Defining the Elephant in the Room: What, Exactly, is Close Reading?

After months of research and soul-searching, I’ve come to the realization that I can’t use the terminology of “close reading” in my classes any longer. This has been a long journey for me, as I’ve tried to understand what “close reading” is or should be, and I’ve grown to believe that whatever it is, it […]

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What Is an English Teacher’s Role During SSR?

This post is the second in a series designed to connect teachers’ remembered childhood and/or YA independent reading experiences and their current teaching practices to Jeff Wilhelm, Mike Smith, and Sharon Fransen’s new book, Reading Unbound: Why Kids Need to Read What They Want and Why We Should Let Them. As a CMU English professor, […]

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A Case for Graphic Novels in the ELA Classroom

Louis (Bud) Kanyo, is a CRWP 2009 Summer Institute Teacher Consultant who is currently a doctoral candidate at Michigan State University. Bud is also an Assistant Professor of English & Humanities at Mid Michigan Community College.  His dissertation research interests focus on comic texts and the cultural/educational stigma often associated with them. The following interview connects […]

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Guiding Student Writers as They Work with Digital Tools

If asking students to develop their voice, stamina, and range of techniques as writers isn’t hard enough, we now have a variety of devices, websites, and apps that students want to use in order to enhance their writing. From Google Docs to Prezis to whatever new app will come out tomorrow, we know that students […]

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