ELA Best Practices: A Resource of Constructivist Teaching Tools and

Techniques to Promote Active Student Learning

The tools and techniques that follow are loosely categorized under the heading that
generally fits their skill area; however, as the merged columns indicate, there is
often overlap and crossover. Helping our students to see the integration of these
skills is an essential learning. Critical thinking is integrated in all of the categories.

Reading Writing Speaking & Listening

Anticipation Guide:
A pre-reading activity that
provides students with a
series of statements with
which they can choose to
agree or disagree; they focus
on the big ideas or themes of
a text.
Learning Log:
As a daily metacognitive tool,
learning logs can take many
forms; but generally students
recount what they have
learned in the areas of both
content and process; a daily
log of what was learned.
Thoughts for Thinkers:
Aphoristic quotes taken from larger
works and used to start or stimulate
a discussion or as the topic for a
focused free write. As great strategy
to begin or end a class discussion.

Sociograms: Interactive Notebook: Student Starts the Class:

Students create a visual
representation of the
relationships among
character. The central
character in a work is placed
at the center of a page and all
the other characters are
placed around him/her;
spatial relationships, size,
shape, color, etc. are all used
to represent their relationship
to one another.
A notebook where each pair of
facing pages is set up so that
one page is the class notes on
content, process, activities,
etc, and the facing page is to
be used for the student’s
individual interaction with the
learning experience (e.g.,
drawings, words, mind maps,
responses, reactions. etc.).
Formulate ways to have a student
start the class each day; it may be
that he/she: brings in a thematically
linked quote and runs a 5-10 minute
discussion, recaps the learning from
the day before, introduces and
defines a new word from the reading,
identifies a passage from the reading
that was particularly memorable or
interesting.

Annotating a Text: Readers' Bookmarks: Jigsaw:

Using any one of the
acronyms provided or a
chosen focus, students
annotate the text as a
preparation for dialogue with
other students in small, then
large groups
These are small slips of blank
paper that can be tucked into
a book and used for writing
responses to literature.
Information on the bookmarks
can include what is important,
favorite part, personal
connections, questions posed,
predictions made, etc.
Students are assigned to to groups to
discuss and become experts on a
topic; then the groups are "jigsawed"
so that each newly configured group
has one expert from each of the base
groups

Collaborative Annotation: Transactional Reading Journal: Individual / Partner/Small Group

After students complete their
own annotation of a text, in
groups of 3-5, students pass
their annotated copy to the
person on the right. Each
person then focuses, and
makes additions to the
original reader’s
commentary. The next time
Seminars:
A powerful way to engage These seminars are more formal and
students in a reading focused than large group seminars.
experience and get them to A text or portion of a text is chosen
construct their own meaning. and the student(s) analyze the text
A set number of required based on the models and guided
entries are to be completed practice from class. The students
that respond to the beginning, then create a thesis that needs to be
middle, and end of the text. supported by evidence from the text
the paper passes the new
reader adds commentary to
both of the previous work.
Thus, each person in the
group has 2-4 people build
and expand on his/her work.
The teacher and/or students
can generate options such as:
any element of writer’s craft,
personal connections, a letter
to the author, character,
another literary character, a
piece of art the work inspires,
etc.
and sets the seminar up in an outline
form. Partners and group members
discuss the texts, but each of the
individuals is responsible for
submitting and presenting their poem
or section of a novel.

Socratic Seminars:
These whole class dialogues explore ideas, values, and issues drawn from readings or works of are
chosen for their richness. Leaders help participants to make sense of a text and of their own thinking
by asking questions about reasoning, evidence, connections, examples and other aspects of sound
thinking. A good seminar is more devoted to making meaning that to mastering information.
Participants are actively engaged in rigorous critical thought. They must involve a relatively short
text, piece of art, etc. and after the seminar are often followed by periods of reflection that may be
written or spoken.

Literature Circles:
“Literature Circles are small, peer-led discussion groups whose members have chosen to read the
same poem, essay, short story, article, or book” (Daniels, 2002). Literature circles promote dialogic
interaction among students and empower to take an active and self-directed role in their reading.

The Most Important Word: Focused Free Writing: Exhibitions:

(Padak, 1992)
“Readers select what they
believe to be the most
important word in the text
they have read. Readers must
be able to explain the reasons
why they think this particular
word is the most important.
Students then meet in groups
to share their answers. After
each member has shared,
some students may want to
change their choice. Groups
may discuss until they reach
consensus. (word in stanza,
etc)
(Porter, 2002)
Focused free writing works the
same way as free writing
except that students start with
a specific topic. While writing,
they may digress and
interrupt their writing, but
eventually, they should
attempt to return to the
topic. Focused free writes
should be brief (five to ten
minutes) and can serve as a
great warm-up to small-group
or class discussion.
Exhibitions are presentations that can
be done by individuals, partners,
and/or small groups. They are
generally presentations that are
broader in scope; a student
demonstrates his/her overall
understanding of the unit’s enduring
understandings and essential
questions.

Poetry as an Entry Point: Written Conversations:

Instead of jumping into a
major text, using
thematically-linked poems to
introduce the themes or
essential questions is a
powerful and compact start.
To promote the synthesis of
ideas, students can then make
connections between the
poem and other thematically
(Harste, Short, and Burke 1988)
Partners using this strategy “talk” about literature by carrying on a
conversation with each other in writing. After reading a portion of
the text, readers address their response to their partner. The two
then exchange their notes and respond to each other’s writing. They
should try to make meaning of the piece through questions,
comments, discussions of likes, dislikes, personal connections, etc.
The written conversations can serve as an excellent precursor to
paired, small-group, and class discussion
related texts.

Reciprocal Reading: The Writer’s Antithesis: Reciprocal Teaching:

Students take turns reading
aloud to each other, stopping
at several points to ask
questions, clarify, make
predictions, discuss writer’s
craft, etc.
Students take a passage from
the text they are reading and
rewrite the passage reversing
one or more of the writer’s
choices: the tone,
characterization, writer’s
voice, point of view, setting,
etc.
Students use four comprehension
strategies—predicting, question
generating, clarifying, and
summarizing to help their peers
construct meaning from the text.

Voice Lessons: Inquiry Board:

(Dean, 1999)
Using the model set up by
Nancy Dean in her book, Voice
Lessons, select passages from
the text being read and use
them to showcase elements of
writer's craft (e.g., use the
selection to conduct a mini-
lesson on diction, tone,
syntax, etc.).
Create a space somewhere in your
classroom where students can post
unanswered questions that come up.
They may be in response to a variety
of topics, texts, writers, etc. A
student can grab a question and
research and answer it to stimulate a
piece of writing or discussion.

Author’s Circle: (Harste, Short, and Burke, 1988)

Students read their pieces of writing aloud to the other authors in the circle, which could mean the
whole class or a group of 3-4 students. Listeners respond aloud by discussing what they hear in the
writing, with special attention to what they find effective. They can also comment on the meaning of
the piece and raise questions about parts where they feel the text is unclear or needs more
explanation. The writer may revise and return to the circle several times before submitting a final
draft.