Differentiated Learning

      At last.
     We all know the push in education is to "differentiate" teaching. That's a no brainer. With a classroom that includes gifted students, mainstream students, special education students (each with his/her own unique difficulties), hungry children, children who just recently arrived in the States, children coming from stressed homes, eager students, disinterested students -- how can the teacher NOT differentiate? But with one adult responsible for it all and 25 bodies out there, exactly how is this done?
     Lisa Nielson's article explains that it all can really work if we look at a different, yet connected, concept -- that of "differentiated learning."This flips the responsibility for learning the task onto the learner, where it already rests, anyway. How many of us adults become far more engaged in an activity when we added our our thoughts and direction into it? And how often do we passively go along when a task is handed to us and we are forced to take it in? (Think: inservice days.)
    Of course there are basics that any student needs to learn in a lesson. Where is the country? What are the multiples of 5? What sounds do /ch/ and /sh/ and /th/ make? But what if the students had input on how they wanted to learn the content? What if they then decide what else they wanted to learn on the topic? After all, the editors of a textbook decide that for the learner. What if they had a hand in the direction of their learning, too?
     John Dewey, an early pioneer educator whose work thrilled me when I first entered education classes, would be proud.
Note: A hearty thank you to
  

Showing Students What Real Writers Do

     Kate Messner, an award-winning writer of children's books and a classroom teacher, now offers a book that should help other teachers and their students. Real Revision gives both of them an inside look into what actual writers must do on a daily basis. And what is that, exactly? Revise, revise, revise -- and revise even more.
     As a former English teacher (middle and high school), I know this is the furthest from many students' interest. I also know that we have some excellent writers under the age of 18. I hope some of them take Messner's book to heart. I'd love to see their talent grow.

Book: "Who's Teaching Your Children?"

     It has taken me a month to read through Vivian Troen and Katherine Boles's well-researched Who's Teaching Your Children? No, it's not because it wasn't written well or didn't engage me -- quite the opposite. I kept pausing to breathe, to think, to vent.

     The authors blasted many of the problems of today's schools. With politicians around blaming the teachers, teachers, teachers for the poor performance of some schools, Troen and Boles take aim at the way public schools are viewed by society -- as a second-class profession. Education schools are notoriously easy to enter and graduate from, the pay is poor, and the profession itself is flat, giving little encouragement or opportunity for teachers to better their instruction in the schools, and those with advanced knowledge and skills perform the same tasks as the novice. No wonder charter schools, home schooling, and private schools are flourishing, they argue, and the immense drain those cause on public schools would diminish significantly if the public policy designed a route entering professionals would take to grow from student teacher to master teacher.

     I applaud the efforts by the authors. Perhaps someone out there will take notice. And someone needs to -- fast.

CADERS (Early Readers): Posting #14

Here's a silent e book:

    Nate and the Ape

Nate likes to swim.

The last time
Nate swam at Pine Lake,
he saw an ape.

The ape had a kite.
It was way, way up.

The ape walked up the kite line.
It sat on the kite.

So Nate walked up the kite line, too,
and sat on the kite.

The ape played a flute.
Nate told jokes.

The ape ate cake.
Nate ate cheese.

The ape and Nate
stayed up there all day.

I wish I could go to Pine Lake.

CADERS (Early Readers): Posting #13

And now for a book that practice the /au/ sound.

(Refer to November 14th posting for information on CADERS readers.)

           I Can Draw

I can draw.
I can draw a fawn.

I can draw a fawn
in a shawl.

I can draw a fawn
in a shawl,
holding a cup and saucer.

I can raw a fawn
in a shawl,
holding a cup and saucer,
standing in a rocket
when it launches.

I can draw a fawn
in a shawl,
holding a cup and saucer,
standing in a rocket
when it launches
from our lawn
at dawn.

So there!

I can draw a bobcat...

CADERS (Early Readers): Posting #12

This booklet moves on to the r-controlled vowels -- ar, er, ir, or, and ur -- along with a number of blends (gr, st, -nd, etc)

(Refer back to November 14th for full explanatin of CADERS readers.)


          A Turnip on Her Head

"I want to look good for my birthday,"
said Bird.

So first she put on a skirt.
Bird looked at herself.
"I need more," she said.

Bird held a purse in her hand.
She put curls in her hair.
"I need more," she said.

So she put a turnip
on her head.
On top of the turnip
she put a fish.
On top of the fish
She put a nest.

And in the nest she put a frog.
On top of the frog
she put a frog in a nest
and the nest on top of a cat
that purred.

Bird whirled and whirled
and looked at herself.
She grinned.

"I look good!" Bird said.
"I am ready for that party!"

CADERS (Early Readers): #11

Here's another book for silent e and digraphs. And this one not only works for illustrations, it works for acting. The children really enjoy waking and pacing and chasing and...

(Refer to November 14th for explanation of CADERS readers.)


              When I Wake

When I wake, I pace.

Then I race

and chase.

I brake

and shake.

But then,
best of all,
I bake...

And bite!