Schoolwide Blog

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On a steaming hot summer day I got together with my high school teacher whom I hadn't seen in 32 years. We met in a restaurant at the South Street Seaport in New York City and, for a moment, it felt like time had stood still. As I approached our designated meeting point, I wondered how we were going to recognize each other. But I needn't have worried. I spotted Mr. G in front of a stand on the pedestrian walkway.More...

 Great post by our newest blogger, Linda Howard, PreK-6 ELA Instructional Coach . . .  

 “Being tested is part of being alive.  While we cannot ignore tests, we cannot let them control our lives and the lives of our students. We need to find ways to cope with the demands of the testing environment” according to Fountas and Pinnell ( 2001).  There are ways we can cope with the demands of tests and prepare students in a natural classroom environment. More...

Vocabulary study is an important part of any language arts block.  We know that when vocabulary increases, students reap the benefits in a number of ways - fluency tends to increase, as does reading comprehension.  In addition, students have a greater bank of words from which to draw as they write their own texts. 

 
Poet Michael Salinger has given students (and teachers) a fresh way to think about vocabulary words in his new book, Well Defined: Vocabulary in Rhyme.  This small volume from Wordsong places words such as capricious, chaos, and novice in a whole new light.  For example:

 
Novice hasn’t quite figured things out yet

you see he’s just been sent into the game

doesn’t have much experience

but he’s more than willing to try just the same

it’s not his fault, everyone has to start

somewhere at sometime

and I’m sure he’s gonna

get the hang of things

I’m just saying…

I’m glad he’s your surgeon

and not mine

Salinger, Michael.  (2009).  Well defined: Vocabulary in rhyme.  Honesdale, PA: Wordsong.    (page 43)

Can’t you just see the wonderful shared writing possibilities with this book?  Math vocabulary watch out!  Science and social studies words take cover!  Words like addend, hypothesis, and peninsula just might be a whole lot of fun (and make a lot of sense) when viewed from a more “personal” perspective.  Gather your students around some chart paper and give it a try!   We plan to use it with our graduate students as well - we'll let you know how it works.