773 articles since 2009
The Pennington Publishing Blog
Grade-level 4-adult standards and assessment-based ELA and reading instruction. Free Diagnostic Reading and ELA Assessments
Articles · page 65
Common Core Content Area Reading and Writing
Nothing in the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has worried English-language arts teachers more than “The Great Shift.” This shift changes the emphasis of reading…
Essay Comment Excuses
Teachers know that detailed essay comments are keys to effective writing instruction but are adept at creating essay comment excuses to avoid the time and energy…
Why Vocabulary Word Lists Don’t Work
Teaching vocabulary word lists does not work. The strategy of giving twenty words on Monday and testing on Friday is both inefficient and ineffective. However, three…
Good Reading Fluency, but Poor Reading Comprehension
Teachers and parents see it more and more: good reading fluency, but poor reading comprehension. Repeated reading practice to build fluency needs to be balanced with…
Straight Talk with Stephen Krashen on SSR
Straight Talk with Stephen Krashen on SSR is a dialogue between Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) advocate, Dr. Stephen Krashen, and reading specialist/ELA teacher, Mark Pennington.
How to Grade Writing
How can we effectively assess student writing? Should we grade upon effort, completion, standards, achievement, or improvement? Is our primary task to respond or to grade?…
How to Write Effective Essay Comments
Teachers need to know how to distinguish among corrective, directive, and facilitative responses, the components of written discourse, and closing comments to provide instructive essay comments.
How to Add Essay e-Comments to Your Computer
Wouldn't it be wonderful if teachers could type and save their commonly-used "canned" writing comments to automatically insert into student essays without all the bother of…