Timothy G . Weih

The study took place in a laboratory school located in a Midwestern community with a population of about 100,000. The laboratory school was located on the campus of a comprehensive 4-year university. A university faculty member who was school-based taught a teacher education class within the laboratory school building. The impact of the course was examined through surveys administered to the laboratory school faculty who served as guest speakers, the university students enrolled in the course, and the laboratory school children who were involved in student teacher lessons. Data were analyzed using qualitative methodology. Results and implications for practice are discussed.

This article describes a research study that implemented literacy methods for the purpose of promoting reading comprehension with links to student writing through the practice of integrating reader response before, during, and following teacher read-alouds, and then extending the reader response into the composing process of student-created stories about Native Americans. The main question that guided the study was: How will the integration of direct instruction in story structure together with reader response to traditional literature influence children’s composition of self-created stories? Findings and classroom implications are discussed.

This article describes an investigation with a class of seventh graders to determine what impact the study of traditional literature would have on their narrative writing. The classroom teacher emphasized the narrative structure of the traditional literature genre by prompting his students to respond both orally and in writing with their thoughts about the settings, characters, plot development, and themes inherent in Native American Folktales. Following literature discussions, the seventh graders developed outlines for their individualized narrative stories representing Native American folklore using story maps. After the students developed four story maps each, they selected the one they liked the best and developed it into a complete narrative story. Qualitative data analysis employing the constant comparative method was employed to determine the study outcomes. The study findings and implications for literacy instruction are discussed.

Reading comprehension refers to elementary children’s levels of understandings of written text. Building on Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, & Krathwohl, 1956), children can understand text at various levels including the literal, inferential, application, and evaluation. When teachers build on the levels of reading comprehension, elementary students become engaged in discussions related to their understanding, which serve to increase their speaking proficiency in the English language as well as enhance their social construction of knowledge (Vygotsky, 1978).d evaluation.

Student-centered discussion strategies are described in this article in pursuance of insuring that ALL student voices have a chance to be heard in the classroom. Discussion strategies that are presented include the following: The 10 Second Rule, Think-Pair-Share, Quick Writes, Recorder-Reporter, and K-W-L.

Teaching intermediate grade children how to write means teaching them how to write the alphabetical letters, words, lists, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, narrative text, expository text, and writing mechanics (punctuation & grammar). Teaching writing for meaning is teaching children how to express their thoughts in writing, this is the content of their writing, hence, content writing. Teachers plan for and instruct their intermediate grade children to formulate and compose texts within the English language leading them to become proficient in English language fluency.

Student-centered discussion strategies are described in this article in pursuance of insuring that ALL student voices have a chance to be heard in the classroom. Discussion strategies that are presented include the following: The 10 Second Rule, Think-Pair-Share, Quick Writes, Recorder-Reporter, and K-W-L.

Every child’s development is unique. Although children develop through a generally predictable sequence of milestones, we cannot say exactly when a child will reach a specific stage of development.  Every child has his or her own timetable. Research has suggested that the best teaching takes into consideration children’s general developmental, cognitive, and social characteristics. In addition, developing effective literacy-based curriculum and instruction considers children’s likes, dislikes, cultures, families, and the communities in which they live and attend school. Learning these contextual factors will inform teachers in developing instructional decisions that will best serve the needs of their classroom children.

Teaching intermediate grade children how to write means teaching them how to write the alphabetical letters, words, lists, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, narrative text, expository text, and writing mechanics (punctuation & grammar). Teaching writing for meaning is teaching children how to express their thoughts in writing, this is the content of their writing, hence, content writing. Teachers plan for and instruct their intermediate grade children to formulate and compose texts within the English language leading them to become proficient in English language fluency.

Reading comprehension refers to elementary children’s levels of understandings of written text. Building on Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, & Krathwohl, 1956), children can understand text at various levels including the literal, inferential, application, and evaluation. When teachers build on the levels of reading comprehension, elementary students become engaged in discussions related to their understanding, which serve to increase their speaking proficiency in the English language as well as enhance their social construction of knowledge (Vygotsky, 1978).d evaluation.

This article covers teaching the meanings of words or vocabulary to students in grades 4-6 within a content literacy program, i.e., a program that includes instruction in reading, writing (which includes knowing how to apply the correct words when composing text), listening, speaking (which includes knowing how to apply the correct words when talking), viewing, and presenting INFUSED into the subject areas of science, social studies, math, language arts, and literature.

This article covers instruction in teaching intermediate grade elementary children how to be proficient in applying the English language arts, i.e., reading, writing, speaking, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension INFUSED into the content subject areas of science, social studies, math, language arts, and literature.

This article covers teaching how to say and write words, i.e., phonics and spelling, to intermediate grade, elementary students (4-6) within a content literacy program, meaning a program that includes instruction in reading, writing (which includes spelling), listening, speaking (which includes oral reading and discussion), viewing, and presenting INFUSED into the subject areas of science, social studies, math, language arts, and literature. Infusing Word Instruction into the Subject Areas Intermediate grade, elementary teachers teach their students how to say key words, i.e., words that represent important concepts and ideas in the content subject areas, and how to write key words accurately, i.e., spell words, through content literacy strategy lesson plans aimed at saying and writing words. These lesson plans are different than the ones aimed at learning vocabulary, which are more focused on learning word meanings, but that is not to say that the two cannot be taught in concert with each other. However, this article has a focus on teaching students how to say (orally speak) and write key words. Teaching how to say and Write key Words The best way that teachers can tell if their elementary students can read key words is to have them say those words aloud, and the best way teachers can tell if students know how to spell those key words is to have them write them. Teaching elementary students how to say words aloud involves teaching the phonics rules and principles (see Weih, 2015a), and teaching them how to write words involves teaching the rules and principles of spelling (see Weih, 2015a). This present article on how to teach students to say and write words is for the teaching of students in the intermediate elementary grades, who by most accounts, already know how to read words both orally and silently, and already know how to compose, or write text, and know foundational spelling rules and principles for writing many words accurately. Both these areas of instruction need to continue into the intermediate elementary grades in order for students to grow in their abilities of learning how to say and write key words. Following building the preliminary, prerequisite elementary literacy content and student skill development, teachers implement best practices for teaching intermediate grade students how to say and write key words from the content areas, some of which are covered in the following sections.

Schools can try many different programs aimed at improving student learning and behavior, but few of these programs will succeed without the secret ingredients. Peet Junior High is a school that knows what these secret ingredients are, and most, if not all, the administrators, faculty, and staff add these ingredients every day. My son Cade (a pseudonym) has just started his third and last year at Peet Junior High, and over the years, I have had multiple occasions to have contact with the school faculty and staff through picking Cade up from programs, attending conferences, emailing teachers, and talking to teachers and staff on the phone. Most of the contact has just been routine kinds of things that all parents do when they have a child in school; however, my professional and personal background and experiences have given me a level of discernment that many parents don't possess.

There are many programs that have been tried in middle schools for the sake of supporting students' academic and emotional success. While some programs have failed, and others have succeeded, it's a combination of programs, along with the loving, caring attitude of the administrators, faculty, and staff at the middle school that will work in harmony with each other that achieves the most success. This article presents an overview of programs and practices at Peet Junior High that have been successful in helping my son, who is in his third and last year at Peet Junior High (grades 7-9). Spring Orientation Spring orientation begins with a small group of teachers and counselors visiting the class of sixth graders who will be new seventh graders in the middle school in the coming fall. They give the students a brief overview of the middle school along with a question-answer period. This is followed up with a visit to the middle school, which is housed in a different building, and sixth graders are given a tour of the building along with meeting all the seventh-grade teachers, principals, and staff. BOOST The program known as Building Options and Opportunities for Students (BOOST) was a federally funded program aimed at late elementary, middle, and high school students who demonstrated academic success, but came from disadvantaged neighborhoods where they did not have the opportunity to fully develop their abilities. The overall goal was to help participating students gain admission into competitive middle and high schools. The current BOOST program at Peet Junior High has a completely different focus and agenda. It is a district sponsored program for incoming seventh graders. It occurs the week prior to the school starting in the fall, and it lasts for four, half days during which students, who have volunteered and registered for the program, experience what a mini-day in middle school will be like. They meet their classmates, teachers, counselors, and school administrators. They learn some fundamentals about the curriculum, how to organize their school work, and become familiar with classroom expectations. In addition, students learn the layout of the school building including where their lockers are and how to work their padlocks. ECHOES The program called Every Child Has the Opportunity to Excel and Succeed (ECHOES), was a federally funded after school tutoring program aimed at helping students who needed extra help understanding and completing work in academic subject areas as well as for students who needed a safe and secure environment during the afterschool hours. The program typically ran for three hours after school with the first one and a half hour being devoted to students who needed

Bullying is a type of violence inflicted upon an individual by another person or by a group of people. Bullies can be children, teenagers, young adults, middle age, or elderly. Many people are aware of the typical acts of bullying that include many of the following: outward, physical aggression, such as hitting, punching, shoving, and tripping which are all very easy to observe and substantiate. Bullying can also include outward verbal aggression such as name calling, yelling, and swearing. These behaviors are very easy to detect and have gotten a lot of recent attention in the media, schools, and workplaces. But there are other, more subtle behaviors of bullying that are harder to detect and have slipped by almost unnoticed for too long. This article discusses and describes subtle bullying as a form of violence inflicted upon a person by either an individual or a group of bullies. Facial Expressions The subtle bully can use her (or his) facial expressions to intimidate, demean, belittle, shame, and undermine (all forms of attack) the confidence of her target victim. These facial expressions usually take the form of eye rolling, staring, brow lowering, brow rising, head slightly shaking, or head tilting with brow raised. The subtle bully exhibits these behaviors either while the victim is talking or in reference to the victim when the bully is talking to him or about him to others. Tone of Voice The subtle bully can use her tone of voice to attack her victim. Sarcasm, used by the bully to ridicule, mock, scorn, and marginalize her victim, can take the more subtle form of a tone of voice rather than a more outward, obvious attack of specific, spoken damaging words. The subtle bully launches her attack on her intended victim not so much by the words that she says, but instead, by HOW she says them. Rather than allowing the sound of her voice to overtly reveal her emotions of contempt, hatred, and rage towards her victim through shouting, she tones her voice down to soft-sounding language with the undertones of corrosiveness, mordancy, and acerbity. Fake Tones of Warmth Another side to the subtle bully's tone of voice is that of mimicking kindness, warmth, caring, and flattery. The subtle bully makes her tone of voice and choice of words SOUND appealing and authentic; however, her underlying emotions for her victim having nothing to do with his well-being, but instead, have everything to do with what she wants him to do for HER, so she manipulates and lures her target victim into doing something that she wants him to do, or to appear to others that she cares for her victim.

Attention Grabbers have many benefits for both teachers and students. When taught and practiced correctly, teachers can feel more comfortable allowing students to enter into meaningful student-led discussions (see Weih, 2016) without feeling they might lose control of them and have to resort to shouting for the sake of regaining their attention. Moreover, teachers can implement Attention Grabbers as a transitional choral response strategy to let students know that they need to get ready for a different activity.

Teachers can help their students be prepared for today’s challenging work environment through the implementation of the instructional method of Digital Collaborative Literacy Teams, which is a method that provides students the opportunity to build not only their collaboration skills, but also their technology skills.

Beginning with the stories that all students have in their lives for teaching literacy promotes the idea to students that their lives are important, have meaning, and can be background knowledge for learning language in the elementary classroom.

This paper contains an instructional unit designed for teaching elementary students who struggle with reading comprehension. The literacy strategies that comprise the unit are grounded in the relevant research-based literature that is cited and referenced in the paper. Methods for instructional delivery are included as well as detailed lessons. Literacy strategy lessons were developed to connect fiction and non-fiction mentor texts with written responses. Discussion of multicultural literature is suggested as an engagement strategy to encourage voluntary summer reading. Student access to high-interest reading material as well as free-choice were major components affecting elementary students' reading development and growth during summer months.

The strategy of Magnetic Poems holds many benefits for students. Inherent in the student engagement of thinking, writing, reading, and discussing the content of the poems is the potential for students to increase their understandings, tolerance, and respect for the differences between themselves.

The strategy of Discovering Similarities holds many benefits for students. Not only will they become more aware of each other’s unique likes, they will learn about what things they have in common with each other. This information can lead to students developing a common, shared point of interest from which they will be able to talk about with each other thereby building social language skills. As students talk with each other, they will gain a sense of comfort that can lead to a deeper sense of seeing their classroom as a community in which they all belong. Moreover, they have learned to work together for a common goal and the collaborative skills that they acquired can now be transferred into more tasks requiring them to work together as a team.

One of the best reading fluency strategies to implement in the elementary classroom is Poetry for Multiple Voices (adapted from Lowe, 2002). This strategy involves literacy collaboration among small groups of elementary students as they negotiate the language and performance of student-modified poetry.

Reading fluency is a crucial ingredient of reading comprehension. Research has suggested that elementary students who are not reading within certain parameters of reading speed, accuracy, and expression, experience compromised understanding of what it is they are reading.

Student-centered discussion strategies are described in this article in pursuance of insuring that ALL student voices have a chance to be heard in the classroom. Discussion strategies that are presented include the following: The 10 Second Rule, Think-Pair-Share, Quick Writes, Recorder-Reporter, and K-W-L.

As elementary teachers close their classroom doors with their students inside, they experience this false sense of autonomy that speaks to them within their deep inner voice that whispers whatever they do, whatever they say, or whatever attitude they display through their nonverbal communication, ultimately, they will not be held accountable, because after all, they are the adults, and their classrooms are filled with children, who are easily fooled, easily deceived, and easily influenced.

I have professionally been working with children of all ages, from birth to 18, for over 35 years. Most children are easy to love and work with, but not all of them. There have been a few that I have struggled to like, let alone love. Usually these children challenged my authority, bullied other children, were lazy, and extremely dishonest. These were the personality traits that were the hardest for me to personally deal with in children.

Teachers have one of the most unusual careers in that they are perpetually in front of their audience, i.e., students, for their entire eight hour shift. Constantly being “on” can take a huge toll on a teacher’s health if he is not in training for this type of regime.

What happened to my son’s passion for learning, his overwhelming curiosity, and his constant drive to produce? These are questions that I’ve asked myself over the past 8 years of my son’s formal education beginning in Kindergarten at our community public school.

Elementary teachers are expected to be loving, kind, and caring towards children, however, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes teachers target a child and inflict emotional abuse, causing the child to react in anger, frustration, and experience feelings of worthlessness.

It’s a widely known fact that many new elementary teachers leave their jobs after only one year of teaching. A fact that isn’t widely known is that they leave because they were fired. Terminating a new teacher can be accomplished very quietly, without any notice or interventions by simply “not renewing” the teacher’s contract. In my almost 30 years as a teacher, I have seen many beginning teachers fired, and it wasn’t because they didn’t know how to teach, that’s very well covered in teacher education programs, no, they were fired because of their poor conduct and improprieties.