ELA Today is an online journal compiled and edited by the ATEQ Board featuring content relevant to English Language Arts Teachers in Quebec. It includes contributions from people in Quebec and from abroad in order to foster beneficial dialogue and share information, knowledge and pedagogical approaches.
Below are excerpts from ELA Today. Click on an excerpt to read the full article. Access to ELA Today articles is exclusive to ATEQ Members – make sure you are logged in to access content, or become a member if you aren’t one already!
Spring has sprung and we’ve been reading new and old YA favourites for #YApril! After all, what better way to enjoy those longer daytime rays and warmer temperatures than with a stack of page-turning YA reads? To get you started on your next TBR pile, here’s a short list of some of the best and brightest from #YApril. Here are our top 8 picks.
Getting students to talk in class is never easy. Encouraging them to persuade an audience or defend an argument can sometimes feel like the proverbial pulling of teeth. Having students ‘buy-in’ for a class speech or debate is challenging at the best of times. No surprise then, that talk in the age of online teaching seems an insurmountable task… One answer: Among Us, a free online game where players need to simultaneously complete small tasks and avoid being killed by an imposter.
Teachers have been working hard to find creative and workable solutions for all of the professional shifts and changes that we have been living through since the pandemic began. It has been a challenge to find ways to address equity and differentiation, to maintain connected relationships with our students and to engage them effectively online. With so much Ed Tech out there, it is difficult to choose which tools are worth our time and energy.
This is where ATEQ’s curated list of Hybrid and Online Teaching Resources, created by and for English teachers in Quebec, comes in.
In my work as a consultant, I often get asked about professional resource books. My usual go-to authors are Penny Kittle, Kelly Gallagher, and Linda Rief, as what they have to offer are classroom-tested ideas for English Language Arts (ELA). Lately though, I attended a webinar with Jennifer Serravallo and now I understand what everyone has been talking about. Her book list is long, however there are three titles that I think are essential for ELA teachers.
Are you looking for an engaging book to introduce into an existing unit or a new novel for literature circles? Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves may be just what your class needs. This YA novel has much to offer a young reader, including issues related to family bonds, friendships, romance, adventure, survival and Indigenous culture and history, together with an element of suspense.
Read about how this teacher answered this seemingly simple question. No matter how well-stocked we think our literary bookshelves are, we still have a lot to learn about what kids want to read and what will motivate them to read. The best way to do this is to listen. In this article, Ruwani says “We learned that a shelf dedicated to the video game genre must include books about art, design, and the culture of videogames. We learned that when it comes to books about videogames, students are knowledge bearers.
The ATEQ Book Trunks are getting a makeover. Read all about the partnership and how this student is helping ATEQ members and fulfilling the WOTP work stage criteria. Books, books, and more books!
During this unprecedented time, we’re faced with all kinds on inequity, especially where teaching and learning are concerned. Not just the disparity between public and private education, but also “tequity’, the disparity between those who have access to and knowledge of technology and those who don’t – teachers and students alike. Follow one seasoned teacher as she charts her experience with online teaching and learning, and draws more parallels than you’d think between the stage and the screen.
A review of an anthology of short stories by one of Canada’s most talented writers. Each story makes us just a little more aware of the plight of children around the world, and a little more hopeful that the conditions under which they live may change for the better. Ellis invites readers to question and find out more about the struggles of children around the world such as the use of child labour in furniture manufacturing. Importantly for today, Ellis offers a much needed element of hope and peace.
Grade 10 ELA teachers pair up for a year-long blogging project which resulted in a self-published book of student work and a literary evening to celebrate student voice. What they got was “a window into how our students think and feel on a host of topics. We were given glimpses into their homes, their friendships, their passions, their reflections, the moral dilemmas they face, and more. Some posts were funny, some were sad, some were fueled by rage. The posts were – no surprise – as wonderful and varied as our students”.