The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Right to Read inquiry concluded that running records and reading level assessments have not been effective in identifying students who need additional support or in providing teachers with accurate information to guide instruction. We now know that there are more effective ways to understand student reading skills and ensure that students are receiving the instruction that they need. This handout highlights why reading levels should be reconsidered, and frames the who, what, when, and how of different purposes for assessment: screening, diagnostic, progress monitoring, and outcome evaluation.

This handout builds educator knowledge of effective assessment practices to support explicit and systematic instruction of foundational reading skills.

References:

Burns, M.K., Pulles, S.M., Maki, K.E., Kanive, R., Hodgson, J., Helman, L.A., McComas, J.J., & Preast, J.L. (2015). Accuracy of student performance while reading leveled books rated at their instructional level by a reading inventory. Journal of School Psychology, 53(6), 437 – 445.

Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2022). Right to read: Public inquiry into human rights issues affecting students with reading disabilities. https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report/introduction

Parker, D.C., Zaslofsky, A.F., Burns, M.K., Kanive, R., Hodgson, J., Scholin, S.E., & Klingbeil, D.A. (2015). A brief report of the diagnostic accuracy of oral reading fluency and reading inventory levels for reading failure risk among second- and third-grade students. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 31(1), 56 – 67.

Introducing your students to art is a great way to inspire, evoke curiosity, and encourage deeper conversations about the world around us. Remai Modern offers resources and activities specially designed for educators and students to help kickstart a lifelong appreciation and love of art. Remai Modern has two educational experiences for teachers to explore:

Select a Highlights Tour, featuring not-to-be-missed objects currently on view; or a Picasso Tour, with a focus on our collection of Picasso linocuts and ceramic works in historic and modern context.

Connecting exhibitions to curriculum needs of teachers and students, Remai Modern School Tours demonstrate that art crosses disciplines and is relevant to daily life.

In these tours, students can: Compare and contrast original works of art and build critical viewing skills,
Understand the ideas of a wide variety of professional historical and contemporary art/artists, Practice inquiry-based and hands-on learning, and Develop a lifelong appreciation for art.

Secondly, Book a Remai Modern Online Workshop!
Remai Modern’s online art workshops build on the success of the museum’s in-person programs for students. Workshops promote informal learning through viewing, discussing, and making art and create chances for students to better understand themselves, their peers, and their community.

You may request an online workshop booking here: https://www.experienceremaimodern.ca/educators

Questions? email: workshops@remaimodern.org

The publication Remembering the Children and this complementary educator’s guide
were designed to help students achieve the following goals:
• gain a more complex understanding of the history and reality of residential schools in Canada, recognizing that children who attended Residential
Schools, day schools, industrial schools and boarding schools had their own
unique experiences and that these experiences varied across the country and
across time
• gain an appreciation for Indigenous knowledge and the diversity of traditional
cultures, languages and teachings of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities
• understand the depth of loss that occurred as a result of the Residential
School system
• learn about contemporary people and organizations who are engaged in cultural revitalization efforts
• understand that they have an individual and collective role in reconciliation
Students and teachers all over Canada will be at different stages of learning. We hope
that the Remembering the Children publication and educator’s guide provide you
with content, resources, voices and ideas so that you can continue these important
conversations all year long.
With appreciation to all educators who are taking on this important work

This free course from Matt Miller of Ditch That Textbook examines the heart of what you need as an educator to move to remote learning.

"Remote Learning 101 is a FREE self-paced online course with lots of tips, ideas, resources and downloadable content to help YOU think through remote learning.

It includes:
• 14 modules on a variety of remote learning topics
• More than TWO HOURS of video instruction with me
• Downloadable planning guides to help you strategize
• A comment community with question prompts to engage in discussion
• Lifetime access"

All of the primary and secondary sources used in this unit of study are part of the body of survival literature created by the Cambodian diaspora. The pieces reflect both the endurance of Khmer individuals and Khmer culture under a long period of conflict. In Peter Kiang's work, he found that refugee stories of resilience were a focal point for "motivating forces for persistence" (234, Kiang) for Southeast Asian students facing the challenge of university studies. However, many of the adolescent Cambodian American students in Lowell's classrooms today do not know this story. Understandably, many of their parents or elders are not able to or choose not to share with their children the traumatic stories that caused their forced departure from Cambodia.

As a behavior-management tool, response effort seems like simple common sense: We engage less in behaviors that we find hard to accomplish. Teachers often forget, however, that response effort can be a useful part of a larger intervention plan. To put it simply, teachers can boost the chances that a student will take part in desired behaviors (e.g., completing homework or interacting appropriately with peers) by making these behaviors easy and convenient to take part in. However, if teachers want to reduce the frequency of a behavior (e.g., a child's running from the classroom), they can accomplish this by making the behavior more difficult to achieve (e.g., seating the child at the rear of the room, far from the classroom door).

« Dictionnaires, guides et outils en ligne sur la langue, la rédaction et la communication. »Si vous cherchez comment le dire en français, consultez l'OQLF!

This free guide from RetrievalPractice.org will help you understand retrieval practice and how to get the most out of it.

Just a few strategies include:
- Clickers or Colored Index Cards
- Bell Work or Exit Tickets
- Page Protectors with Dry Erase Markers

The package also offers a handy "RETRIEVAL PRACTICE IMPLEMENTATION CHECKLIST".

This one page poster is a great Revised Bloom's Taxonomy visual for students and teachers.

This playful phonological awareness activity to build rhyming skills using colors. Lots of fun for preschoolers and early readers!

If you’re looking for a way to teach your student/child to recognize rhyming words, try these free printable clip cards!

Learn to distinguish between different rhythms; includes a listening and reading aspect. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

"People have been eating rice for over 4,000 years. It originated in Southeast Asia, and Spanish explorers brought it to the West Indies at least 500 years ago. Today, 8,000 varieties of rice are grown throughout the world. About 15 varieties are grown in the U.S." (Who Belongs Here?: An American Story by Margy Burns Knight) Because we have a strong Southeast Asian student population in the Butler Middle School in Lowell, this unit will focus on Cambodia to drive the question: "What can we learn about rice from the Five Themes of Geography?"Each lesson will revolve around one of the five themes of geography (Location, Place, Region, Movement, and Human Environmental Interaction.) In the sixth lesson, students make cookbooks of rice recipes from Cambodia and other countries from our student population.

Amori wants to move her reading up a level so she'll be ready for more difficult material in 6th grade. Rick shows her how certain spellings can help her with pronunciation, an area shes been having trouble with.

By reading a short book aloud, Rick Kleine models for his students how their initial theories of character traits can change over time. Using peer discussion and class participation, the kids are engaged throughout, giving them what Rick hopes will be a life-long love of reading.

While students read silently in class, Rick has time to focus on individual students and their particular reading challenges. He works on vocabulary, comprehension and reading speed, using a variety of methods to help his students improve.

Rick Kleine structures his class with mini lessons, reading aloud, peer discussions and silent reading. He also speaks individually with his students, giving each a focused task for improvement to increase their comprehension and enjoyment, while making them better readers.

By conferring individually with his students, Rick Kleine gives out tasks tailored to their needs and reading goals. Because his students have differing abilities, he keeps track of each of their goals in order to follow up with them each day to monitor their progress.

This unit presents the earliest history of China, from the Neolithic period to the Shang dynasty, in order to introduce students to the development of "state level" (i.e. "civilized") societies.Two lesson plans and three student activities are presented here on-line; the full unit is available in the Primary Source library.Target grades: This unit of study was designed for students in grades four through seven. In several of the lessons, separate activities are provided for grades 4/5 from grades 6/7.Topics: geography, archeology, mythology, oracle bones, Chinese writing.