Fwd: Inspiring Middle School Literacy

-- Gary Ackerman, Ph.D.

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From: WGBH Education <denise_olson@wgbh.org>
Date: May 21, 2013, 12:32:18 PM EDT
To: gary@hackscience.net
Subject: Inspiring Middle School Literacy
Reply-To: denise_olson@wgbh.org

Welcome to Inspiring Middle School Literacy, a newsletter for middle school educators from WGBH. This newsletter highlights topics in middle school education, along with ways you can boost literacy using the Middle School Literacy Initiative, funded by the Walmart Foundation, and other resources from PBS LearningMediaTM. FEATURED LESSON: Parents, Teens, and Texting Texting is a part of daily life for most teens. In this online lesson for blended learning, students watch videos by teens about texting. They then evaluate statistics about texting, and use these data to form and support their opinions. This featured lesson is from the Walmart Middle School Literacy Initiative. This lesson covers a topic that is engaging to students, while covering some key literacy strategies: comparing and contrasting information; determining important information; understanding fact vs. opinion; and making inferences.  To launch this lesson, determine what students already know about texting, and about the debate between parents and teens over how much texting is too much. The Teacher's Guide accompanying this lesson provides specific questions you can use to start the discussion. An important component of this lesson are writing assignments in which students write opinion pieces supported by facts from the video, charts, and lesson text.  Want to learn more? Click the image to visit the lesson.   Interested in other topics? Click here to other lessons in the Middle School Literacy Initiative, funded by the Walmart Foundation. PROFILE: Emily Dawson, Riverview Grade School, IL  Emily Dawson Emily Dawson is a science teacher at the Riverview Grade School in Peoria, Illinois. She is also a PBS LearningMedia (PBS LM) "Teacher Core" member, affiliated with WTVP in Peoria, and advocating PBS LM's vast collection of educational digital assets to fellow teachers. Ultimately, however, she is an excellent example of someone using blended learning to engage students.   A self-described "space nut," Emily says she is always looking for hands-on activities to get her students excited about science. On Wednesday, May 22 at approximately 10 a.m. CDT, Emily and her middle school students will be launching a weather balloon 100,000 feet up into Earth's atmosphere. The balloon will gather weather data, take photos, and show the students an Earth perspective they would not see from their classroom.   While the weather balloon launch is taking the students outside and giving them lots of hands-on experience, the project was inspired by Dawson's use of PBS LearningMedia. Emily says that when she ran across the balloon launch idea on PBS LM, she knew the project was rich with opportunities for research, design, and tracking the balloon in flight. The launch is the central focus of a multidisciplinary unit on weather, science, and language arts.    WTVP, central Illinois' public television station, will create a program around the launch. Click here for more information, and to follow the launch. You can also follow the project on Twitter, using hashtag #dawsonsciencewtvp.   For other lessons that combine science with English Language Arts, visit the Middle School Literacy Initiative page on PBS LM.    TOPICS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATION: The Problem of Textspeak in Middle School Does texting hurt grammar and other communication skills? In a column titled "The Problem of Textspeak in Middle School," TeachThought tackles this issue and presents a fascinating infographic. Click here to read the column and see the full infographic.   What do you think? Does "textspeak" affect your students' grammar and writing? What do they think? Try this quick exercise with them: Have your students write a short paragraph using "textspeak," then have them write the same short paragraph using regular grammar and punctuation. Compare and discuss. Do they see any potential problems when using "textspeak" in regular written communication?   Infographic from onlinecollege.org In This Issue Featured Lesson Profile Topics Free Webinar! Where are We? Shakespeare Survey Find Us on Social Media Free Webinar!   May 22 6pm-7pm EDT   Join AMLE and PBS LearningMedia for a close look at free online literacy lessons  for blended learning! These cross-curricular lessons support literacy strategies while engaging students with interactive exercises, video content, informational texts,  and writing activities. During this free webinar, Carol Studebaker, literacy coach, and Charlotte Hodges, 6th grade teacher, will provide suggestions from the trenches on how to integrate these Common-Core aligned lessons into your classroom.  Space is limited. To register or for more information, click the link below. http://ow.ly/kPRQw  Where Are We? Find the Middle School Literacy Initiative at these webinars and confereces. (Click each for more info.)   AMLE PBS LearningMedia Webinar (see description above) May 22, 6:00pm - 7:00 pm EDT   ISTE   See our poster session and visit our booth in San Antonio June 23 - 26   NAMLE Los Angeles July 12 - 13 Teach Shakespeare? Do you teach Shakespeare in middle school? If so, please take our "Teaching Shakespeare with Digital Media" survey. Your feedback is important to us! Click the image to link to this quick survey.   Find Us on Social Media  Facebook   Twitter Pinterest      The Middle School Literacy Initiative is funded by the Walmart Foundation.    www.wgbh.org www.pbslearningmedia.org  Join Our Mailing List Are you reading a forwarded copy of Inspiring Middle School Literacy? Want your own? Click here to join our mailing list. Contact Us  Copyright © 2013. All Rights Reserved.

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