Great Video

This video is a great introduction to why we need to focus on 21st century literacy skills. The video says that being literate is about more than just being able to read and write.

Video on YouTube

New Tools Workshop

My professor, Dr. Ford, shared this with our class. Any teacher who wants to use 21st century tools to engage their students in reading and writing have to check this website out! I found so many cool links like skyping with authors, authors' blogs, SMART board resources, online writing templates, and so much more! I spent hours looking through all of these wonderful 21st century resources and barely scratched the surface! You have to get on this website!!!

http://newtoolsworkshop.wikispaces.com/

Parents can help students question at home too!

One of our goals while helping students become 21st century learners is to help our students become critical thinkers who are inquisitive. We also know as educators that the work that we do at school can be reinforced at home and help deepen a child's understanding. I found this page that helps parents use questioning techniques while they are reading at home with their children. Parents always want to know what they can do specifically to help and this will give them a good idea on how to boost their child's reading comprehension.

http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/Jennifer%27TipsforParents-EncouragingQuestioning.pdf

Reader's Theaters

My class is working on Thanksgiving Reader's Theaters right now! I love using Reader's Theaters to practice fluency and expression. My students are so engaged and excited to present to other classes!

Here is a site that gives tips for Reader's Theaters, scripts, and lesson plans!

http://www.literacyconnections.com/ReadersTheater.php

Comprehension Strategy Studies

I read a great book in my master's class this summer called Mosaic of Thought by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmerman. This book really changed the way I thought about teaching reading comprehension. In the past, I had always thought that teaching reading comprehension strategies was important. In the basal though, they would focus on a different strategy each week. This book taught me the importance of really delving into a strategy and studying it for 6-8 weeks.

I am on my second strategy study so far this school year. We studied the strategy of using schema to make connections first and now we are studying inferences. I have been using the technique of gradual release of responsibility. I model with lots of think-alouds using high quality texts and gradually start having my students practice the skill, first in groups and then independently. I love how they have been using the vocabulary! They can tell me if they are making text-to-text connections or when they are inferring. I have seen my students use much more metacognition this year. I love these strategy studies and if you haven't read the book, you really need to!

Here are the strategies the book addresses:
1. Monitoring and Revising Comprehension
2. Using Schema to Understand and Remember
3. Questioning
4. Inference
5. Using Sensory and Emotional Images to Enhance Comprehension
6. Determining Importance
7. Synthesis

Reading Workshop

In our township, we use the Literacy Collaborative framework. Two important parts of the framework are the reading and writing workshop. I found this awesome video on how to run a reading workshop. This video shows Beth Newingham conducting a reading workshop in her classroom. I am a visual person, so I love to watch an expert teacher model strategies!

http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2009/10/reading-workshop.html

Project Based Learning

Our school has been receiving training on Project Based Learning this year and I love it! We are working on our first PBL project with our third graders right now. Our students have taken over the recycling program for the school. They wrote letters and distributed them to educate the teachers about the program, created advertisements, prepared an all-school assembly with poetry, songs, and skits to get the school excited, and we had a paper drive. The students also worked in teams to research different conservation topics and they shared that information with other classes. So not only are my students responsible for collecting and organizing the recycling, but they have also been researching and educating others about our conservation issues. This has been a great first project! Project Based Learning incorporates 21st century skills like collaboration, responsibility, leadership, and problem solving.

Check out these two sites for more information on Project Based Learning:

Buck Institute for Education

Edutopia

Habits of Mind

Our school is currently doing a book study on the book Habits of Mind. These habits are integral in 21st century learning. I found a really cool visual that displays these habits we want our students to have.

Here is a link to the image:

Habits of Mind Image

What is 21st Century Learning?

There are lots of websites that discuss 21st century learning.  Check out this website:  The Partnership for 21st Century Learning to get an idea of the basic components. 

Partnership for 21st Century Learning