Subject: Cross-curricular Competencies of Thinking, Identity and Interdependence, Literacies, and Social Responsibility that will “strengthen and enrich students’ present learning and future lives.” Saskatchewan Education, 1988

Grade: Not applicable (special needs student)

Theme: Social Interactions

Competency Focus: Strategies that can help a student with ASD manage stress levels, and as a result, social interactions

Ms. Berkowitz and Coleytown Middle School students prepare for a class discussion comparing the tone/theme of two different poems by systematically breaking down the individual poems using the SIFT method (symbolism, imagery, figurative language, tone/theme). Working independently, students identify examples of the first three components before making decisions about the overall tone and theme of the work. In small groups, students then discuss their findings and compare elements of the two poems. Ms. Berkowitz transitions to a larger class discussion by focusing on the differing tone and theme found in the poems and sharing how literary elements contribute to understanding the tone/theme.

Ms. Schaefer leads her 12th grade ELA students through a critical analysis of Atul Gawandes 'The Case of the Red Leg' through careful sequencing of questions.Initial questions ask students to react to the content of the text, forming and justifying their own opinions or perspective. This allows a maximum number of students to access the content and increases participation in the discussion. Questions then address the broader meaning of the text, using students understanding of the content to develop meaning and consider alternative points of view. Finally, questions focus on the style of writing and how stylistic elements contribute to the meaning found in the text.Structuring questions systematically gives students a tool for analyzing literature apart from the classroom so that their analysis is not dependent on teacher facilitation. Explicitly teaching students how to question is just as important as the analysis.

The Building Literacy with Technology in Elementary guide provides articles, samples, and lessons to find new ideas and approaches to engage learners in building skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

In the Building Literacy with Technology in Elementary guide you will explore:
- Ways to get students making in language arts,
- Take a creative approach to student work with informational text,
- How to motivate students by creating their own comics, cartoons, and graphic novels.

The guide includes lesson plans where students:
- Design a new cover for a book they are reading to demonstrate comprehension and explore character, plot, setting, symbolism, and conflict.
- Create a digital scrapbook that showcases the viewpoint of the main character of a novel.
- Illustrate and translate the meaning of an idiom to help others learn these examples of figurative language.
- Write and produce an animated tall tale about a famous person.
- Explore character, plot, and theme and learn to write persuasively as they develop a movie-style trailer for a book they have read.
- Learn and practice persuasive writing and presentation skills.
- Personify an object and write a story as part of an online book or animated adventure.
- Analyze verse and explore meaning by creating a visual poem.

These articles, lessons, and strategies engage students through creative technology to maximize student literacy skills.

The Building Literacy with Technology in Primary guide provides articles, samples, and lessons to find new ideas and approaches to engage your students in building skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

In the Building Literacy with Technology in Primary guide you will explore:
- Engaging new readers and writers with creative technologies
- Using digital storytelling in the primary classroom
- Inspiring every student to be an author

The guide includes lesson plans where students:
- Explore initial sounds through the creation of a classroom ABC book.
- Learn to write using alliteration and create illustrations that support and reflect their writing.
- Practice writing and illustrating as they create a page in your class’s adaptation of their favorite pattern story.
- Write a letter to their parents, or classroom teacher, to persuade them to get a new pet, supporting their opinion with reasons and examples.
- Research an animal and create a riddle to showcase their knowledge and engage other students in the natural world.
- Create a book review on a card or 3D cube to help others choose books they will enjoy.
- Learn about the haiku poetry form and write and illustrate their own haiku poems.
- Write how-to stories about getting ready for school and publish them to share with their families and to use at home.

These articles, lessons, and strategies engage students through creative technology to maximize student literacy skills.

Third grade teacher, Lori Sinclair, seeks the advice of instructional expert, Jim Knight, in an effort to improve classroom management and maximize student engagement.Lori and Jim analyze her daily procedures and routines and uncover three important takeaways that contribute to the positive culture of her classroom. A morning meeting helps Lori gauge studentsŐ state of mind and gives students an opportunity to ÔdecompressŐ before they focus on learning. Additional opportunities for student self-reflection also provide Ms. Sinclair with important information before proceeding with the lesson.Specific procedures and clear expectations, practiced consistently, contribute to smooth transitions, high student engagement and allow Lori to maximize her instructional minutes. All of this is tied together by a high ratio of positive to negative interactions that Lori purposely creates throughout the day. This positive feedback helps to create a safe environment and communicates expectations to students consistently.

Teacher Erik Odom from The East Bronx Academy incorporates real-world learning through the use of technology. Students consider ideas to promote their school using social networking and web design. They learn how to produce, publish, and update writing products based on research and feedback that parallels activities in the work place. Decision making and understanding the importance of how information is presented are two key ideas as Mr. Odom prepares his students for college and career readiness.

Student choice and differentiated learning are facilitated through the use of a learning menu that allows students to choose from structured, tiered tasks that demonstrate understanding of West African culture.Students choose three tasks that are structured as appetizers, entrees and desserts. Each appetizer addresses specific literacy skills while also allowing students to explore and investigate the content. The entree provides for deeper understanding and requires students to organize information within a given structure such as a graphic organizer, outline, website or brochure. Dessert tasks serve as an overview or summary of the content and wrap up student learning for a given chapter or section.

New York City middle school teacher Gordon Van Owen involves students in an interesting process of preparing, delivering, and analyzing speeches. Students study selected text from a nursery rhyme as part of their preparation and are then recorded as they recite their script creating a class collection of speeches. The final part of the lesson focuses on having students use a rubric to critically analyze both their peers delivery and their own. Using podcasting as the delivery method allows students to hear themselves and to focus on objective analysis by separating the giving of the speech from the analysis of the speech.

Ms. Patterson and Ms. Denis, high school ELA teachers at the East Bronx Academy for the Future, find a creative way to engage students and deepen their understanding as they study Edgar Allan Poes ŇThe BellsÓ. After reading the poem, student groups work to identify the literary devices used by the author and to identify elements such as mood and theme.Students look for inspiration from Poes written words and design a series of movements that will express the poem in the form of dance.

Looking for connections to their classroom learning, students examine current event articles and engage in discussion that helps them understand how the science they are learning is evidenced in the work completed by scientists in these articles.The lesson incorporates language arts concepts as students identify 3 key ideas, summarize these ideas in their own words and then practice paraphrasing in a short sentence or phrase by writing a tweet about the article. As part of the analysis, Dr. Cortright seeks to make the current events relevant and highlight important ideas from their classroom, such as measurement and experimental controls, so that students see how their own lives and learning are connected to these current events.