WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION The George Lucas Educational Foundation

Log In

We share evidence-based K-12 learning strategies that empower you to improve education.

Featured:

The Power of Collaborative Learning at The College Preparatory School

High school students in group at round table

Featured:

Quiet Transformation at an Embattled School

Featured:

How to Thank a Teacher

Blogs on Literacy

More Blogs on LiteracyRSS

A Tour of High-Quality Open Education Resources (OER) for Writing

Todd FinleyMarch 27, 2012

Tags Curriculum, Integrated Studies, Lesson Plans, Literacy, Open Education Resources, Project-Based Learning, Technology Integration, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), English Language Arts

Did you check out Open Education Week this month? The international event highlighted free lesson plans and materials, searchable by subject, grade and quality. I spent a couple days throwing keywords into OER (open education resources are digital materials freely available through open licenses) search engines to assess the quality of secondary and higher education writing curricula.

Teachers Observing Teachers: Instructional Rounds

Elena AguilarMarch 16, 2012

Tags Literacy, Primary (K-2), Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12), California

Teachers and administrators all over are trying to figure out how to support English Learners (ELs). One of the schools that I work with, United for Success Academy (UFSA), in Oakland, CA, has launched a concerted effort in the last year to address the needs of their ELs who comprise some 90 percent of the student body.

Writing with Ethos, Logos and Pathos in 21st Century Authentic Texts

Todd FinleyMarch 9, 2012

Tags Integrated Studies, Literacy, , Middle (6-8), High (9-12), English Language Arts

Protégé of Plato and instructor to Alexander the Great, Aristotle was the archetypal learner-teacher whose contribution to modern writers were three rhetorical proofs: pathos, ethos and logos. When combined with 21st century communication platforms, Aristotle's proofs shower rocket fuel on rhetorical efficacy. Using these rhetorical pillars, students can analyze how texts persuade and how unpersuasive texts can be reconfigured.

College Readiness: Writing to Learn

Ben JohnsonMarch 8, 2012

Tags College Readiness, Literacy, Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

The controversial author Norman Mailer said, "I don't know what I think until I write it down." Joan Didion perhaps said it better in this way, "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear." Donald Murray, a pioneer of the writing process, stated, "...all writers 'are compelled to write to see what their words tell them."

Five-Minute Film Festival: Literacy Videos for Read Across America

Amy Erin Borovoy (aka VideoAmy)March 2, 2012

Tags Literacy, English Language Arts

In honor of Read Across America -- and Dr. Seuss's birthday -- we present to you, a poem.

A Hero’s Journey for the 21st Century

Betty RayFebruary 22, 2012

Tags Literacy, Media Literacy, Teacher Development, All Grades, English Language Arts

Once upon a time . . .

There were very special people. These were the bards, sorcerers, and magicians who conjured webs of intrigue and excitement; treachery and death; rebirth and forgiveness. These people were our writers, filmmakers, musicians and folklorists, and they were the keepers of our social and psychological well-being.

College Readiness: Reading Critically

Ben JohnsonFebruary 22, 2012

Tags College Readiness, Curriculum, Literacy, Student Engagement, Teacher Development, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), All Grades

We have a generation of students that are trained to automatically trust the textbook, or for that matter, trust anything that is written. Today, many students don't know how to read things with a grain of salt. So how do we go about fixing this?

Finding the Genius in Hip Hop Education

Suzie BossFebruary 20, 2012

Tags Achievement Gap, Arts Education, Curriculum, Literacy, Project-Based Learning, Teacher Development, Urban Schools, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), All Grades, Music, Visual Arts

Author and educator Sam Seidel recalls meeting a student during a tour of the High School for the Recording Arts (HSRA) in St. Paul, Minn. When Seidel asked if he could buy one of the student's instrumentals, the young man told him no, but maybe they could work out a licensing arrangement. Then the student whipped out a contract.

Swipe, Tap, Flick and . . . Read? Research on Children and E-Books

Sarah VaalaFebruary 17, 2012

Tags Classroom Technology, Comprehensive Assessment, Literacy, Mobile Learning, Parental Involvement, Primary (K-2), Technology Integration, Upper Elementary (3-5), English Language Arts

The news media and blogosphere were abuzz last month with the news that Apple is "reinventing the textbook" through the introduction of digital textbooks available for the iPad. With the announcement has come a myriad of opinions and speculations regarding the possible repercussions of Apple's textbook reinvention for schools and for children's learning.

The Power of Project-Based Writing in the Classroom

Heather Wolpert-GawronFebruary 13, 2012

Tags Literacy, Project-Based Learning, Teacher Development, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), English Language Arts

As some of my readers may know, I had an awakening of sorts this past summer: I am NOT going to teach so test driven, I told myself. I'm tired of the five-paragraph essay! Where does it exist anywhere but in school? Instead, I decided, that everything I did this school year would have some connection to the world outside of school.