Robin Talkowski’s Blog: Reading & Technology

My students are working on analyzing characters as part of our fiction unit. They have been focusing on three elements as they examine how authors build characters: physical appearance, what characters say and what characters do. We used avatars to examine how small changes in eyes, eyebrows, and mouths can powerfully impact the inferences we [...]

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I hate writing sub plans.  What makes sub plans so hard is that I want to continue moving the curriculum forward even when I am not present.  However, sometimes I just don’t feel well enough to think creatively.  Discovery Education provides a great resource for these times.  In reaction to the anticipated H1N1 epidemic last [...]

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As a fan of TweenTribune for my middle school students, I am happy to report that a similar site is now available for teens.  TeenTribune is composed of news articles on topics of interest to teenagers and may be a bit longer than those for their younger counterparts.  This is a great way to get [...]

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Ever year I puzzle over how to teach all the things I want my students to learn. I seek ways to teach indirectly through exposure or to incorporate teaching/learning into multiple activities. This year I decided to write some class guidelines and policies by using idioms. Almost all my students remember the Amelia Bedelia books [...]

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Our culture frequently alludes to phrases, plot segments, and themes from literature, fairy tales, and movies.  Students who do not possess the needed background knowledge for these allusions are unable to comprehend what is meant.  References such as “looking for the golden egg” or “Toto, we aren’t in Kansas anymore” are puzzling if one doesn’t [...]

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The Awesome Highlighter website provides a quick and easy way to highlight text you find on-line.  There are different color options for highlighting.  This enables you to consistently highlight the main idea in blue, for example, supporting details in yellow, areas of confusion in green, etc.  You can export your highlighting for later discussion of [...]

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I use visual media to introduce my students to many important reading skills.   Norman Rockwell helps me assess students’ ability to identify the main idea and then teach it.  Working with the American Film Institute’s  curriculum, The Door Scene, helps students visualize what they are reading as well as analyze how author’s create close-ups or [...]

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Recently, I was viewing Glogsters that have been publicly shared using the new categorization system.  I found one submitted by shend5 that I wanted to share.  S/he used glogster to share various story making and story telling resources.  I loved that the resources can be shared on one page in a visually pleasing manner.

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I love to read.  However, almost all of the students that I teach report that the last thing they would choose to do is read a book.  While this topic frequently results in friendly teasing and banter because my students can’t believe I read books all the time as well as listen to books in [...]

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Poetry intimidates me.  Perhaps my intimidation arises from the fact that I am a reading specialist who came to the field not from a study of English but from the field of Psychology.  I always fear that poetry holds some deeper meaning that I am just not insightful enough to see.  Having said this, poetry [...]

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