Inside Bell's Brain

Reading is a crucial part of a child's education. Children's ideas about language and communication , as well as ideas about character-building and coping with life's obstacles , are strengthened through reading. The National PTA is encouraging reading with their Family Reading Experience initiative this summer, and I wanted to link up with their site to share what I'm doing to encourage my students' families to read. Infographic from PTA Reading Challenge on family reading experiences Over my spring break, I read one of my (now) all-time favorite books , The One and Only Ivan .  Its story was captivating , and the author brought a true story to a new level of life by personifying the gorilla Ivan .  The chapters were short, but the ideas were strong .  I knew it was a book that I could incorporate into my language instruction with my English learners.   The book was such an emotional read that I'd have to read several pages...and then take a ...

I've been contemplating how to kick off my new blogging endeavor, and I think I know just what to do. I've already shared this little trick with several of my closest teacher friends, and we've found it to be a dream come true for establishing multiple grouping configurations.  (Interaction and multiple grouping configurations are absolutely essential for English learners to get the most from their content classes.) About two years ago, I developed these grouping sticks to ensure that my students were able to work with all their classmates in different settings and in different groups. The concept is a little tricky to articulate, but I have taken pictures to support my attempt at a detailed explanation.   The first decision is determining the number of sticks you need. For a class set, I usually use 25, although some of you probably need a class set of 36 (in which case, purchase 2 packs). You can purchase a pack of multi-colored Popsicle sticks at your local craft...