81 Model Reading Strategies to Improve Comprehension for All Students Resource Type: Content Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: Laura Robb's "Model Reading Strategies to Improve Comprehension for All Students" is the featured article in this issue (April 2007) of AdLIT's In Perspective. Robb, a literacy coach for teachers, echoes the concern of many of the teachers with whom she works: "But I'm not a reading teacher.... 82 "Word Study: Ways to Captivate Reluctant Learners" Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: Emphasizing that "word study is an across-the-curriculum activity that not only expands vocabulary, but also teaches content," literacy teacher Mary Jo Fresch shares, in this article, engaging ways to teach vocabulary and spelling. "Word Study: Ways to Captivate Reluctant Learners" overturns traditional notions that vocabulary instruction be prescriptive and dull.... Projects: Writing 6-12 83 Books by Sipe, Phenix, and Wheatley Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 5–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: The March 2007 issue of AdLIT's In Perspective includes reviews by Sheila Cantlebary (Reading Content Specialist at the ORC). This month's "For Your Bookshelf” includes the following titles: (1) They Still Can't Spell? Understanding and Supporting Challenged Spellers in Middle and High School by Rebecca Bowers Sipe; (2) The Spelling Teacher's Handbook by Jo Phenix; and (3) Stra-te-gic Spell-ing: Moving Beyond Word Memorization in the Middle Grades by Jonathan P.... Projects: Writing 6-12 84 Adolescent Literacy In Perspective, January 2007, The Power of Poetry: Teaching Content and More Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: The January 2007 issue of AdLIT's In Perspective includes a special focus on the power of poetry. The feature article addresses a much-needed solution for the challenge of and oftentimes obstacle to teaching poetry in content-area classrooms.... Projects: Writing 6-12 85 Books by Atwell, Holbrook, Janeczko, and Somers Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 7–12 Professional Commentary: The January 2007 issue of AdLIT's In Perspective includes reviews by Sheila Cantlebary (Reading Content Specialist at the ORC). This month's "For Your Bookshelf” includes the following titles: (1) Naming the World: A Year of Poems and Lessons by Nancie Atwell; (2) Practical Poetry: A Nonstandard Approach to Meeting Content-Area Standards by Sara Holbrook; (3) Opening a Door: Reading Poetry in the Middle School Classroom by Paul B.... Projects: Writing 6-12 86 A Question is a Question is a Question Resource Type: Content Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: In this classroom vignette, teacher Ruth McClain invites teachers to "keep in mind that challenging questions require students to compare, analyze, evaluate, and draw inferences." From here, McClain launches into a discussion complete with questions and answers: "Is there, then, anywhere in the curriculum for objective questions such as multiple choice and true-false? The answer is a resounding yes." McClain proposes several scenarios, shows how strategic questions fit into these scenario lessons, and just as importantly, how faulty questions constrain the learning in the lessons. Teachers will find useful the wealth of information available in McClain's short article.... Projects: Writing 6-12 87 "Many Questions, Sometimes Answers--The Secret Confessions of an Urban Reflector" Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: Doreen Uhas Sauer, a veteran urban educator (middle and high school) with over 35 years in Columbus Public Schools, reflects hauntingly on the dilemma teachers and educators must regularly face: the "differences" of and in urban schools. In "Many Questions, Sometimes Answers--The Secret Confesisons of an Urban Reflector," the author shares both her experience with teaching in urban districts and her strategic thinking about the questions and challenges that both face urban districts and seemingly defy right-there answers.... 88 Literacy Instruction in the Content Areas: Getting to the Core of Middle and High School Improvement Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 7–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: This professional resource is the 2007 publication of a 48-page pdf full-text literacy report from the Alliance for Excellent Education. The report emphasizes that the "real goal [of content literacy instruction] is to help all students master the knowledge, procedures, and skills of the academic disciplines that rule the secondary school curriculum, and which serve as the gatekeeper to success in college, work, and other facets of adult life." The next step for those working to improve adolescent literacy instruction, the report concludes, must be "to integrate the teaching of reading and writing more fully into the academic content areas." An executive summary introduces the report, and four sections lend substantial support to the report's call for action: (1) Adolescent Literacy Reform: Expanding the Agenda; (2) Rethinking the Role of Literacy in the Content Areas; (3) Rethinking Teacher Quality: Taking Content Area Literacy Instruction into Account; and (4) Key Considerations for Education Leaders and Policymakers.... Projects: Writing 6-12 89 Adolescent Literacy In Perspective, March 2008, Active Literacy and Informational Text Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: The March 2008 issue of AdLIT's In Perspective includes a special focus on active literacy and informational text. The feature article highlights the key components of active and critical literacy and shares the importance of teaching students to be critical consumers of text.... Projects: Writing 6-12 90 An Interview with Maureen McLaughlin About Critical Literacy Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: Maureen McLaughlin, noted educator and author, provides the feature focus on active literacy and informational text for the March 2008 AdLIT In Perspective. In "An Interview with Maureen McLaughlin About Critical Literacy," the author shares her thoughts and insights about active and critical literacy.... Projects: Writing 6-12 |