Teaching Strategies
Recent Newsletter Articles
Who Wants to Know What CCRS Writing Looks Like?
I’m often asked about what writing aligned to the CCRS looks like, and two resources are available to us that demonstrate samples of the three types of writing required by the CCRS ELA/Literacy standards: argument/opinion, informative/explanatory and narrative. Read More
Just Write! Frequently and Quickly
The "Just Write! Guide" is a research and instructional resource worth writing about! One strategy, called quickwrites, can be done before, during and after reading and can be motivational and low-stress for even nonwriters. Read More
Using CCRS to Apply Math to Everyday Life
Using the concept of Rigor from the College & Career Readiness Standards (CCRS), Northwest Indian Community Development Center instructor Jim Cortese created a lesson that enabled his students to successfully apply math content to real-life situations. Read More
Managing Holiday Stress
Poorly managed stress can impact peoples’ mental and physical health. Prolonged unresolved stress can cause cortisol (a hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress) to rise. Too much of this chemical lowers immunity and can cause heart disease, high blood pressure or stroke. Read More
Conceptual Understanding in Instruction: It Really Works!
Hennepin County Corrections instructor Molley Bruce attended ATLAS's Math Institute, and was able to return to her classroom and immediately apply what she learned about conceptual understanding. She was thrilled at the results! Read More
Vocabulary Workouts
Check out this FREE curriculum to exercise your students’ knowledge and use of academic words! It's accessible in the Reading resource library on the ATLAS website. Read More
Skills to Pay the Bills
Learn about a valuable resource for teaching "soft" skills that should be of interest to ABE teachers looking to help their students build up the skills from the Navigating Systems category of the Transitions Integration Framework (TIF). Read More
Making Equations Visual to Enhance Understanding
Abby Roza from Hennepin County Corrections ABE describes how you can use visual models and engaging activities to teach about quadratic equations, and how these principles can also be applied to teaching basic mathematical operations. Read More
A Perspective on the Flipped Classroom
Amy Vickers, MNI Senior Consultant, shares her learnings from the COABE Conference about flipped classrooms, including a surprising take-away that changed her understanding of this pedadogical approach. Read More
Practical Takeaways from COABE
Danielle Legault, an instructor at Minneapolis Adult Education, synthesizes three key learnings from her attendance at a variety of sessions at the annual COABE (Commission on Adult Basic Education) Conference, touching on everything from low-level ESL to GED. Read More