What are we looking for?

I thought a good post today would be to describe what we (and by we I mean the acquisition editors of ReadWriteThink, which is not me at all) are looking for in new lessons and strategy guides. Your proposal--which is always preferred as first submission--is much more likely to garner a request for a full-lesson submission if you follow the topics/themes I am about to share with you.

Lucky you, to have the inside scoop!

Mobile

We are looking to expand our lessons that deal with using mobile technology (smart phones, tablets, and other wi-fi connected devices) in the classroom. These lessons should use mobile technology in an interesting and innovative way, taking advantage of the capabilities of the device rather than using it simply as an alternative to a desktop computer. The key things to consider: how mobile allows students to interact with others, how mobile tools make a task easier, and what product students can create with a mobile device (camera, video/audio recorder).

STEM

We currently are focusing on STEM based lessons that use the various facets of literacy within a real-world problem. For a lesson to be considered STEM, it cannot just have a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics component, but must fully use the problem-solving mindset of the discipline within a literary context.

  

Common Core

Although many lessons on ReadWriteThink.org can be adapted to fit the common core requirements, we are looking for lessons that specifically address the required skills highlighted in the CCSS document. Specially we are looking for lessons for the early grades (K-5) on writing that align to the CCSS (such as opinion/persuasive pieces, which are at the 3^rd and 4^th grade level). I know we have a few people working on lessons that focus on “reading” others forms of non-paper media, but I think lessons on this topic would still be appreciated.

Now, those are the topics, but there are some other considerations that always help get a lesson accepted, such as if the lesson is connected to pre-existing ReadWriteThink resources such as our interactives, apps, and print-outs.

We also try to make sure every lesson is innovated; if a lesson is similar to another lesson, the major difference being it uses a different book or RWT resource, it will likely be rejected. We believe that no lesson should be tied to single resource; the major tenets of the lesson should be able to be adapted as the classroom teacher sees fit--change the book, use a different interactive, have a different output from students. The lesson should hold up to these changes.

And there you have it! A little helpful information on what we're looking for!

Oh, I guess I should tell you how to contribute. You can fill out this for and you'll hear back from a rep from NCTE or IRA--which would be me, by the way, you lucky person you!

And I'll also use this space to confirm that, yes, lesson authors are paid a stipend upon successful publication of the lesson--this being after internal review, blind peer review, and copy editing.

Hope that helps!

Wes

Thanks, Dr. Seuss!

How's everyone doing today?

Good, good.

Me? Oh, I'm fine. First day of March--Read Across America Day. Good day. I celebrated with a little Dr. Seuss. Another look at Tweetle Beetles, which I believe we discussed around this time last year. Ah, I was talking about international poetry day that time.

And I cannot agree with John Lithgow more. The man is a genius. Thanks, Dr. Seuss! What you provided for the youth of yesteryear will resonate for decades to come.

My cohort Becky and I were discussing some favorite Seussian moments over the cubical wall after my Tweetle Beetle reading. Lines we still remember and can quote.

Sure we know Sam I Am and his oddly colored culinary offerings or the Lorax and his ability to converse for the otherwise silent fauna, but our recollections turned to other works such as the lessons we learned from the Sneetches on the beaches. And how to be brave, or at least, how to try:

"I said, 'I do not fear those pants.
With nobody inside them.'
I said, and said, and said those words.
I said them. But I lied them."

I'm glad to say that Dr. Seuss has not been lost in a gap of generations. I have some very young in-laws, and a couple years ago, I won over a wary 4 year old with a reading from The Cat in the Hat.

I had pulled out the book--which is prominently displayed with a dozen other Dr. Seuss books in my in-laws' living room--for my own entertainment. The book was fairly beaten up from decades of repeated use (which in book terms means love); no doubt it belonged to my wife way back when. No sooner did I have book in hand then I had child in lap--a child who was often shy/reserved/frightened around me. I hadn't expected a companion in my return to a childhood memory, but undaunted our hero (me) plunged onward.

I'm not used to reading aloud, and particularly not to children. Dr Seuss, however, dances off the tongue (well, except Fox in Socks and Oh Say Can You Say, which don't so much as dance as wrestle). I read that book, even discussed some of the themes and reflected up the plot, and followed with the Cat's return before we were called to dinner. I've been in Lily's good graces ever since.

But Dr. Seuss is more than childhood memories; his works have marked several milestones in my life. Like many of my friends and acquaintances, I have an unbattered copy of Oh the Places You'll Go with words of encouragement, pride, and love written on the inside cover from my parents. It was given to me upon my graduation from highschool. An appropriate token and wonderful sentiment.

Dr. Seuss had long been a part of my life. His works helped me to read and helped me to love reading. Truly a noble gift to give any person, and the Dr. gave it to so many. He will always have my thanks and admiration.

Wes