Internet Research
In "Language Arts And STS," Teresa Olson, a 6th grade teacher, discusses her approach to integrating language arts instruction with STS themes. She suggests subscribing to newspapers and periodicals for the classroom rather than new textbooks, as well as using a number of free sources available in most communities.
When she sees an article that is a high-interest STS theme, she designs learning tasks to accompany it that meet a language skill goal targeted for the age group. Olson is quick to point out that this approach does have weaknesses, such as the fact that much of the material cannot be saved for use from year to year. Thus, it requires more work than simply walking through a reading basal series or finding duplicating masters in a teaching store. However, it allows a stronger match to some of the most important factors affecting the development of the reading process. Olson believes that using current mass media sources for reading lessons creates a high interest level for students.
Olson...
She also suggests using materials such as shopper's guides, brochures of rental properties, sale brochures, car dealership brochures, government pamphlets, and take-out menus. Olson also includes several examples of lesson plans.
The article was well written and informative. Moreover, it conveyed her enthusiasm and dedication for her work. From reading the article, it is apparent that Olson truly enjoys teaching and takes her work very seriously. Teaching is not merely a job, but a learning experience not only for her class, but for herself as well.
In "The Integration of Social Studies and Language Arts is Long Overdue," Adam Waxler expresses his belief that teaching reading should not be the sole responsibility of the language arts department. According to Waxler, in order for students to become readers who read for understanding, teaching reading…
