South Tech Reads!

According to the DOE website, FCAT 2.0 will include a “greater number of test items that require reasonable inferences and reasonable prior knowledge.”  It will also include a “greater number of reading passages from the public domain, such as historical documents and works by classical authors.” 

Good teachers practice inferencing every day using tried and true questioning techniques.  But what constitutes “reasonable prior knowledge?”  How can we help our students acquire “reasonable prior knowledge?”  

Building prior knowledge is extremely important when introducing new units of study (Science and Social Studies) or a new piece of literature, especially if the genre is unfamiliar to the students.  When building prior knowledge, time is of the essence.  A picture is worth a thousand words, and a short video clip is worth even more.  Try to incorporate these into your lessons.

“Reading passages from the public domain” can be found here:

http://www.loc.gov/index.html

Using authentic historical documents, such as newspaper articles and letters, in your classroom gives students an opportunity to interpret history on their own.    Try it! 

Chef Tanner is using the visual dictionary in his Culinary Arts class.  Students are encouraged to use the visual dictionary to help remember vocabulary words from their coursework.  The visual dictionary was the subject of one of my first posts last year.  It is located at :

http://www.visuwords.com/

Cheff Tanner recieved a copy of I Read It But I Don’t Get It by Cris Tovani.

Chef Tanner also promotes reading by using academy-related articles and worksheets in his classroom.  Thank you Chef Tanner for incorporating literacy into your academy!