Best+Practices+in+English+Language+Arts

Purpose of Article: ** The article gives recommendations on best practices when teaching reading and writing to students. The article has a list of instructional strategies that will both increase and decrease student achievement in reading and writing. Strategies That Increase Student Achievement in Reading: **  -  Use strategies that activate prior knowledge  -  Help students make and test predictions  -  Structure help during reading  -  Provide after-reading applications  -  Help student chose their own topics and goals for improvement  -  Use brief teacher-student conferences  -  Teach students to review their own progress  -  Establish real purposes for writing and student involvement in tasks  -  Give instruction in and support for all stages of the writing process  -  Prewriting, drafting, revision, and editing  ·  Model writing for students to demonstrate the process and be a fellow author  ·  Teach grammar and mechanics in context, during editing, and as items are needed  ·  Write and publish for the class and/or the wider communities; real world and audiences  ·  Make a classroom that is supportive for shared learning  -  Active exchange and valuing of students’ ideas  -  Collaborative small-group work <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'"> -  Conferences and peer critiquing that makes the students responsible for improvement <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Use writing across the curriculum as a tool for learning <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Use constructive and efficient evaluation that includes: <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'"> -  Brief informal responses as students work <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'"> -  Thorough grading of just a few of student-selected, polished pieces <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'"> -  Focus on a few errors at a time <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'"> -  Cumulative view of growth and self-evaluation <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Vladimir Script'"> -  Encourage risk taking and honest expression
 * "Best Practice in English Language Arts"** By: Steven Zemelman, Harvey Daniels, and Arthur Hyde
 * Read aloud to students
 * Give students time for independent reading
 * Allow students to chose their own reading materials
 * Expose students to a diverse and rich range of literature
 * Teachers should discuss and model their own reading process
 * The primary instructional emphasis should be on comprehension
 * Teach reading as a process
 * Use social, collaborative activities that include a lot of discussion and interaction
 * Group students by interests or book choices
 * Follow silent reading with discussions
 * Teach various skill within the context of whole and meaningful literature
 * Write before and after reading
 * Encourage invented spelling in student’s early writing
 * Use reading in all content fields (literature can apply to Math and Science as it does English or History)
 * Measure the success of a class reading program by the students’ reading habits, attitudes, and comprehension
 * Strategies That Increase Student Achievement in Writing: **
 * Student ownership and responsibility
 * Allow class time spent on writing whole, original pieces

To read the original article, please follow this link: [|Best Practice.pdf]