31 To Grammar or Not to Grammar: That Is Not the Question! Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 4–9 Professional Commentary: The focus of this article is the importance of grammar instruction in the language arts classroom. The authors point out that the question should not be "To grammar or not to grammar?" but rather "What aspects of grammar can we teach to enhance and improve students' writing, and when and how can we best teach... Projects: Writing 6-12 32 Practice Makes Practice, or Does It? The Relationship Between Theory and Practice in Teacher Education Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Professional Commentary: This professional development article describes a study that examines the role that theory and practice play in the preparation of new teachers. It presents multilayered observational, anecdotal, and performance data relating to a group of undergraduate "interns" in an elementary teacher education program in an urban location in the United States.... 33 Using Think-Alouds to Analyze Decision Making During Spelling Word Sorts Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Professional Commentary: For her study, author Mary Jo Fresch employed think-alouds to analyze how children arrived at categories during spelling word sorts. Twenty-four fifth graders were videotaped on two occasions.... 34 They Still Can't Spell? Understanding and Supporting Challenged Spellers in Middle and High School [excerpt]: Chapter 8, "Less but Deeper: Teaching Strategies and Rules that Generalize" Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–12 Professional Commentary: This chapter excerpt defines and explains reflective strategies that promote word awareness. The authors show how these strategies provide "deeper" opportunities for students to learn information about words that they can then generalize to other words.... Projects: Writing 6-12 35 Going with the Flow: How to Engage Boys (and Girls) in Their Literacy Learning [excerpt]: Chapter 3, "Teaching So It Matters: Where Should We Be Going and How Can We Get There?" Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–12 Professional Commentary: Authors Michael Smith and Jeffrey Wilhelm continue in this third chapter excerpt an earlier discussion of literacy, boys, and flow in reading. Here, Smith and Wilhelm address specifically how to achieve the characteristics of flow experience by organizing curriculum conceptually around inquiry questions.... Projects: Writing 6-12 36 When Text Meets Text: Helping High School Readers Make Connections in Literature [excerpt]: Chapter 4, "Making Connections: Genre Study" Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–10 Professional Commentary: In this chapter excerpt, author Barbara King-Shaver details ways to conduct both single-genre and multiple-genre studies in the classroom. Using classroom examples culled from several ninth-grade classes at South Brunswick High School, King-Shaver provides and shows teachers how to generate inquiry-based questions around genre and literary conventions.... Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 2–12 Professional Commentary: Fluency is a goal for all readers, including those with disabilities. Students who have developed accurate word pronunciation skills may still experience labored or slow reading instead of smooth and automatic reading.... 38 Constructivist Remediation: Correction in Context Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades K–8 Professional Commentary: The great debate regarding constructivism versus instructionism is examined in the context of what makes sense for reading remediation. The constructivist approach is child centered and emphasizes the learning process as opposed to product.... 39 Building on the Best, Learning from What Works: Five Promising Remedial Reading Intervention Programs Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades K–Postsecondary Professional Commentary: The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) published this article describing five remedial reading programs: 1) Direct Instruction, 2) Early Steps, 3) Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI), 4) Lindamond-Bell, and 5) Reading Recovery. The study's categories ("Main Features,"" Results," "Case Study," and "Considerations") each provide a concise, research-supported overview as well as helpful classroom tips based on some schools... 40 Prompting Kids to Write Resource Type: Professional Resource Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–10, Postsecondary Professional Commentary: How does a teacher help students stop worrying about writing and start writing? Traci Johnson Mathena, a middle school teacher in a full-inclusion school in Baltimore, Maryland, found the answer in a predictable formula she developed to take anxiety out of the writing process. Mathena observed her students in many verbal scenarios around school displaying an impressive command of language, yet,... Projects: Writing 6-12 |