10-second review: Probably the worst part of the daily classroom routine is the first ten minutes of class. What to do?
Title: “The Newspaper: Medium Rare.” RE Dehnke and AW Ely. English Journal (May 1975), 39. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary/Quote: “The halls of a high school are seething and vibrant before class starts. The visitor needs fast footwork sometimes, but we who like teenagers don’t mind. The high excitement of the young is infectious. They’re alive; they’re discovering the world….
“Five minutes later, it’s all gone. Through open doors we see rows of blank faces and limp bodies. Life stops at the classroom door.”
Comment: The author suggests filling that first ten minutes with reading the newspaper. I have filled it effectively by having students write for ten minutes on any topic of their choice. That night, I rewrite each paper—short, only ten minutes of writing—correcting mistakes in grammar. I have used spelling tests, each day a test on a particular spelling problem. I have used a sentence with problems including problems similar to the SAT Writing Test. Or I have used that first ten minutes to read aloud from a book in an effort to encourage students to read it. RayS.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Middle School/High School Topic: Newspapers
10-second review: A series of questions and projects about reading newspapers. Published in May of 1975, even more relevant today when newspapers are going into bankruptcy. The Philadelphia Inquirer and the West Chester Daily Local News are two of the latest to go into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.
Title: “The Newspaper: Medium Rare.” RE Dehnke and AW Ely. English Journal (May 1975), 39-45. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Some examples of the kinds of questions based on those suggested in the article:
Compare the appearance of newspapers today and ten years ago.
Compare the appearance of a local paper with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
Compare a piece of literature [“Auto Wreck” by Karl Shapiro] with the same topic in the newspaper.
Have the students complete a written survey:
1. How often do you read a newspaper? Daily_____ Once or Twice a Week _____ Never _____.
2.Turn the pages of your newspaper. What sections would you read, at least in part? World News_____. Local News _____. Business News _____. Reports of Accidents and Disasters _____. The Newspaper’s Editorial _____. Op-ED Page Columns _____. Letters to the Editor _____. The Comics _____. Sports _____. Dear Abby (or something similar) _____. Astrology _____. Word games like crossword puzzles _____.
Finally: How does reading the print edition of the newspaper differ from reading the paper online?
Comment: Sign up for a class set of newspapers. In the first ten minutes of class, have students read their newspapers. This is important! Newspapers are dying. We need to make the newspaper a habit for a new generation of readers. RayS.
Title: “The Newspaper: Medium Rare.” RE Dehnke and AW Ely. English Journal (May 1975), 39-45. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Some examples of the kinds of questions based on those suggested in the article:
Compare the appearance of newspapers today and ten years ago.
Compare the appearance of a local paper with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
Compare a piece of literature [“Auto Wreck” by Karl Shapiro] with the same topic in the newspaper.
Have the students complete a written survey:
1. How often do you read a newspaper? Daily_____ Once or Twice a Week _____ Never _____.
2.Turn the pages of your newspaper. What sections would you read, at least in part? World News_____. Local News _____. Business News _____. Reports of Accidents and Disasters _____. The Newspaper’s Editorial _____. Op-ED Page Columns _____. Letters to the Editor _____. The Comics _____. Sports _____. Dear Abby (or something similar) _____. Astrology _____. Word games like crossword puzzles _____.
Finally: How does reading the print edition of the newspaper differ from reading the paper online?
Comment: Sign up for a class set of newspapers. In the first ten minutes of class, have students read their newspapers. This is important! Newspapers are dying. We need to make the newspaper a habit for a new generation of readers. RayS.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Secondary School Topic: Preparation for Drama and Writing
10-second review: A series of questions that stimulate the imagination.
Title: “Involving Students I the Drama Process, K-12.” Sheila Schwartz. English Journal (May 1975), 35-38. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary/Quote: “One of the best techniques for this category is ‘Synectics,’ a technique developed by William Gordon to help businessmen become more creative…. Exercises in this synectic series ask questions such as, ‘What fruit is like you? What flower is like you? What animal is like you?’ Since there are no right answers, students are free to let their imaginations roam. One question…asks, ‘Why is a picket fence like a dragon’s teeth?’ Most students answer by saying that they look alike. One student, with a delightful sense of humor, came up with this imaginative response, “Because you can’t sit on either.’ ”
Comment: I guess I am too prosaic, but I would want to be very clear in my mind and make clear to my students why I am doing this exercise. I had a superintendent once who did these kinds of cute, gimmicky exercises in our administrative workshops. I kept thinking, “Why the hell am I doing this stuff?” What’s the point? I’m not saying there isn’t a point. I just want to make clear to me and the students what it is. RayS.
Title: “Involving Students I the Drama Process, K-12.” Sheila Schwartz. English Journal (May 1975), 35-38. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary/Quote: “One of the best techniques for this category is ‘Synectics,’ a technique developed by William Gordon to help businessmen become more creative…. Exercises in this synectic series ask questions such as, ‘What fruit is like you? What flower is like you? What animal is like you?’ Since there are no right answers, students are free to let their imaginations roam. One question…asks, ‘Why is a picket fence like a dragon’s teeth?’ Most students answer by saying that they look alike. One student, with a delightful sense of humor, came up with this imaginative response, “Because you can’t sit on either.’ ”
Comment: I guess I am too prosaic, but I would want to be very clear in my mind and make clear to my students why I am doing this exercise. I had a superintendent once who did these kinds of cute, gimmicky exercises in our administrative workshops. I kept thinking, “Why the hell am I doing this stuff?” What’s the point? I’m not saying there isn’t a point. I just want to make clear to me and the students what it is. RayS.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
K/12 College Topic: Freedom of Speech
10-second review: All ideas, whether dangerous or repulsive, must be allowed in the “Marketplace of ideas.”
Title: “Freedom of Speech.” Ruth McGaffey. English Journal (April 1975), 14-15. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: The usual test for censoring ideas is whether the idea presents a “clear and present danger” to the public… “that some ideas might cause violent reactions from opponents, and that other ideas may cause violent actions by supporters.” p. 15.
“The flaw in these as well as other tests, of course, is that the judgment is a subjective one. People disagree as to what constitutes a clear and present danger and people disagree in how they balance individual rights against societal interests.” p. 15.
“These ideas we hate must, however, be Constitutionally protected if the market place of ideas is to survive for those ideas we love to survive.” p. 15.
Comment: To put this discussion of Freedom to express ideas into the context of literature:
Oedipus Rex is an example of how literature deals with the ideas we hate: kills his father, marries his mother. Does that play cause young readers to copy Oedipus’s behavior? Or does the young reader understand the tragedy that results from his behavior even though he did not know what he was doing? The complexity of human motivation, causation and consequences even though neither act was consciously motivated.
The same is true of Lolita by Nabokov. People censored it because of the situation of a middle-aged man trying to seduce a pre-teen, but ignoring Nabokov’s treatment of the situation—the pure enjoyment of playing with the American language and culture. RayS.
Title: “Freedom of Speech.” Ruth McGaffey. English Journal (April 1975), 14-15. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: The usual test for censoring ideas is whether the idea presents a “clear and present danger” to the public… “that some ideas might cause violent reactions from opponents, and that other ideas may cause violent actions by supporters.” p. 15.
“The flaw in these as well as other tests, of course, is that the judgment is a subjective one. People disagree as to what constitutes a clear and present danger and people disagree in how they balance individual rights against societal interests.” p. 15.
“These ideas we hate must, however, be Constitutionally protected if the market place of ideas is to survive for those ideas we love to survive.” p. 15.
Comment: To put this discussion of Freedom to express ideas into the context of literature:
Oedipus Rex is an example of how literature deals with the ideas we hate: kills his father, marries his mother. Does that play cause young readers to copy Oedipus’s behavior? Or does the young reader understand the tragedy that results from his behavior even though he did not know what he was doing? The complexity of human motivation, causation and consequences even though neither act was consciously motivated.
The same is true of Lolita by Nabokov. People censored it because of the situation of a middle-aged man trying to seduce a pre-teen, but ignoring Nabokov’s treatment of the situation—the pure enjoyment of playing with the American language and culture. RayS.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Secondary School Topic: Literature and Writing
10-second review: Students turn poems into another form of writing.
Title: “Placing Poetry into a New Medium.” English Journal (April 1975), 69. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of Writing (NCTE).
Summary: After reading and discussing a poem (“Auto Wreck,” by Karl Shapiro, for example), students turn the poem into an essay, a short story, even a one-act play, a newspaper account or feature story.
Comment: Should deepen understanding of the poem. RayS.
Title: “Placing Poetry into a New Medium.” English Journal (April 1975), 69. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of Writing (NCTE).
Summary: After reading and discussing a poem (“Auto Wreck,” by Karl Shapiro, for example), students turn the poem into an essay, a short story, even a one-act play, a newspaper account or feature story.
Comment: Should deepen understanding of the poem. RayS.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Secondary School Topic: Using the Class Textbook
10-second review: Let individual students choose the chapter they want to read.
Title: “Individualizing the English Curriculum.” C Morrison. English Journal (April 1975), 54. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary/Quote: “A good place to start [individualizing] is with the conventional English textbook. Allow the students to choose individually, which chapters of the book, they wish to study. This is much more workable than you might guess. You will find that the students will be anxious to avoid two areas of study: those with which they are already acquainted, and those which are too difficult for them to grasp. The result is that each student is working on material that is meaningful and useful to him. Do not be concerned about the lack of skill sequences. A knowledge gap may necessitate the use of index, table of contents, dictionary and other useful resources, and the learning experience is further enlarged.” p. 54.
Comments: Double the learning by having students teach what they have learned from the chapter to the other students. But teach them how to teach the chapters. Have them develop lesson plans. And encourage them to check out the topic of the chapter on the Internet. They will find a number of useful techniques on the Internet for teaching the topic(s). RayS.
Title: “Individualizing the English Curriculum.” C Morrison. English Journal (April 1975), 54. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary/Quote: “A good place to start [individualizing] is with the conventional English textbook. Allow the students to choose individually, which chapters of the book, they wish to study. This is much more workable than you might guess. You will find that the students will be anxious to avoid two areas of study: those with which they are already acquainted, and those which are too difficult for them to grasp. The result is that each student is working on material that is meaningful and useful to him. Do not be concerned about the lack of skill sequences. A knowledge gap may necessitate the use of index, table of contents, dictionary and other useful resources, and the learning experience is further enlarged.” p. 54.
Comments: Double the learning by having students teach what they have learned from the chapter to the other students. But teach them how to teach the chapters. Have them develop lesson plans. And encourage them to check out the topic of the chapter on the Internet. They will find a number of useful techniques on the Internet for teaching the topic(s). RayS.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Secondary School Topic: Why Teach Speaking and Writing?
10-second review: To connect people.
Title: Presidential Address: “Making Connections.” Stephen Dunning. English Journal (April 1975), pp. 47-51. A publication of the National council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: “He said the best reason for practicing talk and writing was to connect people.”
Comment: I constantly wonder why I do what I do when I teach English. Dunning’s statement about using speaking and writing to connect people is so clear and so loaded with meaning that I will remember it forever as one reason that I teach speech and writing.
But Dunning is also being idealistic. Certainly we need to focus on connecting people. But people speak and write on different levels and for different purposes—and it is not always to connect people. People speak and write to hide their meaning; to persuade for personal gain, as in advertising and sales pitches; purposefully to confuse; to argue in order to make a point at the expense of another—and to disconnect from people. We don’t just practice speaking and writing. We practice speaking and writing by establishing audience and purpose. And that purpose is not always to help people connect.
I’m probably nitpicking. If so, I’m sorry, but my examples only highlight how important it is to focus students on one purpose for practicing speaking and writing: to connect people, to bring people together. My examples of other purposes do not invalidate Dunning’s point. We need to teach students how to use speaking and writing to connect people. By the way, how do we do that? RayS.
Title: Presidential Address: “Making Connections.” Stephen Dunning. English Journal (April 1975), pp. 47-51. A publication of the National council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Summary: “He said the best reason for practicing talk and writing was to connect people.”
Comment: I constantly wonder why I do what I do when I teach English. Dunning’s statement about using speaking and writing to connect people is so clear and so loaded with meaning that I will remember it forever as one reason that I teach speech and writing.
But Dunning is also being idealistic. Certainly we need to focus on connecting people. But people speak and write on different levels and for different purposes—and it is not always to connect people. People speak and write to hide their meaning; to persuade for personal gain, as in advertising and sales pitches; purposefully to confuse; to argue in order to make a point at the expense of another—and to disconnect from people. We don’t just practice speaking and writing. We practice speaking and writing by establishing audience and purpose. And that purpose is not always to help people connect.
I’m probably nitpicking. If so, I’m sorry, but my examples only highlight how important it is to focus students on one purpose for practicing speaking and writing: to connect people, to bring people together. My examples of other purposes do not invalidate Dunning’s point. We need to teach students how to use speaking and writing to connect people. By the way, how do we do that? RayS.
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