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Supporting a School-Wide Reading Initiative with Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
How can school leaders support school-wide reading initiatives? Here are keys to leading the way in the areas of reading curriculum, instruction, assessment, and motivation.
Linking The Language: A Cross-Disciplinary Vocabulary Approach
In theory, it should be relatively easy for educators to link the language by introducing vocabulary in related clusters of words that cross content domains. This approach should help diverse learners, including English-minority students, make important vocabulary connections and transfer core ideas across content.
Adolescent Literacy and Older Students with Learning Disabilities
This report describes the adolescent literacy problem (grades 4 to 12), its consequences, and contributing factors. Guiding principles for assessment, instruction, and professional development, as well as recommendations for short-term and future consideration, are also addressed.
Adolescent Literacy and Older Students with Learning Disabilities (Executive Summary)
The full report describes the adolescent literacy problem (grades 4 to 12), its consequences, and contributing factors. Guiding principles for assessment, instruction, and professional development, as well as recommendations for short-term and future consideration, are addressed.
Pre-Reading Activities for ELLs
Pre-reading activities may be designed to motivate student interest, activate prior knowledge, or pre-teach potentially difficult concepts and vocabulary. This is also a great opportunity to introduce comprehension components such as cause and effect, compare and contrast, personification, main idea, sequencing, and others.
Creating Podcasts with Your Students
Creating podcasts in the classroom has many educational benefits, including strengthening skills in research, writing, and collaboration — and podcasting is easy to do. This article walks you through the steps of preproduction, recording, postproduction, and publishing.
What Does the Research Tell Us About Teacher Leadership?
This research brief from the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement looks at what research exists, and what it says about drawing on the skills of experienced teachers to facilitate school improvement.
Writing Ideas from the Classroom
This article offers some ideas from ELL educators around the country about getting ELL students (children, adolescents, and adults) to write more enthusiastically and creatively.
Spelling
Spelling is a challenge for people with dyslexia. The International Dyslexia Association provides a fact sheet explaining why people with dyslexia have trouble spelling, how to find out the reasons a particular child has this difficulty, and how to help children with dyslexia spell better.
'Welcome Kit' for New ELLs
"A Welcome Kit" is a packet of school information and other supplies that will contribute to a positive beginning by including relevant school information and other academic supplies, no matter when the student enrolls. I recommend that a school administrator and a couple of key staff members meet to decide what should go in the Welcome Kit. Summer is a perfect opportunity to make up a stack of Welcome Kits in order to have them readily available throughout the year as new ELL students enroll. The Kits can be tailored by grade level to include appropriate academic items.
