ThinkCERCA

Last year I learned about and shared Newsela. It is AWESOME. If you have not heard about Newsela already, it is a website with current news articles that allows users to adjust Lexile levels. (Click here to read a past post on Newsela.) Now, I have discovered another source for informational texts...ThinkCERCA.

ThinkCERCA is an online, CCSS-aligned literacy program for students in grades 4-12 (with parent consent) with content and tools to help students read closely, think critically, and write sound arguments. It is free to join and access basic functions, but there are additional tools available through a paid subscription. CERCA (in the title) actually stands for Claim, Evidence, Reasoning, Counter-argument, and Audience. When students complete full lessons they are both reading and writing-- "Common Core style". There are some really cool features to explore:

• An audio feature reads each article aloud to students. 
• Teachers have the option to input constructed response questions.
• ThinkCERCA has an embedded dictionary within each article.

Take look through the website and see how you can use it to increase access for your students.

Explore ThinkCERCA from ThinkCERCA on Vimeo.

News You Can Use

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across newsela.com.  Currently in beta and free, this site posts news articles appropriate for K-12 students.  I know how many of you have been searching for nonfiction articles to fit your content area, so this is a gold mine!  The categories for the articles are War & Peace, Science, Kids, Money, Law, Health, and Art. Here is the neatest feature:  for every article, there are versions written in different Lexile levels!   I have not played around with the classroom function, but it looks like teachers can also create "classes", register individual students (no student emails required), and assign articles. Some articles have brief comprehension quizzes.  Even if you do not use all those features, it is best to register for the free account.

Below is a screenshot of a newsela.com article at an 1170 Lexile.  Note the blue bar on the right side. When on the actual site, you can simply click on a level and the article adapts in seconds to match the the Lexile you have selected.  If you prefer hardcopy versions, the printer icon is also located in that blue bar.  As you can see beneath the title, the text was originally in the Los Angeles Times, but has been adapted by the Newsela staff.

Here is the same section of the article, but with a 720 Lexile.

I shared this with a some teachers and the feedback has been good.  NAMS sixth grade teacher, Michelle Marsh, mentioned it in an email to me yesterday, which prompted me to share with everyone via the blog. The site adds about three articles daily, so the material is pretty up to date.  I hope more people check it out soon for text sets, Socratic Seminars, summarizing practice, and more...it may not be free forever!

Chandra

Infographics Pt.2

Back in November I posted on the infographics project Sarah Beth Robbins (AHS, CTE Teacher) did with her class.  Meredith Wolfe (NAMS, 6th grade ELA teacher) sent me two really good sites of infographics for students to read.  This is great practice with reading nonfiction!

http://www.kidsdiscover.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Infographic

http://dailyinfographic.com/

Carla Shinn (AHS, Media Specialist) also sent an infographic on information literacy that highlights how to get students to find credible information and cite it correctly.

Don't forget to refer back to Sarah Beth's work with creating infographics.

Text Features Chart

Several people said they were using the text features lesson I posted last week.  Below is an additional resource for you all--an informational text features chart.

It is a Google presentation so feel free to share the link with students.

Text Features

Whether you teach English/Language Arts or Health Occupations, your students need to understand informational text features.  I discovered this lesson on the web (courtesy of Milton High School in Milton, FL).  It has some great resources to teach text features.

Introduction to Text Features 
(PPT with Cornell Notes Guide)

Text Features Presentation from mrsweeks

Click here for Cornell Notes to match presentation.

"A Close-up Look at the Ol' Pigskin" Lesson

Attention Grabber
Video Clip
Review
Text Features in the Real Word PPT
Application
Text Features Team Comparison Handout
After reviewing text features with the students, give them a chance to apply their knowledge.  The handout challenges students to use the provided text features to quickly find information on the teams.
Applying to Content 
Text Feature Detective Handout
This allows students to transfer reading skills to other content areas.
Assessment
Article:  "On the Offense"
The Lexile Level is 1180 (bottom of 9-10 grade band range).  Students should read the article and then be asked to identify, explain, analyze, and determine meaning for a variety of text features.

The Ash Hi Chat Really Writes

Asheboro High School's newspaper, The Ash Hi Chat, rolled out its first edition of the school year today.  Last year, Jonathan Dillion took over the reins as adviser and worked especially hard to make reading the paper an important part of AHS.  Mr. Dillion emails teachers a few days before an edition comes out and provides ways it can be incorporated in various content areas.  He has added prize giveaways for students who complete the newspaper's crossword puzzle, which is always based on facts from the reading.  There is also a game show-style class take over called "Chat Challenge" where one lucky class is ambushed and challenged to correctly answer trivia questions based on the articles all for the chance to win big prizes.

Hey Social Studies, Art, and English/Language Arts teachers, how could you use this student-created political cartoon featured in Ash Hi Chat in your classes?

The cartoon compliments the editorial article written by Mariam Kahn, "Do Parents Influence Our Political Views?".  <--(click here) The article can serve as a great starting point for lessons with or about politics, argumentative writing, research, discussion, statistics, psychology, parenting, and more.

Image credit:  cartoon by AHS student Elizabeth Pruitt

~Chandra

The Times

"For the Times They Are A-Changin" may be a familiar Bob Dylan song for some.  The title really resonates with me because, for one, we are definitely aware of the need for a change in the way we teach to meet Common Core standards.  Shift one from the CCSS is to include more informational text into a student's daily instructional time.  That concept brings me to my second connection to the song.  The New York Times (commonly referred to as just The Times) are changing by providing help for teachers in incorporating their articles into instruction.

Please click here to see how The Learning Network has teamed up with The New York Times.  If this has been helpful to you, please share how you used the resource.

~Chandra