A New Semester Begins
from NCTE INBOX 1-4-12
As a teacher at both the elementary and college level, I have found that we face many of the same challenges at the start of the new semester as we did when the school year started. The following resources from ReadWriteThink.org and NCTE provide ideas for the upcoming term.
In the ReadWriteThink.org lesson plan "Opening the DDoor for Reading: Sharing Favorite Texts to Build Community" (E), the class explores environmental print then focuses specifically on a teacher-created display on a favorite book. After exploring the teacher's display, students write about their own favorite book, genre, or author. Students then select one of several options for making a display of their favorite book to share with the class.
The start of a new semester is also a great time to start a service-learning project. Service-learning projects help teachers and students come together in new ways, demonstrate how language skills can help accomplish real-life tasks, and engage students in a way that spurs them to learn more thoroughly and quickly. The Voices from the Middle article "New Puzzles/Next Moves: Service-Learning: Using the Language Arts to Make a Difference" (M) shares lessons, project ideas, and outcomes.
"The Semester Project: The Power and Pleasures of Independent Study" (S) from English Journal describes an independent study project -- purposely amorphous in design. As described in the article, this project would not replace any of the regular literature or writing work done in class (or the normal outside requirements) but would be an enhancement to the regular curriculum.
At the start of the new semester, many educators try things new and different. In "Watch Out, Oprah! A Book Club Assignment for Literature Courses" (C) from Teaching English in the Two-Year College, a practice is described for incorporating more novels into community college literature courses and for sparking student interest in reading. The article presents a book club assignment that includes both collaborative activities and a group presentation.
The English Leadership Quarterly issue "Revisiting the First Day of School" (TE) contains many ideas for the start of the semester. Articles included are "First Day of a New Semester," "Homework Assignment for Teachers: Learn Students' Names," and "A Positive Classroom Climate: Create It . . . Sustain It."
Many preservice teachers start with a new class at the beginning of the semester. The Council Chronicle article "Developing a New Metaphor for the Teacher-Student Teacher Relationship" (G) shares the story of two student teachers. The author shares his belief that seeing a student teacher as a colleague and not an assistant can have tangible benefits in the classroom.
Sign up now for an RSS feed of each week's INBOX Ideas!