Summer Learning

Most people might know ReadWriteThink.org as a collection of resources for teachers and students--and we are, so that is a good thing! But we are also a resource for parents/guardians/after school providers and kids (my distinction here being the not-so-scientific classification that a student is a kid who is in school--like actually in the school building doing school-based stuff).

We have these resources stored in an aptly named Parent & Afterschool section(which we typically call P&AS; I mention this because I will be using that initialism throughout the post). If you are a teacher, you should share these with parents. Especially the summer initiatives. We had one last year, Bright Ideas for Summer, for which Becky coordinated having some P&AS activities written/altered to fit a summer theme. And that is still up, still available, and still completely awesome for helping kids beat the Summer Slide (the "slide" backwards in progress that happens over summer when kids are no longer engaged in learning activities).

This year, little more of the same and little bit of something different. We have some new activities and some re-vamped activities come at you. BUT we spruced up the whole package this year.

Have you heard of We Give Books? They provide free books online for kids to read. Awesome, right? Of course! Free books over summer! That amazing!

And we've partnered up with them. We have ten P&AS activities in the works being that are being specifically written to accompany a book that will be provided for free from We Give Books. Each activity   uses of one ReadWriteThink.org's interactives to engage kids after reading the book, to keep them thinking and learning and having fun.

The books are free. The interactives are free. The learning that can be achieved? Priceless.

I'll be adding a link to the resources when they go live. You can also keep an eye on our Summer Learning board on Pinterest. I've pinned the Bright Ideas info; I'll be pinning the We Give Books stuff as it becomes available. The whole thing launches mid June, so we are closing in.

And that is what we have coming for Summer Learning!

Wes

What Happened to April?

Wow. I lost a whole month!

Usually in April I am blogging about the International Reading Association's annual conference, and how ReadWriteThink is hosting sessions there. And where I'll be so you can come see me.

Alas, I failed. We went to San Antonio, we spoke to the teachers, we had an in-person team meeting. And I got a cowboy hat. And Becky laughed at me.

Here's a way to show this in a graphic representation:

I'm not the only one who fits in the center, though.

Whoa! Look at that! A Venn diagram!

Yes, that's right, after talking about it for a few months now, we have our new Venn Diagram interactive live on the site.

The iPad and Android versions are in production and (fingers crossed!) will be out by the end of May, maybe June.

We have a list of our interactives we are trying to turn in to apps for tablets (to avoid the whole Flash-does-not-run-on-iOS-systems issue) as well as list of interactives to be updated with the work saver. I'll get into more detail with those once we have deadlines and designer approval for our ideas and workplan.

If it all comes together, it will be very exciting.

Next time, I'm going to go in to our summer plans for this year. It's pretty cool, and we are very excited by the partnership we were able to strike up for this project.

But for now, all you get--other than the handy link to the new Venn Diagram interactive--is a picture of me photo-bombing some poor conference attendees. Don't worry, they totally got another picture without me in it.

Wes

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

Guest Blog on Reading Rainbow

I'm going to keep this week simple: Today we have guest blog post up on the Reading Rainbow blog. It is an aptly times poetry post--aptly due to today being Valentine's day. Had I been more prepared, I'd have made a Valentine's Day poem to post here.

Instead, I'll just say you should go read that blog post instead. Lisa spearheaded the venture and Becky edited it. So it will be a refreshing change in that it wasn't written by me.

And I'm still planning on getting Becky to write a blog post here, but she's been busy.

Wes

Welcome to 2013

Welcome to 2013! We've been here a while now, but still, welcome.

Here at the RWT collective (since we don't have a specific headquarters), we are trying to sort out the year's projects. We have a lot of cool stuff in the works, but its always a puzzle to figure out what we will work on and what might not make it.

For instance, we recently had a survey about making a mobile version of the site. The survey was pretty informative and, I think, will help us make improvements to the main site--but it wasn't overall convincing that we should do the remote site. At least not yet.

Instead, we're going to try to make more of our interactives mobile friendly. That seems to be the direction we need to go.

That's a change we hadn't anticipated at the beginning of the year.

Other times, things just pop up unexpected. Just today, I got asked if I would like to attend the SoMIRAC Conference in Maryland in April--not just attend, but to do a session. Pretty cool getting the request, but it adds something on to my list of projects, and it's right before the IRA annual convention. Time Crunch!

I'm also on interactive/app duty (whichever direction we decide to go), which means coming up with an idea and writing specs.

Anyone out there have any ideas for me?

Next week, I'm going to go more into what sort of content and lessons we are seeking to add to the site to help bulk up some areas we see need improvement...or I'll get someone else to do it. I keep saying this is a joint blag thing, and then doing all the blogging myself.

Wes

10 Years of ReadWriteThink

In 2012, ReadWriteThink.org celebrated 10 years of supporting educators and providing resources to teachers, parents, and students. And we're proud to say that 2012 was our best year ever, shattering the 18 million visits mark!

ReadWriteThink.org keeps getting bigger and better, and as new theory and technology arise in the world of literacy education, we grow and change and adapt so that we can provide innovative materials and resources to the teachers and students who need them most.

We expanded on the number of student interactives that feature our work saver program, and massively updated and improved upon some of our most popular interactives, the Cube Creator, Trading Card Creator, and Printing Press.

Our largest project in 2012, by far, was the release of our first education apps for iPad tablet devices, our Trading Card and Word Mover mobile apps. These two were our pioneer projects into mobile technology, and by no means our last offerings in this realm.

This past year was a challenge, but a fun one for us at ReadWriteThink.org, and our success and popularity has us excited for opportunities in 2013. We'd like to thank you, our users, for making the site so widely used and so well loved. We couldn't have done it without you, and as always, your comments and feedback are appreciated.

Thanks for a great 2012!

-The RWT Team