Tuesday, January 13, 2015

It Says, I Say, and So

It Says, I Say, and So is an instructional strategy for reading and answering questions about any content (core or non-core). This activity can be utlized to make inferences, make connections, and synthesize. Start by having students fold a sheet of paper into quarters labeling each section. (Students love to use colored paper for this activity.)


Step 1 (section 1)
Write the question
(created or provided)

Step 2 (section 2) It Says - What does the text say?
Find information from
the text that will help
answer the question.

Step 3 (section 3) I Say - Restate textual information in your own words.
Think about what you
know about that
information.

Step 4 (section 4) and So - Answer the question in Step 1
Combine what the text
says with what you know
to come up with the
answer.

http://www.readingrockets.org/pdfs/inference-graphic-organizer.pdf

Monday, January 5, 2015

Rethinking the Use of Blogs

Today during staff development administrators were asked to rethink the way we are using blogs and how we are getting our blogs out to others. Many ideas were shared. I have been using blogs primarily as a means to share instructional strategies. Blogs can also be used to brag on students and teachers and to share teachable moments. In regards to sharing my blogs, I currently tweet my blogs. Other ideas are to utlize Pinterest, include link on weekly electronic newsletters, and to include hashtags when tweeting. The possibilities of building your digital footprint are endless. Have fun!