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ELAR TEKS, then and now
The State Board of Education voted in late May to approve new English/Language Arts/Reading (ELAR) TEKS after much controversy and a struggle between board members and the education community. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released a chart comparing the ELAR TEKS currently in use, which were adopted
in 1997, with the new standards.
1997:
- Four strands: Listening and Speaking; Writing; Reading; and Viewing and Representing.
- Viewing and Representing a separate strand.
- Research embedded in both the Writing and Reading strands.
- Grammar and Conventions embedded in the Writing strand.
- Reading metacognitive comprehension skills embedded in Reading strand.
- Introduction addressed English Language Learners (ELLs).
2008:
- Five strands: Listening and Speaking; Writing; Reading; Oral and Written Conventions; and Research.
- Media Literacy embedded in the Reading strand.
- Research now a separate strand.
- Oral and Written conventions now a separate strand.
- Reading metacognitive comprehension skills removed from the body of the TEKS and placed in the introduction referring to a "figure" in the appendix.
- Delineation of the reading genres more precisely stated in the standards: poetry, drama, literary nonfiction, expository text, procedural text.
- Introduction amended to more fully address needs of ELLs.
Source: TEA
Virtual students cause real havoc
While most educators learn how to handle rowdy students once they get into the classroom, students at the University of Central Florida's (UCF) College of Education can interact with troublemakers in the virtual world.
UCF and Lockheed Martin have teamed up to use military simulation technology
to create a virtual math and science classroom inhabited by five computer-generated middle school students. The classroom gives future educators a chance to practice their skills before setting foot in their first classrooms.
The program user's job is to maintain control while "teaching" a lesson. If the real-life professor watching from behind the scenes thinks the virtual students' behavior has become too manageable, he can adjust their behavior up to the point where they are all shouting simultaneously.
Another twist: A human actor in another room can take over the speech and actions of one of the virtual students. The user never knows if her rowdy students are computer-generated-or the product of a fellow UCF student trying his best to act like a 13-year-old.
Source: www.orlandosentinel.com
The U.S. Supreme Court goes virtual
In June, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her latest project: an online video game.
Our Courts, a project O'Connor is working on in collaboration with Georgetown University's law school and Arizona State University, aims to educate seventh- through ninth-grade students on the basics of civics and will be distributed online for free. The Our Courts Web site, www.ourcourts.org, should contain initial material by September 2008 and be fully operational by September 2009.
O'Connor became involved with the project due to her concern over public ignorance of partisan attacks on the Supreme Court. "We hear a great deal about judges who are activists'godless, secular humanists trying to impose their will on the rest of us," America's first female Supreme Court justice said at a Games for Change conference. "Now I always thought an activist judge was one who got up in the morning and went to work."
Source: www.reuters.com
Students are still interested in reading printed books
Scholastic Inc.'s 2008 Kids and Family Reading Report sheds a positive light on the reading habits of kids. Seventy-five percent of survey participants agreed: "No matter what I can do online, I'll always want to read books printed
on paper."
The survey, a follow-up to a similar report from 2006, polled children between the ages of 5 and 17 and their parents on reading habits and the way those habits have changed or will change due to advances in technology. Results showed that kids are eager to expand their reading experiences online by visiting book or author Web sites or joining forums where they can connect with other readers. These same kids are more likely to read for fun every day.
The time kids spend reading decreases after age 8 and continues to decline well into the teen years. However, one in four children polled say that they read books for fun every day. More than half of respondents say they read for fun two or three times per week. The main reason more don't read for fun? The perceived lack of good books or the struggle to find books that appeal to them.
Other key findings from the survey:
- Half of all respondents say there aren't enough good books for kids their age.
- Boys and girls ages 9-17 say they prefer reading physical books to those found on the Internet.
Find more information in the survey.
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