The Latest Issue of Word Up!
In Focus: Motivation
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For most of the country, spring has sprung and summer is not far off! Spring sports and beautiful weather often lead to school and academics taking a back seat. Scroll through our resources to find out how to help your kids keep their focus!
Boring textbook? Feeling disconnected from your students?
Those two things are two oft-cited roadblocks to student motivation and engagement with learning. Find out how to increase students' motivation in meaningful and engaging ways. It's not about the contests!
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Need more ideas to motivate readers?
Dr. Linda Gambrell is a national expert on student motivation. Read her research-based recommendations for nurturing motivation. Some are as simple as honoring a book by placing it in a special basket or bringing lots of different types of reading material into the classroom and home.
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Using tutoring as a way to reach reluctant readers
Tutoring, with its one-on-one or small-group configuration, can open the door to fostering a meaningful relationship with a struggling teen reader. Giving choices, using creative resources (think YouTube clips), and focusing on the positive can all create a more positive learning environment. Read more about these and other ideas in this article.
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Books & Authors
Using Movie Read-Alikes
Is there Hunger Games fever at your house or in your classroom? If so, this is a great chance to introduce them to books similar to some other blockbuster movies like Indiana Jones and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Check out our whole list of read-alikes.
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Featured Booklist: Asian Pacific American Heritage
Since 1978, Asian Pacific American Heritage has been celebrated in America, first with a week, now with the entire month of May. Many books featuring Asian Americans have been published in the last few years, including several Printz winners like American Born Chinese and Newbery winners like Kira-Kira.
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In the Classroom
Featured Strategy: Seed Discussion
A Seed Discussion is a two-part strategy used to teach students how to engage in discussions about assigned readings. In the first part, students read selected text and identify "seeds" or key concepts of a passage which may need additional explanation. In the second part, students work in small groups to present their "seeds" to one another. Each "seed" should be thoroughly discussed before moving on to the next.
Glossary Term: Frustrational Reading Level
Definition: The level at which a reader reads at less than 90% accuracy.
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Featured Resource: Primary Sources
Teachers, put the power of primary sources to work in the classroom. Browse ready-to-use lesson plans, student activities, collection guides, and research aids all geared toward the celebration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage month. Resources come from the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the National Gallery of Art, and more!
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In the Community
Featured Partner: National Education Association (NEA)
The National Education Association (NEA) is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers. To focus the country's attention on how important it is to motivate children to read, NEA launched the Read Across America program in 1997. This nationwide reading celebration takes place each year on March 2, the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. NEA's Read Across America also provides NEA members, parents, caregivers, and children the resources and activities they need to keep reading on the calendar 365 days a year.
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"As a teacher of adolescent literacy for over 25 years, I always felt so alone in my quest for information. You have stepped up and are filling a huge void with much needed information that is accessible to practitioners."
— Karen Y.
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All the best from AdLit.org
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- Christian Lindstrom, Director, Learning Media
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