Abstract:

Kathie Marshall, a literacy coach in Los Angeles, reviews Schur and LaMorte’s book, which offers “Bloom Sheets” for teaching various genres and is aligned to the National Council of Teachers of English. The book also includes a section on “imaginative assessment” such as portfolios and performance, and what Marshall describes as excellent suggestions for “increasing students’ metacognition and their development in disciplinary literacy.”

Citation: LaMorte, K.L. & Schurr, S.L. (2007). Ignite student intellect and imagination in language arts. Westerville, OH: National Middle School Association.
 

Full Text:

Ignite Student Intellect and Imagination in Language Arts
By Sandra L. Schurr and Kathy L. LaMorte
2007 (138 pp., paperback)
National Middle School Association
ISBN: 978-1-56090-203-4
$18.00 ($14.40 for members)

Reviewed by Kathie Marshall
Middle grades literacy coach
Los Angeles Unified School District

Research shows that many teachers feel compelled to narrow the curriculum in the face of high-stakes testing and the NCLB. Part of this narrowing process is a return to drill-and-kill exercises — even when teachers know students learn best while engaged in rigorous and creative thinking. Teachers are also pressed for time, and many are fearful that the time consumed in creating product- and project-based learning for their classrooms will be too great.

Along come Schurr and LaMorte to the rescue! Quickly on the heels of Ignite Student Intellect and Imagination in Mathematics comes their latest compilation, Ignite Student Intellect and Imagination in Language Arts. As with their first publication, this spiral-bound book abounds with resources that will engage students' interest and motivate them to demonstrate their learning in meaningful ways. It is also aligned with standards from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the International Reading Association (IRA).

Differentiation at your fingertips: All of these language arts resources are listed in terms of Bloom's Taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. In addition to providing a more rigorous, creative means for students to demonstrate their learning, this organizational plan strongly supports teachers looking for ways to increase differentiation of instruction in their classrooms.

The bulk of the book is in Part I, "Bloom Sheets." There are suggestions for many areas of language arts including, but not limited to, novels, short stories, poetry, drama, speech, grammar, word study, readers theater, the computer as an informational tool, and writing across the curriculum. Each topic has its own list of six activities based on Bloom's Taxonomy.

In Part II, "Imaginative Assessment Options and Real-life Applications," the authors provide additional resources for portfolio assessment, and student learning products and performances. In addition, there is an excellent section on research tied to language arts topics. A few suggestions include Start a Teenage Book Club, Letter-writing Campaign, and Drama Festival. This section is a rich resource for teams of teachers looking to collaborate on language arts projects.

Part III, "More Instructional Tools and Techniques," finishes up with even more ideas for bringing Bloom's Taxonomy into the classroom. I especially enjoyed suggestion #4: "Sixteen Types of Questions to Challenge a Student's Ability to Think Like a Reading and Writing Expert." The authors' suggestions are excellent in terms of increasing students' metacognition and their development in disciplinary literacy.

As a literacy coach, I am always on the lookout for great resources for the teachers in my English department. I look forward to sharing this resource with them because I already know it will be received with open arms. We teachers know a good thing when we see it!

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