Recommendations
Texts, Videos, & Websites
Websites
Newsela
If you have an article of the week assignment or you assign non-fiction articles based on reading levels, this website is tailor-made for you. There are hundreds of articles organized by category including: War & Peace, Money, Kids, Science, Law, Health, Arts, Sports, and Spanish. |
Books
Achor, S. (2018). The happiness advantage: How a positive brain fuels success in work and life. Currency.
Although this book is mostly about positive pscyhology in the workplace, its message can be utilized in any aspect of society: happiness equals success, not visa versa as we are told. Based on seven principles, this book is a great read for personal gain, a classroom non-fiction book to read and discuss, or a gift for a friend who needs it. |
Articles
Teach Writing as a Process Not Product.
By Donald Murray, 1972
Published in The Essential Don Murray: Lessons from America's Greatest Writing Teacher
By Donald Murray, 1972
Published in The Essential Don Murray: Lessons from America's Greatest Writing Teacher
For the majority of my teaching career, I assigned a paper every two weeks. I dedicated one day to discuss possible prompts, one week for my students to write their papers on their own, one day in class to edit and revise, and then one week to develop a final for submission. What I learned - thanks to the game changer that is Google Docs - the majority of my students were typing their drafts the day it was due, and in essence, they were submitting rough drafts as final drafts. Instead of writing to learn something, they were writing for a grade.
In my Theories of Composition course with Dr. Pagnucci, we were assigned to read this article, and it completely revamped my pedagogy on writing. His ten implications are basically like the ten commandments for assigning writing in a high school or college classroom.
In my Theories of Composition course with Dr. Pagnucci, we were assigned to read this article, and it completely revamped my pedagogy on writing. His ten implications are basically like the ten commandments for assigning writing in a high school or college classroom.
Videos
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TED-Ed. "Become a slam poet in five steps - Gayle Danley." YouTube. 27 March 2013.
If you want to add some "flava" to your poetry unit, teach your students how to write slam poetry using video by Gayle Danley. It will have your students confident in writing a slam poem in less than five minutes. |