Youth Court: Judging Historical Figure Controversies Reality TV Style

by Dr. Rose Reissman

True confession:  over the past two decades I have enjoyed the guilty pleasure of watching the People’s Court, Judge Judy, and similar shows.  However, while enjoying the drama of their actual civil cases submitted to the decision of a celebrity judge, being both fan and literacy educator, I realized that the format of these shows offered rich opportunities for literacy instruction sprinkled with law-related learning.

Further, the reality TV format presents opportunities for students to learn special domain use of words and nuances of language. But, importantly, beyond having students focus on their own disagreements or conflicts as sources of cases, the format can become even more than an exercise of basic literacy skills and a fun project. It can provide an opportunity to have students focus and formulate arguments and positions on an important source of contemporary societal conflict.

Why not tap ongoing current headlines which reveal the new societal urge to revise the value placed on American historical figures honored with plaques, portraits, holidays, statues, street names, and highways?  Why not expose students to the burgeoning body of controversies over the possible removal of historical figures from their current lofty positions established by their public monuments?   How about adapting aspects of the reality show People’s Court and the Judge Judy brand for a youth court activity that thrusts students front and center as citizens who look back into history, and from today’s cultural context, reevaluate the values placed on prominent figures from the past.

How can this learning scenario become a reality?  First, take cases from local or national news.  For example, 15th century Christopher Columbus, once considered the archetypal hero, now is the target for the slings and arrows of critics who, with the values and perspective of 21^st Century world citizens, see him as more of a villain than a hero.  This is so much the case that there is a movement afoot to have his monument removed from one of New York City’s most famous traffic hubs, Columbus Circle.

f students are already studying  Columbus or have studied his explorations,  an excellent source of the various controversies surrounding his 15^th century achievements,  as seen through the 21^st century ‘s understanding of human rights,  and his impact on indigenous  people,  would be: History Channel’s  sources on the Columbus  Controversy http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/columbus-controversy.

After students review this site on their own, they can research stories about the current year’s Columbus controversies and the actions by local and state governments taken to address or to react to these issues.  Next, ask students to vote with their writing and spoken voices by taking a position on the controversy or even deciding not to take one side or another, because the controversy is inappropriate in that it involves judging an historical figure by a set of criteria established long after the figure’s time frame. 

Do not judge the students’ individual positions, since in none of the current historical figure controversies is there a single correct answer. Further, some of the decisions obviously overturn past community decisions to establish a memorial or ceremony or parade. Use a Rubric to judge students’ individual votes by their spoken clarity, spoken persuasiveness, written arguments, and use of details from their research.

Next have the students watch selected episode excerpts from either People’s Court

https://youtu.be/wgq-LIYviXc or Judge Judy teacher curated  “Top Ten Best Judge Judy Teacher Moments” – https://youtu.be/CS7W64rXPiw.

 Ask that they watch these excerpts with a focus on noting down components of the format which can engage the entire class in convening a Youth Court of Historical Heroes case at their school. 

Have them focus on the roles that are inherent within each of these two long running reality show s and on how students with various talents might fill them.  Ask that the students note, alongside the roles they have selected, the type of research and spoken dialogue necessary for playing the roles.  Stress that the students will have to fill all the roles seen on the reality shows, which include, beyond the litigants, the announcer (sometimes not seen), the courtroom spectators who sometimes wear distinctive clothing, and interrupt or are asked to leave, the guard, and in some shows,   a reporter who interviews the key court room lawyers and litigant after a decision is rendered.

Challenge students to observe the proceedings and to note other behind the scenes creative roles,   such as costumer, segment directors, and writers of frames, case research for similar case citations and more.  Students might also be prompted to think about a musical producer, who can identify appropriate historic or current public domain music for various historical characters.  Students can also be camerapersons to film and edit the court case for a Youth Court video posted on school site or for a podcast discussion with the key, on trial historical figure, defender, and accusers. 

Give students a chance to discuss their notes and Youth Court ideas. 

Post the various court case roles they come up with.

Make certain that every student signs up for a role essential to the production’s success and dissemination for feedback from peer s and invited adult audience.

Beyond Columbus, are there other key,   historical heroes of our past now on trial and at risk of having their monuments topples? 

The New York Times  recently posted an interactive quiz featuring 16 US historical figures once acclaimed who are now on trial in cultural correctness and 21^st century courts of local, state and national communities https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/29/upshot/statues-quiz.html.

This quiz concludes with how Times voters decided the cases.

Beyond making engaging reality courtroom television come alive when acted by students as court spectators, judges and jury (the jury members might all be required to explain their individual verdicts if desired), this project makes participatory citizenship a reality for students in grades 5 to 12 . 

Through a video posted online, or a podcast or their own website on the theme, students can add  their own 21^st century voices as part of the current social phenomenon of historical figure revisions.  That means they will be using mandated literacy powers of researching, reading, forming a perspective, advocating, arguing, listening and speaking as real world citizens. 

The reality television format can, ironically, help enable and empower students to step into the reality of their political world.  While the verdict may not yet have been rendered about historic heroes, use of reality television as a citizenship tool can prove to be a case won.  “Order in the court!” as engaged students leave the classroom to participate in ongoing community issues. 

Dr. Rose Reissman is the founder of the Writing Institute, now replicated in 145 schools including the Manchester Charter Middle School in Pittsburgh. She is a featured author in New York State Union Teachers Educators Voice 2016 and was filmed discussing ESL student leadership literary strategies developed at Ditmas IS 62, a Brooklyn public intermediate school. roshchaya@gmail.com

Digital Text Mindfulness: Developing a New Literacy Skill for Study of Contemporary Novels and Life

By Dr. Rose Reissman

One of the perennial rites of literacy learning in our classrooms is study of the novel. If done right, this proves to be an enlightening, enriching growth experience; one that not only results in important, standards-based literacy learning, but realization of that Holy Grail literacy goal, lifelong readers. Importantly, current novels have their characters using technology, the kind that today’s students are much impacted by and fascinated with. This represents an opportunity that today’s literacy teachers really should acknowledge and rise to.

Many students do not immediately connect with novels as a print genre precisely because they enjoy getting stories and information from multiple digital and online sources.  Were teachers of ELA and Literature to present, and highlight how, novels have an increasing number of pivotal text mentions of varieties of the technology that are the crux of students’ everyday lives; things like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, texting, and more, their students would engage with the text deeply.


Further, in today’s world, one in which technology allows for fake news and viral rumors, such as the announcement of Tom Petty’s death hours before its occurrence, students, as connected, global citizens, need to become informed and alert about the degree to which intensive use of technology can have both positive benefits and sadly, if used  without reflection, may cause irreparable damage.  In short, today’s students must develop Digital Text Mindfulness.

Through study of novels in which technology plays a role, students may better analyze their own personal tech use and begin to consider the extent to which that's positive or can be harmful to them and to their peers. Likewise, through identifying an author’s use of descriptions of technology and its uses and impacts within a novel’s text, students who relate to and are familiar with this area, are afforded a vehicle to deeper engagement with and better understanding of many worthwhile, current. novels.

An increasing number of key works for children and young adults, works published by respected authors and widely used in classrooms grades 3-12, now include extensive references to the digital technology impact aspects of contemporary lives; including those of elementary school kids.  Texting, email, Facebook posting, video conferencing, and other common technology practices have changed not only childrens’ and adolescents’ academic lives, but their personal lives as well. 

Reflecting on these technology-based impacts to personal, social, and family life can be described as the practice of Digital Mindfulness;  that is, students, as readers and citizens, reflect on instances of technology use that appear in the print text of studied novels they can examine their consequences in their own personal lives.  This examination can contribute to their comprehension of the narrative story, as well as beyond it, to seize control over digital communication in their personal lives.

In what ways is this so?  Think about making friends and keeping a friendship going, or ending it with a blow-out fight, the stuff of middle and high school life.  Currently, this social rite of passage is handled, even by elementary children, through practices like Facebook friending and unfriending, exchanges of email, and electronically swapped ‘selfie’ images. Think of how Facebook and the capacity to upload videos taken with a cell phone can impact body and social image conscious kids. Importantly, these realities translate to an opportunity for ELA teachers to ask students to read a chunk of fictional text and note the mentions of digital technologies and social networking which are used to drive the plot and add details to the characters.


Following this, students are asked to reflect how these author craft details inform the plot and in what ways the character’s use and valuing of digital resources positively or negatively impacts the character. 

Teachers can then have students reflect on how their personal, daily use of digital devices and networks impacts their lives as students, friends, family, and community members. This very compelling and motivating reading focus or “frame” for close text analysis is instantly owned by students, since by using it, they metacognitively “mind” their own use of technology  and then  transfer this awareness to how literary characters use their devices.

Unfortunately, while the vast majority of today’s students use technology in the ways described above, few of them reflect on how embedded and significant it is in shaping their social, academic and family lives.  How can literacy educators focused on inculcating student digital text reference mindfulness cultivate such reading habits and awareness about their own use of digital devices and platforms? Prior to students beginning the study of technology embedded novels, teachers can craft an introductory discussion designed to focus students on how digital communications impact their lives. Among the possible prompts to foster this discussion are: 

1. How do you use devices and text, video, and audio communications during school day, lunch, and at home?
2. In what ways do the texts, photos, videos, and audio communications you receive or send affect your friendships or your family life?
3. In what ways is your socializing or chatting or being with friends and family made different (by using technology) from being together face to face in the same place physically? 

In addition to this informational approach, the literacy educator can also have students frame arguments for and against practices like distanced friending, collaborative gameplay, exchange of photos, and social media posting.

Those teachers who find these reflections on technology use resonate strongly in their classroom may want to go beyond a single discussion or writing activity.  They can help students start a web site or a blog detailing ways they use technology as part of their lives. These can function as a growing repository of reflections, memoirs, and arguments, examining how technology changes everyone’s social interactions and family lives; a way to be mindful of the positive aspects of those changes and to lessen the negative ones. It can help them become more sensitive to potentially emotionally hurtful exchanges on Facebook or Tumblr or Instagram which can have dangerous ripple current effects.

Once a degree of mindfulness has been inculcated about technology use in their own lives, students can next begin to apply this awareness to their study and appreciation of the novel. If the novels include technology that impacts the modern lives of their characters, kids’ understandings will be enriched by reflecting on how it impacts their own lives.

To start, generate a focus task – a focus question or theme given to students beforehand that supports their close reading for certain details.  Challenge students from elementary to secondary grades to read texts with technology in mind by offering them such prompts as:

-           When you read the assigned excerpt of this work, make specific notes of the various everyday technology devices or tools which the key characters use as do you in your daily life.

-          For each instance of technology use you list, detail the key character or plot event it figures in and how using it affects that plot event or that personality.

This type of prompt will target student reading for special domain academic vocabulary
and for ways in which the author crafts the text for a specific purpose to comment on how technology affects key character lives and actions. Have the students also comment reflectively on how the story plot or character’s life or condition would be different if  the use of digital media, social networking and communications tools had not to come into play.

This type of a target focus certainly sounds good, but are there actual texts studied by elementary and secondary students that it applies to? Yes, there are many! We can see examples of author use of technology as part of the narrative in elementary level books in which texts are sent or read by child protagonists, even young ones, using cell phones or emails. We find this in various key works including:  Wonder, Auggie & Me, Liar and Spy, When You Reach Me, and Listen Slowly.  In them technology is used in pivotal plot devices and influence kid protagonist character lives.

Series such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, and the Maze Runner are set in worlds  with very recognizable expanded technology use that certainly reflects what is available and observable in 21^st century young reader’s lives and to some extent offers authorial perspectives on misuse or malign use of these technology tools or social network possibilities.  Lauren Myracle’s book,Ttyl (Talk to You Later), published in 2011, is the first solely messages narrative written for school students.

Classics of high school English courses such as Brave New World and 1984, I, Robot, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and Fahrenheit 451 join contemporary 21^st century works like Boot Camp, All American Boys, The Hate U Give, Everything, 13 Reasons Why, and Picture Me Gone to highlight how ‘big brother tech’ (e.g. video spy cams and street captured incident videos) can impact the course of character lives and plots.

Of course, again, beyond engaging with the text of the novel to be mindful of these deliberate craft insertion technology references by authors, students can be challenged to think about how,  minus the  presence of this technology,  the story would unfold. They can develop their own “de-tech” versions of it without the technology, or perhaps with the identical technology available, but with alternative outcomes. They can also add to or develop a new site or blog and share their views of the technology importance in the work and how that technology plays out in their own actual lives.

The use of technology tools and social networking by child and adolescent characters in late 20^th century and millennial literature can be the portal for more than just mandated close text analysis for special domain words and (technology use) as plot devices. Students can search digital resources, including print newspapers, for parallels to note events or tech uses in real life, particularly those that affect peers.  After reading the digital text references in their fiction narratives, students can go online to identify news stories in which uses of digital resources play out with deadly results. Indeed,  many novels such as Hate U Give, 1984, All American Boys, How It Went Down, and others are ripped from ongoing headlines and reflect the impact of digital devices and networks to escalate tensions and violence.

The approach need not be limited to tech embedded child and adolescent texts only.  A thought provoking activity might be for students to creatively develop tech-embedded versions of classic literature such as Charlotte’s Web or A Wrinkle in Time or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; or even update prescient Walt Whitman‘s Crossing Brooklyn Ferry or Harper Lee’s To kill a Mockingbird with commonly available technology and analyze how that technology would alter the plot and message of the work.  

A book of particular interest here is Wonderstruck, which deals with the history of technology, presenting such facets of it as sound versus silent films and the use of polaroids in the 1970’s.  How would this magical story be altered if its two set narratives were moved ahead 50 years and included use of different technology?   Classics that are ‘Tech Updated’ by students would challenge student thinking about plot, structure, message, and envisioning different outcomes using technology; a model of creative reading, writing and technology investigation owned by students as proactive readers and digital citizens.

Digital Text Mindfulness not only fosters and enhances close text reading and reflection, but in encouraging students to focus on how the everyday uses of available technology figure in plot and characters’ lives, they are given a valuable opportunity to develop mindfulness about how their own uses of technology may impact their personal lives for better, and for worse. Thus, by making an effort to keep up with and highlight an important development, the act of studying the novel is given new life and meaning in its timeless function of shedding light on our lives. 

Dr. Rose Reissman is the founder of the Writing Institute, now replicated in 145 schools including the Manchester Charter Middle School in Pittsburgh. She is a featured author in New York State Union Teachers Educators Voice 2016 and was filmed discussing ESL student leadership literary strategies developed at Ditmas IS 62, a Brooklyn public intermediate school. roshchaya@gmail.com

Book Review: Hello Ruby-Adventures in Coding

Book Review: Hello Ruby-Adventures in Coding

Linda Liukas

New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2015

Can be used with printable and playable features of www.helloruby.com

The author and publisher are pushing this as an early childhood, family 21^st century coding book, but it truly is also extremely infusible into any k-3 literacy program enabling STEM learning and the ABC’s of programming.

Why I, a literacy educator, chose it:  The cover,  with its fierce looking Ruby and computer icon, dares the reader to accompany her on her adventures in coding.  Most literacy educators and family storytellers are ever so familiar with the key elements of the adventure quest.  These books offer the reader a hero, perhaps more than one, plus a challenge.  The hero makes a plan to surmount the challenge in order to complete a quest and achieve a goal or get a treasure.  Along the way the hero often has to come up with new strategies, overcome unexpected obstacles, and learn new skills or information. 

In this book, all of these storytelling components are expertly tapped by programmer, illustrator, and author, Linda Liukas, in service of engaging young learners, their families,  and (this reviewer hopes) early childhood educators. To that end she offers immediately engaging, childhood relevant, games, paper dolls, secret language experiences, and more that render real key programming and coding terms for young learners.

The author believes play is at the core of learning. . . and that the fundamentals of computational thinking  include: break[ing] big problems into small ones, look[ing] for patterns, creat[ing] step by step plans and being creative.  That sounds like a tall STEM and programming order for a child age 4-8. But the intrepid Ruby befriends penguins, robots, foxes, a snow leopard and Django with his pet python, as part of her quest to find five gems.  Her adventure translates real life and whimsical child adventures into real 21^st century child-oriented activities. These include constructing game boards, creating patterns, developing a programming keyboard, paper doll clothes, and tools on the site that can be used interactively.

This work can function as a standalone captivating storybook that makes key coding terms such as strings, numbers, booleons, and algorithms come alive. Additionally, It offers much as an interactive, early childhood website with printable, customized to child, products.  It uses the adventure plot and child heroes to translate complex coding terms into relatable aspects of the everyday lives of children and the adults who teach them.  After the story of Ruby’s adventure to identify the sources of various gems, the second part of this book includes activities that dip into the everyday lives of young readers as they authenticate abstract coding glossary STEM  vocabulary. 

For example, the young audience for this story of peer adventurers in coding, can: sequence everyday play or school activities, deconstruct a drawing or picture created or chosen by the audience, can print out Ruby paper dolls from the site in appropriate dress for a special event using pattern recognition, can string print and design a personal keyboard using the site, can draw a map of the route from home to school or to a favorite place using algorithms and sequence, or best of all for many in its audience, use data structures to create a secret code language. 

Beyond the activities, the plot and the optimistic “I can do it” characters of Ruby and Django empathize resilience in terms of finding and trying multiple plans or constructs to overcome obstacles that prevent them from immediately attaining their goals.  Ruby knows that solving big problems like finding gems requires mapping carefully, reading instructions, and breaking down big problems into tiny problems stuck together.

Plan making is a part of Ruby’s and Django’s approach to life and Django eagerly helps Ruby when her first plan does not work .  Ruby realizes that learning the penguins’ language will help her find her gems. Ruby knows how to loop a ladder by building one step and going over it five times.  Ruby learns how to give clear instructions to the foxes so they can get their planting done.  Of course, beyond these aptitudes and coding language for success competencies, these coding precepts can also serve as literacy and life lessons for success in a variety of relationship, community, family and collaboration successes.

How this work can be used:  The beautifully illustrated maps and games grounded in Ruby and Django’s adventures can be copied from the book with the accessible, early childhood traditional materials clearly listed. The hints icons on the activity pages invite the child audience and family, teachers and others to find the coding realities of their own lives, home environments, and schools.  Algorithms, functions and abstractions about baking, coloring, dress, music, and climbing suddenly translate into child-centered reality.  The work is laid out in chapters with engaging and recognizable, child friendly characters embodying the glossary words for the teacher, parent, or others in the back of the print work.  Unlike many child-centered, informational books that teach coding on an appropriate level, but using precise templates, both this book and web resource encourage the audience to use blank templates and develop their own game boards or models for this very open project.

Since coding is a key literacy 21^st century language, teaching it should not be the province of only educators explicitly trained in coding or STEM for early childhood. Nor should parents and storytellers be excluded from integrating this language and its coding for life success lessons of resiliency, problem solving, and collaboration into their rich interaction with learners.  All early childhood learners and literacy learning adults can join Ruby and Django in these ongoing adventures to infuse coding for life lessons into their flowering, multi-content learning.

Dr. Rose Reissman is the founder of the Writing Institute, now replicated in 145 schools including the Manchester Charter Middle School in Pittsburgh. She is a featured author in New York State Union Teachers Educators Voice 2016 and was filmed discussing ESL student leadership literary strategies developed at Ditmas IS 62, a Brooklyn public intermediate school. roshchaya@gmail.com

(Review) Project Based Literacy: Fun Literacy Projects for Powerful Common Core Learning

Project Based Literacy is an approach of high interest to the Literacy PLN. 

“Overall, this book is a fantastic guide for the teacher wanting to engage their students in real-world, authentic learning.”

“Easing the struggle of implementation, Gura and Reissman provide a practical guide for teachers to not only get their feet wet, but also dive into PBL with a specific focus on literacy... Additionally, they make the case that PBL is an essential part of the literacy classroom, as it reaches cross-curricular goals of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).”

“This book makes a meaningful contribution to teacher/practitioner literature. It is organized to first motivate teachers to consider a new approach to standards-based teaching, and the authors provide strong rationale for incorporating viable and authentic projects into the literacy classroom. Twenty easy-to-follow guides assist teachers with starting their journey to PBL activities.”

Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record
Date Published: May 22, 2017
http://www.tcrecord.org  / http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=21986
ID Number: 21986, Date Accessed: 7/10/2017 7:00:15 PM

Project Based Literacy:
Fun Literacy Projects for Powerful Common Core Learning
reviewed by Jason Trumble — May 22, 2017

Title: Project Based Literacy: Fun Literacy Projects for Powerful Common Core Learning
Author(s): Mark Gura, Rose Reissman
Publisher: Information Age Publishing, Charlotte
ISBN: 1681232928, Pages: 214, Year: 2015
Search for book at Amazon.com

or from its publisher @ http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Project-Based-Literacy

As I work with preservice and in-service teachers, I challenge them to consider how their teaching and curriculum engages students in authentic ways while also increasing their digital age competencies. We explore how real world, digital age learning must include communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Project based learning (PBL) exemplifies these skills and promotes real-world learning for students of all ages, but it is difficult to do, and do well. Easing the struggle of implementation, Gura and Reissman provide a practical guide for teachers to not only get their feet wet, but also dive into PBL with a specific focus on literacy.

Project based literacy: Fun literacy projects for powerful common core learning begins with an explanation and rationale for incorporating PBL with literacy, and then the authors provide practical tips for teachers, followed by twenty detailed projects. Finally, they wrap up the book with tips for incorporating technology into PBL. This logical progress allows the reader to develop a conceptual understanding of the concept and contextualize the pedagogy before putting it into practice.

 Readers get their feet wet in the introduction as the authors propose PBL as a viable alternative to the humdrum test-centric curriculum dominating many schools. Gura and Reissman suggest that moving literacy teaching to well-designed PBL activities allows students to be self-motivated in naturally and authentically achieving essential literacy competencies. Throughout the introduction, they reiterate that during well-designed literacy projects, student motivation increases as students invest in the process of learning through doing. They propose that teachers will enjoy teaching through PBL as well.


Additionally, they make the case that PBL is an essential part of the literacy classroom, as it reaches cross-curricular goals of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

 Chapters One, Two, and Three define PBL and refine the reader’s understanding of what differentiates a classroom activity from a PBL exercise by identifying core elements of the project based approach. This approach finds its foundation in the English Language Arts mentioned in Chapter One, and is expanded upon in Chapter Three. Four of the language arts are identified in this book: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Although the authors do not include seeing and visual representation, given they are not part of the common core literacy standards, there is an implicit understanding that PBL is effective at engaging all the essential elements of the English Language Arts. The core elements for PBL are derived from the ELA standards, and are supplemented by the eight essential elements listed on www.bie.org. This book was published in 2016, and bie.org has updated their PBL frameworks to look a little different from what is presented in this work. Much of these changes are semantical, and Gura and Reissman sufficiently explain what must be analyzed for a teacher to successfully implement PBL activities.


The explanations in Chapter Three identify the Common Core literacy standards and discuss how this pedagogical and curricular shift in the classroom meets all four literacy categories with rigor and authenticity. These chapters all discuss how PBL is a natural fit for the Common Core and the literacy classroom.
 

In Chapters Four and Five, the authors discuss some practical benefits of literacy projects. They discuss how PBL activities create intrinsic motivation, because they focus on the students’ real world. Students can find purpose in learning about and impacting their community beyond the classroom as they engage in the project. This naturally moves into the tools and competencies for digital age learners. These are skills that incorporate technology and collaboration, and prove essential for the 21st century learner. The connections between these skills and PBL experiences are detailed in Chapter Five.

Chapters Six, Seven, and Eight move to support the development of teachers’ pedagogies as they offer practical solutions to general questions for PBL experiences. They address the elephant in the room and the reason many teachers stay away from PBL instruction: classroom management. They discuss four strategies for understanding how to manage the learning environment. The authors then provide strategies for teachers to procure an authentic audience for students’ performances. Then, before delving into the practicality of a proposed project, the authors discuss assessment in relation to Common Core standards and learning goals of literacy projects. The practical strategies in these chapters set the stage for Part Two.

Part Two is where Gura and Reissman provide actual projects that are ready to be implemented in the literacy classroom. Each of the twenty chapters begins with an activity summary followed by specific procedures leading to the student learning project. The authors predict the amount of time a project will take, and then comprehensively align the PBL activity to both common core standards and the ISTE Standards for Students.

Assessment suggestions are outlined and the authors describe possible avenues for authentic sharing of students’ work. Each project chapter ends with technology connections, literacy connections, suggested texts, and project extensions. The logic of instruction for each of the projects allows teachers to quickly read and reference as they implement PBL activities. The final chapter includes tips and tricks for incorporating technology, and serves as a guide for teachers who may be less comfortable with digital technologies.

This book makes a meaningful contribution to teacher/practitioner literature. It is organized to first motivate teachers to consider a new approach to standards-based teaching, and the authors provide strong rationale for incorporating viable and authentic projects into the literacy classroom…

Overall, this book is a fantastic guide for the teacher wanting to engage their students in real-world, authentic learning. For those teachers anxious about change and technology use, Gura and Reissman provide scaffolds and supports for reference. As teachers, we consider how to make learning real and authentic for our students, and while it can be difficult, resources like Project-based literacy: Fun literacy projects for powerful common core learning, help facilitate the exploration of new pedagogies and approaches to teaching in the digital age.

Read the full article at its source: http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=21986