Goodreads.com: Using a Social Media Site as an English Teacher-Education Performance Assessment
Abstract: Although the disciplines of reading and writing should be woven together as integrated, interdependent practices in grades 6-12 (NCTE 2016), most middle and high school teachers implement separate instructional units for reading and writing, connecting the two disciplines only through the narrow lens of literary analysis (Graham & Herbert, 2010). It is imperative, therefore, for preservice teachers to be immersed in instructional models that integrate reading and writing in meaningful fashions. This presentation will share an approach to teaching unit- and lesson-planning in an integrated fashion that uses the literary social media site, Goodreads.com, as a forum. The presentation will share the impetus for the assignment, the assignment itself, and student products and reactions.