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Welcome!

This is the page with the links and electronic versions of all handouts for our session together on March 19, 2010.

Tools for assistance in selecting appropriate reading material.
Calculating readability "on the fly" with a student. Choose a few passages that are 175 words long from your textbook. Have a student read one or two of these selections aloud to you and time their reading. The student should be able to read HS level text aloud at a rate of around 175 WPM to successfully read the text to learn content without intervention. For silent reading, students should be able to read around 250 WPM; however, this is harder to assess quickly.


 * = Number of Words ||= Time to read in seconds. ||= Appropriate for this HS student? ||
 * = 175 ||= < 60 seconds ||= yes ||
 * = 175 ||= 60 ||= yes ||
 * = 175 ||= 60-75 ||= maybe ||
 * = 175 ||= >75 ||= no ||

Microsoft Word--calculate the readability and grade level of text. An online text leveling tool Scholastic page that finds similar books at the reading level you need. Why might we not want students to start with wikipedia? Link for making extra text disappear. Download Helper. Don't put this on at school, put it on your home computer and use it to download videos at home via YouTube, save them to a flash drive, and show them at school from the drive.

Tools for enhancing initial reading comprehension (what to do before and during initial reading).
Non technology: Front-load vocabulary, graphic organizers, word sorts, concept sorts. You Tube (seriously) and iTunes. Use these to create emotional resonance and open neural pathways for students as well as provide additional background information. Read the Words: Free text to speech converter. The quality is pretty good, but not something that would be enjoyable for an extended listen. The sound files can be downloaded as mp3s. Readability is a site that "quiets" the noise of the material surrounding the text.

Tools for deepening reading comprehension
Interrupted summaries. Diigo allows students to "mark" electronic texts. Survey students for basic understanding using Google Forms or PollEverywhere. Wordle (and its fun too!)

Tools that encourage students to reflect on what they read and learn:
Comics! There are several sites. I like to let students choose which one appeals to them. Pixton, Toonlet, and Comic Creator (not my favorite). You can also download Comic Life for a 30 day free trial. Ning discussion groups Science example A group blog kept by an AP Environmental Science class. Concept mapping with tools like Mindmeister. Relational thinking--can students describe key concepts best using pictures instead of words? Here's an example NOT to share with them. Consider setting up a class wiki.

Tools that improve student writing.
More tricks with Microsoft Word Concept mapping with tools like Mindmeister. Essay Map--an online tool that guides students through the formal writing process. Limited in format to the 5 paragraph essay

Other useful links
Audacity, a free, open source cross-platform sound editor. Lame, the encoder that allows you to convert Audacity files to more portable formats (e.g. mp3) Vermont Social Studies Teacher Ning. The English Companion Ning for English Teachers Jing Project (a free screencasting tool) .