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/html/mp3jeffanderson1.htm
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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/html/secondaryliteracy.htm
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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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