Cultivating & Integrating Literacy Across the Curriculum
by Howard Slepkov
Literacy and its cultivation is the key to education in the 21st Century. We say that THOSE WHO READ, SUCCEED and that has never been more important than it is today. From the earliest grades, we need to encourage literacy which today means more than just being able to read and write. It means being able to understand and apply what we read to our own lives and the world around us. We live in an increasingly global, technologically driven world and our young people need to be able to make sense of that world through all variety of reading, online and off. I hope to contribute to your successful literacy program and to the advancement of literacy not just in the classroom but out of it as well, in the homes of our students. Therefore, there will the oral reading of books for children to listen to and think about. There will be ideas for how parents and teachers can use the books I read as well as many other, to advance knowledge of the world. Plus there will be ideas on how to en
Episodes
-
A Deep Dive Into What Integration Really Is
When I first began school, the timetable was artificially divided up into segments of time oriented around specific subject areas. By the time I was finished teaching pre-service students, we were no longer talking about subject areas but integration across them. Literacy is the key way to begin…
more -
Curiosity, Conceptual Development & Literacy Enhancement
Literacy enhancement beyond the skills involved in reading comprehension begins with basic curiosity about the world. As we explore the world around us, we create concepts in our minds about the objects in our environment and the people and places we visit and meet. Through experiences we move…
more -
Personal Reflections on Joanne Levy's Fish Out of Water
To help our students develop a real love of reading and to enhance literacy skill growth, we need to lead them to books in which they will find something of themselves either in the characters or the situations or their passions and interests. My generation was not lucky that way to go into a...
-
Enhancing Literacy Means Aiming For Deep Learning
Last week, I posted about the banning of books and how I reacted to what happened in the Deep South recently. Since then, an old friend approached me about my thoughts on different approaches to dealing with book banning and what I thought might be done to combat it. I decided, in thinking about...
-
Other Words For Home by Jasmine Warga
In order to effectively reach an increasingly diverse student population, teachers need to understand where their students have come from and what their lives must have been like at an earlier time. We are no longer on the same wave length as our students. Teachers need to read books like this to...
-
Banning Books And / Or Not Repairing the World
The banning of books in elementary schools comes from stakeholders who prefer not to enable their students to learn about the world for sure. But more importantly, it prevents from students acquiring and building on what we would refer to as empathy - an ability to see the world of others through...
-
In the Wild Light By Jeffrey Zentner
In this podcast, I explain how I got turned on to the reading of Children's and Young People's Fiction, why I continue with selections from this field even today and how I come to learn about new books to seek out even though I am not in the classroom any more. I use the book In the Wild Light by...
-
Integrating Literature Across the Curriculum
Today's and tomorrow's classrooms will be increasingly organized around BIG IDEAS which enable students to look at the issues in their world from a variety of different perspectives. The BIG IDEAS become the springboards for new deep learning around interests that the students themselves are...
-
Those Who Read Succeed! Easier Said Than Done!
I used to have a poster hanging in my classroom that said THOSE WHO READ, SUCCEED! I used that challenge to my students for the second half of my career, all the way into teaching young people how to teach and what it meant to encourage literacy in the classroom. But there are things we have to…
more -
Using Cynthia Voigt's Homecoming in a Classroom or at Home
Homecoming is the first book in a seven-book series of books written by Cynthia Voigt about the Tillerman family. The four Tillerman children are deserted by their mother in a car in a parking lot and the book deals with how the four children survive until they find a new home with their...
-
Katherine Paterson's Book Bridge to Terabithia - Some Thoughts and Some Project Ideas
This podcast follows up on my reading of Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. I say a bit about the author, outline the main idea and supporting events of the story and then give the teacher or the parent ideas for following up with students or children on their reading of or hearing the...
-
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 13 - Building the Bridge
In this, the last chapter, Jess wakes up to a bright sunny day and goes to Terabithia to lay flowers out for Leslie, which was his way of saying goodbye. He had to cross further away from the usual crossing and there was a stump of a tree that he was able to use. He was no sooner done than he…
more -
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 12 - Stranded
Jesse goes down the lane with his parents to the old Perkins place. He is met at the door by P. T. and by Leslie's grandparents. Who know who he is because of the dog's response and then Bill, Leslie's father, comes and hugs Jesse. He tells Jesse that Leslie was cremated and they are taking her...
-
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 11 - NO!
Jess is dumbstruck at this news and pushes the reality out of his mind. He runs into his room and then after a bit, jumps up and comes back, having remembered that he forgot to milk the cow. He tells his mother and his siblings but his mother tells him that his father was doing the milking for…
more -
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 10 - The Perfect Day
At the beginning of the chapter, we hear how Jess thought he might solve the problem of his growing fear of swinging over the creek to get to Terabithia. He knew that Les was not afraid, and he couldn't figure out how to just come out and say he WAS afraid. While he worried about what to do, he...
-
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 9 - The Evil Spell
Jess and Leslie spend every day of the week now going to Terabithia and pretending to be king and queen of their realm. They use a rope to swing across the creek which is becoming increasingly swollen due to constant rains that week. Each day, Jess becomes more fearful of the crossing and Leslie...
-
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 8 - Easter
Easter is coming and everyone is talking about what they will wear to church. Then, Mr. Aarons comes home and announces he has lost his job. Gone is the idea of new clothes. Leslie asks if she can come to church and Mrs. Aarons agrees to that. In the end, the womenfolk all get something new and....
-
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 7 - The Golden Room
Jess begins to be jealous of all the time that Leslie is spending helping her father renovate and fix up their house. Leslie tells him to just ask if he can help. So he does and Leslie's father becomes amazed at how much of a help Jess really is. One day at school, they hear Janice Avery crying…
more -
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 6 - The Coming of Prince Terrien
In this chapter, we come to see just how deep the relationship between Jess and Leslie is. We also learn a lot about the character of Jess and how good his nature is. Christmas is coming and he struggles to make decisions about what to give his sisters and how to save something for Leslie. On the...
-
Using a StoryBook to Encourage Thinking, Writing, Speaking, Creating
There is a skillset involved in taking a picture book which you read to a child or a group of children and encouraging them to then think, write, speak, or create. I used to read the Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf to my teachers - in - training and show them how to use the words, pictures and...
-
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 5 - The Giant Killers
In this chapter, Jess and Leslie have to deal with one of the bullies, Janice Avery, on the schoolyard who has been taking advantage of May Belle, Jess's sister. May Belle is very upset and asks Jess and Leslie to make Janice suffer a consequence for her bullying. Leslie comes up with a plan to...
-
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 4 - Rulers of Terabithia
We learn in this chapter of the growing friendship between Jess and Leslie and their common struggles against the bullies in their classroom and the challenges they each face in their family life at home. Together, they seek refuge one day in a special place in the forest near both of them that...
-
Using Tae Keller's When You Trap A Tiger
Tae Keller is obviously of Korean background because everything about this book speaks to the richness of her upbringing. The book is a perfect way to introduce students to lessons on diversity and how different backgrounds enrich our understanding of the world. It also enables us to compare the...
-
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 3 - The Fastest Kid in the Third Grade
Jess begins the school year all dressed up and thinks only about the race to take place at recess. It is his big day. He is going to be the fastest. Except he doesn't bargain on having a competitor. Leslie shows up and after first being told she can't run, Jess agrees to let her run and she joins...
-
It's About Stimulating Conversation About Books
I am sure many of you remember the compulsory, obligatory book reports delivered orally in front of the class or to the teacher. That is not at all the same as sitting down with a child and asking the child questions about a book he or she is reading or has finished reading. When we read aloud to…
more -
Choosing Books that Allow Us To Help Our Children or Students Grow
There is a time and a place and a purpose for reading of materials chosen by the classroom teacher for all the students or some of the students. However, if we want our children or students to develop a love of reading, then we need to provide them with opportunities to choose books for…
more -
Having Access To A Wide Variety of Reading Materials
There was a time when the only reading materials used in all grades from elementary through to secondary school was essentially fiction. Using non-fiction to practice reading skills was seldom thought to be important. Today we understand that both ought to play its part in the robust reading...
-
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 2 - Leslie Burke
In this chapter, we are helped to see the world through the eyes of Jesse, caught between two older and two younger sisters, and the only son in a farming family where the boy is depended upon to do all the chores, pretty much. Jess is not too happy about it, we read, but he hides it behind...
-
Enhancing Skill Development by Using Reading Buddies, For Any Age
Many schools have reading buddies programs which pair older elementary grade students with early learners in the younger grades. Whether it is an older student working with a younger student, or two students of the same age, any time one has to read or perform for someone else there is a bit of a...
-
Racial Literacy and Its Place In Any Reading Program
It is hard not to know that the only way we are ever going to help everyone get along in a multi-racial, multi-ethnic world is to begin in the earliest grades by providing examples of books and movies and songs that address all those cultures. When it comes to books, there are so many excellent...
-
Learning Strategies Meets Multiple Intelligences
In an earlier podcast, I addressed the theories advanced by Howard Gardner about multiple intelligences and how each of our students possesses a different combination of these intelligences. If we are going to help each student learn in ways that are best for him, then we have to help him or her...
-
Bridge to Terabithia - Chapter 1 - Jesse Oliver Aarons, Jr.
In this first chapter of one of my favourite books, we are introduced to the Owens family. Jesse is the only son and he has two older sisters and two younger sisters and we find them arguing about chores and learn that Jesse wants to be the fastest runner at the school. At the end of the chapter,...
-
Accuracy in the Writing Process
There has long been an ongoing debate about how to address writing accuracy in the classroom. For sure, we want to encourage fluency when writing which means that we don't stop and insist on perfect spelling and grammar and punctuation every time a student writes. There is this fine balance…
more -
The Importance of Hearing Good Language
In an earlier podcast, I addressed the necessity for a balanced reading program. One of the components of such a program has to be opportunities to hear and use good language. We write what we hear and if we don't hear good language at least some of the time, we won't recognize the error of using...
-
The Literacy Link Between Educational Standards and Vaccination Rates in the U. S.
Sadly, there is a huge discrepancy. among and between the U. S. states and their educational standards, money invested, and student literacy rates. There are too many states where mediocrity is reflected in the assessment results on standardized tests. This lack of accomplishment can be one very...
-
Encouraging Literacy Development By Having A Balanced Reading Program
In order to develop literacy in our students, our programs have to be a balance between the act of reading in general and the development of the skills required to be able to read successfully. Just like athletes and musicians, readers need to have the skills in place when they pull them all...
-
Writing As A Literacy Skill
It is important to understand how literacy is enhanced and supported through writing in the classroom. Our writing program has to include opportunities to write for others, for ourselves and for academic purposes. Each audience requires specific approaches and styles of writing and developing…
more -
Louise Erdich's Night Watchman And Developing Our Own Literacy Skills
Teachers need to be readers too. WE have to be role models as we pursue literacy goals with our students. In order to Illustrate this, I am going to use an excellent book on one of the American tribes and their struggle to maintain their identity as told through the voices and eyes of the natives...
-
Developing a Life-Long Love of Reading
We now know that our goal as teachers must always be to aspire to develop a love of reading for its own sake in our students, Only be enjoying reading for the pleasure it brings and the insights it provides on the world will our students be prepared to success in the world of the 21st century,.…
more -
The Importance of Diversity in Reading Materials to Enhancing Literacy
If we are to enhance the goals of literacy with every student in every classroom, all the. time, we need to ensure there is access to a wide variety of reading materials appealing to every reading interest, by students of variable reading abilities and perhaps even in a variety of languages. Only...
-
Literacy is Part of Everything We Do Every Day With Our Students or Children
At one time, literacy development was seen as belonging to the subject domain of Language Arts or English. We now know based upon our understanding of the new kinds of literacy, that developing literacy means partly enhancing ability if the four domains of communication - Reading, Writing,...
-
Problem-Based Learning and Assessment - We Assess for Growth
There was a time when assessment meant giving a single letter grade or a percentage to some piece of work or project based upon the finished product or end result. We now know that while that sort of summative assessment has its place, most often we ought to be assessing for growth, or conducting...
-
When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 44, 45, & 46
The family members are at Halmoni's bedside as she passes away. When they return home, there is a flood in the basement which they have to clean up and then Lily remembers that there is a special fund-raiser at the library the next day and the three of them agree to make rice cakes to sell. The...
-
When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 41, 42, & 43
Lily and Sam Rush into the hospital and a kind nurse takes them to Halmoni's room. Needless to say, Halmoni is dying, and first she wants to talk to Sam. Lily goes out where she sees the tiger and the tiger talks to her about ends and beginnings and making one's own stories and that the power is...
-
When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 39 & 40
Sam is afraid to drive the car because she thinks about the accident that took away her father's life. She. has been carrying around guilt because she didn't tell Lily all the stories about their father and now she is wavering over believing in the Korean magic of Halmoni. Lily knows she has to…
more -
When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 37 & 38
Because Lily is making so much noice smashing the star jars, their mom comes in to the room and then Halmoni enters but immediately collapses. Sam dials 911 and an ambulance comes to take Halmoni and their mother to the hospital. After the ambulance leaves, the girls decide they have to go too.…
more -
When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 35 & 36
Lily wakes up in the middle of the night again hoping to find the tiger, but it is not there. Instead she hears her Halmoni in the bathroom and Lily expresses her frustration to Halmoni who confesses her own frustration with life and holds Lily telling her she knows it is her time to go. Lily...
-
When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 33 & 34
Lily creeps into her room and finds Sam there. Lily gets into bed or tries to and Sam first tries to apologize but Lily ignores her and then Sam pesters Lily about the cold shoulder. Eventually both fall asleep without Sam being able to say what she wants to say. In the morning, Lily and her mom...
-
When You Trap A Tiger - Chapters 31 & 32
Lily wants to get back at Connor and Ricky for insulting Halmoni, so she takes a pudding container and replaces some of the pudding with mud. Then she goes back into the library and gives Ricky the pudding container and he proceeds to eat it and notices it is off. Connor also tries it and agrees....
-
How Did We Get From Whole Class Instruction to Individualization
At the beginning of the last century and well into the '60s, teaching meant standing in front of an entire class and delivering lessons in every subject. As the baby boomers began to enter the teaching profession, the move was to sort students in subjects like mathematics and language arts into...
About this show
Literacy and its cultivation is the key to education in the 21st Century. We say that THOSE WHO READ, SUCCEED and that has never been more important than it is today. From the earliest grades, we need to encourage literacy which today means more than just being able to read and write. It means being able to understand and apply what we read to our own lives and the world around us. We live in an increasingly global, technologically driven world and our young people need to be able to make sense of that world through all variety of reading, online and off. I hope to contribute to your successful literacy program and to the advancement of literacy not just in the classroom but out of it as well, in the homes of our students. Therefore, there will the oral reading of books for children to listen to and think about. There will be ideas for how parents and teachers can use the books I read as well as many other, to advance knowledge of the world. Plus there will be ideas on how to en
Hosted by
Howard Slepkov