Bøger af Thomas M. McCann

The distinctive element of this book is that it offers ways to model for students some procedures for the reading of narratives and to design learning experiences that will allow learners to discover "rules" for reading complex works of literature.

This book offers teachers productive approaches to treating textual interpretation not as an effort to reach a single right view or answer, but rather as a collaborative activity involving lively discussion of texts drawn from a variety of media.

McCann, Johannessen, Kahn, and Flanagan guide high school teachers in developing skills in promoting and facilitating authentic discussion in the English language arts classroom.Experienced teachers know-and new teachers quickly learn-how challenging it is to spark and sustain effective classroom discussions. How can we avoid asking leading questions that make students try to read our minds for a "correct" answer? How can we foster meaningful, focused conversation that produces deeper insights into a specific work or topic? Talking in Class guides readers in developing skills that promote and facilitate authentic discussion within the English language arts classroom. Speaking from their own classroom experience, the authors introduce some basic considerations for planning, managing, and evaluating large-group and small-group discussions. Examples of both instructional activities and classroom practices illustrate the ways that discussion prepares students for subsequent learning, specifically in connection to writing and to the reading and interpretation of literature. The authors also explore how discussion can connect many phases and components of the curriculum; promote and support inquiry and critical thinking; incorporate current, popular technologies, such as blogs and discussion boards; and connect students to issues that are important to them and to the broader world of thinkers.

This book's three-step process outlines how to envision what great teaching looks like, measure current instruction against that standard, and work relentlessly to improve instruction accordingly.

Author Thomas McCann invites readers to rethink their approach to teaching writing by capitalizing on students' instinctive desire to talk. Drawing on extensive classroom research, he shows teachers how to craft class discussions that build students' skills of analysis, problem-solving, and argumentation as a means of improving student writing.