Texas Literacy Resources

Do you currently use games as part of your instructional plans to help your students meet learning objectives? If so, what do you play? Did you ever play Seven Up or Duck, Duck, Goose in elementary school? I have vivid memories of these activities that took place almost 40 years ago! How can that be that I remember the game, but can’t remember what I had for dinner last night or the name of the main character in a book I read 2 weeks ago? The emotional memory grabs information and securely stores it for later retrieval.

I'm in Denver today presenting at a BER RTI Conference. The teachers attending are sharing so many great ideas! A fourth grade teacher said that she starts the year talking about going to college. She has her fourth graders declare some college choices. Then they research the college (mascot, location, what you can study there, etc.) They write to the college and get brochures and information. These brochures can be used to teach a variety of grade level objectives. She even calls out university groups to line students up for lunch, etc.

I just saw composition notebooks at Walmart for 25 cents each. I use these to create "Expert" journals that are kept in the writing center. At the beginning of the year, we talk about what it means to be an expert on something. Then I poll the students to see what they know and what they want to know. For each area of "Expertise" we create a notebook that students can write in while visiting the writing center. Students can draw pictures, label, list facts, and relate stories. Other students read the expert journal to learn more about the topic.

How much do teachers matter in increasing student achievement? Can we replace a teacher with a computer? Who can teach? Is it effective to "recruit" teachers from the ranks of "anyone who has a college diploma?" Maybe we should just buy programs with scripts so we can "teacher-proof" classrooms. These are all scenarios that are being discussed and implemented in schools across the nation. But why? Why are we looking at reducing teaching to a pre-written script? Clearly learning outcomes and classroom practices have not been matched effectively or efficiently.