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Cuing systems: Analyzing reading behaviors

In Ongoing assessment for reading, page 1.6

Cuing systems are the self-extending systems students use to act upon text in order to make sense of it. These systems may be used independently or in conjunction with one another. When you administer running records, you can analyze cuing systems...

By Jeanne Gunther.

Portrait of a reader: Tyson

In Ongoing assessment for reading, page 3.3

Tyson is a student I have known for two years. He was a member of the school's newspaper club, which I ran when Tyson was in tenth grade. Tyson was very involved in seeking stories around the school for reporting in the paper. The articles he wrote tended...

By Jeanne Gunther.

Portrait of a reader: Ben

In Ongoing assessment for reading, page 3.2

A fourth-grade teacher uses running records to uncover individual strengths and needs in a new student's reading.

By Jeanne Gunther.

Why miscue analysis?

In Ongoing assessment for reading, page 2.1

A holistic view of reading takes into account that "both the reader and the author are equally active in constructing or building meaning." The text available is the "medium through which the author and reader transact."* Teachers...

By Jeanne Gunther.

Teaching "style"

This exercise works best as a review at the mid-point or end of a literature course. Paired students describe the style of ten authors ranging from "ornate" to "plain," and then compare the authors' styles through a designated series of metaphors.

Format: lesson plan (grade 12 English Language Arts)

By Charlotte Osterman.

Check your answers

In Ongoing assessment for reading, page 2.8

To check your answers, view the marked miscue sheet. I color-coded my typescript to keep certain features distinct: the miscue markings are completed in green, the level of graphic similarity is completed in orange, and the miscue...

By Jeanne Gunther.

Portrait of a reader: Rosalie

In Ongoing assessment for reading, page 3.1

I was setting up centers for the first day of class, which was still a week away, when Rosalie and her mother entered the classroom to meet me. Rosalie's mother explained that Rosalie was so excited about school and simply could not wait until the official...

By Jeanne Gunther.

The Johnstown Flood: Cause and effect

In Where English and history meet: A collaboration guide, page 3

This lesson plan combines work with the Johnstown Flood, one of the most significant news events of the late nineteenth century, and the development of cause and effect argument.

Format: (grade 11 Social Studies)

By Karen Cobb Carroll, Ph.D., and NBCT.

English language learners and special education testing

In Bridging Spanish language barriers in Southern schools, page 3.4

English language learners are often incorrectly labeled with learning disabilities because of inffective diagnostic tests. A more effective model of testing and instruction would be based upon the educational concepts of scaffolding instruction and the Zone of Proximal Development.

Format: article

By Mary Faith Mount-Cors.

Hamilton and Burr: Compare and contrast

In Where English and history meet: A collaboration guide, page 2

This lesson plan compares Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, and Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson’s Vice President. The lesson plan uses the duel between the two (at which Hamilton was fatally wounded) as an opportunity to contrast two early political leaders that have stark similarities as well as definite differences.

Format: article (grade 11 Social Studies)

By Karen Cobb Carroll, Ph.D., and NBCT.

Making reading passages comprehensible for English language learners

English language learners can read the same content-area material as their peers, but may need special help. Teachers can make difficult reading comprehensible by building vocabulary, decoding difficult syntax, and teaching background knowledge.

By Ellen Douglas.

Using bilingual dictionaries

This lesson focuses on learning to use a bilingual dictionary while acquiring first and second language vocabulary about language and grammar.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Second Languages)

By Carolyn Zuttel.

What good is Beowulf?

High school students can follow the English language's evolution in Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales, and they can focus on words and their meaning as they compare translations.

By Jo Barbara Taylor.

High school history and English: Natural partners

In Where English and history meet: A collaboration guide, page 1

Strategically plan a collaborative unit and overcome those everyday obstacles that prevent success. While this article focuses specifically on English-history collaboration, there is much to kindle the interest of any high school teachers.

By Karen Cobb Carroll, Ph.D., and NBCT.

Hidden stories: A three-part lesson in African American history, research, and children’s literature

In this high school lesson plan, students will create a timeline of African American history, review a work of children's literature, and then create their own works of children's literature drawing on a primary source document pertaining to the life of an ordinary African American.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 English Language Arts)

By Edie McDowell.

Resources on the web

Is a sentence a poem?

In this lesson, students analyze syntax, imagery, and meaning in a chosen one-sentence poem to decide what makes it a poem. Then students write one-sentence poems describing a picture. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE