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Blogs on English Language Arts

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2
The 21st Century Socrates: How to Implement a Powerful Hybrid Classroom Model
Blake WiggsOctober 31, 2011
Tags Blended Learning, Classroom Technology, Curriculum, Online Learning, Student Engagement, Team Teaching, Technology Integration, High (9-12), English Language Arts, History, Science

Throughout our first few months of team-teaching using Skype and a thirty dollar webcam to connect our two schools, we were extremely frustrated with our inability to incorporate Socratic seminars in World Dynamics. World Dynamics is a blended-curriculum course between two classrooms, twenty-three miles apart, where Earth Environmental Science, World History, and English I are taught simultaneously in order to give students a contextual understanding of the world.

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3
The Shield of Achilles Project: How I Used Digital Video to Make Classical Lit Relevant
Kenneth OldenOctober 25, 2011
Tags Curriculum, Project-Based Learning, , Student Engagement, High (9-12), English Language Arts, History

"The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."
-- Douglas MacArthur

Why Teach Classical Greek Literature?

Near the end of the 2008-2009 school year, I had started reading The Iliad with my students and was struggling to connect them with the text. The language of the poem, the extended metaphors, the repetitious patterns of phrases and names bogged my students down, and they constantly questioned to the value of reading the text. I spent weeks answering questions about Greek culture and the Trojan War, showing short videos and PowerPoint presentations and rereading passages with them -- but the buy-in still wasn't there.

"The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."
-- Douglas MacArthur

Why Teach Classical Greek Literature?

Near the end of the 2008-2009 school year, I had started reading The Iliad with my students and was struggling to connect them with the text. The language of the poem, the extended metaphors, the repetitious patterns of phrases and names bogged my students down, and they constantly questioned to the value of reading the text. I spent weeks answering questions about Greek culture and the Trojan War, showing short videos and PowerPoint presentations and rereading passages with them -- but the buy-in still wasn't there.

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2
Why I Write? (Hint: It's Not Because It's Easy)
Gaetan PappalardoOctober 20, 2011
Tags Literacy, All Grades, English Language Arts

Editor's Note: Along with the National Writing Project, Figment, and The New York Times Learning Network, we are celebrating the National Day on Writing today. As part of this celebration, we're inviting writers to share the why of writing in an essay, poem or post. Please add your own thoughts in the comment section below, and/or follow the hashtag #whyiwrite on Twitter.

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9
Get Your Game On: How to Build Curriculum Units Using the Video Game Model
Andrew MillerOctober 17, 2011
Tags Game-Based Learning, Teacher Development, Technology Integration, All Grades, English Language Arts, History

In the last post I wrote, I explained many of the important elements in a game-based learning unit. GBL continues to get national press. Game design company Valve is working on digital learning in partnership with the White House. Mashable just touted in a post that "Education needs to get its game on." I couldn't agree more!

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21
Game-Based Learning Units for the Everyday Teacher
Andrew MillerSeptember 26, 2011
Tags Biology, Brain Research, Game-Based Learning, Teacher Development, Technology Integration, Chemistry, Drama, All Grades, English Language Arts, Geography, History, Math, Music, Physical Education, Science, Visual Arts, World Language Learning

Game-based learning (GBL) is getting a lot press. It is an innovative practice that is working to engage kids in learning important 21st century skills and content. Dr. Judy Willis in a previous post wrote about the neurological benefits and rationale around using games for learning. She also gives tips about using the game model in the classroom. James Paul Gee has long been a champion for game-based learning in speeches, blogs, and books. Quest to Learn, located in New York City, infuses technology with game-based learning, where entire units utilize missions, boss levels, and the like for learning important standards. Here is the next step: taking these great rationales and examples and making it work for the everyday teacher.

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K-5 iPad Apps for Evaluating Evaluation: Part Five of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy
Diane DarrowSeptember 22, 2011
Tags Classroom Technology, Comprehensive Assessment, Formative Assessment, Game-Based Learning, Integrated Studies, Performance Assessment, Primary (K-2), Project-Based Learning, Technology Integration, Upper Elementary (3-5), English Language Arts, Math, Science

The cognitive domain Evaluating focuses on skills necessary to judge the value of ideas, techniques, products, or solutions. Students must evaluate the credibility or functionality of given content with clearly defined criteria and standards.

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2
How My School Is Transitioning to Digital Textbooks: Process (Step 3 of 5)
Andrew MarcinekSeptember 20, 2011
Tags Classroom Technology, Curriculum, Professional Development, Teacher Development, Technology Integration, High (9-12), English Language Arts, Massachusetts

This fall, my high school is transitioning to digital textbooks through a 1:1 program. In this five-part series, I am describing the process we went through to to make this transition.

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4
National Parks: Project-Based Learning in Our Most Important Places
Milton ChenSeptember 16, 2011
Tags Expeditionary Learning, Field Trips, Health, Project-Based Learning, Teacher Development, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), English Language Arts, Geography, History, Physical Education, Science, Visual Arts

This summer, when millions of families took the iconic American vacation in our National Parks, I had a chance to visit with many educators who are using the Parks for place-based learning. In June, I spoke at the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom conference, a passionate group of teachers, park rangers, and nonprofit educators who are giving students a deeper, more meaningful connection to the history of slavery in our nation. The Underground Railroad Network is not a single National Park but, as its name indicates, a network of places far more extensive than I was aware of.

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3
A New Model of Storytelling: Transmedia
Laura FlemingAugust 26, 2011
Tags Classroom Technology, Integrated Studies, Literacy, Media Literacy, Online Learning, Student Engagement, Technology Integration, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), English Language Arts

As a School Library Media Specialist, storytelling is at the core of what I do each and every day. Over the years, I have seen many children who struggle with reading because of a lack of engagement with traditional books and stories. The new media that surrounds educators and learners forced me to rethink the concept of storytelling for our 21st-century learners. After some experimenting within my classes, I found a way to successfully engage and capture the attention of all of my students. As a result of this, a new model of storytelling emerged for me: Transmedia.

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K-5 iPad Apps for Applying: Part Three of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy
Diane DarrowAugust 24, 2011
Tags Classroom Technology, Game-Based Learning, Integrated Studies, Primary (K-2), Professional Development, Technology Integration, Upper Elementary (3-5), English Language Arts, Math, Science

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy breaks each learning stage (remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create) into four separate levels of knowledge. These levels include the factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. Together the levels of knowledge are making incremental movements from a factual understanding, to the personal command and realization of the learning process.

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