First Fruits

I have the opportunity to work with my 6-8th grade reading groups in Mr. Campbell’s Reading class. They have to read a News Article from a website called Newsela that has 100’s of articles the teacher can choose from that the students can read. Every student in the classroom has a personal lab top with their log in information that they can use to complete their assignments. Students can take quizzes after they read an article and view their progress. The teachers can track the student, class, and school progress against the Common Core Standards. When the students walk in Mr. Campbell has a PowerPoint projected with the classroom objective, the assignment for homework that they immediately write in their assignment notebook and the directions for the task the students are to accomplish for that class time. Once the students write the homework in their assignment notebooks then they take a snack that is in a bin in front of the room and hand in their homework from the day before. There is a timer that is placed in front of the room so the students and teachers are aware of the time limit of each transition. This procedure creates a classroom environment of order and minimizes negative classroom behavior.  Once I see that my all the students in my reading group have written in their assignments and chosen a snack I walk over to their  tables and ask them to meet me in the teachers’ lounge which is the designated location where I help the students.  I often work with students who find reading time challenging due to different reasons: they may read at different grade levels, not engaged in the content. I enjoy reading Newsela with the students because it not only builds reading comprehension but it delivers relevant and trusted news sources that engage the students. As students read and take quizzes, The Newsela link adjusts the reading level to keep articles challenging and engaging. I have each student read a paragraph aloud and we go over main details they should highlight to help them with the final quiz at the end of every article. This week we read an article, “The honeybee has taken flight from the Cheerios box to send a bee alert”, describing the crisis of bees disappearing and not just from the wild but eliminated from cereal brand.  As they read aloud I’ll scaffold the student if they stumble across challenging words by teaching them to sound it out instead of skipping it and then have them reread the sentence. I do this so they will be fluent in their reading and comprehend words they may not understand. It was exciting to hear the students share their views and opinions making reference to the article and using their prior background knowledge. It’s important as an educator to implement learning opportunities for students to connect and have discussions about real world problems or issues. It builds students awareness of the world around them and builds a community of thinkers in the classroom. One of my goals in my classroom is to teach them to be people of compassion and care about the issues that affect society.  Every child has a voice but we must expose them with the tools, resources and knowledge like the daily news.

Candacee

Resources/ Link:

https://newsela.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visual : WeVideo

WeVideo Visual: https://www.wevideo.com/view/897697399

I created a  WeVideo  empowering my students to find their” voice “and demonstrate their knowledge through visualizing understanding and technical disciplines. The world is vibrant and complex. Differences within it are influenced by where people live, socioeconomic backgrounds, levels of education, religion, and individual lived experiences. These factors influence how people view and read their world. I used the middle school acronym R.I.S.E.U.P (respect, integrity, serve, equipped, unique, perseverance), in my mini lesson of “conveying a message”, to inspire the students to apply it to their own lives and everyday decisions. Each student had their choice of how they wanted to deliver their message by writing a story, photography (visual images), music, spoken word, a speech or interpretive dance. There were two boys in my class who combined their two poems and asked me if they could perform their song at the next school assembly.  I was so overjoyed with their enthusiasm and energy to ignite their peers with a positive message. I recorded the boys performing with my iPhone. I used the photos the students took of teachers and their peers holding up signs that read, “My Life Matters, I Want to live”, creating awareness and social action of the change they wanted to see in their communities and the world. I used the link We Video to create a visual that the students and the school could use as an empowering archive to deepen their understanding of what it means to R.I.S.E.U.P and share with others for generations to come.

WeVideo gave me the opportunity to complete feature packed video editing and digital story telling platform for the middle school project. My main goal was to create a video where the “voice “of the students could be heard and the photography was seen identifying the details and language that effectively told their stories. There is a vast array of creative tools and power of imagination including green screen, screen casting, voice over, audio controls, text graphics that gave me options if I wanted to add any other futures to my visual. The collaborative project encouraged students to learn together and think critically while highlighting individual contributions. The Beginner and Advanced editing modes can support the differentiated learning requirements of varying skill sets, different rated of progress and changing needs as students mature.

The experience of transforming text into mental images taught me the importance of creating a classroom that provides broad, realistic educational experiences emerging intellectual and social skills. Every child has gifts and abilities that can make a positive difference in their lives and the lives of others. As an educator look at every child as an individual, finding out what their needs are and pulling out their strengths .Using visual literacy can be very helpful when students need to complete certain group or individual projects such as a research project. You can also have students work independently at their own pace on certain assignments or to asses them individual regarding a new topic that may have been introduced. Using this resource connects with my philosophy as a teacher that all students learn differently and enhancing information meets the needs of students who need the stimulation of hands on learning, visuals and auditory listening, meeting them individually. The students are more likely to be engaged and derive meaning from the text they enjoy. Mental imagery of text can improve students’ memorization skills and comprehension when taking tests. I have learned that infographics should never be used as a crutch to teach our students but incorporated in our lessons as resources; tools to engage are students and see the world through another lens.

Candacee

Fruits from the Field

By Michelle Kitts

While searching for resources to help teach my 7^th grade instructional sequence on mood and tone, I came across a Word Press blog post discussing the use of technology in the classroom with regards to my specific topic. The post provided a detailed description of a 7^th grade ELA lesson on mood and tone, including a context for learning, the specific standards addressed, a rationale and description of technology integration, and an evaluation of its use. What I found particularly interesting about this lesson was the author’s use of an online tool called “Blendspace,” which allows teachers to combine their classroom with digital content and provide a more interactive experience for their students.

Though I ultimately chose to use another tool when creating my own lessons, I did sign up for a free Tes Teach account to explore Blendspace further. Essentially, Blendspace allows a user to enter any given topic into its search engine, and it finds relevant videos, images, and other related content from a variety of Internet sources (e.g. Google, YouTube, Tes). Tes is an online marketplace that helps educators find free and paid teaching resources created by other teachers. From here, users may drag and drop items into their lesson, including their own computer files, such as a Word, PDF, or PowerPoint document, and create a lesson unique to their own classroom. This could be used for a variety of instructional approaches, including the facilitation of a flipped classroom where students may access targeted content at home and come to class prepared to apply this content.

This fits into my philosophy of teaching because with the rise of modern technology and increased information accessibility, teachers no longer need play the role of “content dispenser.” With endless amounts of information accessible through a few keystrokes, teachers must focus on guiding students to analyze and apply the information they consume. Being able to think critically and creatively, collaborate with others, and problem solve are essential 21^st century skills. Using a tool like Blendspace helps centralize information so increased time may be spent developing these critical skills.

Resource links

Tes Teach with Blendspace: https://www.tes.com/lessons

Referenced blog post: https://israelfishel.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/teaching-mood-tone-and-theme-using-blendspace-in-a-7th-grade-ela-class/

 

Fruits from the field

Secondary Number Talks (I’ll convince you with ducks)

 

This resource is a blog that provides motivation, theory, examples, procedures, and resources for number talks. This resource could be used first, as a rationale for doing number talks to a principal, fellow teachers or school administrators. Second, this is great motivation to all of us about the need to number  talks in our classrooms. Third, the resources listed at the bottom of the article all provide more information and examples of number talks.

This fits into my education philosophy of teaching mathematics for conceptual understanding and thinking in flexible ways. Many of our students lack sufficient numerical skills to access the content in their math textbooks.  Number talks provide a space for all students to show their conceptual knowledge and for teachers to use that information to guide them forward. I particularly like this blog post because it is focused on secondary education (6-12) which is where I want to be.

Digital Storytelling

By Michelle Kitts

Digital Story: https://youtu.be/IHKNASSpmhs

Learning to identify the tone and mood of a piece of literature helps improve reading comprehension. Students often find distinguishing between these literary devices to be difficult, so when teaching mood and tone, it is important to draw from students’ preexisting knowledge of these concepts. Once students have successfully mastered the ability to identify the tone and mood in major literary works, they may better employ their understandings to evoke specific moods and/or tones in their own writing.

From an early age, many children are able to detect tone through speech, understanding that the meaning of what a person says is derived not only from the words someone speaks; it also is affected by how the person says these words. For instance, “How many times have I asked you to clean your room?” firmly delivered by a frustrated mother is usually understood to be a call to action rather than a legitimate question in need of answering.

Likewise, children are attuned to the mood a physical setting creates. For example, students can use visual indicators to describe the mood their classroom creates, recognizing that the cushioned chairs in the reading corner contribute to a comfortable mood. Similarly, if they have ever been in their school during non-school hours, they may be able to describe the change in atmosphere after the sun goes down and the daily bustle has vanished.

For this assignment, I created a digital story centering on Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” to be used as part of a mini-lesson on mood and tone. The visual makes use of pictures, music, and sound effects superimposed with an audio narration of the poem. In this way, students may become attuned to the mood and tone of the work prior to ever seeing it in writing.

I would begin this lesson by drawing on the “mother’s tone” and “classroom mood” examples to activate the students’ background knowledge. From there, we would create an anchor chart to provide students explicit definitions of mood and tone as well as a variety of words to describe mood and tone. Next, I would play my digital story, asking students to think about the mood and tone of the piece as they watch and listen. The discussion that follows may focus on the peaceful or serene mood conveyed through the pictures, music, and sound effects. Students may also comment on the tone of the narrator, describing his voice as calm, soothing, or even matter-of-fact.

The use of visualization in this lesson deepens the students’ understanding of the content by providing a concrete visual example of a key comprehension skill they should employ while reading—visualizing. In order to analyze a piece of literature to distinguish mood and tone, students must be able to create visual images as they read. Details of a story’s setting and atmosphere provide evidence of mood. For example, as the students read, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” visualizing a quiet wood filling up with snow helps convey a peaceful mood. Likewise, visualizing the traveler stopping to admire the woods but then realizing he cannot linger in this beautiful place, for he has miles to go before he sleeps, may help students perceive a bittersweet tone.

Visual Blog: Thing Links

Visual Link: Student Work

 

 

I chose to create a thinglink with my class. The main reason I did this was because students often did not have many opportunities to express themselves through writing. Secondly, when given the opportunity to write, students lacked choice of content which provided little engagement. I felt that a thinglink would provide them choice and also a way to use their knowledge of technology in writing.

The objective of the lesson was to create a persuasive thinglink on one thing they would like to change about their school.  In the thinglink itself, the ability to select an image based on their choice of topic, reasons and support was instantly engaging. The choice alone to visualize their argument in an image, I feel, deepened their understanding and commitment to what they wanted to write. If they had to write a traditional essay, the engagement piece would have been not as powerful.

Furthermore, the way the thinglink’s organization works, is really solidifying the mechanics of a persuasive essay in terms of organization. Each point represented a different part of the essay. The students needed one point to represent the Introduction with the hook, an arguing statement, and the reasons why the one change is necessary. The second point represented the first reason and support for that reason. The third point represented the second reason and support. The fourth point represented the third reason and support. Finally the fifth point represented their conclusion with a concluding statement and the reasons listed. This structure allowed students to really understand and see how a persuasive essay is organized point by point. I believe in giving students the whole essay in written form, sometimes the organization gets lost in the content. With the thinglink, students can see the pieces and moving parts of a persuasive essay in a real concrete way.

Lastly, thinglinks make reading and writing interactive. When reading the sample thinglink, which I created based on an 5th Grade essay I found online, students were forced to do a couple of things. First, they were shown the image. They had to process to the image and make meaning of it from the title. In seeing the image first, students could infer meaning, relate to the image as a fifth grader, and be curious about what was in it. Second the students had to click on each point to read each piece of the essay. It is like doing a puzzle, each click gave them a piece of the essay. As I said above, it really solidifies the structure of the essay and sparks curiosity and engagement about what the next click will bring.

In conclusion, the thinglinks are not finished yet. There were some technological hiccups and misconceptions yet to be unlocked along the way. However, with some more time, I feel the students will understand the different options the thinglinks give them and how to use their thinglink to express themselves in written form. I really look forward to what the students will come up with given more time and experience.

How to instruct students living in poverty by Candacee Johnson

To accept responsibility for the existence of the achievement gap, school leaders must first commit themselves to engaging in deep inquiry about the nature of the problem and its root causes. I researched the question of how poverty affects student learning and participation in school activities, 2) challenges encountered and strategies used to support students to overcome educational barriers related to poverty and 3) recommendations for what is needed in the classroom, school, and community to support low-income students and their families to overcome educational barriers related to poverty. More than 14.5 million children in America were poor in 2015, with more than two-thirds in working families. A disproportionate number are Black and Latino. Poor children often lag behind their peers in many ways beyond income: They are often less healthy, can trail in emotional and intellectual development, and are less likely to graduate from high school (Children’s Defense Fund). Ignored by our current education policies are the facts that American children lives below the poverty line and a growing number are homeless, without regular access to food or health care, and stressed by violence and drug abuse around them. Educators now spend a great deal of their time trying to help children and families in their care manage these issues, while they also seek to close skill gaps and promote learning. Hungry malnourished children are harmed in their cognitive development. Many kids will have trouble focusing in an academic setting due to a lack of energy and motivation. A hungry child often has ongoing health issues, so he may have frequent school absences that also make it difficult to learn. Your hungry child might fall behind in grade levels (Agnew). Being raised in a low-income family, for example, often means having fewer educational resources at home, in addition to poor health care and nutrition. At the same time, studies have also found that children in poverty whose parents provide engaging learning environments at home do not start school with the same academic readiness gaps seen among poor children generally.

This reality is manifested in the current state of Wisconsin ranked 21st in child poverty among states in which I reside (Children’s Defense Fund). Organizations like the Milwaukee Rescue Mission opened Cross Trainers Academy in 2006 with the intent of reaching inner-city kids with educational opportunity and the hope of the gospel. The school, with about 170 students and a 20:1 student-staff ratio, offers pre-kindergarten through 10th grade classes. Cross Trainers Academy is part of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. It receives funding for each child whose family income falls below levels determined by the state. But the funding doesn’t cover all of our costs, partly because of small class sizes of only 15-20 students. They are always in need of more funding, resources and volunteers to meet the basic needs of the school and of each and every student. Approximately 30% of students are or have been homeless and have stayed in Joy House (Milwaukee Rescue Mission).  Personally working there as an Teachers Assistant there were days were we would have a new student in our classroom from the Joy House who’s family came to the shelter that week. This was a challenge for us as teachers who had to meet the child were they were which many times were academically below their grade level.  There were moments where I was asked to take students to the office to comb their hair, help them brush their teeth in the school sink, supply them with a uniform shirt or just simply console and listen to them as they shared with me horrible stories from the night before. Many days I found myself being angry and hurt by the condition of the how some of the children came to school un kept, uniforms filthy, horrible hygiene , hungry from not eating  the night before, physically tired from sleeping in an overcrowded home or emotionally distressed on the issues that awaited them outside of these school walls.

After engaging in deep inquiry, school leaders must next accept responsibility for closing the achievement gap through poverty by crafting a set of deliberate action-strategies that focus on the dismantling of inequitable schooling practices and the sustained and school- or systems-wide improvement of instruction. The masterful facilitators of learning understand that “Caring is nurturing; believing is strengthening. Caring is validating; believing is promising. Caring is responding; believing is empowering (from “Unmasking the Truth: Teaching Diverse Student Populations,” Middle Matters, February 2006).

Seven ways to lead and succeed with children who live in poverty:

1. Establish an environment where every child is accepted and nothing less than the best is tolerated.
2. Find the positive in every child and every situation.
3. Provide opportunities for educators to learn more about children who live in poverty.
4. Eliminate practices that limit or hinder student success.
5. Change what does not work and incorporate strategies and practices that support achievement.
6. Measure and report progress frequently.
7. Work collaboratively to develop the best environment for children.

As African American an woman who prides myself on beating the stereotypes of   living in poverty, teen pregnancy, having a thug for a baby daddy, not educated, living W-2 and food stamps and what appeared to me as abandoning their children. I’m grateful to be in a school where their express purpose is to provide at-risk children with the opportunity for an excellent, Christian-based education that will equip them with academic, social, emotional and spiritual tools for life. Without a solid education, compassionate mentors and a firm foundation, many are likely to perpetuate the cycle of poverty and its frequent results: violence, substance abuse and homelessness. I quickly realized I was the positive remodel and couldn’t shelter them from the outside world but I had the opportunity every day to equip them to succeed and reach their full potential.

Chidrens Defense Fund Freedom Schools (CDF)

http://www.childrensdefense.org/library/data/state-data-repository/cits/2015/2015-wisconsin-children-in-the-states.pdf

The Effects of Hunger on Children by ANDREA AGNEW   | Last Updated: Feb 02, 2014

http://www.livestrong.com/article/216940-the-effects-of-hunger-on-children/

Leading Learning for Children from Poverty: Six effective practices can help teachers help students from poverty succeed. By: Cynthia “Mama J” Johnson

https://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/351/Leading-Learning-for-Children-From-Poverty.aspx

Milwaukee Rescue Mission

https://www.milmission.org/programs/cross-trainers-academy/

How to Instruct Extreme EBD Students

As first couple weeks in the field come to a close, I am left wondering what can I do as a teacher for extreme EBD children in my class. As an observation, not an evaluation, the extreme EBD children in my placement are sent directly to the Special Education Teacher with no contact with their “class” in any meaningful ways. I realize as a classroom instructor, extreme EBD children are often disruptive and Special Education Teachers have more expertise, but I cannot help but feel it is our job to in some way involve these children in our instruction in meaningful and purposeful ways whenever possible.

I feel this answer can be best answered through research and conferencing with the Special Education Teacher in our school as well as outside of schools. For research, I would turn to the Wisconsin DPI site ( https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/sped/pdf/ebd-scaffold-behav.pdf) as well as websites in other districts around the country. I believe research is important, but the willingness to try different situations involving EBD students is another way. Each EBD child is different, and as instructors, we must be willing to experiment with different settings and instruction and find out what works. The goal is not to just “involve” students with emotional and behavior needs in the class, it is to differentiate our instruction so those students learn and are an asset for the other learners in classroom.

In conclusion, while this question will have different answers and different results depending on the student and his/her class and classroom, I believe it is a valuable question. Research coupled with the willingness to try through experience will guide me to answers that work and not work for each student with behavioral and emotional needs.

Blog Post 3: Teacher Research

By Michelle Kitts

Entering a new classroom mid-year, a virtual stranger to your school and its students, poses distinct hurdles. While trying to obtain your initial bearings, you’re immediately put to the test by students who attempt to detect your limits. Meanwhile, you’re all too aware you haven’t been present during the establishment of classroom expectations and are feverishly trying to work out for yourself exactly what those are. You endeavor to make careful observations—broadly noticing how the whole class operates and noting the individual behavior of each student—and as the wheels in your head are diligently turning, a question inevitably arises: So what am I going to do?

Over the years, I have found the old credo, “Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst,” to be a particularly useful guiding philosophy in navigating the roadmaps of life. It is unsurprising, then, that the saying’s utility can extend to a burgeoning teacher’s first day in a new classroom (and every subsequent day to come). Among the whirlwind of activity occurring in my current classroom, I observed that my students seem to revel in interacting with one another, as they take all opportunities to do so with little regard to the appropriateness of the moment. Then during instruction, which typically takes the form of traditional direct instruction, many students appear disengaged and unfocused. From my initial observations and a desire to merge the students’ will to interact with teachable moments sprang an important question for teacher research: What kinds of learning activities promote interaction among peers?

The research arising from this question may take many forms. As I attempt to dissect this question, I foresee the initial phases as scouring resources for hands-on activities that will both foster our learning goals and encourage productive interactions among the students. Next, the implementation of these lessons will be its own form of research as I assess the lesson’s efficacy and reflect on what changes could be made to improve it with specific regards to student interaction. Finally, when tackling this issue, the subtopic of how to group students most effectively will invariably arise, and this provides a springboard for further research. Driven by a perpetual curiosity and devotion to finding answers that work, I hope to use research to improve my own teaching practices, and consequently, improve student learning.

Educational Apps for Mobile Learning

By Michelle Kitts

As future educators in an era of unprecedented technological innovation, we should be ever mindful of ways to effectively integrate technology into our classrooms, not only to prepare students for the world that awaits them, but also to make use of the current realities in which they operate. With specific regards to literacy instruction, this means using technology as a means of “listening to, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating oral, print, visual and digital texts, and using and modifying language for different purposes in a range of contexts” (Ewing, 2016). In practice, this can take innumerable forms as wide in scope as technology itself. The question then arises how to combine technology with pedagogy and content in a way that is truly useful and not just fashionable.

Tablet computers are becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s classrooms. They are lightweight, portable, kid-sized, and possess a relatively long battery life and reasonably priced programs. Because of this vast utility, educators should make full use of this technology by seeking out web-based applications (apps) that are academically sound, multipurpose, and worth the money. For the purpose of this post, I will be reviewing the potential of apps to help build literacy skills in elementary school students.

During the course of my research, I discovered an array of literacy apps geared toward fostering basic literacy skills, such as phonemic and phonological awareness, which would seem most useful among young, emerging readers. While I appreciate the niche these apps fill, I sought to expand beyond these targeted lower-level skills and emphasize the broader definition of literacy as a means of communication. The apps included in this review are assessed for their ability to foster higher-level literacy skills, such as reading comprehension and vocabulary building, as well as develop students’ capacity to effectively identify, interpret, and connect the complexities of the world in which they live.

TeleStory

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/telestory/id915378506?mt=8

Price: free

TeleStory, a creative moviemaker, uses face-finding technology and preset themes to provide a stage by which children can create and record their own stories. After selecting from among four broad categorical themes—the Band, Eye Spy, the News, or Star Adventure—users then narrow their choice into a specific format (e.g. the News Desk, the Weather, the Beat, the Eye in the Sky, the Critic, the Sports Roundup). Cue cards are available to jumpstart a story, with prompts such as “review your parents cooking” or “critique the latest movie you saw.” This app carries great potential by allowing students to consume and distribute information with each other and their teachers in authentic and engaging ways.

By self-selecting a format they deem most relevant, students make use of their own voices and exercise critical thinking abilities. “The ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to build a student’s comprehension, writing skills, and overall skills in communication” (Alber, 2010). In the classroom, TeleStory cue cards may serve as writing prompts by which students collaborate to create scripts for their productions. Because of the broad range of themes and formats, this app can be used across the curriculum to research and present topics ranging from creative writing to current events or the latest scientific discovery.

News-O-Matic

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/news-o-matic-daily-reading/id578023255?mt=8

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.press4kids.newsomatic.homeapp34&hl=en

Price: paid subscription with 1-month free trial

News-O-Matic is a subscription-based, daily newspaper for children ages 7-10, but offers a free, one-month trial. Each day, five stories written by experts and reviewed by a child psychologist are posted to its main page. In addition to content, the app provides an array of interactive features, including a “Read to Me” option that provides an audio narration of each article. According to Sheena Hervey, effective teachers of literacy “create learning environments that are alive with purposeful print and where students have access to reading, and creating, a wide range of texts” (Hervey, 2013). In its capacity as an accessible news source for children, News-O-Matic serves as an appealing option for nonfiction reading.

Additionally, because of its high-level of interactivity, students learn to navigate the site to acquire additional information, thereby allowing them to “[read] for a variety of purposes, such as interpreting the textual and visual elements in a document and knowing how to navigate and find information” (Baron & Wright, 2008). Accompanying each article is a toolbar for accessing additional information (e.g. facts, slide shows, videos) or for interacting directly with the text through highlighting, saving, or printing.

ThePoetryHour

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-poetry-hour/id531395909?mt=8

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.josephine.hart.poetry.iphone&hl=en

Price: free

ThePoetryHour, developed by the Josephine Hart Poetry Foundation, is a free app that allows users to read their favorite poems alongside video and audio narrations by world-renowned actors. Users can search for poetic works by title, author, or narrator, and within each poem’s page is its text, narration, information about the poet, additional poems by that poet, and user-created memes that draw upon inspiration from that specific poem. Due to the nature of the included works, this app is suited most appropriately for middle school students and beyond.

A notable aspect of this app stems from the ability of its users to reimagine classic poetry through the creation of memes. ThePoetryHour allows users to select lines of poetry and superimpose them on either a stock image or user-provided photo. Memes enable students to break down seemingly complicated concepts into more targeted, comprehensible pieces and, in doing so, may help to counteract the fear and anxiety sometimes sparked by the poetic genre. “In order for our students to engage in academic conversation, or accountable talk, they need plenty of practice with informal conversation in pairs and triads” (Alber, 2010). Memes provide this informal practice. In the classroom, this may take the form of collaboration among students to create memes with lines of poetry they find particularly meaningful to a specific work. An accumulation of student memes may provide a more thorough revelation or understanding of a specific poem. Taken further, the students may then use their collective memes to identify common themes or motifs among individual poems. As a closing activity, students can combine their memes to create new and unique poetry that speaks to their own lives.

Works Cited

Alber, R. (2010, August 04). How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas? Retrieved February 19, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-instruction-across-curriculum-importance

Barone, D., & Wright, T. E. (2008, December). Literacy Instruction with Digital and Media Technologies. Retrieved February 19, 2017, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/literacy-instruction-digital-and-media-technologies

Ewing, R. (2016, November 24). Teaching Literacy is More than Teaching Simple Reading Skills: It Can’t be Done in Five Easy Steps. Retrieved February 19, 2017, from http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=1532

Hervey, S. (2013). What is Effective Teaching of Literacy? Retrieved February 19, 2017, from http://www.generationready.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Effective-Teaching-of-Literacy.pdf