There’s a standard for that, and students are mastering it. There are two reading standards contained in the Missouri Learning Standards that address the historical and cultural contexts of the literature that students in grades 6-12 read during their education. One standard, coded RL3C, specifically requires students to be able to explain how a story’sContinue reading “Understanding Laura Ingalls Wilder through historical context”
Tag Archives: Language Arts
When my class is your class’ punishment
Since when should writing be a form of punishment? This happens every so often: I’ll be talking to other teachers about some discipline issue they experienced during the day where they had to dole out some kind of punishment. More times than I want to remember, they’ll say something like, “So I made him writeContinue reading “When my class is your class’ punishment”
Field trip idea: The Outsiders House Museum Opens Soon in Tulsa
Plus: 10 reasons teachers love this book I have a black-and-white poster of The Outsiders in my classroom. One year, I decided to photocopy my picture, cut off my head, and snuggle it in between Darry and Steve. And then I laminated it, so it’s never comin’ off! My students don’t always notice it rightContinue reading “Field trip idea: The Outsiders House Museum Opens Soon in Tulsa”
Punishing Laura Ingalls Wilder
Write inclusively… or else. Little House on the Prairie, Ch. 11—Indians in the House By Laura Ingalls Wilder “Laura was frightened. Jack had never growled at her before. Then she looked over her shoulder, where Jack was looking, and she saw two naked, wild men coming, one behind the other, on the Indian trail.Continue reading “Punishing Laura Ingalls Wilder”
Dear Teachers: Share your work with the world.
Let others know what you’re doing in your classroom. A colleague of mine, Dr. Keri Franklin, founding director of the Ozarks Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, and also director of assessment at Missouri State University, recommended that I send some issues of my seventh-graders’ Whippersnappers newsletter, to the director of the SmithsonianContinue reading “Dear Teachers: Share your work with the world.”
Here’s the prompt for the 2018-19 VFW Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest
This contest is a winner for middle schoolers! The Patriot’s Pen essay contest for grades 6-8 is getting started for the 2018-19 school year. The first step: learning the theme. And (drumroll please!)…here it is: Why I Honor the American Flag. This year’s theme will resonate with students as it recalls the national conversation aboutContinue reading “Here’s the prompt for the 2018-19 VFW Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest”
Where have all the “thank you” notes gone?
Here’s what happened the first time I taught the “thank you” note Okay, where are the thank you notes? Who said they were no longer necessary? Someone must have, because I often don’t receive one anymore. And it’s not as if I’m expecting one, but I would like to at least know that the giftContinue reading “Where have all the “thank you” notes gone?”
Mini-lesson resource: 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing
This “new to me” book will be fun to try this fall A year or two ago, I found an effective paragraph that explained sentence variety perfectly. Read the post about it here. I dug a little deeper about the author and eventually made my way to this book, 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing,Continue reading “Mini-lesson resource: 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing”
How to forget the Holocaust
Remove it from the curriculum Are we forgetting the Holocaust? I asked myself this question recently as I perused an English Language Arts curriculum map for grades 6-8 and found that out of dozens of texts the curriculum uses over the three years, only one text addressed or had any connection to World War II: Continue reading “How to forget the Holocaust”
Writing Contest #9: NCTE’s Promising Young Writers
An any-genre writing contest just for your 8th graders Full disclosure: this is a contest I have NOT tried with my students… yet. I’m a member of NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) and for some reason, I just found out about the group’s Promising Young Writers contest a few days ago while surfingContinue reading “Writing Contest #9: NCTE’s Promising Young Writers”