Teaching and learning in grades 4-8

Link Grammar Instruction to Real-World Situations

Grammatical concepts don’t just exist in textbooks and on worksheets. They are part of life beyond the classroom. Sean Ruday shows how – by taking an inquiry-based approach to grammar instruction – we can help our students prioritize their authentic experiences with language.

New to STEM Teaching? Five Things to Do First

Whether you’re a recent teacher ed graduate, newly emergency certified, or an experienced teacher who’s suddenly learned you’ll be teaching STEM this year, you’re in good hands with veteran STEM teacher and curriculum designer Anne Jolly. Here are her five “do this first” tips.

All the Tools You’ll Need for Differentiation

In Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom, Carol Ann Tomlinson and Marcia Imbeau offer new teachers and classroom veterans the rationale for designing instruction to meet diverse student needs – and the means to manage it in the real world, says Cathy Gassenheimer.

What Makes Some Teachers So Memorable?

Education professor and researcher Julie Hasson has spent years interviewing people about their memorable teachers. Read what three former middle school students told her about the teachers whose actions and interactions in the classroom made a lasting impact on their lives.

Continuous Learning: Develop Your Own PLN

Whether school leaders network using traditional methods like books and conferences or virtual solutions using social media tools and platforms, it’s vital to be a learner and to model learning in your organization. Ron Williamson and Barb Blackburn explore the PLN option.

What MATH-ish Can Add to Your Math Classes

In MATH-ish, youcubed.org co-founder Jo Boaler brings together real-world math, neuroscience, equity awareness, and classroom experiences to forge a powerful multi-faceted tool to encourage students’ collaboration and engagement, says math teacher and NBCT Kathleen Palmieri.

3 Tips Help Teachers Make Good Use of Time

It pays to be strategic when managing time, writes teacher Kelly Owens. Without compromising good practice, educators can learn to ditch time drainers and invest those precious minutes in time savers. Reduce, reuse and recycle to work more efficiently and effectively.

Value and Success Can Build Student Motivation

We cannot make students be intrinsically motivated, writes teaching coach Barbara Blackburn. But we can create a classroom culture that focuses on the building blocks of value and success. When we do, students are more likely to grow resilient and take chances on learning.

Give Students Writing Feedback That Works

Laurie Miller Hornik describes what happened when English department colleagues got together to improve their responses to student writing. The collaboration produced a feedback protocol for reading, coaching and evaluating assignments that’s still in use five years later.