Swoosh! Hear that? That's the sound of the school year flying by at light-speed! I just sent home report cards for the first quarter, which if you do the math means we are 25% done with the year. Already!? Faced with the reality that there always seems to be more curriculum than time to teach it, I knew I'd need to have a system or two in place. I didn't want to get to April or May and realize that elements of the curriculum had been overlooked. Nonfiction Rules Nonfiction text is a huge piece … [Read more...]
Close Reading of Text
Close reading of text is becoming more important to teachers as we prepare our students for the Common Core State Standards. Throughout the standards, students must cite evidence from the text in support of their answers. Text-dependent questions require students to read the text multiple times. These multiple, analytical readings of text combined with questions that drive students back to the text for their answers are an important means for improving students' ability to read and understand … [Read more...]