Posted inInstruction & Curriculum

Copying the Nation’s Founding Documents by Hand

There are different ways to become familiar with our nation’s founding documents: reading, memorizing, studying, reciting are a few. But in our keyboard- swipe-click-centered world, rewriting by hand is not one that immediately comes to mind. A story featured in the NYTimes The Constitution, By Hand (6/30/17) written by Morgan O’Hara explained her process for […]

Posted inCommon Core, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy

Celebrating the Genres in Anne Frank's Diary

 Anne Frank: The Diary of  Young Girl transcends the labels of genre.  Yes, as the title suggests, it is a diary, but it is also a memoir, a narrative, an argument, an expository journal, an informational text, and much more. Yet, these genres listed are treated as separate and distinct in the reading and writing standards of the Common Core (CCSS). The […]

Posted inCommon Core, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Literacy

Digital Writing Text: "Snow Fall-The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek"

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] The blizzard raging outside recalls the looping GIF of drifting snow that opens the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times feature story, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek.” As a model […]

Posted inCommon Core, Featured, From the Front Lines, High School, Instruction & Curriculum, Literacy, Social Studies

Informational Text for Social Studies or English: “The Perils of Indifference” by Elie Wiesel

By my calculations, at the mid-point of the school year, many World History classes are studying World War II. Should these classes want to increase their use of an informational text in English or Social Studies curriculum, I suggest Elie Wiesel’s noteworthy speech The Perils of Indifference. Wiesel delivered this speech to Congress on April 12, […]