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here to read this issue online if you aren't able to access the links in your email version of INBOX. Click here to read previous issues of INBOX online. |
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April 29, 2008 |
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| News links are provided for informational purposes, do not imply endorsement by NCTE, and were live when this issue was published. |
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Despite 25 Years of Reform,
U.S. Schools Still Fall Short Twenty-five years after A Nation at Risk and after much school reform, U.S. schools lag behind other countries. Two of the biggest issues, according to Linda Darling-Hammond in a new report by The Forum for Education and Democracy, are funding inequities and teaching quality. The Christian Science Monitor, April 24, 2008 |
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Mr. Weatherbee, Don't Blow Your Top Comic books are coming back, this time as legitimate fare in classrooms. NCTE member James Bucky Carter, editor of NCTE's Building Literacy Connections with Graphic Novels: Page by Page, Panel by Panel, is quoted. Instructor Magazine Website, April 2008 |
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Bedtime Stories Now
Available on Children's iPods With one-third of children ages 6-10 using iPods, why not bring them stories through that medium? Associated Press, April 29, 2008 For Children, a Better Beginning U.S. children in their first 10 years of life are faring better than in 1994 according to a report by the Foundation for Child Development. The Washington Post, April 24, 2008 Informal Style of Electronic Messages Is Showing Up in Schoolwork, Study Finds Most of the 700 teens surveyed for Pew's Writing, Technology & Teens report don't think of their electronic messaging as writing, but two-thirds say text language is finding its way into their schoolwork. NCTE member Richard Sterling is quoted. The New York Times, April 25, 2008 Validation for RateMyProfessors.com? A formal study of the website finds its
ratings correlate with those used by IDEA, a formal evaluation system used
by 270+ institutions. Inside
Higher Ed, April 25, 2008 |
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Teacher Learning and
Professional Development: The Real Stuff It's a fact: teachers make the most difference in student learning. Now, as the school year draws to a close and we begin to plan for next year, is a good time to think about our own learning and the professional development that will help us best help our students, explains Millie Davis in this week's NCTE INBOX blog. |
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NCTE Members Take Their
Messages to Capitol Hill More
than 40 NCTE members participated in Literacy Education Advocacy Day on
April 17 in Washington, D.C. Those in attendance had made appointments
with legislators (or their staff members) and had the opportunity to talk
about NCTE
positions on key issues and to share their own experiences as literacy
educators.You can read four personal accounts in the April SLATE Newsletter. Please let us know what you did for Advocacy Month by filling out this survey. |
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| Free
access to journal articles mentioned in this INBOX is provided for 21
days. After this free access period expires, articles are available to journal subscribers only.
Initials in annotations indicate academic level of
the resource (E=Elementary, M=Middle, S=Secondary, C=College, TE=Teacher
Education, G=General). |
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Plan Now for
Summer Reading May is Get Caught Reading Month (G), and it's time to start making your plans to encourage students to keep reading once classes are over. Try these resources to get your students involved in independent reading all summer long. Introduce book clubs to your students now with the ReadWriteThink lesson plan Book Clubs: Reading for Fun (E) -- then encourage your students to meet and read during the summer months. The English Journal article "Reading Adolescents: Book Clubs for YA Readers" (S-TE) examines what happened when college students in an adolescent literature class met young readers encountering young adult literature in a book club setting. To learn more about the ways book groups can create for faculty and students an informal space to connect meaningfully through reflective discussion of texts, read the English Journal article "Facilitating a Summer Reading Book Group Program" (S). For another take on book clubs with older students, check out "Watch Out, Oprah! A Book Club Assignment for Literature Courses" (C) from Teaching English in the Two-Year College. If face-to-face meetings aren't possible, suggest online discussion of the books students read. To structure independent reading and support summer reading, have students complete a reading plan, a simple wish list of books they hope to read in the future. The ReadWriteThink lesson Developing Reading Plans to Support Independent Reading (M) invites students to reflect on the texts that they have read and then compile lists of books they want to read next. To prepare older students, invite students to create brochures and fliers that suggest books and genres to explore during the summer months with the ReadWriteThink lesson Authentic Persuasive Writing to Promote Real Summer Reading (S). For more ideas for summer reading, see the Summer Reading and Learning Teaching Resource Collection and the Summer Activities for families page on the ReadWriteThink site. |
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Pathways Offers Professional
Development That Is
Library
groups and publishers have created a new
list of children's titles to promote literacy among the nation's
Hispanic and Latino communities and to celebrate El
día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book
Day) on April 30. And to celebrate Latino Books Month in May,
a Latino
Books Month Resource Kit is available from the Association of American
Publishers.
NCTE
Centennial: A Blast from the Past |
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It is the policy of NCTE in
its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open
discussion of ideas concerning the content and teaching of English and
language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not
imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or
the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such
endorsement is clearly specified. Paid advertising has been identified as
such.
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With testing and school improvement planning, we know that this is a busy time
of year for schools. Find out how NCTE's Pathways Program can help you with your
PD goals for next year.
Thanks to the NCTE members and INBOX readers
who submitted almost 150 slogans to the "Name That Centennial"
contest. The following winning slogans (listed in no particular order)
were selected by the members of the NCTE Task Force on Council History,
and we thank the slogan creators for their great ideas! All winners are
being sent their choice of an NCTE book, and again we so appreciate their
creativity as we plan for our Centennial.
