All of us continue to look for ways to increase reading and writing in our classrooms — specifically, the use of non-fiction, informational texts. To that end, I thought you’d be interested to learn more about The New York Times Replica Edition.
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If you are a NoodleTools user, this post applies to you. Over the summer, we transitioned to NoodleTools’s new single sign-on (SSO) authentication. This means that students and teachers, alike, will be able to use their Google username and password to access the program, which is most commonly used for developing Works Cited and Reference List pages for research assignments (but it has many other functions, too).
Britannica School is more than an online encyclopedia. See for yourself during our free trial.4/5/2016 Barb and I have been in the market for a new encyclopedia database since, oh, last year. We like to make sure we’re getting you the best stuff. Keith West suggested Britannica School—a product of Encyclopedia Britannica—after he learned from a colleague in his grad school class that it offered diverse content at varied reading levels appropriate for his special education students. It offers that and much more.
Gale recently made research easier for students. They partnered with Google! Now, users have the ability to send articles directly to Google Drive or to Google Classroom. This partnership is exciting because we subscribe to seven Gale databases.
We often warn our students about the ramifications of plagiarizing: a zero in the gradebook, expulsion from college, or legal action. By the time students get to high school, we assume they have received instruction about how to avoid plagiarism. However, in the face of such severe consequences, we cannot afford to assume.
Imagine this teaching scenario… A student is creating a presentation about his grandparents’ home country. He wants to insert ethnic music and video clips in the presentation. The teacher tells him it’s okay as long as he cites his source. Was the teacher right?
Truth: You love Google. Your students love Google. It’s often our first stop in the research process, and there’s nothing wrong with that—as long as you’re choosing the right Websites as sources.
Not all Websites are current, accurate, and relevant, and not all of the best content conveniently floats to the top of your search (read this article about Google’s algorithms, for example). Finding the right Websites to cite in research is a process in and of itself. That’s why Barb and I put together this five-step infographic to help your students navigate through the good and the bad on the Web. Consider making it a poster for your classroom! A few English teachers invited me into their classrooms a couple of weeks ago to talk to their students about interviewing. I began my presentation the way I always do, with a few anecdotes about my heydays as a journalist for the Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa’s daily student newspaper. I explained to the classes how I learned so much about the art of interviewing by talking to attorneys and university officials and everyday people about crime and city policy and life stories.
Conducting three interviews is a requirement for the I-Search, but by the time students get to English IV – Composition class, most have never conducted a single interview. Just like anything, interviewing takes practice. Below are a few tips I picked up along the way. Please feel free to share these with your classes, and please encourage them to find interview sources for your research assignments. The earlier we expose them to gathering information this way, the more prepared they will be by senior year. Usually, Kellie and I use the blog forum to share new ideas about technology integration, reading promotions, and research tips. Yet, sometimes information from last year is so good that it is worth re-posting with updated information. We know that teachers are looking for ways to include more reading activities into their curriculum. What better way to look for articles than to use the state database trial that’s going on now? “Who can dispute the value of a good story? Though students may initially view them as dull, biographies are the stuff that great classroom activities are made of—history, honesty, and heroism.” – Education World
As teachers, we are always looking for ways to connect students to the notable people in our content areas: Sir Isaac Newton, Edgar Allen Poe, Vincent Van Gogh, Thomas Jefferson, etc. But how do we engage students in meaningful ways to discover the real story behind a person? |
AuthorsBarbara Mason AboutThe ILC blog keeps Antioch students and staff up to date with news and events related to reading, research, technology, and more.
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Ideas?Contact me at [email protected] with topic suggestions or to contribute your own post to the ILC blog.
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