chat center
SUBSCRIBE MY LINKS:

Latest Posts Full Chatboard Submit Post

Current Issue » Table of Contents | Back Issues
 


TEACHERS.NET GAZETTE
Volume 4 Number 3

COVER STORY
Happy 7th Anniversary Teachers.Net...
ARTICLES
Happy 7th Anniversary Teachers.Net by Dave Melanson
How Not to Get Into College: The Preoccupation with Preparation by Alfie Kohn
No Child Left Behind or Leave the Thinking to Us by Simon Hole
Greetings! - Update from Operation Deep Freeze by LT. Marshall Branch
Technology Reform in Schools by Daisy Marie (Price) Hicks
Special Skills for Classroom Management by Stelios Perdios
Looking for a teaching job? Ten Tips for Job Hunters by LFSmith
Gems of Wisdom from Joy Jones
Featuring Past Author/Illustrator Chat Guests by Kathleen Alape Carpenter, Editor
Editor's e-Picks - March Resources by Kathleen Alape Carpenter, Editor
Spotlight on NEW CD Set - How to Improve Student Achievement from EffectiveTeaching.com
Living Up to David Ruggles by Caroline Edens Bundy
Retirement Career Counseling by Dan Lukiv
Addressing the Shuttle Tragedy by Zanada Maleki
Novel Studies, Help students "switch on" to a novel by Margaret Veitch
Student Stars Become Constellations by Jerry Taylor
Pre-writing Center from Teachers.Net's Early Childhood Chatboard
Odd Facts from the Second Grade Mailring
March Columns
March Regular Features
March Informational Items
Gazette Home Delivery:

About Margaret Veitch...
Graduating with a Higher Diploma in teaching and A.T.C.L Margaret is a registered school and music teacher.

Throughout her career Margaret has dedicated her teaching skills to primary and intermediate level students and has proven ability in developing reading programmes as well as instrumental music.

Margaret has a passion for helping students to become independent learners. She has written parent guides about helping children with reading and homework. Working alongside her husband Tony in developing IES programmes, her recently completed Business Management and Internet Marketing courses are proving to be a wonderful asset and a distinct customer benefit.

She is currently IES Marketing Manager and Newsletter Editor and is networking with educational sites worldwide.
 

Teacher Feature...

Novel Studies
Help students "switch on" to a novel

by Margaret Veitch
http://www.internationaleducation.biz


"English teachers around the world need to study novels with their students. In today's "instant techno world" reading is not always at the top of the list of cool activities for teenagers. There is even more need to grab student interest and motivate them to read a novel. There is also a need to help slower readers to successfully complete a novel," says Margaret and Tony Veitch, registered teachers with many years of experience in intermediate and secondary schools.

Here are some ideas to help to "grab the reader".

  • Introduce the setting - e.g. social, historical, physical etc.
  • Make a list of key words from the novel.
  • List the main characters.
  • Brainstorm ideas about the title.
  • Draw a mindmap of ideas about the theme.
  • Read the first chapter to the students.
  • Share the reading.
  • Read part of a chapter and stop at a moment of tension, encourage students to read on.
  • Discuss other books in the same genre.
  • Discuss other books by the same author.

A general requirement in most English curricula is to complete follow up activities about the novel for assessment or revision. (However it is an excellent idea to sometimes just read a novel together for enjoyment with no written follow up.)

Activities could include sections about the author, plot, setting, characters, style, themes and extension activities. Activities should include options for the less able student to express themselves in an artistic rather than purely the written medium. Margaret and Tony have produced an extensive list of user friendly, well constructed and well planned worksheet booklets about popular novels for students age 11 to 17.

Visit
http://www.internationaleducation.biz
to download a sample unit.


Browse the latest posts on the High School Chatboard:
 

#