Today’s guest blog is written by English Runyan. She has taught ELA at the secondary level in the Fort Worth, TX area and is pursuing an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is passionate about developing curriculum that infuses culturally conscious and responsive teaching with rigorous academic subject matter. Having previously taught high…
Guest blog by Alexis Bryant, Fifth and Sixth Grade Literacy Teacher, Language Arts Department Chair, at The Avery Coonley School in Illinois. Alexis joined The Avery Coonley School as a Literacy teacher in 2013. Ms. Bryant has worked in education for the last twenty years, with the majority of the time spent as a middle…
Careful listening is a valuable lifelong skill. It helps us learn language, integrate stories from our past, forge human relationships, and succeed in school and the workplace. Starting from a very early age, listening is a key skill in helping children learn to read and become better readers. Understanding the connection between listening and reading is…
Did you know that twenty-two states now assess listening on their annual English Language Arts assessment? Notably, in Indiana, listening skills are now being tested on ILEARN, and this spring, listening is being tested as part of the English I and II assessments in Missouri. In Texas, the English Learner assessment, the TELPAS, is now bringing…
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) call for several Key Shifts in Language Arts that have implications across the curriculum. Listenwise can help teachers of many subjects address these shifts. Shift 1: Regular practice with complex texts and their academic language Listenwise audio stories are engaging complex texts full of academic language. They are authentic…
Today’s guest blog is written by Christina, a high school English teacher in California, and the author of the Daring English Teacher blog. States recently released standardized test scores, and teachers and administrators all across the nation are looking for ways to improve their scores. One particular area of assessment that can be quite difficult…
How did you learn vocabulary when you were in school? You may remember long lists of complicated words and hours spent memorizing obscure definitions. As adults, you may now understand language as living, growing, and ongoing rather than having definite meanings and boundaries. We want students to have as many experiences as possible to appreciate…
We know there are many of you who are using Listenwise’s free features but would LOVE to move to Premium with the additional literacy supports, the student accounts and the ability to make assignments. But your school just doesn’t have the budget. We thought we’d share with you the story of one teacher who used…