Corben's Blog - Content Area Literacies for Middle Grades

One useful website I found, NSTA: National Science Teaching Association, offers a variety of links. Some of the links are interactive links. They are videos or CD’s that allow the students to watch, which in my opinion is more interesting to students. Watching allows the students to hear and see processes, for example, any kind of cycle, life, cell, reproductive. The students are allowed to see what physically happens during each of the cycles with the videos. With this link, you can narrow down the search to make the video more specific to the lesson. For example, I searched “cell reproduction” and selected “videos”. When I clicked search, multiple resources came up. This website is a good way to filter through the many other websites. Other links in the website are deeper articles that allows the students to have a better understanding of different topics. If a student learns better by reading articles, you could pull a link up and everyone in class could recite it aloud and in unis...

So, when did students forget how to read?  While reading this chapter I realized students never “forgot” how to read, some students just do not have the comprehension of others. Each student goes through life very differently. Some students explore the entire world, while others are not as privileged. The reading helped me to understand that even though a piece might be hard to read, with hints or clues it might be easier for the student to understand. Another helpful way to help students is to read along with them and help break down the topic. This would allow the students to learn the topic in detail, rather than be thrown in to a topic that is above their head. It would also help the students understanding if they asked questions about the reading. I also learned from the text that if the students were given their “Columbus Key”, it allows the student to have a full understanding to the whole idea of the text. The “Columbus Key” is a word or phrase that gives the idea be...

Hey Aria, I hope you enjoy watching this video. I did it outside, because being outside is very peaceful to me. I like to breathe the fresh air. I tried to turn the book at an angle so we could both see the pictures! I hope you enjoy. Sorry for the few stutters. Word Count: 53