Robin Talkowski’s Blog: Reading & Technology

A STAR of the Discovery Educator Network with a focus on reading instruction and technology

Robin Talkowski’s Blog: Reading & Technology

Traveling the Middle Lane

February 8th, 2012 · No Comments · Traveling the Middle Lane

An occasional post about what it is like teaching middle school students.

“Read the Word” – Really?
While one of my colleagues was working with a student on an activity that asks a student to read words when various letters are switched around, her attention wandered for a moment. She moved letter tiles around asking the student to read “hop”, then “shop”, “chop”, “chip”, “ship”. The student read each one quickly and accurately, so she wondered why he hesitated and did not read the last word.
“Read the word,” the teacher said.
“You want me to read it?” the student asked.
“Yes, read the word.” the teacher emphasized.
Then she looked down and saw what she had done. Instead of turning “ship” into “shin”, she had substituted the letter “p” with the letter “t” She had spelled out “shi_”!

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Communicating from Afar

February 4th, 2012 · No Comments · reading and technology

Last year in the middle of teaching my poetry unit, I needed to be absent very frequently. Teaching a subject without textbooks presents a unique dilemma for educators. How do you keep students learning and motivated? One of the resources that I used was Symbaloo. Symbaloo allowed me to put many of my resources in one place – from Unit objectives to Lesson Plans to audio and video resources to the final unit project. Not only was this organization helpful to me, but it allowed my substitute to quickly see what needed to be accomplished. Students loved the visual aspect of the sight as well! It is a great resource to check out.

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Journeys Taken … Journeys Lived

January 14th, 2012 · No Comments · Professional Learning Community

I have taken some interesting journeys in my life … some are trips that are pure enjoyment; others are intellectually and/or culturally enriching; others are life-changing. Outward Bound tested my physical limits and my fear of heights. My trip to China challenged me to eat pigeon and find my way out of a large park when all the signs were in Chinese. Integrating technology into my teaching resulted in my placing myself outside my comfort zone, feeling totally incompetent, and finding a group of committed, energetic, and supportive educators through Discovery Education’s DEN.

There are some journeys one just lives. They are all consuming. Having children launches one onto a new path filled with unimaginable joys, happiness, and terror. Last February I was launched onto a new path in my life journey that I never desired. I was diagnosed with breast cancer. While I have never shared really personal things on my reading and technology blog, I wanted to “set the scene” for how technology helped me continue teaching through some very debilitating treatments. I was determined that my illness was not going to define me nor completely derail what I had worked to help my students accomplish for half a school year. Yes, I missed a lot of school, but technology resources helped me help the learning continue. However, it was not technology alone. My colleagues, family, and friends provided me unlimited support and care. Fellow educators throughout the world provided ideas, resources, and lesson plans on so many sites. They did the thinking and planning for me when I was unable. Thank you!

In future blog entries, I will outline some of resources I used to help the work continue.

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Vocabulary Spelling City Updates

September 5th, 2011 · 1 Comment · reading and technology

I love it when good web sites continue to get better! When I first started using Spelling City, it was already great – you were able to create a spelling list for your students, and they could choose a number of games to practice their words. Fun and Learning – what could be better?

From a teacher’s perspective, it became a lot better. Spelling City became Vocabulary Spelling City. Now you can work on word meanings as well as correct spelling. You can even import spelling lists that others have created. I use parts of a spelling program called Words Their Way. Someone else had already created spelling lists for all of Words Their Way lists, so with a click or two I imported all these lists saving me tons of time. For a small cost you can also get the Premium Edition. The Premium Edition has many great features. Some of my favorites are having students take spelling pre- and post- tests on-line so no paper is needed. You can see which words students miss on the pre-test, so direct instruction can be targeted to specific needs. You can also assign students specific word lists and activities. Plus, you can log on and see if students actually logged on to Vocabulary Spelling City AND tell how long they remained on each activity. Last year my 7th grade students were really surprised when I told them how long they spent on their vocabulary homework! It helped greatly to keep students accountable. The Premium Edition also enables the teacher to create groups and assign different spelling/vocabulary lists to different groups. Differentiation could not be easier.

Students also like Vocabulary Spelling City because it provides a quick and easy way to learn vocabulary words and spell them accurately. Word Search and Hang Mouse are two of their favorite activities.

I’ve been given a premium membership to VocabularySpellingCity.com for a candid, personal, online review.

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My Writing is a Horror

April 24th, 2011 · 1 Comment · reading and technology

This morning I read about about the web site, I Write Like, on Dean Mantz’ post on the National DEN blog. The idea was intriguing … and easy enough. Paste in a couple of paragraphs of your writing, press submit, and presto! You will have an analysis of your writing telling you what published author your submission resembles.

Deciding which blog entry I was going to submit was a little like the anticipation I feel when I buy a lottery ticket. I might win if I choose this number … or maybe I should choose another one. In this case, I was thinking if I choose this blog entry maybe my writing will be like Nora Ephron … or even Erma Bombeck. (I suffer from believing I am funny.) I had no hope that my writing would resemble a literary genius! But no, I am a doppleganger for Stephen King! Hey, not so bad … he is a prolific writer, very wealthy, and a New Englander. The idea that he writes horror did put me off a bit. So I decided to submit different blog entries again, and again, and again. I was finally convinced there was consistency, and I was no Stephen King. Instead my writing consistently resembled, H.P. Lovecraft. H.P. Lovecraft? I have never heard of this person, but a click away showed me Lovecraft is another prolific writer … of HORROR stories! I guess my fate is sealed. My writing is a horror.

Aside from the fun of choosing writing to submit, and wondering what famous author I resemble, the real educational work can now begin. By analyzing a given author’s writing, I can determine in what way my writing resembles theirs. Is it sentence structure? Vocabulary choices? Organization patterns? This process provides many educational opportunities for students: motivation, analysis, and re-writes to try to mimic an admired writer. I think that is called mentor texts.

I write like
H. P. Lovecraft

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

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Reading Flash Mob

March 2nd, 2011 · No Comments · reading and technology

A friend of mine, Paula Marini, recently posted this on the Massachusetts DEN blog. I liked it so much I wanted to share it as well.

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Learning Vocabulary with Pictures

February 27th, 2011 · No Comments · reading and technology

A great vocabulary positively impacts reading comprehension. I enjoy having students develop and film skits that illustrate the meaning of vocabulary words and how they are used. However, there is just not enough time in the day or year to develop skits for many vocabulary terms. Drawing pictures or finding pictures to illustrate words and jog students’ memories can also serve as an effective learning aid. There are some good websites that help the process.

Quizlet helps you create on-line flash cards (that can be printed). You can upload an image to illustrate a word or search through Flickr to find an appropriate one.

Shahi is a visual dictionary that defines terms and provides different images to help illustrate the term.  Flickr, Google, and Yahoo are sources that can be chosen for images.

Literacyhead provides a unique way for teaching reading and vocabulary.  This site integrates art in all it does.  Vocabulary words are chosen from picture books.  These words are defined, sentences using the words are provided, and multiple images to illustrate the word.  To obtain full access to the site’s archives, there is a fee; however, you can access the current issue and follow Literacyhead on Facebook or Twitter.

Wordnik includes it all:  definitions, examples of the word in context, possible Flickr images, and the etymology.

Weboword uses its own word list.  It shares the word, its definition, a picture sketch illustrating an example, and then provides the word in context.  I use this site as inspiration for my students to create their own picture skit for words for which they are responsible.

Vocabahead uses common SAT/ACT words, shows a picture, and provides an audio script explaining the picture and how the vocabulary word is used in this context.

These are just a few great websites that helps the learner increase their vocabulary by employing a visual connection to the words.

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Traveling the Middle Lane

February 18th, 2011 · 1 Comment · education issues, Traveling the Middle Lane

“Oh, my!” “I could never do that!” “God Bless You!”
These are just a few of the typical comments I receive when I tell others I teach middle school students. Each age in life has some unique qualities, and I guess Middle School is no different. I love teaching Middle School – I think the students enjoy or maybe “tolerate” the unique qualities or quirks of their teachers just as much as teachers enjoy the uniqueness of their students. As a way of having a little fun, I thought I would periodically share anecdotes about my students’ comments and comments my colleagues share with me. Just in case we ever fool ourselves into thinking our students are truly thinking about the content we are teaching, these comments keep us honest. So … here’s a taste of the view from the Middle Lane.

In the middle of a phonics lesson:

Student to a female teacher: Do you think that substitute with the beard shampoos it?

Teacher’s inner thought: How would I know?  Oh no, should I check my chin more thoroughly?

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Make My Day

February 13th, 2011 · 1 Comment · education issues

As my students enter the classroom each day, posted on the Smartboard, they see the purpose of our lesson, a “Do Now,” and the class agenda. However, on Friday, I fell short and nothing was posted. As I stood in the hall waiting for the bell to ring so I could leave hall duty and enter my class, the sounds emanating from my class were a bit louder than usual. It was clear that without the usual structure, the class was a bit unruly. As soon as the bell rang, I stepped into a QUIET classroom. Every single student was in their seat reading a Newsweek article on anorexia that they found on the table (which just happened to be our work for the day)! Now, I know the students were quietly reading as a joke. They thought it would be funny for me to find them all reading. Funny and wonderful … their joke made my day!

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How did I remember those song lyrics? Music and Memory

February 4th, 2011 · No Comments · reading and technology, reading and the brain

Flocabulary – Five Things (Elements of a Short Story) from Flocabulary on Vimeo.

Have you ever heard your favorite song from high school days play on the radio, and you realize you remember all the lyrics? How is that possible? Music can enhance memory. Must be why we learned the Alphabet Song before we really understood what the alphabet was.  How about prepositions?  Did you learn the preposition song?  The power of helping students learn by incorporating music is an effective strategy and finding new sources a great treat.

Flocabulary Hip-Hop in the Classroom sells a vocabulary program using rap songs to help students remember the words and their meanings.  However, they also offer some free songs.  When I wanted my students to remember the five elements of a short story – character, conflict, plot, theme, setting, we used one of Flocabulary‘s raps.  We repeated them, sang them, and danced to them – fun and learning!  Not only did every student remember these elements during our study of fiction, but they recall them even now, a few months later.  They remember them in the order they learned them from the rap and recite them to the same beat.

How about The Pit and the Pendulum or the week’s major news stories in rap?  It is available.  They have science and social studies topics.  I also plan on checking out their instructional book to help students develop their own raps on topics of their choice.

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