Literacy program success (sort of)
A couple of days ago I decided to use computers in my after-school literacy program just to liven things up a bit. After reading about an extreme case of using gizmos for their glam factor with...
View ArticleHandwriting on the wall
Last year, in a meeting with teachers from feeder schools, someone asked whether or not elementary school teachers should continue to teach cursive writing to their students. At the time, I told them...
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The Pleasure of Reading Aloud
I love reading books aloud. My wife and I usually have on the go a book that we read aloud to one another in those rare moments of peace. We enjoy putting the kids in the backseat of the car and...
View ArticleReaching (only) reluctant readers
Reluctant readers- the euphemistic phrase is embedded into our shop talk these days. In our courses, remedial programs, and library selections, we’re all trying to figure out how we can help reluctant...
View ArticleStudent independent reading in high school: What is it worth?
START is one of my favourite times every day. (START = Students and Teachers All Reading Together.) You may know it as DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) or simply SSR (Sustained Silent Reading). Whatever...
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Introducing Shakespeare with graphic novels
Last semester I happened to land upon a great tool for introducing Shakespeare to Gr. 9 students, thanks in part to inspiration from a colleague in a course I was taking at the time. Graphic novels...
View ArticleReading Reflections: The Curious Incident …
Assigned the task of instructing a split class of Grade 11 and 12 Workplace English (ENG 3E/4E), I wanted to take a different approach this semester to really focus on improving our reading skills....
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Bone: A great resource for encouraging reading
Two years ago our school librarian added to our collection Volume 1 of the nine-part Bone series by Jeff Smith. I was hooked, promptly getting the remainder of the series from the public library for my...
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