Each week, I publish a post containing three or four particularly useful resources on classroom instruction, and you can see them all here.

You might also be interested in The Best Articles (And Blog Posts) Offering Practical Advice & Resources To Teachers In 2014 – Part Two.

Here are this week’s picks:

Russel Tarr has a nice blog called Tarr’s Toolbox where he shares some very good classroom strategies. One that I had never thought of before was using a Venn Diagram as a classroom game. A quick description of it is that the teacher draws a Venn Diagram on the board, numbers the areas, and has students complete it in groups or on their own. Then, the teacher calls out the zone and the first student group with a correct answer gets points. I think it could be modified in a number of ways, including have groups with small whiteboards and everyone having an opportunity to answer but, one way or another, it’s a great way to utilize the higher-order thinking concept of categorization in a game format. I’m adding it to The Best Ideas For Using Games In The ESL/EFL/ELL Classroom.

Formative Assessment: The Right Question at the Right Time is from Peter DeWitt’s Ed Week blog and shares a number of practical ideas. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Formative Assessment.

60 Non-Threatening Formative Assessment Techniques is from Teach Thought. I’m adding it to the same list.

Help Students Close Read Iconic Images is an excellent post by Frank Baker in Middleweb. It includes some excellent links to student hand-outs. I’m adding it to The Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons.

Concise and Precise Micro-writing is from Alex Quigley, and offers some very good suggestions. I’m adding it to The Best Posts On Writing Instruction.