Category Archives: reading

Reading fiction is good for your students. Shocker. 21 lists to get you started

best practice, books, Glenn Wiebe, reading, resources, strategies

I’ve got a problem for you to solve. So go find your thinking cap.

Ready?

Here’s the problem. In 60 seconds, list all the ways that reading fiction is good for you.

And . . . go. (Feel free to Google it. I’m okay with that.)

Ready to compare lists?

Reading:

Fiction can expand our view of both ourselves and others:

The humanities interrogate us. They challenge our sense of who we are, even of who our brothers and sisters might be.

“It could have been me” is the threshold for the vistas that literature and art make available to us . . . education is not about memorizing poems or knowing when X wrote Y, and what Z had to say about it. It is, instead, about the human record that is available to us in libraries and museums and theaters and online. But that record lives and breathes; it is not calculable or teachable via numbers or bullet points. Instead, it requires something that we never fail to do before buying clothes: Trying the garment on.

Art and literature are tried on. Reading a book, seeing a painting or a play or a film: Such encounters are fueled by affect as well as intelligence. Much “fleshing out” happens here: We invest the art with our own feelings, but the art comes to live inside us, adding to our own repertoire. Art obliges us to “first-personalize” the world. Our commerce with art makes us fellow travelers: to other cultures, other values, other selves.

So what’s our conclusion? Continue reading Reading fiction is good for your students. Shocker. 21 lists to get you started →

(Pull It, Twist It, Bop It) Flip It: Blended Learning in the Social Studies Classroom

best practice, Cassie Medley, computer, engaging, geography, lesson plans, literacy, primary sources, reading, resources, strategies, technology, Vocabulary

The tired stereotype of the history teacher at the front of the room lecturing from bell to bell, droning on about nothing but names, places, and dates, and never noticing the kids sleeping in the back row needs to be thrown out the window!  In its place, how about a teacher that never lectures but instead provides students time to work hands on with the content and apply their learning from bell to bell?

With Flipped Learning, this is possible in every social studies classroom!

 

flipped graphic_reinertcenter
https://www.slu.edu/cttl/resources/teaching-tips-and-resources/flipped-classroom-resources

Continue reading (Pull It, Twist It, Bop It) Flip It: Blended Learning in the Social Studies Classroom →

Structure strips. Seriously . . . where have you been hiding?

best practice, Glenn Wiebe, literacy, reading, strategies, writing, ,

(Glenn posted the original version of Structure Strips on his History Tech site several months ago. He loves the idea of Structure Strips so much, he’s sharing it with us here at Doing Social Studies. Enjoy!)

Over the last few months, I’ve had the chance to be part of several teacher conversations focused on the integration of social studies and literacy. And for the last few years, I’ve had the chance to work with the Kansas Department of Education and Kansas teachers as we rolled out our revised state standards and assessments – both of which concentrate on finding ways for kids to read, write, and communicate in the discipline.

So while I am not some super duper ELA expert, I did think that I knew a little something about literacy tools. But I recently got a great wake-up call that let me know that there is always something new to learn.

I was doing some internet browsing for literacy activities and ran across references to something I had never heard of before. And it looks like an awesome tool to slip into your bag of tricks.

Structure strips. Continue reading Structure strips. Seriously . . . where have you been hiding? →

Save the Last Word for Me discussion strategy

best practice, Glenn Wiebe, graphic organizer, historical thinking, literacy, primary sources, reading, strategies, , ,

I was browsing through some old History Tech posts and ran across this 2016 entry. It caught my attention as several of us were chatting about ways to encourage student to student conversations. If you’ve been thinking about that issue as well, you might give the Last Word strategy a try.

I spent some some last week with a group sharing strategies around the blended learning concept. It was compelling conversation, I walked away smarter, and had the chance to meet some interesting people.

But one of my biggest walkaways was a strategy that the forum’s facilitator used to jumpstart the discussion.

He called it the Last Word. Others in the group used the term Final Word. No matter what it might be called, I thought it was a perfect fit for strengthen the speaking and listening skills of social studies students. So if you’ve used Last Word, post some comments on changes you’ve made or things you like about it.

New to Last Word? Read on, my friend. Continue reading Save the Last Word for Me discussion strategy →