The Literate Teacher's Manifesto

Give 3 details that prove your book is fiction. Within the genre of FICTION, which SUBGENRE does your book fit in?  How do you know? Would you recommend this book to the person seated next to you?  Why or why not?

Of these characters: O'Brien, Mr. Charrington, and Julia, one is a member of the Thought Police who will be responsible for betraying Winston. Based on the evidence, which is it? Support your answer with details from the text.

I underwent a revelation in my teaching about four years ago, when I read a grammar text called The Magic Lens  by Michael Clay Thompson.  (That's right, I read grammar textbooks in my free time.  I'm that  nerdy.)  I never struggled with grammar.  It just made sense to me.  However, teaching grammar was another matter. It was an impossible task.  Insurmountable.  Completely unmanageable.  So, I never taught it.  First, it was hard.  Second, it wasn't tested.  Third, the kids didn't like it.  Looking back on this decision now, I realize that it was only the first reason that truly drove my resolution.  Testing has never really driven my personal teaching philosophy, and I've never hesitated to make my students do things they objected to.  But, this was my personal comfort level we were talking about!  I have a profound burden now for all of those students who missed out on grammar instruction, but I mus...

1984 Related Reading Article Worksheet for Reading Assignment

As of this posting, our country has narrowly avoided the dreaded "fiscal cliff," but I still feel very nervous that our lifestyles may not remain as comfortable as they have been for the past several years.  In keeping with that nervousness, I am attempting to cut corners in some areas, one of which is my book-buying habit (trying to balance out my boot-buying habit, which is a topic for another post...). I have a bad habit of buying interesting books from bargain tables, rummage sales, discards at the library, Goodwill, etc, as well as from the shelves at Barnes and Noble or Books A Million, and never actually getting around to reading them.  I believe that I am probably not the only book-lover who does this, so one of my new year's ideas is to start a "Resolution Book Club".  I want to have read everything on my bookshelves at least once.  I went through them today and chose found enough unread titles to last me through the year (probably). I am aware that...

I have sadly neglected my blog lately.  With the onset of Christmas festivities, school-ending necessities, and other such shenanigans, I simply haven't been in the best of mindsets to write about education.  I hope this posting finds everyone well and happy at the ending of the Christmas season, but I have to be honest, I'm still  NOT back on school focus just yet. I had an exceedingly difficult time finding my Christmas spirit this year.  I don't really know why.  It should have been easy to come by, as my husband and I split time between his family and mine every other year, and this was our year to stay here in NC (where we live), have Christmas with my family, and be in our own house for the holidays.  Sadly, it was less than a week before Christmas and my holiday cheer was still MIA, so I went on a quest to find it.  My first idea was to search for the holiday spirit through the magic of holiday movies, and lo and behold, I found it! I realiz...

One of my heroes/ role models in education and curriculum writing is Michael Clay Thompson (as if anyone who knows me is unaware of that fact).  I first heard him speak four (?) years ago at the NC Association for the Gifted and Talented Conference.  It was a game-changer for me.  I immediately began reading every piece of his curriculum and writing that I could get my hands on.  See, for a long time I had felt that there was something missing from my instruction.  My kids seemed to enjoy my class, I had generally good results, my test scores were good enough to keep me under the radar, but something was missing.  I didn't really feel as though I was making any sort of difference, long-term, in the lives of the students I taught. One particular piece of information that has stuck with me since discovering this curriculum, however, is not something that I was teaching to the kids.  This valuable little tidbit was tucked away amidst a paragraph written...