Online Resources for Literary Works for Middle and High School

Image: Serkan Özkaya, Proletarier Aller Länder, 2011. Published on Words without Borders

1. Words without Borders Magazine

An amazing resource.  This magazine publishes short fiction and nonfiction from various authors across the globe. It has been publishing since 2003 and all of the literary work is available online and organized by year and issue.  The September 2003 issue featured writing from North Korea.  You'll want to spend some time searching the archives.

2. Classic Short Stories
Huffington Post has 13 excellent stories linked to this post.  My favorite to teach is "Symbols and Signs" by Vladimir Nabokov.  

3. Kelly Gallagher's article of the week
I enjoy the articles he assigns to his students.  They are contemporary.  Here is a link to the archived articles.

4. Links to some short stories:

High School

Idolatry by Sherman Alexie
Bread by Margaret Atwood
Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby by Donald Barthelme
The School 'by Donald Barthelme
Snow by Ann Beattie
Major Maybe by Ann Beattie
Catch the Moon by  Judith Ortiz Cofer
The Cheater's Guide to Love by Junot Diaz
Monstro by Junot Diaz
Miss Lora by Junot Diaz
The Eyes Have It by Philip K. Dick
Black Box by Jennifer Egan
Accident by Dave Eggers
John Redding Goes to Sea by Zora Neale Hurston
When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine by Jhumpa Lahiri

Year's End by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. LeGuin
Through the Tunnel  by Doris Lessing
Tuesday 
Siesta by
 Gabriel
 García
 Márquez
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings byGabriel
 García
 Márquez
Cinderella's Stepsisters by Toni Morrison (Essay)
The Bear Came Over the Mountain by Alice Munro
An Astrologer's Day by R.K. Narayan
Wants by Grace Paley
Pumpkins by Francine Prose
In the South by Salman Rushdie 
Embassy of Cambodia by Zadie Smith 
Oliver’s Evolution by John Updike

Middle School

Snow by Julia Alvarez

American History  by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Eleven by Sandra Cisneros
Thank You M'am by Langston Hughes
The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones by Stephen Leacock
The Wife's Story by Ursula K. LeGuin
Boys Without Names by Kashmira Sheth (novel)

The School Play by Gary Soto

Seventh Grade by Gary Soto
La Bamba by Gary Soto
The Jacket by Gary SotoThe Night the Ghost Got In by James Thurber

5. Links to Ray Bradbury stories: A Sound of Thunder,  All Summer in a Day,  The Happiness Machine, The Veldt, The Pedestrian, There Will Come Soft Rains, The Murderer, The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, 

6.  Next Generation Press (non-profit):  These excerpts are from the book, Hip Deep: Opinion, Essay, and Vision from American Teenagers.  Brief writings by teens for teens. This is an interesting press and features teens voices from across the globe. FORTY-CENT TIP: Stories of New York City Immigrant Workers are texts written by NYC teens from three high schools. You can preview the entire book here.

7. Narrative Magazine Since 2003, this online magazine has been publishing literature online. An extensive archive can be searched. This is a favorite site.

Grammar and Vocabulary Resources for Middle School ELA Teachers

from here. 

In the last month, I have been asked by several middle school ELA teachers for professional text recommendations that they can read in order to strengthen their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar.  Below are books and articles that I have found most helpful.Curious what you think and what additions you might add.


Articles - Grammar

Anderson, Jeff. (2006). Zooming in and zooming out: Putting grammar in context into context. English Journal, 95(5), 28-34. 

Ehrenworth, Mary. (2003). Grammar--comma--a beginning. English Journal, (1), 90-96.

Fearn, Leif & Nancy Farnan. (2007). When is a verb? Using functional grammar to teach writing. Journal of Basic Writing, 26(1), 63-87.

Graham, S., Capizzi, A., Harris, K. R., Hebert, M., & Murphy, P. (2014). Teaching writing to middle school students- A national survey. Reading & Writing- An Interdisciplinary Journal, 27, 1015–1042.

Nunan, Susan Losee. (2005). Forgiving Ourselves and Forging Ahead: Teaching Grammar in a New Millennium. English Journal, 94(4), 70-75.

Saddler, Bruce. (2006). Improving sentences via sentence combining instruction. The Language and Literacy Spectrum, 16, 27-32.

Smagorinsky,Peter,  Wilson, Amy Alexandra and Cynthia Moore. (2011). Teaching grammar and writing: A Beginning teacher's dilemma. English Education, 43(3), 262-292

Weaver, Constance, Carol McNally & Sharon Moerman. (2001). To grammar or not to grammar: That is NOT the question! Voices in the Middle, 8(2), 17-33

Books & Chapters
Grammar

Crovitz, Darren & Michelle D. Devereaux. (2017). Grammar To Get Things Done: A Practical Guide for Teachers Anchored in Real-World Usage. Urbana IL: NCTE & NY: Routledge.

Noden, Harry. (2011). Image grammar: Teaching grammar as part of t e writing process, 2nd ed. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Pinker, Steven. (2014).  "Telling Right from Wrong: How to Make Sense of the Rules of Correct Grammar, Word Choice, and Punctuation." from The Sense of Style. New York: Penguin.

Sadler, Bruce & Kristie Asaro-Sadler. (2010). Writing better sentences: Sentence-Combining instruction in the classroom. Preventing School Failure, 54(3), 159–163.

Strunk, William, Jr. (1999). The Elements of Style, 4th ed. Pearson. (free ebook)

Weaver,  Constance. (1996). Teaching grammar in context. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Weaver, Constance. (2008). Grammar to enrich & enhance writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Williams, James D. (2005). The Teacher's Grammar Book, 2nd Ed.  Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. (pdf of book)

Zinsser, William. (2016) On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. New York: Harpers. 


Vocabulary Articles

Baumann, James F. & Michael Graves. (2010). What is academic vocabulary? Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(1), 4-12.

Blachowicz, Camille L.Z., Fisher, Peter J.L., and Donna Ogle. (2006). Vocabulary: Questions from the classroom. Reading Research Quarterly, (41)4, 524-539.

Bromley, Karen. (2007). Nine things every teacher should know about words and vocabulary instruction. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(7), 528-537.

Fang, Zhihui. (2007). The language demands of science reading in middle school. International Journal of Science Education, 28(5). 491-520. 

Flanigan, Kevin & Scott Greenwood.(2007). Effective content vocabulary instruction in the middle: Matching students, purposes, words, and strategies.Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(3), 226-238

Flanigan, Kevin, Templeton, Shane & Latisha Hayes. (2012). What's in a word? Using content vocabulary to generate growth in general academic vocabulary knowledge. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(2), 132-140. 

Kieffer, Michael & Noinie K. Lesaux. (2007). Breaking Down Words to Build

Meaning: Morphology, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension in the Urban Classroom. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 61(2), 134-144. 

Lesaux, Nonie K., Kieffer, Michael J. & S. Elisabeth Faller. (2010). The Effectiveness and Ease of Implementation of an Academic Vocabulary Intervention for Linguistically Diverse Students in Urban Middle Schools. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(2), 196–228.

Nagy, William & Dianna. Townsend. (2012). Words as tools: Learning academic vocabulary as language acquisition. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(1), 91-108.

Snow, C., Lawrence, J.F., & White, C. (2009). Generating knowledge of academic language among urban middle school students. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2(4), 325-344.

Swanson, Elizabeth, Jeanne Wanzek, Lisa McCulley, Stephanie Stillman-Spisak,

Sharon Vaughn, Deborah Simmons, Melissa Fogarty & Angela Hairrell. (2015). Literacy and Text Reading in Middle and High School Social Studies and English Language Arts Classrooms.  Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 1-24.

Vocabulary Books

Rasinski, Tim, Padak, Nancy, Newton, Rick M. and Evangeline Newton. (2008). Greek and Latin Roots: Keys to Building Vocabulary. Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Education

Robb, Laura. (2014).  Vocabulary is Comprehension: Getting to the Root of Text Complexity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Literacy. 

80+ Novels in Verse for Grades 7 - 12

(Note: You may find this post interesting too: 60 Novels in Verse for Grades 3-8)

Late Middle School/High School: Grades 7 - 10 

1. Alexander, Kwame. (2014). The Crossover. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
2. Bingham, Kelly. (2013). Formerly Shark Girl. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
3. Bingham, Kelly. (2007). Shark Girl. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
4. Bodger, Holly. (2015). 5 to 1. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. 
5. Brown, Skila. (2014). Caminar. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
6. Burg, Ann E. (2012). All the Broken Pieces. New York: Scholastic.
7. Cheng, Andrea. (2013). Etched in Clay, The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet. New York: Lee and Low Books.
8. Clark, Kristin Elizabeth. (2013). Freakboy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
9. Dean, Carolee. (2013). Forget Me Not. New York: Simon Pulse.
10. Engle, Margarita. (2014). Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
11. Engle, Margarita. (2013). The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
12. Engle, Margarita. (2011). Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck  New York: Henry Holt.
13. Engle, Margarita. (2010). The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom. New York: Square Fish.
14. Engle, Margarita. (2010). The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba. New York: Henry Holt.
15. Engle, Margarita. (2009). Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. New York: Henry Holt.
16. Frank, Lucy. (2014). Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling. New York: Schwartz & Wade.
17. Frost, Helen. (2014). Crossing Stones. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
18. Frost, Helen. (2014). Keesha's House. New York: Square Fish.
19. Frost, Helen. (2006).  The Braid. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
20. Grimes, Nikki. (2011). A Girl Named Mister. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
21. Grimes, Nikki. (2010). Dark Sons. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
22. Hemphill, Stephanie. (2012). Sisters of Glass. New York: Knopf.
23. Herrick, Steven. (2014). The Simple Gift. St Lucia, Qld: University of Queensland Press.
24. Kehoe, Stasia Ward. (2014). The Sound of Letting Go. New York: Viking.
25. Kehoe, Stasia Ward.  (2011). Audition. New York: Viking.
26. Koertge, Ron. (2013). Coaltown Jesus. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
27. Koertge, Ron. (2006). Shakespeare Bats Cleanup. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
28. Myers, Walter Dean. (2009). Amiri and Odette: A Love Story. Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. New York: Scholastic Press.
29. Nelson, Marilyn. (2014). How I Discovered Poetry. New York: Dial.
30. Neri, G. (2007). Chess Rumble. New York: Lee & Low Books.
31. Philips, Linda Vigen. (2014). Crazy. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.
32. Porter, Pamela. (2013). I'll Be Watching. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.
33. Porter, Pamela. (2007). The Crazy Man. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.
34. Richards, Jame. (2011). Three Rivers Rising. New York: Ember. 
35. Testa, Maria. (2007). Something About America. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
36. Testa, Maria. (2005). Becoming Joe DiMaggio. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
37. Thompson, Holly. (2013). The Language Inside. New York: Delacorte Books for Young Readers. 
38. Venkatraman, Padma. (2014). A Time to Dance. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books.
39. Walwrath, Dana. (2014). Like Water on Stone. New York: Delacorte Press.
40. Weatherford, Carole Boston. (2008). Becoming Billie Holiday. Honesdale, PA: WordSong.
41. Weber, Lori. (2011). Yellow Mini. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
42. Wiviott, Meg. (2015). Paper Hearts. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.
43. Wolff, Virginia Euwer. (2011). This Full House. New York: Square Fish.
44. Wolff, Virginia Euwer. (2002). True Believer. New York: Square Fish.
45. Wolff, Virginia Euwer. (1993/2006). Make Lemonade. New York: Square Fish.
46. Wong, Joyce Lee. (2007). Seeing Emily. New York: Abrams.

High School Grade Grade 10 - Adult

1. Adoff, Jaime. (2009). The Death of Jayson Porter.  New York: Jump at the Sun.
2. Barlow, Toby. (2009). Sharp Teeth. New York: Harper.
3. Block, Francesca Lia. (2006). Psyche in a Dress. New York: Joanna Cotler Books.
4. Cameron, Emma. (2013). Out of This Place. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
5. Castillo, Ana. (2005). Watercolor Women/Opaque Men. Curbstone Books,
6. Crowe, Chris. (2014). Death Coming Up the Hill. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
7. Farish, Terry. (2012). The Good Braider. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall cavendish.
8. Fullerton, Alma. (2007). Walking on Glass. New York: HarperTeen.
9. Grimes, Nikki. (2011). A Girl Named Mister. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
10. Hemphill, Stephanie. (2013). Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials. New York: Balzer & Bray.
11. Hemphill, Stephanie. (2013). Hideous Love: The Story of the Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein. New York: Balzer & Bray.
12. Hemphill, Stephanie. (2008). Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath. New York: Random House.
13. Herrera, Juan Felipe. (2011). Skate Fate. New York: HarperCollins.
14. Herrera, Juan Felipe. (1999). CrashBoomLove: A Novel in Verse. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. 
15. Herrick, Steven. (2013). Love, Ghosts, & Facial Hairs. New York: Simon Pulse.
16. Herrick, Steven. (2007). The Wolf. Atlanta, GA: Front Street.
17. Hopkins, Ellen. (2014). Rumble. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. 
18. Hopkins, Ellen. (2014). Tilt. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. 
19. Hopkins. Ellen. (2008). Impulse. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. 
20. Hopkins. Ellen. (2006). Crank. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. 
21. Leavitt, Martine. (2014). My Book of Life By Angel. New York: Squarefish.
22. Levithan, David. (2004). The Realm of Possibility. New York: Borzoi Book.
23. Little, Melanie. (2009). The Apprentice's Masterpiece: A Story of Medieval Spain. New York: Annick Press.
24. Luján, Jorge. (2010). Brunhilda and the Ring. Illustrated by Linda Wolfsgruber. Translated by Hugh Hazelton. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.
25. Mass, Wendy. (2008). Heaven Looks a Lot Like a Mall. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 
26. McCall, Guadalupe Garcia. (2013). Under the Mesquite. New York: Lee & Low Books.
27. McCormick,  Patricia. (2008). Sold. New York: Disney-Hyperion.
28. Myers, Walter Dean. (2007). Street Love. New York: Amistad.
29. Newman, Leslea.  (2012). October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
30. Ostlere, Cathy. (2012). Karma: First Edition. New York: Razorbill.
31. Rosenberg, Liz. (2002). 17: A Novel in Prose Poems. Cricket Books.
32. Schroeder, Lisa. (2010) Chasing Brooklyn. New York: Simon Pulse.
33. Schultz, Philip. (2014). The Wherewithal: A Novel in Verse. New York: W.W. Norton.
34. Sones, Soya. (2013). What My Mother Doesn't Know. New York: Simon & Schuster.
35. Tregay, Sarah. (2012). Love & Leftovers. New York: Katherine Tegen Books
36. Wild, Margaret. (2004). Jinx. New York: Simon Pulse.
37. Wolf, Allan. (2011). The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
38. Wolf, Allan. (2007). Zane's Trace. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

60+ Novels In Verse for Grades 3 - 8

Intermediate Level: Grade 3 - 5

1. Bauer, Marion Dane. (2013). Little Dog, Lost. Illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
2. Creech, Sharon. (2010). Hate that Cat. New York: HarperCollins.
3. Creech, Sharon. (2001). Love that Dog. New York: HarperCollins.
4. Elliot, Zetta. (2008). Bird. Illustrated by Shadra Strickland. New York: Lee & Low Books.
5. Engle, Margarita. (2014). Mountain Dog. Illustrated by Aleksey & Olga Ivanov. New York: Square Fish.
6. Grimes, Nikki. (2013). Words with Wings. Honesdale, PA: WordSong.
7. Havill, Juanita. (2011). Grow: A Novel in Verse. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.
8. Kurtz, Jane. (2007). River Friendly, River Wild. Illustrated by Neil Brennan. New York: Aladdin.
9. Mutén, Burleigh. (2014). Miss Emily. Illustrated by Matt Phelan. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
10. Sonnichsen, A.L. ((2015). Red Butterfly. Illustrated by Amy June Bates. New York: Simon & Schuster.
11. Spinelli, Eileen. (2014). Another Day as Emily. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers.
12. Spinelli, Eileen. (2011). The Dancing Pancake. New York: Yearling.
13. Sternberg, Julie. (2011). Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie. Illustrated by Matthew Cordell. New York: Harry N. Abrams. (Part of a series... for younger audiences as well).
14. Weston, Robert Paul. (2014). Prince Puggly of Spud and the Kingdom of Spiff. New York: Razorbill.
15. Weston, Robert Paul. (2010). Zorgamazoo. New York: Razorbill.
16. Williams, Vera B. (2004). Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart. New York: Greenwillow.
17. Wissinger, Tamera Will. (2013). Gone Fishing. Illustrated by Matthew Cordell. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.

Middle School: Grade 5-8

1. Alexander, Kwame. (2014). The Crossover. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
2. Applegate, Katherine. (2008).  Home of the Brave. New York: Square Fish
3. Brown, Susan Taylor. (2006). Hugging the Rock. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.
4. Bryant, Jen. (2010). Kaleidoscope Eyes. New York: Yearling.
5. Bryant, Jen. (2009). Ringside, 1925. New York: Yearling.
6. Bryant, Jen. (2009). Pieces of Georgia. New York: Yearling.
7. Bryant, Jen. (2005). The Trial. New York: Yearling.
8. Burg, Ann E. (2013). Serafina's Promise. New York: Scholastic.
9. Calhoun, Dia. (2012). After the River the Sun. Illustrated by Kate Slater. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
10. Calhoun, Dia. (2012). Eva of the Farm. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 
11. Cheng, Andrea. (2013). Etched in Clay, The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet. New York: Lee and Low Books.
12. Cheng, Andrea. (2009). Brushing Mom's Hair. Illustrated by Nicole Wong. Atlanta, GA: Front Street.
13. Crossan, Sarah. (2013). The Weight of Water.  London, UK: Bloomsbury.
14. Crowder, Melanie. (2015). Audacity. New York: Philomel.
15. Engle, Margarita. (2014). The Wild Book. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
16. Frost, Helen. (2015). Hidden. New York: Square Fish.
17. Frost, Helen. (2014). Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
18. Frost, Helen.  (2004). Spinning Through the Universe: A Novel in Poems from Room 214. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
19. Fullerton, Alma. (2008). Libertad. Markham ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside.
20. Glenn, Mel. (1999). Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?: A Mystery in Poems.  New York: Puffin.
21. Glenn, Mel. (1997). Jump Ball: A Basketball Season in Poems.  New York: Dutton Books for Young Readers.
22. Grimes, Nikki. (2011). Planet Middle School. New York: Bloomsbury.
23. Grimes, Nikki. (2008). The Road to Paris. New York: Puffin.
24. Grimes, Nikki. (2003). Bronx Masquerade. New York: Speak.
25. Hesse, Karen. (2003). Witness. New York: Scholastic.
26. Hesse, Karen (1998). Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic.
27. Howe, James. (2012). Addie on the Inside. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
28. Lai, Thanhha. (2011). Inside Out and Back Again.  New York: HarperCollins.
29. LeZotte, Ann Clare. (2008). T4: A Novel. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.
30. McKissack, Patricia. (2011). Never Forgotten. Illustrated by Leo Dillon an Diane Dillon. New York: Schwartz & Wade. 
31. Nagai, Mariko. (2014). Dust of Eden. Chicago, IL: Albert Whitman & Company
32. Neri, G. (2007). Chess Rumble. New York: Lee & Low Books.
33. Pinkney, Andrea Davis. (2014). The Red Pencil.  Illustrated by Shane Evans. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 
34. Rose, Caroline Starr. (2014). May B. New York: Yearling.
35. Rosen, Michael. (2012). Running with Trains: A Novel in Poetry and Two Voices. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong.
36. Rosenthal, Betsy W. (2013). Looking for Me...in this Great Big Family. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers.
37. Smith, Hope Anita. (2011).  The Way a Door Closes. Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. New York: Henry Holt.
38. Smith, Hope Anita. (2008).  Keeping the Night Watch.  Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. New York: Henry Holt.
39. Testa, Maria. (2007). Almost Forever. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
40. Timberlake, Amy. (2013). One Came Home. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers.
41. Woodson, Jacqueline. (2014). Brown Girl Dreaming. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books.
42. Woodson, Jacqueline. (2010).  Peace, Locomotion. New York: Speak.
43. Woodson, Jacqueline. (2010). Locomotion. New York: Speak.
44. Yeung, Russell Ching. (2009). Tofu Quilt. New York: Lee & Low Books. 

iPad Apps for Middle School Literacy Project

I will be working with a school who is instituting a one-to-one iPad project with seventh graders in January.  I am considering recommending apps from the list below. I am asking what you think about the selection, as well as any additional apps you think are essential that are not on my list or ones on the list you would not recommend. 

Thanks. I am so much smarter with your help:)

Mary Ann


Art Making, Creating/Remixing and Photography
100Cameras (1.99)
Animation Creator (1.99)
Camera + (.99)
Comic Life (4.99)
Downcasts (Free)
Garage Band (4.99)
Hipstamatic (1.99)
iMovie (4.99)
iPhoto (4.99)
iStop Motion for iPad (9.99)
iTalk Premium (1.99)
Instagram (Free)
Learnist (Free)
Photo Collage Creator (Free)
SketchBook Pro (2.99)
Synchronous Camera (Free)
Videolicious (Free)

Audio /Video/Written Text for Consumption
Amazon Instant Video (Free)
iBooks (Free)
Kindle (Free)
Netflix (Free)
Pandora (Free)
Stitcher (Free)

Communication and Assisted Learning
Dragon Dictation (Free)
Speak it! Text to Speech (1.99)

Tap to Talk (Free)
Tiny Vox Pro (Free)

Content-Related Apps/Books/Literary Works
Alice in New York (3.99)
City Blossoms (1.99)
Constitution (Free)
Declaration of Independence (Free)
Free Books - 23, 469 Classics To Go (Free)
Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War (4.99)
Gettysburg (.99)
Google Earth (Free)
Greek Gods (Free)
Here On Earth (11.99)
History 3D - Civil War (1.99)
iPoe, Vol. 1 (3.99)
iPoe, Vol. 2 (3.99)
Literary Analysis Guide (3.99)
My Congress (Free)
Our Choice:  A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis (4.99)
Poetry Creator (Free)
Science 360 (Free)
Shakespeare in Bits: A Midsummer Night's Dream (14.99)
Shakespeare in Bits: Romeo and Juliet (14.99)
Star Walk (2.99)
The Elements: A Visual Exploration (13.99)
Word Mover (Free)
Writing Prompts (1.99)

News/Public Radio
Flipboard (Free)
NPR for iPad (Free)
This American Life (2.99)
This I Believe (.99) or This I Believe Podcast (Free)

Productivity
Doodlecast Pro (3.99)
Dropbox (Free)
Evernote (Free)
GoodReader (4.99)
Google (Free)
JotNot Scanner (.99)
Keynote (9.99)
MindNode (9.99)
Noteshelf (5.99)
Numbers (9.99)
Pages (9.99)
Paper by Fifty-Three (Free)
Pearltrees (Free)
Prezi Viewer (Free)
QR Reader (Free)
Show Me Interactive Whiteboard (Free)
Sticky Notes (Free)

Reference
Google Earth (Free)
iTunes U (Free)
WolframAlpha (3.99)

Social Media
Skype (Free)
Twitter (Free)

Teaching Argumentative Writing

These are slides for a presentation I will be doing tomorrow with middle school teachers in Newark, NJ focusing on teaching argumentative reading and writing.

Teaching Argumentative Writing from Mary Ann Reilly / Blueprints for Learning, Inc.

Coming 2 Know Readers vs Relying on Lexile Levels

from Lexile Website

Now it may simply be a lot of coincidences, but something is very wrong.  During the last few days I have had the opportunity to confer with scores of middle school youngsters about themselves, their reading habits, the texts they read/avoid/abandon, and to listen to them read aloud passages from self selected texts.  Like most work of this sort, it has been eye opening.  One oddity that has arisen is connected to lexile scores that have been generated based on student performance on Scholastic's SRI Interactive, a computer based reading test. What I have noticed is that so many of the students' lexile scores are significantly lower than what I am seeing as I sit alongside each learner.  For example, one sixth grade boy had a score of 278, which would indicate he was reading like a first grader (see chart).

Because students are encouraged to read texts that correspond with their lexile test score, this student was rather challenged to find a book he actually liked.  I encouraged him to forget about the score and instead select a text based on a topic he might care about.  I can't recall the first book he selected, but he read sections of it aloud and discussed it with significant confidence and insight. As we worked together, I introduced him to Laurence Yep's Hiroshima and later to Saki's short story, "The Open Window." Needless to say, this is a sophisticated and rather talented young man. Next week, we will be reading Poe's "Tell Tale Heart" and also Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw." He has a thing for the macabre.

The difference between a learner reading a typical first grade book, such as Rylant's Henry and Mudge and one who can read and comprehend Saki is so incredibly vast that it leaves me a bit speechless.  Keep in mind that Henry & Mudge which has a 340 lexile level would have been above the student's 'reading level' according to the test results.

Here is a visual comparison from the opening of each text:

First Page from Henry & Mudge, Lexile 340

from The Open Window, Lexile 850

The Smarter Balance website has recommends the Saki story for 10th grade.

Word Count: 1214
Flesch-Kincaid: 7.3
Lexile: 850L, grade 4-5
This literary passage is recommended for use at grade 10. The  quantitative measures suggest a lower grade level, but the language, complexity of sentence structure, and setting in a  former time make this passage more appropriate for an older grade level.

More than half of the students I worked with demonstrated that they read much better than the single test suggested and there was another occasion where the difference between a student's actual performance and the test score was more than 7 years.  I have suggested to the teachers I worked with that sitting alongside a child and hearing him or her read aloud from a text they actually are enjoying and then discussing the text together yields the potential for significant insights.  It costs nothing additional to do this, can help to build community, and because it involves choice and performance, allows the teacher to build a more complex understanding of the learner, while affording the learner an occasion to deepen his/her metacognitive understanding.

The other potential problem with reliance on a computer generated 'reading level' is that some teachers and learners begin to doubt their own insights, especially if the test score is overly privileged.  Whereas it's wonderful to help students make appropriate text choices and a test score can in some cases be helpful, we should not lose sight that lexile levels at best hint at performance.  Prior knowledge, interest, confidence, and choice greatly influence how one reads.

My advice: sit alongside and come to know.

Guest Blog: Trail of Tears--A Concrete Poem by Katie (Grade 7)

This is an excellent concrete poem that a seventh grader from a pubic school in NJ wrote in response to a unit of study focusing on genocide. Katie's work came to me via her teacher, Rob Cohen (@rcohen54) and is published here with permission from the author and her mother. I was moved when I read it and thought it a fine example of transmediation: the mix in this case of word and image. 

I hope you will take a moment to post a response to Katie.



Katie's Introduction: Nature is a beautiful thing. This beauty is everywhere but it is always forgotten when a tragedy like genocide occurs. While creating a poem for a project on genocide, I wanted to highlight the scenery and the helpless creatures that witnessed the Trail of Tears, but had no understanding of the real actions being taken. The Native Americans also looked to the Spirits and found hope in animals and nature. I found that this was an important part of the genocide, even though it was not actually realized as that. It is an imperative for a culture to retain many of their traditions and lifestyles in spite of the hardships and tragedy of genocide.