Let me begin this post with an assertion: the quality of the classroom teacher, not the instructional program, is the primary variable in determining the effectiveness of a comprehensive reading program. This assertion is often hidden beneath the glitz and packaging of many commercial programs. It is not the quality of the wand, but the magic of the teacher that makes reading and writing come alive in today’s classrooms. In addition to this primary assertion, I would assert that no significant changes in instructional practices will occur until corresponding changes take place in one’s theoretical understandings. In other words, unless we rethink why we do what we do in the name of literacy education and instruction, most changes will be cosmetic and superficial. The resources teachers select may change, or the daily schedule may be rearranged to accommodate new program components, but the core of one’s instructional practices remains intact. What d
The newest Caldecott winner, Wolf in the Snow, is a wonderful visual narrative that uses a variety of visual image to depict the story of a young girl lost in the snow and helped by wolves to return home safely. The book is a traditional home-away-home narrative that depicts the adventures and turmoils of a little girl that wanders out in the snow. The opening of the book has several pages of illustrations that appear before the title page - an interesting thing to point out to young readers! In addition there is an opening and closing image that depicts the family through the portal of a living room window. This portal serves to open the narrative and come the story. Delightful images in watercolor and ink create a lovely picturebook worth sharing with young readers. Here are some reviews of the book on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29102937-wolf-in-the-snow?from_search=true Some information about the Author-Illustrator: Matthew Cordell is the Caldecott award-winn
Great literature doesn’t tell us how to act, or what to think, or whom to become. Rather, great literature offers us choices and insights into how we might act, who we might become, and what we might think. The ambiguity inherent in great literature should not be seen as a hurdle to overcome, but as an opportunity for disrupting our traditional and stereotypical ways of thinking. By tolerating the ambiguity inherent in quality literature, we postpone or suspend the closure of our thinking, providing time and space for considering new and alternative ways of thinking. The most important thing readers should get from reading a book is the desire to read another. As teacher, we cannot allow school to squash this desire. By not allowing readers to ever choose what they read, by making them do mindless activities after they finish reading, and by giving them quizzes in the name of comprehension assessment, we drive the desire to become a reader further and further underg
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