Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Inspiring Teachers: Sarah Brown Wessling

Sarah Brown Wessling was selected as National Teacher of the Year in 2010 because of her ability to breathe life into literature and keep students at the center of the classroom. I recently came across this great interview with her on Education World.


"I work alongside them to explore the essential questions that guide our thematic units. I cant wait to introduce them to characters in literature and rediscover those literary figures through their experiences. I model what it means to construct your own meaning, and then support them as they learn to take intellectual risks. In short, I am transparent about my passion and invite them to join the club...

We need to not only construct learner-centered classrooms where disciplines collapse, where ideas flourish, where learning becomes relevant to students; we also need to be prepared to re-envision what a learner-centered classroom can look like in the 21st century. We must create the kinds of worthy learning experiences that drive students to become critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and innovators. We must create environments where the consumers of our curriculums become the designers of their own learning."

Click here to read more.

What activities do you do in your literature classes to bring the text to life?

Prestwick House Activity Packs are loaded with our favorite activities personalized for each book. Talking it over with our editors, our favorites are creating found poems, working in small groups to compare multiple authors' styles, creating a fictional newspaper, and creating scenes in comic strip format.

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