Art has the power…

Art has the power…

When someone asks me why the arts are important to learning, I usually respond by describing my own experience in using the arts to excite learners. One such experience follows.  Here is the scene: A narrow, windowless room in an urban middle school, with twelve desks...
Non-Fiction Articles Published by Lexile Levels

Non-Fiction Articles Published by Lexile Levels

The Common Core State Standards challenges us, as English Language Arts teachers, to shift the way instruction looks and sounds in the ELA classroom. One of those shifts is the attention to the staircase of complexity. We know that for students to be ready for the...
Addressing Summer Reading Loss

Addressing Summer Reading Loss

Summer reading is the single summer activity that is most related to summer learning (Heyns, 1978). However, summer reading experiences are not equitable for students from high poverty homes or areas as compared to their peers. Students, on average, attend school for...

Symbol + ? = Meaning

Have you ever wondered about the connection between symbol and meaning ? When we think of the written letter, or word, what are we talking about in terms of the human capacity to associate mere symbols with meaning? Let me offer this illustration… Take the letter “S”...

The Myth of Multitasking

This steady and undissipated attention to one object, is a sure mark of a superior genius; as hurry, bustle, and agitation, are the never-failing symptoms of a weak and frivolous mind. –Lord Chesterfield, in a letter to his son (c. 1740s) I recently purchased...