First, my complaint:  I don’t like the direction that reading instruction has taken in this country, moving as it has toward lock-step teaching of phonemic awareness, incessant teaching of reading comprehension ”skills” (e.g. finding the main idea, making inferences etc.), and ”close reading” strategies (where the child is restricted to just what is in the...Read More

I’m getting fed up with the term ”data-driven instruction” that I keep hearing and reading about in the educational media.  To help articulate exactly why the word conjures up such a disagreeable sensation in my gut, I’ve listed seven reasons why the word should be stricken from every educator’s vocabulary. ”Data-driven instruction” is a term...Read More

When I was a kid I used to enjoy Mad Magazine, which I loved for many reasons, the irreverence, the hilarity, the satire, and more. One feature that I remember in particular involved cartoons that spelled out nonsense words as sound effects. For example:  ”Glomp!” “Flaaack!” ”Pffft!” ”Sproing!” (above – a page from Mad with...Read More

I always remember a radio ad that began:  ”People Judge You By the Words You Use” which promoted its own vocabulary development program. However, you don’t need to pay for an elaborate video or audio program or workbooks and texts.  Instead, here are eight simple ways that you can use to enlarge your vocabulary.  They...Read More

The Common Core has made the learning of frequently used academic vocabulary words a top priority in their focus on creating standards in the public schools.   It follows then that finding just the right instructional strategies to teach these words is an important task for K-12 teachers.  Here is an 8-step strategic plan based...Read More