This strategy guide introduces the RAFT technique and offers practical ideas for using this technique to teach students to experiment with various perspectives in their writing.
Using the RAFT Writing Strategy
Grades
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Socratic Seminars
Grades
6 - 12
Strategy Guide
This strategy guide explains Socratic seminars and offers practical methods for applying the approach in your classroom to help students investigate multiple perspectives in a text.
Grades
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Peer Review
Grades
K - 5
Strategy Guide
This strategy guide explains how you can employ peer review in your classroom, guiding students as they offer each other constructive feedback to improve their writing and communication skills.
Grades
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Supporting Comprehension Strategies for English Language Learners
Grades
6 - 12
Strategy Guide
This Strategy Guide is for developing comprehension that incorporates the gradual release of responsibility model.
Grades
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Promoting Student Self-Assessment
Grades
6 - 12
Strategy Guide
In this Strategy Guide, you'll learn about a number of specific methods that will promote self-assessment and contribute to a richer understanding of student learning.
Grades
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Evidence-based Discussions
Grades
6 - 12
Strategy Guide Series
These Strategy Guides offer varied ways to support students as they develop the skills and habits necessary to participate in evidence-based conversations.
Grades
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Zora Neale Hurston in the Classroom: "With a Harp and a Sword in My Hands"
8 - 12
Professional Library
| Book
The book offers a practical approach to Hurston using a range of student-centered activities for teaching Hurston's nonfiction, short stories, and the print and film versions of Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Grades
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Sherman Alexie in the Classroom: "This is not a silent movie. Our voices will save our lives."
8 - 12
Professional Library
| Book
Provides high school teachers with teaching strategies, classroom activities, and student samples for teaching the works of Sherman Alexie.
Grades
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Sandra Cisneros in the Classroom: "Do not forget to reach"
8 - 12
Professional Library
The third volume in the NCTE High School Literature Series explores the joys of reading and teaching the stories and poems of noted Mexican American author Sandra Cisneros.
Grades
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Langston Hughes in the Classroom: "Do Nothin' till You Hear from Me"
8 - 12
Professional Library
| Book
Carmaletta M. Williams provides high school teachers with background on Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance as well as help in teaching Hughes's poetry, short stories, novels, and autobiography.
Grades
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Amy Tan in the Classroom: "The art of invisible strength"
8 - 12
Professional Library
| Book
Offers high school teachers an activity-based approach to teaching the works of Amy Tan, especially The Joy Luck Club and The Opposite of Fate.
Grades
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Alice Walker in the Classroom: "Living by the Word"
8 - 12
Professional Library
| Book
Carol Jago offers readers a handy guide for bringing this celebrated author's work into the classroom, including biographical information, ideas for literature circles using Walker's short stories, sample writing lessons using Walker's poems, suggestions for teaching The Color Purple, and a wealth of resources for further investigation of Alice Walker and her work.
Grades
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Conducting Inner-Outer Circle Discussions
Grades
6 - 12
Strategy Guide
This guide shares the steps to take to get more students talking by dividing the group into speaking and non-speaking circles.
Grades
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Consensus Decision Making
Grades
7 - 12
Strategy Guide
This strategy guide introduces Consensus Decision Making, a method for facilitating and engaging students in a critical discussion of the central ideas of a text.
Grades
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Developing Evidence-Based Arguments from Texts
Grades
6 - 12
Strategy Guide
This strategy guide clarifies the difference between persuasion and argumentation, stressing the connection between close reading of text to gather evidence and formation of a strong argumentative claim about text.
Grades
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Depend on the Text! How to Create Text-Dependent Questions
Grades
1 - 3
Strategy Guide
Teachers need to create text-dependent questions to elicit close reading. When answering these questions, students learn to reread and think deeply about the text.
Grades
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Promote Deep Thinking! How to Choose a Complex Text
Grades
1 - 3
Strategy Guide
Complex texts promote deep thinking and critical analysis by students. Through close reading of a complex text, students' independent reading abilities also increase.
Grades
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Get Close to Think Deeply: Creating Primary-Level Close Readings
Grades
1 - 3
Strategy Guide
Close readings allow primary students to engage with complex texts. Through repeated reading, students build a deep understanding of the text and critical thinking skills.
Grades
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Using Partner Talk to Strengthen Student Collaboration and Understanding
Grades
K - 8
Strategy Guide
In this strategy guide, you'll learn about Partner Talk—a way to provide students with another learning opportunity to make learning their own through collaboration and discussion.
Grades
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Using Paired Reading to Increase Fluency and Peer Cooperation
Grades
K - 6
Strategy Guide
In this strategy, students read aloud to each other, pairing more fluent readers with less fluent readers. This strategy can also be used to pair older students with younger students to create "reading buddies."