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Showing posts from December, 2012

Vivid Vocabulary, Common Core, & Tech Integration Tools

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Research shows that vocabulary acquisition plays a huge role in student learning, therefore requires attention in the classroom. With the shifts of the Common Core , students need to spend time learning both Tier 2 and Tier 3 words in a variety of ways. Reading more text exposes students to more words and phrases. Students learn vocabulary in multiple contexts through multiple connections. By interacting with vocabulary, students absorb the word's meaning and learn to appropriately use it in a variety of contexts ( Common Core Appendix A ). Below are a few ways to promote active engagement while interacting with vocabulary. Increasing word choice or Tier 2 words with word clouds Word Clouds are fantastic for checking word choice and targeting Tier 2 words. Students can copy and paste their written work into a word cloud maker such as Wordle or Tagul . Words used most frequently are larger than words used less often.  

Voting for Edublog Awards

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It's an honor to announce four of our AJUSD members and several of those I nominated have been shortlisted as finalists for several Edublog Awards . Voting is open until 11:59 pm (USA Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday, December 9th. You can vote once a day, for as many categories as you want. Only one vote will count per day, per IP address. For those at AJUSD, that means only one vote counts from the district network, so please vote from home. Here's how to vote: 1) Go to the Edublog Awards Voting Page . 2) Use the drop down menu to select your category and choice. Then press vote . Below are the voting categories and blogs of our AJUSD people and friends. Take some time to explore their blogs and what they contribute to education. Best Class Blog : Fraher's Class and Friends (AJUSD teacher) ; Mrs. Yollis' Class Blog ; 4km and 4kj ; Mr. Salsich's Class Blog ; and Mr. Avery's Classroom Blog .   Best Student Blog : Thinking About (AJUSD s