Stenhouse Newslinks
October 12, 2007
C O N T E N T S
1) New from Rick Wormeli: Differentiation
2) PD Corner: Literacy centers
3) Author Conversations: Glennon Melton and Amy Greene
4) An interview with Jeff Anderson
5) Learning the new literacies
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1) New from Rick Wormeli: Differentiation
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"Rick's work is for the teacher who wants solutions, who wants to grow."
--Carol Ann Tomlinson
Rick Wormeli helps you establish differentiation as a mind-set and guides you from the blank page to a fully-crafted differentiated lesson in his new book Differentiation: From Planning to Practice, Grades 6-12.
What should you do before, during, and after designing and implementing a differentiated lesson? Rick walks you step-by-step through the process, from identifying learner outcomes to assessments to brainstorming and organizing strategies. You'll learn how to use flexible grouping, tiering, and cognitive science structures to effectively differentiate instruction. And Rick presents a dozen scenarios from a variety of grade levels and subject areas that show you how to differentiate on the fly.
Differentiation starts shipping later this month, but you can review the entire book online now:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0708.asp?r=n123
Differentiation: From Planning to Practice, Grades 6-12
Rick Wormeli * Foreword by Carol Ann Tomlinson
192 pp/paper * $23.00 * Available in late October
http://www.stenhouse.com/0708.asp?r=n123
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2) PD Corner: Literacy centers
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"Students seem to learn best when their curiosity is engaged and they can feel the link between the material and their own past, present, or future lives. Given this, good teaching is about fostering curiosity. It is about finding, fueling, and firing up the links and creating experience within and between learners."
--Clarissa Green, University of British Columbia
Kindergarten teacher Becky Leber's literacy centers come alive in a photo essay that illustrates centers such as Puppet Theatre and Book-Making, complete with materials lists and links to additional resources. Explore the rest of the site to find other photo essays and resources for kindergarten and early literacy:
http://www.stenhouse.com/rdleber.htm
What does it take to set up a writing center? Get some practical ideas in this short article from the Teachers Network website:
http://teachersnetwork.org/NTNY/nychelp/Literacy/writingcenter.htm
Debbie Diller's latest DVD Stepping Up with Literacy Stations illustrates how to organize, run, and assess students in grades
3-6 as they move through literacy stations. View two short video clips--one introducing the Observation Station in 3rd grade and another illustrating work station time in 5th grade:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0475.asp?r=n123
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3) Author Conversations: Glennon Melton and Amy Greene
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"Most test prep programs are skill and drill, and that's why most teachers are uncomfortable with it because they know that that's not how kids learn."
In today's podcast Glennon Melton and Amy Greene, authors of Test Talk, reflect on the evolution of their school's approach to test preparation, starting with their staff's decision to take the state test themselves:
http://www.stenhouse.com/html/news_22.htm?r=n123
You can browse the entire text of Test Talk online:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0461.asp?r=n123
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4) An interview with Jeff Anderson
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EdNews.org just posted an interview with Jeff Anderson, author of Everyday Editing and Mechanically Inclined. Read about what Jeff has to say about why students resist editing, whether spell check is good or bad, and the importance of encouragement for young
writers:
http://www.stenhouse.com/rdednewsanderson.htm
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5) Learning the new literacies
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"Knowing truth from fiction on the Internet is a huge problem.
Students might be good researchers, but they tend not to scrutinize the information."
--Kenneth Eastwood, superintendent of Middletown City (New York) School District
The lead article in the October issue of District Administrator magazine examines the state of new literacies in schools, touching on issues such as:
- how students find information, evaluate it critically, synthesize it, and communicate it;
- how well teachers and schools are adapting instruction to the new literacy landscape (and in the context of NCLB);
- the digital divide and "digital disconnect" (the gap between home and school use of technologies);
- what efforts countries, states, and districts are making to support teaching new literacies, including professional development.
http://www.stenhouse.com/rdnewliteracies.htm
Check out these three books from Stenhouse that will help you enhance your teaching of new literacies.
Bringing the Outside In: Visual Ways to Engage Reluctant Readers
Sara Kajder * Read Chapter 1 online:
http://www.stenhouse.com/0401.asp?r=n123
Reading Doesn't Matter Anymore...
David Booth * Browse the entire book:
http://www.stenhouse.com/8202.asp?r=n123
Literacy, Libraries, and Learning: Using Books and Online Resources to Promote Reading, Writing and Research
Ray Doiron and Marlene Asselin * Browse the entire book:
http://www.stenhouse.com/8196.asp?r=n123
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