Using an Article to Improve Reading and Writing

This is a from a meeting in my department where we went over the article "You Can Go Home Again" by Karen Fingerman and discussed how we can use such an article to help students improve both their reading comprehension and writing abilities.  Although the meeting went over one hour, these video lessons are about 10 minutes each (totaling to approximately 30 minutes.)  I only included what I believe to be significant and I added some of my comments and interpretations (such as my simple way of interpreting the paragraph on statistics) not shared in the meeting.

Before proceeding to view the videos, please read the article at least once at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/opinion/the-parent-trap.html

Video one emphasizes how to get students to really get into each paragraph and how each one plays a specific role (which in some way directly or indirectly supports the main idea.)

Videos two and three presents how a paragraph full of statistics can be deciphered.

A print-out of the stats breakdown of paragraph 7 can be found at http://SpirFit.org/CUNY/Downloads/YouCanGoHomeAgain_P7_Stats.pdf






Video three ends with bringing out the key points (in the last three minutes).

A print-out of the stats breakdown of paragraph 7 can be found at http://SpirFit.org/CUNY/Downloads/YouCanGoHomeAgain_P7_Stats.pdf

For other academic lessons, feel free to go to: http://SpirFit.org/Academy

Improve Reading & Writing by Annotating 1

This video is lesson one on a simple way to annotate for improving reading comprehension and essay writing (about a reading.)

The handout for this lesson can be found at:

http://SpirFit.org/CUNY/Downloads/Annotating1_2_3_4_Printout.pdf 


http://SPIRFIT.ORG/CUNY/Downloads/Annotating1_2_3_4_Printout.doc

A sample of how one annotates an article (to improve reading comprehension and to prepare for summary and essay writing) can be found at:

cuny.SpirFit.com/2011/10/improve-reading-by-annotating-smart.html




More lessons of various concentrations can be found at:

SpirFit.org/Academy

New Layout Design

Do not be alarmed.  I've only changed the layout design of this site/blog.  It is still the same blog.  I thought I'd use a simpler background (and make it more consistent with my other (SpirFit) blogs.  Feel free to let me know what you think.

Film Contest with Cash Reward

If you are a CUNY student and you have a film you want to submit to a contest, here's a film contest by AAARI (Asian American/ Asian Research Institute.  You don't have to be Asian, but you have to be a CUNY student.  First prize for each category is $200.  Runner up would receive $100.  There are three categories and therefore, four prize recipients.

http://www.aaari.info/2012aaff.htm?utm_source=2012+Asian+American+Film+Festival+%282nd+Wave%29&utm_campaign=Constant+Contact&utm_medium=email

Check Your Computer for This Malware

If you've ever encountered major computer problems in the past, you know that they can make your life a living hell.  There's a malware that may cause trouble, the DNS changer malware, that the FBI is telling us to check our computers for.  Simply go to -  http://www.dcwg.org/detect/

For more information, go to http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/november/malware_110911 and http://www.dcwg.org/

The Search for True Love

As someone who helps many students with writing, I enjoy writing for fun and I've started a new blog series "The Search for True Love" at http://stanzo.blogspot.com/2012/03/search-for-true-love-part-1.html

Feel free to read and to email me with your stories or comments.

Set Your Clocks Forward

Remember to set your clocks forward this weekend. You don't want to be an hour late for class on Monday. Unfortunately, we lose an hour.