Archive
Tag: Mark Pennington
How to Teach the Voiced and Unvoiced “th”
Teaching the voiced and unvoiced consonant digraphs in the context of beginning and remedial reading instruction can be tricky. Speech therapists and ESL teachers insist that…
Computer-Graded Essays
Computer-gradingof student writing is being actively marketed to K-12 schools and universities. The NCTE and CCCC are adamantly against this trend. But, is there a middle…
California Common Core Language Standards
Teachers in California and Massachusetts are asking plenty of questions. For example, how do the Common Core State Standards differ from those of their states. How…
Writer’s Workshop Mini-Conferences
With Writer’s Workshop, teachers typically organize a one-hour workshop so that at least half of the time is devoted to writing, peer conferences, and writer-teacher mini-conferences.…
Differentiating Instruction in Writer’s Workshop
Critics of Writer’s Workshop often complain that Writer’s Workshop can be inefficient and/or a class management nightmare. Neither of those criticisms concerns me greatly. However, I…
How to Teach Sentence Diagramming
Sentence diagramming can be a useful visual tool to teach students how to identify the different parts of sentences, understand how these parts function, and see…
Does Sentence Diagramming Make Sense?
Effective writing instruction melds both analysis and practice. Students need the deductive apply-the-components/rules-of-grammar approach and the inductive practice-the-meaningful-communication of ideas-with-feedback approach to become effective writers. Some…
Grammar Research and Balanced Instruction
A balanced approach to grammatical instruction just makes the best sense of the grammar research. An approach that involves direct grammatical instruction in partnership with plenty…