Mrs. Deraps at Mt. Blue High School

Literacy and Technology Pilot in Western Maine

It was a pleasure to discover the Literacy and Technology Pilot site this afternoon. It is sponsored by the Western Maine Educational Collaborative and facilitated by Darlene Bassett, educational consultant, BPI.

It is accompanied by Darlene's blog, Literacy and Technology Pilot, BPI and WMEC.

Maine Literacy Blog Discovery

You really don't want to miss this wonderful blog if you are involved with literacy. Check it out:


Literacy Journal Link

Free Reading

Just came across an incredible online resource for teachers of early readers.

Free Early Reading Program

It is an open source wiki that is developing a wealth of information and resources on methods for teaching reading. You really owe it to yourself to see it. You may also sign up to be an editor . . . to help develop it.

Literacy for ME

Literacy for ME

PDF for Universal Literacy Elements for Deeper and More Powerful Content Learning

Noteshare Web Notebook on Universal Literacy Elements

Jill Spencer's Portaportal on ULE

Jill Spencer's Maine Literacy Portaportal

For Mac users -- NoteShare notebook is available in Jill Spencer’s public folder on iDisk: Finder/Go/iDisk/Other User’s Public Folder (member name: jillspencer)

Literacy Across the Curriculum: Skimming, Scanning & Summarization

PLC work at MVMS this past Wednesday was on skimming, scanning & summarization in the content areas. Laura Robb's book, Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science and Math is being used as a source for some practical techniques to develop these skills.

Summarization Resources
Skimming & Scanning Resources

Kindle or OLPC?

Here's the deal: You have just received a $400 certificate with the limitation that you can redeem it for either the Kindle or the OLPC laptop. Which would you choose?

Thank you to Barbara Greenstone for bringing up the discussion on books and the Kindle in an earlier post. Thinking about the difference in the experience in reading from the extremely long-lasting technology of the book to the portable digital version brings up a series of issues.

A number of people have not missed the point that the OLPC device and the Kindle can be had for the same price. The discussion that has ensued is fascinating. Check out these discussions:

The Future of Reading

Do Not Fold, Bend or Kindle

Think Macro . . .Kindle vs. XO

More on Kindle/OLPC

So . . . which would you buy?

So, what about the Kindle?

by Barbara Greenstone

eReaders have been around for a while but I've mostly been ignoring them. I keep telling myself that, given a choice, I'd rather read from a printed page than from a screen. In my work, of course, I do read from a computer screen - whether it's emails, chats, web articles, blogs, NoteShare notebooks, or other digital documents. I seldom print anything. But when it comes to reading for pleasure, I'd rather sit down with a book. I've been a reader for more than half a century and why change now?

Having said that, I have to admit that Amazon's Kindle has me thinking... What is it I really love about books? Is it some kind of kinesthetic pleasure from holding it and turning the pages or is it purely the content? Do I prefer print books because it's really a better reading experience or is it a bias from years of habit?

If you walk into my house you will know right away that I am a book-lover. There are bookshelves everywhere. But I don't think of myself as a true bibliophile. I think true bibliophiles love the books themselves. They care whether it's a first edition. They care about the binding and the typeface and the quality of the paper. I don't care about any of these things. I do like seeing my books on the shelves but I'm not sure why. Maybe because scanning my eclectic collection gives some clues as to who I am, or who I have become over the years.

But now I'm thinking about that Kindle and thinking I might like to try it. David Pogue gives it a mostly favorable review in the NY Times and his is an opinion I have learned over the years to trust. I'm also thinking about whether eReaders like this have a future in education. I think many of our students do not have the same print prejudices that I have and might welcome an alternative to those heavy textbooks that fill up their backpacks.

Learning to Read

"I must say that I find television very educational.
The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book."
~ Groucho Marx

Learning to Read
Teach a Child to Read
Starfall - Learn to Read

Read Aloud Resources
Readers' Theater Resources
Reading Comprehension Resources
Reading Fluency Resources
Resources for Online Interactive Reading with Audio
Phonics Resources
Literacy Across the Curriculum Resources

CAST - Universal Design for Learning at ACTEM Pre-Conference

I'm blogging from the CAST presentation. Fascinating! We are working through neural paths and strategies used that are dependent on a question asked about a visual. Aside: Check out MusicNotes Player software.

We are now looking at representations of 3-dimensional space in 2 dimensions. Hmmmmm. . .reminds me of SketchUp.

Point: Focus on strengths of students rather than their weaknesses.

Analyzing Visual . . . Multiple Ways

What is here?
Do you see this? Tracking.
What is happening here? Comes from within.

Multiple Means of Engagement, Marco Torres, FlickSchool



Remember the three Principles

Multiple Means of Expression to increase recognition
Multiple Means of Expression to expand strategic abilities
Multiple Means of Engagement to enhance involvement

Story written in 1902: Monkey's Paw. Vocabulary is an issue for students. How do we approach? Many methods of working on this are being presented.

Resources: “Be Careful What You Wish For” PowerPoint;
Supporting, Engaging and Enhancing Comprehension for Students in High School (SEEC)

Little Known Features of Microsoft Word
Read, Write, Think
Web 2.0 Tools: diigo and Voice Thread

Supporting Literacy: Transforming Text
Resources: FireFox w/ ClickSpeak
Supported Reading Software; Etext Resources on the Web Commercial Etext;
Audacity – Text to MP3
Audacity online tutorial:
http://www.guidesandtutorials.com/audacity-tutorial.html

CAST: Teaching every Student

CAST eText Resources (Word)
CAST Math Resources (Word)

Supporting High School Math: Representation, Expression & Engagement
Resources: Interactivate!



Email to Friend

Feel free to comment below by clicking the "comments" link. What are your thoughts?

Technorati Tags: ACTEM MAINEd07

Literacy Across the Curriculum

Mountain Valley Middle School is involved in the Literacy Initiative of the Western Maine Educational Collaborative. Using the materials of Darlene M. Bassett, the good people in that school will be focusing on different reading strategies every month in all subject areas. This September the focus will be on text structures and text features. Along with the monthly school-wide emphasis, students will have the opportunity read books of their choice during designated times in the spirit of SSR, FRED, DEAR, etc.

Want to know more about this program? Check with new principal, Ryan Casey, at rcasey@msad43.org.

Literacy Across the Curriculum
Book Report Resources

Many Literacies

The good people at Stenhouse Publishers, a Portland, Maine company, have some interesting videos and podcasts available at their site as well as opportunities to preview books on education.

David Booth and Larry Swartz, coauthors of Literacy Techniques, discuss the many different literacies that kids encounter today.

Part 1 Audio
Part 2 Audio

Other Podcasts
Other Videos