Tag: english

How to Use Social Media to Strengthen Student Writing

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This post was originally published on Edutopia. When Advancement Placement and The National Writing Project surveyed teachers regarding social media use in the classroom, they found that 78% agree (26% strongly agree) that digital technologies “encourage student creativity and personal expression”. Digital tools of course give access to social media, which is a powerful outlet … Continue reading How to Use Social Media to Strengthen Student Writing

Strategies to Help Build Relationships with English Language Learners

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This post was originally published on Edutopia.  rap·port a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other's feelings or ideas and communicate well. My first day teaching an ELL class, I walked in and was very confident that it was going to be the best class ever. After all, … Continue reading Strategies to Help Build Relationships with English Language Learners

Critical Thinking & Textual Analysis: an example

~ Rusul Alrubail ~ 2 Comments

This is an example that accompanies my Edutopia blog post, Teaching Literary Analysis. Remember that the questions posed and the answers provided should be worked out as part of a process. Students can have many different answers, but the teacher should facilitate questions throughout the process that encourage critical thinking.   Choose a topic: Character: … Continue reading Critical Thinking & Textual Analysis: an example

3 Activities to Try with your English Language Learners

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This post was originally published on Edutopia.  Back-to-school is upon many of us, I say many of us because in Canada we don’t start school until September. However, many of my US colleagues are preparing to be back next week or are already back in the classroom! The first week of school is often so … Continue reading 3 Activities to Try with your English Language Learners

Strategies for Reading Non-Fiction with ELL

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Being an English Language Learner in a mainstream classroom can be a very overwhelming experience for the student. Often, my English Language Learners need extra help when it comes to reading non-fiction articles in the class. Modifying the reading assignment is the first step, but there are times when it’s hard to modify an assignment … Continue reading Strategies for Reading Non-Fiction with ELL

Teaching Literary Analysis

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Previously published on Edutopia. Literary analysis is a vital stage in the development of students' critical thinking skills. Bloom's Taxonomy illustrates that analysis should come at the fourth level, right after comprehension and application. What this means is that students must be able to understand and describe the text before they are able to analyze … Continue reading Teaching Literary Analysis

Empathy & Inclusion for ELL Students

~ Rusul Alrubail ~ 1 Comment

Previously published on Edutopia. Being an English Language Learner in the classroom can be a very overwhelming experience for students regardless of age. It’s important for educators to build an atmosphere that fosters a safe and empathetic environment for ELL students. Being an ELL student myself in grade 5 was very overwhelming experience in the … Continue reading Empathy & Inclusion for ELL Students