Instructional Resources
Bloom's Question Stems -- Use the sample question stems in this list to encourage higher-order thinking in your class discussions or written assignments. Posing questions from the lower end--knowledge and comprehension--and then moving to higher-level questions can help invlove more students in learning and promote deeper understanding of subject matter.
Fostering Effective Classroom Discussions -- The English Department at Virginia Tech established these guidelines for fostering effective classroom discussions at the college level, but the ideas are easily adaptable to elementary and secondary classrooms.
Jigsaw Classroom -- This site provides an overview of the Jigsaw technique. In addition, there are links which breakdown the steps of the Jigsaw, provide tips on how to implement it in the classroom, and links to various articles on the technique.
ADDinSchool.com
--The structured classroom setting can be a tremendous challenge for
individuals who have difficulty sitting still, being quiet, and paying
attention to the right thing. ADDinSchool.com provides you with hundreds
of ideas to help students who have ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder).
ADD/ADHD
Checklist for Classroom Teachers --This resource contains suggestions
from 450 surveyed teachers for working with students who have Attention
Deficit Disorder. This site looks at physical arrangement, lesson presentation,
organization, tests, and behavior.
Teachers’
Links --There are more links here than you could ever use in categories
like lesson plans, new teachers, reading, language arts, literature,
writing, poetry, social studies, students with special needs, ESL, physical
education, art, music, drama, Internet projects, multicultural and character
education, free newsletters, NBPTS, and more.
Strategies to Extend Student
Thinking --Twelve Simple and Practical Ways to Encourage Your Students
to Think
Making
a Difference-One Student at a Time --Beth M. Arthur of Southern
Illinois State University offers this online book that contains a whole
chapter on reading strategies perfect for expository texts such as DRTA
and KWL that help students better construct meaning. Many of the strategies
involve prediction, which Arthur explains is one of the best ways to
engage students in meaningful transactions with text.
Strategic
Processing of Text: Improving Reading Comprehension for Students with
Learning Disabilities --This site provides a scholarly explanation
regarding why students have difficulty reading expository texts, especially
learning-disabled students, and offers strategies to help students better
construct meaning from exposition. The author, Joanna P. Williams, specifically
highlights one strategy that involves having students make three "passes"
through a piece of expository text. Students look for different features
in each pass.
Best Practices I
--This handout provides a good overview of best practices--instructional
strategies that have proven to be effective. It also contains classroom
management, assessment, and literacy hints.
MiddleWeb
Teaching Strategies Resources Page --Find links to information on
topics like inquiry-based learning, differentiated instruction, using
the jigsaw method, exhibitions, integrated curriculum, project-based
learning, brain-based learning, technology, classroom rubrics, performance
tasks, and multiple intelligences on this web page.
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