Genius Hour & Passion Projects

I am in full-on summer research mode. I came across this great idea first on Edutopia. Apparently the Genius Hour originated with Google; they allow their employees to use 20% of their time on anything they want. Educators have taken this idea and run with it as a way to give students more control over their education. I LOVE this idea! I am trying to think of ways to use it in my classroom. I think it could be a really neat way to liven up choice novels. HERE is where I found an idea of how to use this concept in the English classroom. (If it doesn't take you right there, you are looking for "Project Inspiration.")

Deeper Reading

I am reading Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher, and really enjoying it. Because of his great, deep discussions about the way students read, I wanted to brush up on Bloom's Taxonomy. I came across this really helpful graphic. To view the teacher's website where I found this graphic, click here. (I have bookmarked this site for future use!)

Education Buzzwords: Reading Strategies & Skills

I was recently doing some research on literacy related topics when I came across this article, "Clarifying the Differences Between Reading Skills and Reading Strategies." The authors' have identified two often used buzzwords in English/ELA/Reading education and have clarified their meanings really well in this article. My general take away is this: reading skills are what readers do automatically, and reading strategies are what readers do intentionally. In addition to this clarification, this article offers some great insight for instruction. Even though the concepts and discussion are geared toward earlier readers, the instructional points can be applied to any grade level. Click here to view this article.