"Podcasts as Literature", a course for high school English teachers only, will take place on voicethread.com. Your instructor will talk about teaching podcasts like This American Life. You'll also see some assignments where students created a podcast instead of writing an essay. One slide includes a long list of great podcasts to use in the classroom. You can then present your own research or share your experiences with podcasts. After viewing at least three other presentations from other high school English teachers, you'll have the chance to create a new lesson. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion with the equivalent of 7 professional development hours.
"My Favorite Poems to Teach", a course for high school English teachers only, will take place on voicethread.com. Your instructor will present their favorite eight poems to teach, including "Jersey Rain" by Robert Pinsky, "Constantly Risking Absurdity" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and "Twilight Train" by Eileen Myles. The instructor will read the poem off the slide and offer both interpretation and options for classroom activities. Some poems will contain marginal notes from students. You'll get the chance to read and talk about your favorite poems to teach, and then watch three other presentations. That's a lot of poetry! You have one month to complete this course. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion with the equivalent of 7 professional development hours.
The Video Essay and Filmmaking
Your instructor will provide you with the resources and tools you'll need to assign a video essay. They will walk you through a few of their video essay assignments and some student work. You'll also get to see how students made a film adaptation of a short story. After the instruction, each teacher in the course will present their expertise and resources on the topic. You'll exchange ideas and participate in a conversation about the differences and similarities between video and text. You will be given the time to create or revise a lesson. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion with the equivalent of 7 professional development hours. At the end of the course, teachers will be given the time to create or revise a lesson. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion with the equivalent of 7 professional development hours.
This course tries to cover a lot of issues concerning the teaching of writing. Your instructor will talk about how students in their class revise, reflect, set goals, peer edit, prewrite, prepare, conference, and maintain writing portfolios. You'll also hear about how your instructor provides written and verbal feedback to students about their writing, and how often they expect students to write. You will get the chance to talk about your approach to teaching writing, and hear from the other teachers in the class. You will be given the time to create or revise a lesson. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion with the equivalent of 7 professional development hours.
This course will cover the most valuable language arts skill of all, identifying and interpreting literary devices. Your professor will share a document that contains simple defintions and examples of the most common and powerful literary techniques. They'll explain a few different activities that will help students easily identify different types of metaphors and other commonly used literary devices. Teachers in the course will then share how they teach literary devices in thier class and get to view and provide feedback on at least three other presentations. You will be given the time to create or revise a lesson. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion with the equivalent of 7 professional development hours.
Short Stories and Point of View
In this course, your instructor will present a document that defines all the various narrative modes, and then talk about a few different short stories that allow students to understand the importance of point of view when determing the full, rather than incomplete, reailty of a story. The short stories include a variety of narrators that may or may not provide a window into the consciousness of the characters. You will then present on your experiences with short stories and point of view and get to view the presentations of three other teachers. You will be given the time to create or revise a lesson. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion with the equivalent of 7 professional development hours.
What do we mean when we tell our students to take notes? How are notes the start of independent and creative thinking? This online course will cover all the different ways that students take notes while reading a book at home or participating in class. Your instructor will explain the variety of ways they assign notes in their differentiated language arts classroom. You’ll get exposure to current research on notetaking and then view student work such as marginal notes, boardwork, posters, online documents and assignments, graphic organizers, and handouts. Teachers in the course will share their own notetaking assignments with the group and you’ll provide feedback on at least three Voicethread presentations. Each participant will have time to work independently to create a new activity or lesson. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion with the equivalent of 7 professional development hours.
Poetry and Prosody, Rhythm and Rhyme
In this course, your instructor will dive deep into what makes poetry great, its sounds. We’ll look at a student friendly method of identifying stressed and unstressed syllables, but focus on the idea that a reader brings their own interpretation of the emotions of a poem when they read it out loud. Your instructor will also talk about how they teach the power of rhyme. We’ll explore what happens when words rhyme and the point of a rhyme scheme. Your instructor will talk about poems where the rhythm enhances meaning and depicts sensory imagery. Teachers in the course will share how they teach the sounds of poetry with the group and you'll provide feedback on at least three Voicethread presentations. Each participant will have time to work independently to create a new activity or lesson. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion with the equivalent of 7 professional development hours.