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:

More School Time, Well Spent, Boosts Academic Achievement and Engagement at Edwards Middle School

high school girls in a step dancing class

Featured:

Five Keys to Successful Social and Emotional Learning

Featured:

A Parent's Guide to 21st-Century Learning

Blogs on Literacy

More Blogs on LiteracyRSS

PBL and Culturally Responsive Instruction

Robert WoodJune 12, 2013

Tags Curriculum, Literacy, Project-Based Learning, High (9-12), English Language Arts

Cultural responsiveness in the classroom can often be written off as something patched by a quick fix, especially in an English classroom where swapping a traditional (read: Dead White Guy) text with something written by a person from an underrepresented background can take the place of more significant cultural response. Don't get me wrong, I think that putting Zora Neale Hurston, Chang Rae Lee, and Junot Diaz into "the cannon" is an important social step for our discipline, but doing this at the expense of also having substantive structural changes in the classroom is a temptation that one has to be careful of embracing.

Teaching Journalism in the 21st Century: A Conversation with William Zinsser

David CutlerJune 6, 2013

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

Few subjects are as challenging to teach as journalism, a field that is changing as fast as technology itself -- or faster.

I reached out to William Zinsser, age 90, a living legend, stellar journalist and one of America's greatest teachers of writing. I was curious to hear how he adapted so successfully to publishing his work online. Following are highlights of that conversation.

Beyond the Book: Infographics of Students' Reading History

Sarah Mulhern GrossJune 6, 2013

Tags Literacy, Media Literacy, Student Work Examples, High (9-12), English Language Arts

I'm an evangelist.

A book evangelist, that is. I hand out books to students and colleagues, booktalking them in class, at lunch, and even in my email signature. I want my students to read widely and read often, to pick up a book instead of browsing Tumblr every time they are bored. But I have no desire to assess my students for each book they read during the year. I'm a voracious reader, but I don't take a quiz after each book I finish. If I did, I don't think I would be a reader for very long! I do want my students to think about some of the books that have affected them and influenced them, though. And I want them to plan ahead and think about the books they want to read in the future. In other words, I want them to be readers.

Complex Texts: Guiding Readers One Step at a Time

Maria WaltherJune 3, 2013

Tags Best Practices, Literacy, Primary (K-2), Professional Learning Network (PLN), English Language Arts

Like you, I've been doing a lot of thinking and wondering about text complexity. As a first grade teacher, I'm pondering what that concept means for young readers and guided reading instruction. How do we support readers as they gradually climb a staircase of texts that leads them to those with greater complexity? My research-guided experience says, "Let’s take it one step at a time!"

Summer Reading for Educators: My Favorites

Mark PhillipsMay 30, 2013

Tags Literacy, Professional Development, Teacher Development, English Language Arts

During my years as a high school teacher, summer vacation was often the time to catch up on the reading I didn't have time for during the school year. My reading list frequently featured books unrelated to education, but I always included a book or two related to my teaching, as long as it was both thought provoking and readable. So I want to suggest some books that I think would be good to check out for this summer. These are my picks.

Bringing Web Tools to Gatsby's Party: A Digital Path into a Jazz Age Classic

Lee Ann SpillaneMay 14, 2013

Tags Classroom Technology, Literacy, Technology Integration, High (9-12), English Language Arts

"I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity."
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

The new film adaptation of The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio might move teens to fall in love with the story of the book, but it won't make them better readers of the novel. Long before the film was announced, I've been using simple technology tools to help my eleventh graders become curious critics analyzing the text patterns Fitzgerald employs.

Tools for Teaching: Developing Active Readers

Rebecca AlberMay 13, 2013

Tags Literacy, New Teachers, All Grades

Adults forget all that they do while reading. We are predicting, making connections, contextualizing, critiquing, and already plotting how we might use any new insights or information. Yep, we do all that when we read.

English Learners and 21st-Century Literacy

Anne OBrienApril 30, 2013

Tags Literacy, Teacher Development

We all know that the demographics of America's public school population are shifting. In 2011, nearly a quarter -- 23.9 percent -- of pre-K-12 students was Hispanic, many either immigrants or the children of immigrants who speak another language at home. And that proportion is projected to grow in the coming years, bringing new challenges and opportunities to schools across the country.

The Impact of Shakespeare on Teachers and Students

Heather Wolpert-GawronApril 29, 2013

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

William Shakespeare was the R-rated writer of his time. His plays were potentially more sexy than any E.L. James novel and oft-times more violent than any Quentin Tarantino film. The words of the Bard make up a universal language, one that can unite cultures with their themes and conflicts. And, more importantly to this blogger, William Shakespeare changed my life.