Out of Her Mind -- Musings on Education and Life

Chapter 8 of Perfetti's (1985) Reading Ability: "The Development of Reading Ability." Read and respond.  What do you learn about reading from this article?  How can you apply this knowledge to the literacy instruction (and instruction in general) in your classroom?

View Finder Haiku Today, in celebration of National Poetry Month, I challenged my AP (Advanced Placement) Literature and Composition students to the 'ku challenge, described in detail on my poetry blog  here . For this activity, I briefly introduced the haiku genre using the material linked above, asking students to share what they already know about this poetic form, activating background knowledge and also effectively helping other students catch up on their poetry knowledge. Then, I had students choose a viewfinder from the front table.  A viewfinder is useful in art because it helps to focus a student's perspective.  I have collected a ton of paint samples with little squares cut out, and I finally found a use for these items.  They worked perfectly as viewfinders! We were originally going to walk outside, but it started raining.  So, like all teachers will have to do, I had to think quickly of a plan b, which evolved into plan c and d and, well, you get the

Nature Poems Today, go outside and get your hands and feet dirty!  Look beneath a rock, examine the roots of a tree, or dig through soil and write about whatever you find lurking there: maybe you see ants working, perhaps you are alarmed by the coating of pollen, maybe you are enchanted by the juxtaposition of nature and man's creations.  Feel the sun on your face, the air on your skin.  Rejoice, and write about nature. Your Assignment:   Go outside and write a nature poem.  There are no word limits.  You will have 15 minutes outside for this writing activity. Remember to engage all of your senses.   This poem does not have to rhyme.   Be creative!  Try a concrete poem (written in the shape of your subject). Also, remember to write using figurative language--you know, all of those elements you normally have to analyze literature and poetry for: alliteration, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme scheme, irony, personification, and so

Claim/Data/Commentary Mini-Lesson--Writing a Strong Argumentative Paragraph Claim What is a claim?  A claim  is the point you are trying to prove.  When you are writing an essay, you make several claims.  The first claim is the major one that you will make in your essay, and this claim appears in the introduction in the form of your thesis statement.   In an essay on characterization and Heller's book, Catch-22 , the thesis statement might read, "Heller uses both direct and indirect characterization to develop the character of Yossarian, a character who is a lazy coward."  You should be very familiar with this type of claim, the thesis statement that appears in your introduction.   However, you are probably less familiar with the notion that each of your body paragraphs should ALSO start with a claim.   This type of claim is more commonly known as a topic sentence.   If you were continuing to write the same essay above, a topic sentence claim might read, "T

Catch-22 Mini Essay Topic #1: Characterization DIRECT and INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION Direct Characterization Two techniques that writers use to create character are "direct" and "indirect" characterization. Direct characterization TELLS the reader about the character. For example, an  omniscient  narrator may tell the reader that Jacob was a patient and kind man. Indirect Characterization In contrast to "direct" characterization, "indirect" characterization SHOWS the reader who a character is through speech, thoughts, and actions, either the speech, thoughts, and actions of the characters themselves or of other characters in reaction to/about that other person.  An example of indirect characterization may read:  Jacob did not yell at Sally for taking two more hours to get ready when she had promised "Five more minutes!" over two and a half hours earlier.  Instead, he patiently waited, taking the time to finish up r

Lesson Introduction The following is an assignment I like to use in my English classes when watching clips from Freedom Writers   and teaching with the book.  I have successfully used this assignment with all manner of students in grades 9-12, and they all flourish from this type of focused reflection, while learning to be more articulate both orally and written, and while getting comfortable in front of a small live audience.  Not only do students love writing about themselves, they also enjoy the integration of media, and they learn how to write better essays as they transfer knowledge learned from their work writing effective speeches. Feel free to message me Common Core connections.  I know they exist, and I am quite admittedly being lazy with my alignment here.  But surely speaking is still an important skill?  I am only partly being tongue-in-cheek(y) here. Step 1.  Viewing.   Show all or part of Freedom Writers.   Be sure to at least show the part where the stud

A Response to Spafford and Grosser’s “Controversial Theories” , A Chapter in  Dyslexia and Reading Difficulties : Research and Resource Guide for Working with all Struggling Readers (2005) What IS dyslexia?   Dyslexia--the Controversial Search for a "Cure"     Dyslexia reminds me of psoriasis, a genetic skin condition I suffer from, in that "often parents, teachers, and other concerned persons will search for miracle cures to relieve the reading disability of a dyslexic child” (Spafford & Grosser, 2005).     I am frequently approached by people with a magic cure for psoriasis although there is NO cure.  There are, however, medicines that treat my symptoms, that make my skin and my condition better as long as I stick with them.  Everyone has their pet whack cure--Vaseline, dead sea salts, etc. for this auto-immune system deficiency; much the same as dyslexia.   Because people with dyslexia, and their parents, are so intent on “curing” the issue, many s

Using JSTOR's Teaching Resources In Your (English) Classroom It Started with an Email... I recently received an email from JSTOR announcing their new  Teaching Resources , an email I am so happy to have received!  I developed the curriculum for my AP Literature and Composition course, a senior English class, last spring, and in several units, I linked to JSTOR as a resource.  The only caveat:  in order for students (or you) or me to access the articles, you have to register for free AND you can only have three articles on your book shelf at a time AND of course there is a limit to how often you can switch these articles out.  Although students found it tricky at times to get registered and to add items to their bookshelves, these articles are an amazing resource in a course asking students to learn to do some heavy thinking, thinking about and with literature in ways they never knew possible, especially given that I created my own online "textbook" using Haiku, teac