Resources for Teachers of Language Arts
In New Mexico
Borderlands Writing Project
High Desert Writing Project New Mexico Public Education Dept. Teach New Mexico Standards and TestingCommon Core Standards
New Mexico PED Common Core Resources PARCC (assessment consortium of which New Mexico is a member) Understanding Language (ELLs and the Common Core) Censorship
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Reading, Writing, Literature, and Language
American Memory (from the Library of Congress)
British Library: Learning Language and Literature English Companion Folger Shakespeare Library Glossary of Literary Terms Media Awareness Network NY Times Learning Network Poetry 180 (A Poem a Day for American High Schools) Poetry Foundation Poets.org (The Academy of American Poets) Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) Reading Rants: Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists ReadWriteThink Teaching Tolerance TeenReads Words Without Borders (Literature from around the world) |
The Book Shelf
By Cathy Intemann
Whenever I go to the library I wander through the new non-fiction section in hopes of finding something interesting, thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating. I regularly find something to add to my reading list. Here are eight books that I think are good reads for anyone interested in teaching language arts, literature, or just plain school. Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre. William B. Eerdmans, 2009. I bought myself a copy from Amazon. This is a beautifully written book that reminds us that we are stewards of words and shows us how to be the stewards. I think it would be a wonderful discussion guide for high school or college students. How to Read Literature Like a Professor: a Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster. Quill, 2003. Any good English teacher knows all of these tricks but the book really organizes the techniques and uses examples. Anyone who reads and loves good literature but stumbles over difficult language would benefit from and enjoy this book. I spotted this at Page One and checked it out from the library Biting the Wax Tadpole: Confession of a Language Fanatic, by Elizabeth Little. Spiegel and Grau, 2008. I found this gem just a few weeks ago. This book examines languages and discusses the beauty and complexity of languages from around the world. Letters to a Young Teacher by Jonathan Kozol (the long-time advocate for equality in education for all students.) Crown Publishers, 2007. I gave this to my beginning teacher daughter and she loved it. Every beginning teacher and for that matter oldie but goodies should savor this. Kozol is mindful of the challenges teachers face today but in the exchange of letters with a beginning teacher, he also shows hopefulness. Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry by Todd S. Farley. PoliPointPress: Distributed by Ingram Publisher Services, 2009. If you are interested in how tests are scored you will find this book frighteningly interesting. You may have already figured out you are not necessarily in good hands. Childhood Under Siege: How Big Business Targets Children by Joel Bakan. Free Press, 2011. This book examines the impact of advertising and all media on today’s youth. This is another book that is scary but the information is important. It would provide a good discussion springboard for high school and college students. Weapons of Mass Instruction: a Schoolteacher’s Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto. New Society, 2010. This is one that just makes you think about the state of American public education. You may or may not agree with the author’s very radical views but he certainly makes some valid points. Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher. Stenhouse, 2009. I suspect most of you may have read this but if you have missed it, get a copy. You might be inspired to sneak real reading back into your instruction! However, it is not in the Albuquerque library system. I have a few books I’m busy reading from my local library branch-Your Inner Fish-A Journey into the 3.56Billion-Year History of the Human Body and The Wizard and the Crow. As soon as I find another interesting book for English teachers, I’ll let you know. Gotta get reading! |
