(Part 2) Best products from r/ELATeachers

Ouch. My advice, then, would be to employ some good reading strategies and increase the drama/improv acting in your class.

The best book I've read for helping readers is When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers. She offers some fantastic pre-, during-, and post-reading strategies. My students love Tea Party. Here is a summary of the book--look at chapters 6, 7, & 8 in particular: http://middlesecondarytoolkit.pbworks.com/f/mainidea111509.pdf

While that helps with comprehension (which naturally enhances engagement), I think teachers also can improve student engagement if they work on their performance abilities. I like to stop every few minutes or so (depending on grade level and reading ability) when I'm reading aloud and act out scenes. Today, my 7th graders (I teach 7-12 and I do the same with all grades) were reading Of Mice and Men, and after the scene where Lennie crushes Curly's hand, I stopped and said "Oh man this is exciting, but I'm not sure you're all getting this. We need to see this," and then I had the smallest girl get up and pretending to be Lennie as she crushed my hand and I melodramatically fell to the ground crying. In another scene I pretended to be Curly's wife and came in and "hit on" a couple male students. I'm a 6'0" man.

It sounds silly, but when you can embrace the cringe and get students laughing, you'll have them in the palm of your hand. It also causes students to pay more attention because they might get selected to be part of the mini-skit, and they don't want to be caught having no idea what we're talking about. If you want more information on how to increase the performance side of teaching, these are my two favorite books on the subject:

Teach Like a Pirate

Happy Teacher Habits

Stephanie Harvey's book, Strategies That Work, explains the difference between good readers and great readers. It's based on research on the brain. In it she describes great readers visualize, predict what will happen next, make a connection to self or world or other texts, question if something doesn't make sense, summarize, determine the most important in informational text. I made a two column chart with these on the left side and blank on the right side. Students filled in the blanks as they read each chapter. No two students are going to summarize in the same exact words or describe the image it created in their head in the same way. It was easy to catch if someone copied. The class discussion on the chapter that day came from the chart. I would go around and ask the students what their connection was or what questions they had. Students realized quickly this wasn't busy work so more did the reading outside of class. You really can't bluff your way through "Describe the picture you saw in your mind when you read that scene?" I asked my seniors one day if they got bored doing the same thing every day in class. Would they prefer art projects or mixing it up? They expressed relief that they liked the routine and knew what to expect each day. I started the year with a power point on what great readers do differently so they could think about their thinking. Then I modeled what I wanted them to do. I was honest and told them my personal experiences, "I was confused in Fahrenheit 451 when he floats down the river. Is he day dreaming or did that really happen because in the barn he relates a different version? I had to go back and reread that about three times to make sure I understood it." I was so proud that they felt comfortable enough to admit in front of their peers where they got confused and what questions they had.

My MFA in Creative Writing is for poetry, so I apologize for the bias here.

One of my favorite books from my MFA program was Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Traveled. I highly recommend it as a primer for poetry. It's very approachable, has great examples, and includes exercises. Plus, it's Stephen Fry, so it has an enthusiasm and charisma that you don't always see in reference books like this.

I'd also recommend having both "free weeks" and structured writing prompts. Especially for people who aren't already comfortable with poetry, having a prompt of some kind can do wonders for getting started. You're likely to have students on both sides of the spectrum, so having a mix of free writing and prompts should be helpful. There are loads of prompts online if you get stumped.

Here are a couple of my favorite exercises:

1. Once they've written a poem (and workshopped it, if you're going that route), have them cut it down to 100 words. Poetry is very much an art form that relies on compression and economy, and this exercise should help them understand just how much they can say in a few words.
   
   
2. This would work for poetry and fiction: When you discuss imagery, pick an object and have them write down as many adjectives as they can for it in a couple of minutes. I usually pick "grass," but any object would work. Then ask what they came up with. In my example, the first words out of their mouths is almost always "green"...and that's the point. This is another compression exercise to a degree, but stress the fact that a reader can supply certain information on their own. Grass is green. Fire trucks are red. The sky is blue. Those adjectives are obvious and therefore not especially interesting.
   
   
3. This would also work for both: Print out a bunch nouns and adjectives (enough that each student can have one set of each), but use "odd" words. Put each group of words in a separate envelope, and then have the students draw one word from each envelope and write a poem or scene with the resulting word pair. They could end up with "forested aardvark" or "celestial palm tree," and hopefully seeing words/concepts combined in new ways will spark some creativity. My poetry "guru" from undergrad said something that always stuck with me: "What you say will not be new, but how you say it should be." It is highly unlikely, nigh impossible, for your students to have an original idea for a poem simply because poetry has a long history...however, they can approach the idea from a different angle, with interesting images and diction, with an apt structure, and convey their ideas in a way that reflects their personalities.
   
   Have fun!

Disclaimer: not an actual ELA teacher yet -- although I'm working at it! I'm heading to a Masters of Education/Credentialing program this fall -- but a long time writing tutor/writing workshop leader at my university. This is all stuff I'd try myself. Hope it helps.

One of the first things I'd do with a student like this is to try to have them see that the individual words they choose make a difference in their language overall. Perhaps they simply don't know this, yet.

So, some ideas: maybe give them a couple nouns to start, and then have them slowly keep elaborating/specifying the noun with extra adjectives, moving from something like car to run-down, red Chevy, etc.

In addition to this, you can do a similar thing by taking a famous passage of text, and then stripping it down to bare, bland minimums, and examining the differences together. Even just one or two sentences work for this kind of thing, since you can really zero in on different verb changes.

After the student has some idea of HOW individual word choices work in the work as a whole, you can then ask them to practice the same in their own writing, starting with the nouns and adjectives, then scaling up to rewriting sentences. Teaching the student some alternative frames for sentences with a book like They Say, I Say, can be pretty helpful too, at least to start.

If I have a bit of extra time, I will flip through this version with students. It’s hilarious!

Honestly, though, I’d suggest watching clips from multiple different versions as you go along. Also don’t be afraid to watch scenes BEFORE you read them. I’m a huuuuuge fan of Kenneth Branagh’s unabridged, but there are scenes that drag (it is 4 hours long, after all).

The David Tennant version is pretty solid - and you can let them know that Yorick’s skull is an ACTUAL human skull (of a dude who donated his skull to the Royal Shakespeare Company in his will.)

PBS has some
Great resources for teaching the “To Be or Not To Be” speech as well.


And good luck!

What's the task?

One of the things I think new teachers really struggle with is finding or creating good higher level models. Once you've got some really solid graded or anchored models of what you're expecting, motivated students can revise to get there. There's really no limit to this. If they're really good writers, show them some AP essays to humble them a bit.

If you're just looking for strategies to get them to care about process more, I've been using this video for years with high school students: Austin's Butterfly. Beyond the cuteness of a classroom full of elementary kids being genuinely kind and thoughtful, it's a great intro to peer review and getting real improvement.

It's also a bit about the task you choose. Is there any way to get more choice in what they're doing and revising? Maybe some Penny Kittle magic?

Purchase I Read It but I Don't Get It by Cris Tovani!!!!!!!!!

I wish Reddit would let me put this in large font.

They don't like reading because they're not good at it! This book addresses motivation, and gives you lesson and talk strategies to help get kids into reading and figure out what reading skills they need to work on. I read it on my own during my student teaching and refer back to it constantly. Hands down, the most useful teaching book I've ever read.

Also, her writing style is nice and makes for easy reading. I read the whole thing in two or three days. Bring along a pencil and page markers to mark the stuff you're going to want to go back to.

Amazon link here.

THE COMPLETE MAUS. Can’t recommend this enough - but it does take a good amount of time to do it right.

Also, much shorter:

Letters to Survivors by Gebe

amazon link

French political/societal commentary about a family in a bomb shelter.

This could be done easily in a few days. Fits with any post-apocalyptic sci-fi stuff, but also great for teaching irony. Could easily pair well with Lord of the Flies, 451° F, and even Animal Farm for reasons which may become evident when you finish the book.

I’m using it this year as my intro text for my graphic novels class as well as in my sci-fi class.

I read it straight through in about 40 minutes, and it is easily in my top 3 graphic novels.

Sex Is a Funny Word.

Fantastic book that speaks directly to kids. It’s LGBT inclusive and sex positive, and it doesn’t get bogged down in definitions or make normative declarations. And it’s fun to read.

I think any kid would enjoy and learn from this book, and come away from it feeling good about themselves.

Edit: Oops, I see this is the first book in your list. Good start!

What's wonderful and frustrating about the English language is that there's no single standard and all of those books out there that try to tell you that there's one absolute rule of English are full of it.

The English language is amazing because of its ability to adapt, change, absorb other languages and remain fluid-- I'd recommend checking out Bragg's Adventure of English to anyone interested in the history of the language as it paints a wonderful picture of the language being in flux.

While I was trained in a "prescriptivist" approach to grammar, I've now fallen fairly firmly in the "descriptivist" camp. That doesn't mean that we should accept anything that anyone writes as being "correct"; it means that there's a purpose and logic behind grammar and that understanding how language works gives you power to communicate more effectively.

Grammar should help illuminate the author's purpose, add meaning, and clarify ambiguities-- not drive us all insane. We should think of grammar as a set of tools to use, not a set of laws to be obeyed and feared.

I believe that the oxford comma generally clarifies the meaning of a sentence, so I use it. But if I'm reading something that's perfectly clear that doesn't use it, I'd be in no way offended, and I don't think anyone else should be.

/rant

Peter Smagorinsky: "Teaching English by Design"
Great resource for planning complete units and for literature activities.
http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-English-Design-Create-Instructional/dp/0325009805

Edgar Schuster: "Breaking the Rules: Liberating Writers Through Innovative Grammar Instruction"
Good introduction to grammar instruction and the controversies surrounding it. (A bit iconoclastic, but I agree with his approach. The anti-grammar-nazi.)

6+1 Traits of Writing. There are different books and websites. http://educationnorthwest.org/traits

This is the "mandated" writing strategy in my county, but it is really good. There is a book specifically for middle school that has great writing instruction ideas.

You say you like Dan Brown, but what's most revealing is that you like fast-paced, short chapters.

Think of it this way: what you like is short bursts of interesting information that make you say "I wonder how that's going to be important." That's what a lot of people like about Dan Brown's books. He doesn't put in anything odd or unusual that doesn't become important later on. That's part of his formula.

You also like a narrative, or story, with your non-fiction, I'm betting. I'm going to go out on a limb here (and correct me if I'm wrong), but I'm willing to bet the books you're reading about mountains have titles like "Into Thin Air" and "Dark Summit". I doubt you're reading "Tourism and Environment in the Mount Everest Region".

If my guesses are correct, then my advice is to approach the way you have to read in the way you like to read. It's not easy, and it's only a beginning to scaffolding yourself to the level of rigor that you NEED to read at.

If you can, create a narrative for yourself for when you have to read textbook material. No one needs to know. You're Langdon's assistant on this particular mystery. He's got to go talk to the great-GREAT descendant of Hieronymous Bosch. He's left you with a chemistry book and said that the descendant is willing to sell you a completely unknown-til-now Bosch painting for one dollar per atomic weight of gold in the painting. In twenty minutes, he needs you to call and tell him whether it's worth it or not. So, what is the atomic weight of gold, and is it worth a dollar? That's complete nonsense, but you see what I mean?

Another thing you might do is cut your text reading down to what you know you will process. You'll have to change your expectations of reading page after page and processing it all. Mark off stopping points of 3-4 paragraphs and summarize in notes, then progress to 5-7 and summarize, then 8-10. You are not a natural reader of extended text and haven't been trained to do so. You're going to have to train yourself, like you would with a fitness or diet routine, or as a beginner mountain climber.

I was also going to suggest working with an online newspaper. http://www.schoolnewspapersonline.com/ is great, inexpensive, and easy to use.

One of my journalism professors in college would start every class period by going through local news papers and criticizing them on style mistakes. It was always fun and engaging. If you're not familiar with AP style format I suggest you purchase our bible, the AP Stylebook, and familiarize your students with it as well.

I can't agree more with Zephora. Engage with students about the importance of unbiased reporting and journalism integrity. Have fun, I'm so jealous of you.

I pulled excerpts from "The Witches." It talks about the real-life persons that inspired the events in the novel. It actually allowed a lot of great analysis opportunities for the kids. Also, I pulled in relevant news articles focusing on the Me Too movement. Lastly, check out writeonwithmissgr because she has some really engaging ideas/materials.

​

I've found that The Crucible is one of the most popular units with my kids.

Wow thank you for your advice, I really appreciate that. I shall note them down at once.

Are you using any tables/forms that might be useful in this case that you are currently using for your classes? Are there any writing practices that you would suggest to your class for the sake of improving their writing in general?

Question though, which Hacker book on grammar are we talking about? https://www.amazon.com/Bedford-Handbook-Diana-Hacker/dp/0312419333 is the one I found on Amazon, and I'm just not sure if that's the one you are talking about.

Yes, yes, yes. We have 30 minutes a day for D.E.A.R. time, and students can choose any book they want to as long as they read. Teachers must also read.

If you're interested in this topic, I recommend The Book Whisperer. It's a very compelling read, and definitely changed what my school thinks about reading. She also discusses a lot of the studies that have been done about independent reading.

Lots of experience.

First, here are four books I recommend related to this (in rough order of practical to theoretical):

Book Love

Readicide

In The Middle

Free Voluntary Reading

Second, if ALL you did was make sure they read books and developed a love for them, it would be good.

The best way to "keep them accountable" imo is to conference with them semi-regularly to talk about the book they are reading. Something else I do is go around and write the page number they are on. This can give you data on reading rate over time. It also helps to know who is reading and who is faking.

Now, your student population will affect how/when/if you do this. But, I imagine it will be helpful for about 90% of high school populations. Maybe 100. (Free Voluntary Reading backs this up with many many studies)

It can be a struggle, but if you make it part of your culture, you will get buy-in. Consider that I work at an alternative high school with "difficult students". One of my most resistant readers this year ("I ain't reading books. I hate reading..") Has finished like 6-10 books in half a year. She probably hasn't read that many in her last 3-5 years of school combined.

One important key is getting good books.

The most common argument against high school SSR is "I don't have time to that with all the content I have to cover." Depending on how nice I was feeling, I would say, "You don't have time not to." Otherwise, I might say, "Quit wasting student time with so much 'content'. "