What Teachers Are Saying About Mirrors & Windows

We received the following endorsement of Mirrors & Windows from a teacher in Elma, WA, who is using the program. Our thanks to Deanne Woita for taking the time to send in her comments.

1—Elma High School adopted the Mirrors and Windows program mainly because we had been so happy with the previous EMC program: Literature and the Language Arts. In fact, we banked our funding for the year of our adoption and waited for the new EMC book to be published. The selection of literature is excellent, as are the leveled questions at the end of selections. I appreciate that these questions are directly focused on specific thinking skills and are clearly labeled by these skills. The teacher materials allow so much individualization. I can target reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, specific reading, and career-building skills in every unit. I can use the Mirrors and Windows audio library to have students listen to professional readers if I want them to hear the text aloud. I can individualize assignments for my special education students, my ESL students and my most gifted students without having to create these lessons myself. There are prepared PowerPoint lessons and other electronic support, including a year-long planner and Exam View test creator. I have never had so many options, nor so much auxiliary material help, as I have now with the Mirrors and Windows program. Plus, we have received excellent, personalized customer service with EMC.

2— 1) The slow release or reading responsibility is a wonderful way to organize genres in Level V. For example, I used a short story to teach the plot elements, then discussed the story with students as a class. Next, I had students read, on their own, the next story and helped them analyze the story for the plot elements. Finally, I had them select a story from all the additional choices in the textbook and analyze it for the plot elements on their own.

2) I used the prepared PowerPoint to help teach the main elements of fiction. Students need visuals to help cement their learning.

3) I have enjoyed using the Exam View program to create various versions of the same test to help eliminate the possibility of cheating.

3—Of all the novel sets I have ever used in my teaching career, the EMC Access Editions are by far the best. They contain author and historical background. They have vocabulary assistance and a glossary for students to use. They have questions in the margins to help students with their comprehension. There are plot summaries at the ends, identifying the key plot points. Often there is supplementary material, including newspaper articles, poems, essays, etc. that tie directly to the historical or thematic elements of the novel. I love these editions!!!

Elma High School
1235 Monte-Elma Road
Elma, WA 98541
Deanne Woita

Visit EMC Booth and Authors at NCTE in Orlando

Make sure to stop by the EMC booth at NCTE in Orlando this weekend! EMC Expository Composition: Discovering Your Voice authors Gary Anderson and Tony Romano will also be presenting Friday on topics pertinent to all language arts teachers. See the information below:

CREATING COMMUNITY THROUGH MENTORING: THE CARE AND TENDING OF NEW ENGLISH TEACHERS: Bright new colleagues enter our profession at the beginning of each school year. Most of them thrive, but some have career-threatening difficulties. We will examine why English/Language Arts teachers struggle within their first few years of teaching and discuss specific strategies that veteran colleagues can use to support them. Session: A.35 - 9:30 am to 10:45 am 11/19/2010; Format: Panel; Room: Coronado/Coronado Ballroom M Topic: Professional Development; Level(s): Middle (6-8), Secondary (9-12), College/University

WRITERS WEEK: HOW TWO SCHOOLS MAKE WRITERS INTO ROCK STARS: Writers Week transforms our schools into writing communities each year as students, faculty, and well-known authors converge to share and inspire writing. Learn how your school can develop such a program from teachers who have successfully hosted hundreds of author visits and created widespread interest in writing on their campuses. Session: D.28 - 2:30 pm to 3:45 pm 11/19/2010 Format: Panell; Room: Yacht & Beach Club/Grand Harbour Ballroom, Salon 1 Topic: Writing; Level(s): Middle (6-8), Secondary (9-12)

For more information on the conference go to http://www.ncte.org/annual

Don't miss it!!

Common Core State Standards FAQs--Academic Vocabulary

I'd like to start a series of FAQs to respond to questions we've received regarding Mirrors and Windows' alignment to the new Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts. The first one deals with the academic vocabulary standards in the CCSS.

Q. 1. What steps have you taken to align academic vocabulary in your instructional materials with the academic vocabulary used in the common core state standards?

A. The common core state standards break vocabulary acquisition into three tiers of words:
• Tier 1 words (everyday speech used in conversation)
• Tier 2 words (general academic words found across the curriculum)
• Tier 3 words (domain-specific academic words specific to a content area)

Mirrors & Windows offers the following features throughout the program to align with the common core state standards and to support vocabulary acquisition of all three tiers of words:

• Teacher’s Edition includes before each unit a Building Vocabulary list of words from the unit divided into three types: Words in Use (Tier 1: vocabulary defined within the selection in the side margins or at the bottoms of pages); Selection Words (Tier 1: words that may be challenging but are not defined in the selection); and Teaching Words (Tiers 2 & 3: general and domain-specific academic words used in instruction).

• Unit Introductions in the student text define Tier 3 academic words specific to the content instruction in the unit. For example, in the fiction unit words such as plot, exposition, point of view, characterization, setting, and theme are defined and examples are provided. These words are reinforced in before, during, and after reading features.

• Reading Models (in grades 6-10) and How to Read the Genre (in grades 11-12) features provide definitions of Tier 2 academic words that can be applied across the curriculum to aid in reading strategy application, such as context, purpose, analyze, predict, clarify, sequence, and evaluate.

• In the Before Reading pages before each selection, Analyze Literature defines Tier 3 domain-specific academic vocabulary words; Use Reading Skills defines Tier 2 general academic words; and Preview Vocabulary provides a list of Tier 1 vocabulary words defined within the selection in the margins or at the bottoms of pages.

• After Reading questions following the selections define Tier 2 academic words aligned with Bloom’s Taxonomy, such as refer, reason, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create, to help students apply critical thinking skills.

• Vocabulary & Spelling workshops in each unit in the textbook and in the Exceeding the Standards: Vocabulary & Spelling supplement develop vocabulary skills such as understanding context clues, denotation and connotation, word origins and word parts, and using a dictionary or thesaurus, so that students can independently apply these skills to learn new words from all three tiers.