Hands-On Literacy with Emily Denny

Emily Denny wants students to get away from their screens and talk to each other. Sounds simple, but any teacher will tell you it's not. Emily recognized this work would benefit from hands-on, tactile materials but desired solutions beyond sticky notes. Where do we go for cool school supplies we never knew we needed? Amazon.com! Check out what I call her Grade 7 English Language Arts toolkit for the 2023-24 school year:

Whiteboards + dry erase markers

It's a classic choice yet somewhat unconventional in a middle school classroom. Emily uses whiteboards with dry erase markers in conferences and small groups. Middle school students love the novelty of writing with markers.

Blank flashcards

Emily can't wait to break the cellophane on her giant deck of blank flashcards. The small format will allow students to move cards around to classify and organize their ideas on walls and tables. Emily and I agree that filling up a small space is more manageable and less daunting than an entire sheet of notebook paper for students.

Magnetic post-it notes

The Middle School ELA teams have been working with Literacy Consultant Kate Roberts for the past year. Kate's workshops inspired Emily to have students experiment with magnetic post-it notes for jots -- thoughts while reading. The bonus is that magnetic post-it notes are fun to throw on the whiteboard.

Magnetic hexagon tiles

Emily doesn't yet have her hands on magnetic hexagon tiles, but she can't wait. Learn more about hexagonal thinking on this episode of the Cult of Pedagogy podcast.

Looking ahead

Emily has no plans to abandon the iPad as a tool for annotating texts. She is eager to try Book Snaps with students. Made popular by Educator-Author Tara Martin, here is how Book Snaps work:

1. Students snap a photo of a passage of text that stands out to them.
2. Students mark up the passage with digital markers, emojis, and clipart to record their thinking. Canva and Apple Keynote would be two possibilities.

Another goal is to develop a literacy makerspace. She pictures students tinkering with building materials to encourage deeper thinking about a story's elements: plot, settings, characters, point of view, and conflict. Emily wants them to move from telling what happens in the story to elaboration and explanation.

She explains that her room will look a lot different in a few more weeks. Many of the items from her ELA toolkit will be on cabinets and walls with student writing. I can't wait to return!

Kristin Patrick, Blended Learning Coach

Note: I chose a green background for the graphic in honor of Emily's favorite reading material, Celtic Mythology.