I was surprised that no one suggested a really valuable resource available to everyone - your local newspaper's Newspapers in Education (NIE)program. Most daily papers (and even some weeklies) have a department dedicated to encouraging the use of the newspaper in the classroom. These programs have ready made lessons for almost all subject areas, themed projects, and often have someone who will visit your classroom. You might want to call to see if your paper has a program.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 12:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: lit Digest, Vol 28, Issue 13 Send lit mailing list submissions to [email protected] To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/lit_literacyworkshop.org or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can reach the person managing the list at [EMAIL PROTECTED] When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of lit digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Poetry Slam Classroom Oppotunity (Keith Mack) 2. Re: Poetry Slam Classroom Oppotunity (TLP) 3. Martian Child (TLP) 4. Re: Martian Child (Heather Poland) 5. Re: Martian Child (ljackson) 6. New member looking for help (Lee Winik) 7. Re: New member looking for help (Bill IVEY) 8. e-pal ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 9. Re: New member looking for help ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 10. Re: New member looking for help (Amy Holtzer) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:33:43 -0800 From: "Keith Mack" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [LIT] Poetry Slam Classroom Oppotunity To: "'A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades.'" <[email protected]>, "'Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" We are in the process of finalizing the details for our annual Online Poetry Slam project. The Online Poetry Slam is sponsored by The Literacy Workshop and is a fantastic opportunity for students to post poetry online in a classroom blog and then get feedback from students in remote classrooms. Classroom teachers will control all aspects of their poetry blog and must approve all posts to the blog as well as all comments made to poems. This project is a wonderful way to get introduced to blogs and will provide you with an outlet for publishing student poetry that generates authentic peer feedback. The Online Poetry Slam will run from March through June and is flexible so that classrooms with various spring breaks and testing schedules can participate. In past projects we averaged about 500 student poems with over 2400 comments from participating classrooms. The registration process for the online Poetry Slam will begin on March 1. The project has an emphasis on middle level classrooms, but we've had participating classrooms from grades 5-10. You can view more details on the project by visiting http://www.literacyworkshop.org/poetryslam/poetryslam.htm. We encourage everyone interested to take a look at how the project works so that you'll be ready to submit your application in early March. An announcement about open registration along with the URL to apply will be posted to this list on March 1st. Please contact me if you require additional information. Keith Mack Web Administrator http://www.literacyworkshop.org ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:40:47 -0500 From: TLP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [LIT] Poetry Slam Classroom Oppotunity To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 I have participated in this venue since its inception. I remember in the past some students would enter the room dragging along and sighing about "doing poetry." Since I began this project the kids love sharing their words as well as getting and giving feedback and enter the room with excitement in their voices asking" Are we doing the slam today?" On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 1:33 PM, Keith Mack <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > We are in the process of finalizing the details for our annual Online > Poetry Slam project. The Online Poetry Slam is sponsored by The > Literacy Workshop and is a fantastic opportunity for students to post > poetry online in a classroom blog and then get feedback from students in remote classrooms. > > Classroom teachers will control all aspects of their poetry blog and > must approve all posts to the blog as well as all comments made to > poems. This project is a wonderful way to get introduced to blogs and > will provide you with an outlet for publishing student poetry that > generates authentic peer feedback. > > The Online Poetry Slam will run from March through June and is > flexible so that classrooms with various spring breaks and testing > schedules can participate. In past projects we averaged about 500 > student poems with over 2400 comments from participating classrooms. > The registration process for the online Poetry Slam will begin on March 1. > > The project has an emphasis on middle level classrooms, but we've had > participating classrooms from grades 5-10. You can view more details > on the project by visiting > http://www.literacyworkshop.org/poetryslam/poetryslam.htm. > > We encourage everyone interested to take a look at how the project > works so that you'll be ready to submit your application in early > March. An announcement about open registration along with the URL to > apply will be posted to this list on March 1st. > > Please contact me if you require additional information. > > Keith Mack > Web Administrator > http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > -- Tena ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:53:32 -0500 From: TLP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [LIT] Martian Child To: MT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Lit Site" <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Has anyone seen the movie, "Martian Child"? One school it portrayed "kicked" the unusual child out of the school rather than dealing with his strange behavior and tendency to steal stuff from other kids. I can only assume it was a private school but that was not clear. I beleive it woulld be unlikely to happen in most public schools. How many times have you seen a school or teacher portrayed as "the bad guy" or inappropraitely in a movie or TV show. On a side note, the awesome little actor in the movie played the role well. His portrayal reminded me of a child with Aspergers. ( second reference this week! ) What did you think? -- Tena ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:57:05 -0800 From: "Heather Poland" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [LIT] Martian Child To: "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252 I just saw this movie and loved it!!! Yes, the part with the school bugged me. I assumed it was private since he was kicked out, but I imagine anyone who wasn't familiar with the system wouldn't know and could assume it was a public school. It really made me mad how he was kicked out and they didn't try to help him or anything. So sad. On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 1:53 PM, TLP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Has anyone seen the movie, "Martian Child"? One school it portrayed > "kicked" the unusual child out of the school rather than dealing with > his strange behavior and tendency to steal stuff from other kids. I > can only assume it was a private school but that was not clear. I > beleive it woulld be unlikely to happen in most public schools. > How many times have you seen a school or teacher portrayed as "the bad > guy" or inappropraitely in a movie or TV show. > On a side note, the awesome little actor in the movie played the role > well. His portrayal reminded me of a child with Aspergers. ( second > reference this week! ) What did you think? > -- > Tena > > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > -- - Heather "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead." --Clarence Day "While the rhetoric is highly effective, remarkably little good evidence exists that there's any educational substance behind the accountability and testing movement." ?Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase funding. " ?Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:17:11 -0700 From: ljackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [LIT] Martian Child To: "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" My son rented it this last weekend and I loved it! It is based on a book, and I am so looking forward to reading it. Lori On 2/21/08 2:53 PM, "TLP" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Has anyone seen the movie, "Martian Child"? One school it portrayed > "kicked" the unusual child out of the school rather than dealing with > his strange behavior and tendency to steal stuff from other kids. I > can only assume it was a private school but that was not clear. I > beleive it woulld be unlikely to happen in most public schools. > How many times have you seen a school or teacher portrayed as "the bad > guy" or inappropraitely in a movie or TV show. > On a side note, the awesome little actor in the movie played the role > well. His portrayal reminded me of a child with Aspergers. ( second > reference this week! ) What did you think? -- Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach & Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 57555 http:www.tcsdk12.org ph. 605.856.2211 Literacies for All Summer Institute July 17-20. 2008 Tucson, Arizona ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:47:02 -0700 From: "Lee Winik" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [LIT] New member looking for help To: [email protected] Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hey there! I am looking forward to learning from everyone here on the listserv and hopefully be able to post some ideas of my own. I am new to teaching grade 6 and am looking for some innovative ways to teach news article writing. Any suggestions or ideas that have worked for you in your classrooms would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Cheers! Lee W. ------------------------------ Message: 7 Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:03:34 -0500 From: "Bill IVEY" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [LIT] New member looking for help To: "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 1:47 AM -0500 wrote: >Hey there! I am looking forward to learning from everyone here on the >listserv and hopefully be able to post some ideas of my own. I am new to >teaching grade 6 and am looking for some innovative ways to teach news >article writing. Any suggestions or ideas that have worked for you in your >classrooms would be greatly appreciated. > >Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Hi! My students haven't actually designed a "news" unit yet... but I have a couple of ideas (brainstormed quick ones) to share, and I'm sure others will have ideas to add. One thought is to read aloud a few extracts from "The Landry News" by Andrew Clements, or even read the whole book, and use it to generate discussion about what a newspaper should do, what a good news article is. I've never taught the book, but my students (currently 7th graders) have said they've read it and loved it (as have I). You could have them read real articles based on interviews and analyze how they put together, where the writing works and where it doesn't and why. Then have them do interviews, and write them up. Or, have them write up an imagined interview with a celebrity, a role model, or someone else who intrigues them. Sportswriting, arts and entertainment, advice columns, op-ed and other "not-so-hard news" kinds of writing may also appeal to them. Again, following up an analysis of models with real writing often works well. And what about taking a playful tack? Examine a (kid-appropriate!) article from the Enquirer, and help them analyze that and then come up with their own original outrageous article. Just a few quick thoughts. I hope they help! How about the rest of you, especially those who have taught such a unit?! Take care, Bill Ivey Stoneleigh-Burnham School ------------------------------ Message: 8 Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:19:52 +0000 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [LIT] e-pal To: "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> Message-ID: <022220081519.27628.47BEE817000C388C00006BEC22243322829B0A02D29B9B0EBF0A [EMAIL PROTECTED]> I am looking for someone to e-mail off list where messages are not archived and available to the public. I want to discuss philosophical issues dealing with education, every day issues of classroom management, and whatever I'm dealing with that week. I teach 8th grade at a middle school in the northwest. This is my ninth year in my school. If you're interested, please respond to me off list. Jan ------------------------------ Message: 9 Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:53:15 -0500 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [LIT] New member looking for help To: [email protected] Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" We haven't done news articles, but just got done with feature articles.? I collected 40 or so articles and had the kids read as many of them as possible. In their groups I had them looking for common characteristics.? I also tossed in several articles, like some obituaries and some news articles, so they could also see what didn't fit the pattern. We also had 6 articles that I had selected to use as models (we attached these into their notebooks)?that we could refer back to again and again.? The kids knew these articles well enough through references that they would know which paragraph or characteristic we were discussing. We developed a list of "All news articles have...." and a second list of "Some feature articles may have...".? We then ID'd these in the model articles and marked them up. Next, we talked about writing their own articles and the steps we would need to go through, always referencing the model articles. I would think you would have to talk about timeliness, clarity, leads, the inverted pyramid- who/what/when/where/why/how...,my daughter says spelling...headlines, sublines, naming people- first time full name, last name everytime after...general to specific details..., interviewing techniques, notes, collaborating sources... there's probably a good deal more, but that's a start. Karen Onyx Carusi Middle School -----Original Message----- From: Bill IVEY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades. <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 9:03 am Subject: Re: [LIT] New member looking for help "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 1:47 AM -0500 wrote: >Hey there! I am looking forward to learning from everyone here on the >listserv and hopefully be able to post some ideas of my own. I am new to >teaching grade 6 and am looking for some innovative ways to teach news >article writing. Any suggestions or ideas that have worked for you in your >classrooms would be greatly appreciated. > >Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Hi! My students haven't actually designed a "news" unit yet... but I have a couple of ideas (brainstormed quick ones) to share, and I'm sure others will have ideas to add. One thought is to read aloud a few extracts from "The Landry News" by Andrew Clements, or even read the whole book, and use it to generate discussion about what a newspaper should do, what a good news article is. I've never taught the book, but my students (currently 7th graders) have said they've read it and loved it (as have I). You could have them read real articles based on interviews and analyze how they put together, where the writing works and where it doesn't and why. Then have them do interviews, and write them up. Or, have them write up an imagined interview with a celebrity, a role model, or someone else who intrigues them. Sportswriting, arts and entertainment, advice columns, op-ed and other "not-so-hard news" kinds of writing may also appeal to them. Again, following up an analysis of models with real writing often works well. And what about taking a playful tack? Examine a (kid-appropriate!) article from the Enquirer, and help them analyze that and then come up with their own original outrageous article. Just a few quick thoughts. I hope they help! How about the rest of you, especially those who have taught such a unit?! Take care, Bill Ivey Stoneleigh-Burnham School _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com ------------------------------ Message: 10 Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:34:06 -0500 From: "Amy Holtzer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [LIT] New member looking for help To: "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I am about to start my feature articles unit, and I would love to know the names and sources for the articles that you use, especially the models. Thanks so much. Amy Holtzer Solomon-Schechter Middle School Hartsdale, NY ________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Fri 2/22/2008 10:53 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LIT] New member looking for help We haven't done news articles, but just got done with feature articles.? I collected 40 or so articles and had the kids read as many of them as possible. In their groups I had them looking for common characteristics.? I also tossed in several articles, like some obituaries and some news articles, so they could also see what didn't fit the pattern. We also had 6 articles that I had selected to use as models (we attached these into their notebooks)?that we could refer back to again and again.? The kids knew these articles well enough through references that they would know which paragraph or characteristic we were discussing. We developed a list of "All news articles have...." and a second list of "Some feature articles may have...".? We then ID'd these in the model articles and marked them up. Next, we talked about writing their own articles and the steps we would need to go through, always referencing the model articles. I would think you would have to talk about timeliness, clarity, leads, the inverted pyramid- who/what/when/where/why/how...,my daughter says spelling...headlines, sublines, naming people- first time full name, last name everytime after...general to specific details..., interviewing techniques, notes, collaborating sources... there's probably a good deal more, but that's a start. Karen Onyx Carusi Middle School -----Original Message----- From: Bill IVEY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades. <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 9:03 am Subject: Re: [LIT] New member looking for help "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> on Friday, February 22, 2008 at 1:47 AM -0500 wrote: >Hey there! I am looking forward to learning from everyone here on the >listserv and hopefully be able to post some ideas of my own. I am new to >teaching grade 6 and am looking for some innovative ways to teach news >article writing. Any suggestions or ideas that have worked for you in your >classrooms would be greatly appreciated. > >Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Hi! My students haven't actually designed a "news" unit yet... but I have a couple of ideas (brainstormed quick ones) to share, and I'm sure others will have ideas to add. One thought is to read aloud a few extracts from "The Landry News" by Andrew Clements, or even read the whole book, and use it to generate discussion about what a newspaper should do, what a good news article is. I've never taught the book, but my students (currently 7th graders) have said they've read it and loved it (as have I). You could have them read real articles based on interviews and analyze how they put together, where the writing works and where it doesn't and why. Then have them do interviews, and write them up. Or, have them write up an imagined interview with a celebrity, a role model, or someone else who intrigues them. Sportswriting, arts and entertainment, advice columns, op-ed and other "not-so-hard news" kinds of writing may also appeal to them. Again, following up an analysis of models with real writing often works well. And what about taking a playful tack? Examine a (kid-appropriate!) article from the Enquirer, and help them analyze that and then come up with their own original outrageous article. Just a few quick thoughts. I hope they help! How about the rest of you, especially those who have taught such a unit?! Take care, Bill Ivey Stoneleigh-Burnham School _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org <http://www.literacyworkshop.org/> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com <http://webmail.aol.com/> _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org <http://www.literacyworkshop.org/> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive. End of lit Digest, Vol 28, Issue 13 *********************************** _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
