book, Starting with Comprehension, by Andie Cunningham and 
Ruth Shagoury, shows how ongoing conversations with young learners 
are at the heart of making meaning from texts. You can now review 
the entire text of this book on-line (the print version will be 
shipping later this month):

http://www.stenhouse.com/0396.asp?r=n59c

Peter Johnston's book, Choice Words, is a powerful presentation of 
the links between the language that teachers use and the 
communities of classroom learners they can foster. The full text 
of this book is also available for review:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0389.asp?r=n59d

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3) Another perspective on teacher education
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"Let me tell you about Beth. Beth is a first-year 5th grade 
teacher. She's also a full-time graduate student in the literacy 
education master's-degree program at the college where I teach. If 
all goes well, Beth will earn her graduate degree in the spring of 
2005, just two years after enrolling in the program. In order to 
graduate "on schedule," she will need to complete two graduate 
courses a term for four terms, take a six-week seminar during the 
first summer of her enrollment in our program, and complete a six-
week practicum in her final summer. Did I mention that Beth is a 
first-year teacher?"

In the last issue of Newslinks, we featured a commentary on 
teacher education reform by Carnegie Corporation president Vartan 
Gregorian. Another perspective comes from Suzanne Kaback, 
assistant professor of literacy education at Elmira College. She 
argues that on-site professional development is more effective 
than the rush to require graduate degrees for beginning teachers:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2004/11/03/10kaback.h24.html
(Free registration required.)

Kaback cites as a model the book, Spelling Inquiry: How One 
Elementary School Caught the Mnemonic Plague. For details, 
including the text of Chapter 1, go to:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0303.asp?r=n59e

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4) And the winners are...
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Each year around Thanksgiving, the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards (NBPTS) releases the results of thousands of 
teachers' attempts to gain the coveted "NBCT" title. In this diary 
entry from the Teacher Leader Network, Laura Reasoner Jones 
reflects on her own journey to board certification and the 
profound effects it has had on her personal and professional life:

http://www.teacherleaders.org/diaries04_05/LJ15_04_05.html

On November 30, NBPTS announced that over 8,000 teachers earned 
National Board Certification, bringing the total certified since 
1993 to over 40,000:

http://www.nbpts.org/nbct/newnbcts.cfm

And for those aspiring to become an NBCT or helping a candidate 
prepare, be sure to pick up a copy of The National Board 
Certification Handbook:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0349.asp?r=n59f

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5) Teaching writing with zines
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Last week's issue of the INBOX e-newsletter from the National 
Council of Teachers of English included links to several journal 
articles on using zines to encourage student expression and 
purposeful writing in a variety of genres:

http://www.ncte.org/about/over/inbox/ideas/118872.htm
(These article links expire 12/23/04.)

The INBOX is a free weekly newsletter with news, views, and 
teaching ideas for English and language arts. Subscribers get 
access to highlighted journal articles for 21 days--a great source 
of topics for discussion with colleagues. To subscribe:

http://www.ncte.org/forms/lists/inbox.asp

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Please send comments and questions to Chuck Lerch, Newslinks 
Editor, at  or call (800) 988-9812.

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