NaNoWriMo

OMG! It’s time for NaNoWriMo again!

For several years now, Prestwick House has been a strong advocate for the entire concept of NaNoWriMo … just a fun and furious way to get your kids writing, thinking like a writer, excited about literature—the potential benefits are limitless.

Do you have younger students? Don’t forget that there is a Young Writers’ NaNoWriMo, too!

It’s not too late to register and get your kids writing! More important, it’s not too late for YOU to register and get writing!

How to Find the Perfect Teaching Guide

Visit PrestwickHouse.com today to see our new, Interactive Teaching Guide Comparison Chart and find your perfect Teaching Guide!

Interview with Head of Prestwick House Digital Resources, Keith Bergstrom

This week, I sat down with Prestwick house General Manager and Head of Prestwick House Digital Resources, Keith Bergstrom to learn a little bit about Prestwick House’s digital learning tools and the new Vocabulary Power Plus Online program released earlier this month.

Prestwick House has been selling their reproducible products as downloadables for years. What is your new focus on digital products and how is it different from what we’ve already seen?

We’ve been a leader in digital distribution because we’ve always been focused on how teachers can use technology in the classroom. In the past, we’ve focused on using the power of the internet to make it easier and cheaper to get ready-to-use resources into the classroom, but we’re finally reaching a point in which access to computers is pervasive enough that teachers will be able to make technology a core part of their classroom.

We certainly don’t believe that books are dying—they’re certainly a fantastic way to deliver information to students, and I don’t think they’re going away anytime soon—but beyond the page there are tremendous opportunities to empower teachers to have a more dynamic classroom.

So, beyond these downloadables, what has Prestwick House Digital been working on?

Well, over the last few years we’ve been expanding our delivery methods to a variety of ebook readers. You can now find Prestwick House books on Apple iPads, Amazon Kindles, Sony Nook’s and other popular eBook platforms. While these are not yet available in most classrooms, we’re starting to hear rumblings from teachers, so we’ll be ready when they are.

In terms of mobile platforms, we released our first iPhone/iPad application last year to help students study for Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT, and we’re working on developing more apps for other popular series.

The tool that I think is developing the fastest is the use of digital whiteboards and presentation technologies. We’ve released a variety of ready-to-use Power Presentations to teach grammar, introduce new novels, and help teachers with lectures. We’ve been creating new presentations to accompany each resource book that we’ve released this year. We want the classroom teacher to have a wide range of materials available to teach the books in any way he or she sees fit, without needing to spend hours preparing slides.

Finally, I’m really excited about our new online extension to the Vocabulary Plus series, Vocabulary Power Plus Online.

Vocabulary Power Plus Online launched earlier this month, what exactly is it?

Vocabulary Power Plus Online is a digital version of our best-selling program, Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT. It’s our first foray into a completely digital arena, and we’re really excited about the possibilities this opens up.

It includes all of the exercises and resources from the series in an easy-to-use cloud-based program that puts an interactive version of the books directly onto student screens. Students can securely log in to an online program and see what’s been assigned, do their homework, practice for tests, and even take quizzes and tests online. Teachers can manage grade books, make assignments, and see reports on student progress. The system will automatically grade student work and give them instant feedback on where they need to improve. Teachers should really appreciate the automatic grading of multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank exercise while students will love having the ability to do their homework online.

So, does Vocabulary Power Plus Online supplement the books, or replace them?

We designed the program with both methods in mind. We know that many teachers will be hesitant to replace the book in their classroom. Those teachers can just use the online program to manage assignments and grades, but teachers that are ready to go completely digital will find all of the resources from the books available online.

What kinds of assessment materials are available with Vocabulary Power Plus Online?

We’ve turned all of the weekly quizzes, unit tests, and pre- and post-tests into online assessments. All of them are included with a subscription. Teachers can proctor the exams in a computer lab because all of the answers and questions are scrambled to keep students from cheating, and all of the assessments are instantly graded.

Where can our readers find out more about Vocabulary Power Plus Online?

I’d love to schedule demos for any readers that are interested in learning more. Click here to sign up for a free web demo.

So, what’s on the horizon for Prestwick House Digital Resources?

As I speak with teachers, I’m learning a lot about what they’re looking for in terms of online resources. Many companies are making online programs full of cute animations that may entertain students, but they’re not actually teaching students. We’re focusing on developing pedagogically sound resources that empower teachers to do what they do best – make a personal connection with students and foster learning. We believe that a teacher will always be the center of a classroom, so we’re at work developing tools that make teachers’ lives easier and their classrooms more effective. Right now, we’re evaluating tools to improve a teacher’s ability to use our curriculum resources, and we hope to unveil more online resources in the coming year.

To schedule a web demo of Vocabulary Power Plus Online, click here, and Prestwick House will contact you in 24-48 hours.

1. Who is the most successful textbook author of all time?
2. J.K. Rowling’s short story, “The Tale of Three Brothers” is based on which famous tale?
3. Which famous writer was buried in the Fluntern Cemetery, Zurich, Switzerland, and is so close to the Zurich Zoo that the zoo's lions can be heard from his grave?
4. What best-selling author opened the first Saab auto dealership in the United States?
5. Where does the phrase “often a bridesmaid, never a bride” come from?

Last Week's Answers



Which great author received the meager sum of 10 pounds for his greatest work of literature?


John Milton sold the publishing rights to his epic verse work 'Paradise Lost' to a Samuel Simmons in 1667 for only ten pounds.


As far as number of lines is concerned, which is the most demanding of Shakespeare’s roles?


Hamlet is the most demanding of Shakespeare’s roles with 1,422 lines or roughly 36% of the total number of spoken lines in the play. Hamlet’s role is made up of 11,610 words. The character Falstaff has the most lines of any character in all of Shakespeare’s plays combined with 1,614 spoken lines in three different plays: Henry IV, Part I; Henry IV, Part II; and The Merry Wives of Windsor.


Which writer’s common-law wife was the madam of a Jacksonville brothel called the Hotel de Dream?


Stephen Crane


Which winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature was born in a ladies’ room during a dance?


Winston Churchill

1. Which great author received the meager sum of 10 pounds for his greatest work of literature?
2. As far as number of lines is concerned, which is the most demanding of Shakespeare’s roles?
3. Which writer’s common-law wife was the madam of a Jacksonville brothe called the Hotel de Dream?
4. Which winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature was born in a ladies’ room during a dance?

Last Week's Answers


In 2004, which world-renowned author’s daughter discovered a 5,000-word story entitled "The Incident of the Dog's Ball" in the attic of her home?

Agatha Christie’s daughter found this 5,000 word story in 2004, and had it published in Britain in September 2009 by The Strand Magazine.

Which famous American playwright choked to death on an eye drop bottle cap?

Tennesee Williams’ cause of death was choking on an eye drop bottle cap in his room at the Hotel Elysee in New York. While holding the cap in his mouth, Williams leaned back to place eye drops in each eye and accidentally swallowed the cap. The police report suggests his use of drugs and alcohol contributed to his death by diminishing his gag reflex.

Which famous author was both born and died on a Halley’s Comet year?
Mark Twain 1835 - 1910

What did writer Edgar Allan Poe and singer Jerry Lee Lewis have in common pertaining to their choice of wives?

Both married a 13-year-old cousin.

1. In 2004, which world-renowned author’s daughter discovered a 5,000-word story entitled "The Incident of the Dog's Ball" in the attic of her home?
2. Which famous American playwright choked to death on an eye drop bottle cap?
3. Which famous author was both born and died on a Halley’s Comet year?
4. What did writer Edgar Allan Poe and singer Jerry Lee Lewis have in common pertaining to their choice of wives?

Last Week's Answers




In the book Gone With the Wind, how many months actually pass during Melanie's' pregnancy?



Approximately 21 based on the battles mentioned in the text. When this was pointed out to author Margaret Mitchell, she reportedly replied that “a Southerner's pace is slower than that of a Yankee.”




What book was Mark David Chapman carrying with him when he killed John Lennon on December 8, 1980?



J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.




Which female author was also considered the world’s first computer programmer?


Augusta Ada King, a writer and the illegitimate daughter of Lord Byron, was known for her work on Babbage's analytical engine. Her copious notes on this machine that would become the precursor to the modern computer include the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine — making her the world’s first computer programmer.



What writer contemporary to T.S. Eliot nicknamed him "Old Possum"?



Ezra Pound, a poet, critic, and a major figure of the Modernist movement, famous for his work with major contemporaries such as Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Ernest Hemingway, and especially T. S. Eliot gave Eliot the nickname “Old Possum.” Eliot later used the nickname in his work Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.




Which word in the English language has the most definitions?




Of all the words in the English language, the word ’set’ has the most definitions.

Tuesday Trivia

1. In the book Gone With the Wind, how many months actually pass during Melanie's' pregnancy?
2. What book was Mark David Chapman carrying with him when he killed John Lennon on December 8, 1980?
3. Which female author was also considered the world’s first computer programmer?
4. What writer contemporary to T.S. Eliot nicknamed him "Old Possum"?
5. Which word in the English language has the most definitions?

Last Week's Answers


Which French author was shot in the leg and left with a permanent limp by his nephew, a young man who suffered from paranoia?


On 9 March 1886, as Jules Verne approached his own home, his twenty-five-year-old nephew Gaston, who suffered from paranoia, shot twice at him with a gun. One bullet missed, but the second entered Verne's left leg, giving him a permanent limp. Gaston spent the rest of his life in an asylum.


True or False: Heath Ledger was named after Healthcliff in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.


True. Heath was named after Healthcliff, and his older sister, Kate, was named after Catherine Linton nee Earnshaw. Both are names of characters in Wuthering Heights.


Which 16th century Italian painter was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the greatest poets of all time?


Though it is not widely known, the Italian painter Michelangelo (1475-1564) was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the greatest Poets of all time. About 250 of his Poems and sonnets have come down to us today and are still read by scholars, historians, and Poets.


Which of Shakespeare’s close friends and fellow authors is buried in a standing position in Westminster Abbey?


To save costs, the body of Shakespeare’s friend and fellow dramatist, Ben Jonson, was buried standing up in Westminister Abbey, London in 1637.


Which 20th century French Journalist wrote an entire book one letter at a time — indicating the next correct letter by blinking only his left eye?


Jean-Dominique Bauby, a French journalist suffering from “locked-in” syndrome which paralyzed his body but did not affect his mind, wrote the book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly solely by blinking his left eye. When the correct letter was reached by a person slowly reciting the alphabet over and over again, Bauby would blink to indicate his choice —composing and editing the book entirely in his head.

Tuesday Trivia

1. Which French author was shot in the leg and left with a permanent limp by his nephew, a young man who suffered from paranoia?
2. True or False: Heath Ledger was named after Healthcliff in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.
3. Which 16th century Italian painter was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the greatest poets of all time?
4. Which of Shakespeare’s close friends and fellow authors is buried in a standing position in Westminster Abbey?
5. Which 20th century French Journalist wrote an entire book one letter at a time — indicating the next correct letter by blinking only his left eye?

Last Week's Answers


Which American fiction writer began his writing career while working as a pencil sharpener wholesaler in 1911?

Edgar Rice Burroughs


Tybalt, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is named after which anthropomorphic character?

Tybalt is named after Tybalt/Tibert, the Prince of Cats in the Reynard the Fox stories. Mercutio alludes to this connection between characters when he says that Tybalt is “More than Prince of Cats” in Act II, Scene iv.


The word “girl” appears only once in what world-famous literary work?

The word "girl" appears only once in the Bible in Joel 3:3. The word “girls” appears once in Zechariah 8:5.


Which children’s author wrote his first book in 1936 while crossing the Atlantic on a luxury liner?

Dr. Seuss wrote his first book on the luxury liner Kungsholm. The sound of the ship’s engines annoyed him, and his wife suggested that he use their rhythm to help him write a book in rhyme. The book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was rejected by publishers 27 times before Vanguard Publishing took a chance and accepted the manuscript.


What was the first book Amazon ever sold?

The first book Amazon.com sold was Douglas Hofstadter's Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought.

Part III: They’ll never learn to ride the bike if we never take off the training wheels!

Consider the following writing prompts:

1. Study the following passage from chapter IV and write a coherent, well-written essay in which you argue whether or not Lord Lordly and his wife, Lady Lordly, articulate conventional attitudes toward gender roles in marriage. ***Be sure to establish a clear thesis early on and support your ideas with references from the passage.*** Do not merely summarize the passage.
2. Arthur Sname’s novel not only presents a frank account of a soldier’s experiences in combat, it also highlights the difficulty of reconciling the life of the soldier with the life the civilian life left behind and eventually returned to. Write a well-organized essay in which you describe the trauma soldiers experience when moving between their lives on the battlefield and their lives at home before or after the war. You may want to focus on one particular character, if you choose to do so. ***Considering Namuv Kairkter’s story in “This is the Title of His Story” is one possibility, but you may choose any character(s) in order to formulate your ideas.***
3. Authors frequently use irony in order to reveal their attitude toward the subject and characters and to enable readers to evaluate plot developments and characters’ actions effectively and critically. Write a well-organized essay in which you explore the central irony of the novel by ***analyzing the protagonist’s belief that his life will be better if he can only retain his youthful appearance when, in fact, the degeneration of his soul and the confusion of his sense of right and wrong drive him deeper and deeper into a state of despair and anguish.*** Additionally, you may want to consider other instances of irony in the text.

Now, they display a fairly vast array of language and organizational problems (which we can tackle on another day), but today I’m asking you to pay particular attention to the portions between the asterisks (***).

Remember, we’re talking about rigor.

See the problem?

Okay … I’ll tell you (if you’ve already discovered it, please remain in your seat and do not blurt out the answer), but before I do, let me assure you that these are all “real” prompts from “real” sources like a not-yet-published teaching guide, a twelfth-grade English final exam, and a prospective writer’s writing sample. They’re real, and they were all submitted as good and workable.

So … here’s the problem with them.

If we’re talking rigor, we have to allow the kid to do some thinking for himself. We have to be willing to let the kid be “wrong,” and we have to then help the kid learn how and why he was “wrong” in this instance so he can be “more right” the next time.

Every single one of the above prompts does some degree of the kid’s thinking for him.

Prompt #1 is the least problematic. All it does is remind the kid to “establish a clear thesis early on and support your ideas with references from the passage.” [Of course, they would be references _to_ the passage, but what’s a few grammatical errors among friends?] If this were a prompt on a large-scale assessment with lots of stress, it might be nice to remind the kid that he’s writing an essay and that an essay needs a thesis and support.

But in a rigorous classroom, to remind a kid about to write an essay that he needs a thesis and support is a little like reminding a kid about to take his road test that he’s supposed to try and not hit pedestrians or other vehicles. I mean, it pretty much comes with the territory. The prompt specifically tells the kid to “write a coherent, well-written essay.” Try to write that “well-written essay” without a thesis and support? Well, here’s your D. Next time you’ll remember.

Prompt #2 is even worse, less rigorous. Assuming part of the prompt’s intent is to assess the kid’s knowledge of the novel, the statement, “Considering Namuv Kairkter’s story in ‘This is the Title of His Story’ is one possibility” pretty much tells the kid what to write about. _Don’t think about the book, kid, just repeat what we said in class about this particular chapter, and you’ll do fine._

Prompt #3 is the worst of the bunch. “[A]nalyz[e] the protagonist’s belief that his life will be better if he can only retain his youthful appearance when, in fact, the degeneration of his soul and the confusion of his sense of right and wrong drive him deeper and deeper into a state of despair and anguish,” doesn’t leave the kid a whole lot of room to determine a central irony, formulate a thesis, and support that thesis with references to (or from) the novel. Of course, the prompt does continue, “Additionally, you may want to consider other instances of irony in the text,” just in case you know any. So there _is_ some room here for the kid to actually think.

But he doesn’t have to in order to get a decent grade for this essay.

Now … before you start blubbering your protest (but, but, but, but), let me remind you that I have been the twelfth-grade teacher reading the last-essay-of-the-year papers and the final exams less than forty-eight hours before graduation. I have read “essay” after “essay” in which kids who should have known better just string along a series of sentences—maybe even not really sentences. The “essays” have no discernable thesis, they refer neither to nor from the text, and they do choose unlikely or inappropriate aspects of the literature to discuss. They miss the point of the question.

After enough essays and enough years, the temptation to write the “foolproof” prompt is almost irresistible:

Make sure you have a clear thesis. Don’t forget to indent your paragraphs, and to quote from the story whenever possible. Be certain to discuss both language and theme and to use the word _foil_ at least once. Use the correct name of at least one rhetorical device, and make certain you underline any words or phrases of foreign origin. Mention both the protagonist and antagonist …

After all, we want our kids to do well.

But if I _never_ take my hands off the back of my daughter’s bicycle, she’s _not_ riding well. Seriously, how many pairs of training wheels do you see in bicycle rallies and races?

Yes, kids occasionally fall. Yes, they occasionally fail. (See that kind of clever play on words?) And I am not advocating watching them fall and then simply walking away. I am not removing the teacher and the role of instruction from the equation. But I _am_ reminding you that, if you want to “do rigor,” you have to change the kinds of questions you ask and how you ask them. You have to remove the training wheels and let go of the back of the bike.

Look at _these_ prompts:

1. Study the following passage from chapter IV and write a coherent, well-written essay in which you argue whether or not Lord Lordly and his wife, Lady Lordly, articulate conventional attitudes toward gender roles in marriage. Do not merely summarize the passage.
2. Arthur Sname’s novel not only presents a frank account of a soldier’s experiences in combat, it also highlights the difficulty of reconciling the life of the soldier with the life the civilian life left behind and eventually returned to. Write a well-organized essay in which you examine the anxiety the soldiers experience moving between their lives on the battlefield and their lives at home.
3. Write a well-organized essay in which you explore the central irony of the novel.

They might not be wordy enough to suit your taste—I myself have to admit that especially #3 seems to want some kind of introduction and conclusion—but they are far, far better than their originals because they at least do not do the kid’s work for him.

After all, if you have to remind the kid he needs a thesis, is he _really_ “well-educated”_?

If you have to lay out the essay for the kid, then what are you assessing when you assign the essay in the first place?

All in all, it’s not really all that difficult to “do rigor” in your classroom. Depending on the grade level you’re teaching and your school and district’s curriculum, it’s often simply a matter of changing your approach, broadening your assumptions, trusting your colleagues, and holding the kid responsible for his share of his education.

Stop introducing everything every year.

Don’t even waste your time on comprehension—except in those rare cases when comprehension might really be an issue.

And don’t do the kid’s work for him.

That’s pretty much it.

--

Want to read more? Check out Part I and Part II of this article.

Tuesday Trivia

1. Which American fiction writer began his writing career while working as a pencil sharpener wholesaler in 1911?
2. Tybalt, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is named after which anthropomorphic character?
3. The word “girl” appears only once in what world-famous literary work?
4. Which children’s author wrote his first book in 1936 while crossing the Atlantic on a luxury liner?
5. What was the first book Amazon ever sold?

Last Week's Answers


This little book was the first and most famous of a series of five that included The Chimes (1844), The Cricket on the Hearth (1845), The Battle of Life (1846), and The Haunted Man (1848).

A Christmas Carol


What book was the best-seller of the year in America in 1794?

Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, which had been published in England the year before--three years after his death.


Which author entered the University of Montpellier to study for a doctorate in medicine, but was expelled because he had previously been an apothecary?

Nostradamus was expelled from Montpellier shortly after they discovered he had been an apothecary, a manual trade, which made him ineligible to study at the university.


Who was the inspiration for the popular sixteenth-century nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet?

Patience Muffet, the daughter of the poem's creator, Dr. Thomas Muffet, and entomologist who wrote about spiders more often than he did about his little girl.


Which author stood trial in Mexico in 1951 for shooting his wife?

William S. Burroughs stood trial in Mexico in the early 1950's for shooting his wife during a drunken party game. He spent 13 days and was charged with culpable homicide.