Probably a subtitle more like: “Bravely going where no language arts teacher has gone before” might’ve been more appropriate. Our middle school language arts teachers have been on quite a journey this year, and we’re capping it off with our second joint meeting tomorrow (ALL 14 teachers from grades 6-8 at both MS buildings, plus an intervention ...

In what must be the Common Core controversy flavor of the month, the most recent criticism of the Standards addresses the split of nonfiction to fiction texts at the secondary level.  Alarmist articles decrying the replacement of classic literature, such as The Catcher in the Rye, with instruction manuals are far off base from the language and ...

I vaguely remember the moment when it hit me in my classroom…It was a couple years into my career as a secondary teacher, poring through half-sheet after half-sheet of reading pop quizzes from my 130 students, marking red “x” after red “x,” thinking to myself “We just talked about this!  Why didn’t they pay attention when they were reading!!” and ...

Student Achievement Partners at achievethecore.org have created professional development modules for implementing common core.  The work includes an introductory module, modules for the shifts in ELA and Math, a Text Dependent Questions module (one I’m particularly interested in and will be visiting after this posting), and an Instructional ...

I have been getting so many questions about high school end-of-course (EOC) exams, Ohio Graduation Tests, and PARCC assessments, and I had no clue how to answer!  I couldn’t figure out if Ohio was using PARCC as a graduation test, or if the OGTs would still exist, or if the EOCs would be the graduation tests–I was just as confused as all those who ...

At IRA I stopped at the Subtext booth and was completely surprised to find out that it was a FREE app for iPads.  I just started exploring it today to see how it might be used in a classroom, and I thought I’d pass along what I’ve found. First, you have to download it.  Search the app store for Subtext.  Download it.  Ta-da!  Step one complete ...

Vicki Vinton is a literacy consultant and writer who works in the New York City public schools and other districts around the country. Her most recent book What Readers Really Do, co-authored with Dorothy Barnhouse and published by Heinemann, explores how to invite students to read closely and deeply in the age of the Common Core Standards. She is ...

Ever since I began hearing about the Ohio Department of Education’s model curriculum for ELA, I have thought, ‘Teachers will never use that!’  Each grade level document is long with lots of words (not that we ELA people don’t love words, but what classroom teacher has the time to read all. those. words?), and I’m not sure classroom teachers have ...

Just got back from IRA last night and what a fantastic trip!!!  Being both my first ever conference experience greater than 20 miles away from my home as well as my first ever trip to Chicago, this was one of the best learning experiences I have ever had the opportunity to take. Sunday– Arrived.  Stayed at the Sheraton.  Was surprised by the ...

Full disclosure:  The ORC provides free resources for teachers in Ohio and beyond.  Any and all resources I link to from my blog are free and do not require any sort of registration.   I have to share.  The ORC has just revived and published its online literacy journal, In Perspective, and you have to check it out!  The theme for this issue is ...