Archive for Valerie Walker
Shout out!: Disciplinary Social Studies Lesson (Plans)
What a great day we have ahead of us! You will be teaching or participating in 8 lessons designed to engage elementary students in “doing” History, Economics, Civics, and Geography! I’ll be taking pictures as you work, as well as taking notes on snippets of learning that I see. As a follow-up, in place of […]
Project based learning is different than assigning “projects”
I also like some of edutopia’s content. (Especially the infographics that are quick to read, but full of content!) Here’s one on the difference between projects and project based learning. (If you can’t view the link, try their Facebook page.) MUST STOP BLOGGING AND DO OTHER WORK! 🙂
One of my favorite blogs to follow
I’m going to break a blogging rule and write about two things in this post. First, let me share one of my favorite blogs to follow: The Nerdy Bookclub! This is where I get many of my ideas about what I MUST READ. Umm… a graphic novel called El Deafo, which is reviewed by someone […]
Shout out: Writing examples from past semesters!
If you need inspiration, here are some pictures of projects that other methods students created for their portfolios. I’ll also show you several “All about ____” books on Monday. Remember! The goal in your process pieces is to create projects that you would be excited to teach, try out the writing process in several ways, […]
Using artifacts from family history
Thank you for your observations and questions about my dad’s Sorties card. It has inspired me to think and write some more about his experiences. If you are interested in a story he told an oral historian, here’s a link to his legacy page. I grew up hearing this story. Sometimes he told it like […]
What makes a good blog post and comment?
Let’s check in on what we have noticed about our own blog reading and writing: –What blog posts are we most likely to read? Why? –What posts are we most likely to comment on? Why? –If one of our writing goals is to encourage online discussion and the sharing of ideas, what reading and writing […]
Register for MCTE’s Fall Workshop!
MCTE is offering a discounted rate to attend their fall workshop! The workshop is Monday, October 27, 2014 from 8:30-2:30 at the Marriott in Brooklyn Park. The keynote speakers will be Kylene Beers and Robert Probst, authors of Notice and Note. To register for the discounted rate of $30, enter the code I provided in […]
Geofest Registration (by Oct. 3!)
Here’s the link to learn more about and register for Geofest! Geofest is Saturday, October 11, 2014 at Macalester College. Here’s a link to the parking map. Contact me individually if you have a conflict or you need financial support to attend. If you have questions that are more general, and would be of benefit […]
Shout out: Clowns without Borders
OK, so when my sister told me she was going to South Africa as part of a “Clowns without Borders” group, I was a little skeptical. (Doctors, I get. Clowns?) Here’s a short documentary about their work. I’m posting it because it seems to relate both to Language Arts (storytelling) and Social Studies (oral history).
In the news: Reflections on leveled texts (Flashback to EDU 320)
I came across this blog post the other day as I was poking around, looking for more information on leveled texts. The line that struck me was: “Background knowledge is a bigger predictor of reading comprehension than reading level.” I’ll be curious to hear what you observe in your kindergarten and elementary placements: Are leveled […]