Book Reviews / Social & Emotional Learning
by MiddleWeb · Published 11/19/2015 · Last modified 11/12/2019
Especially to build awareness of the SEL needs of gifted students, but also to enrich the education provided to ALL students, I’m Not Just Gifted is a welcome resource to any teacher determined to make education socially and emotionally relevant, says principal Deb Hubble.
Genius Hour is an inquiry-driven, passion-based strategy designed to excite and engage students around the unrestrained joy of learning. Teachers Denise Krebs and Gallit Zvi make a case for the weekly time investment and share tips for getting started.
STEM learning can open up new worlds for elementary kids as it grows problem solving and teamwork skills – all the while building a foundation for the middle grades. Anne Jolly provides elementary teachers with ideas and resources to begin integrated STEM.
Heather Wolpert-Gawron’s passion for PBL goes back to her elementary years. Nowadays she builds units for middle schoolers to encourage their journeys through learning. Here she shares a structure to support students while simplifying teachers’ preparation.
The difficulty students have in writing clearly can be traced to many factors, says literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo, from muddled pre-CCSS standards to weak teaching practices. Here she offers concrete suggestions to correct persistent writing problems in the secondary grades.
Our students are not successful oral communicators, says author-consultant Erik Palmer. Yet the rise of connected learning, podcasts, Face Time and Skype make speaking and listening skills essential. Read (and watch) Palmer’s compelling case for change.
It's Not Easy Being Tween / Teacher's Legacy
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 11/01/2015 · Last modified 11/28/2019
When a graduate class requires Cheryl Mizerny to consider her personal teaching legacy, she finds herself reflecting on how her students will remember their experiences in her classroom. She hopes they will recall joy, challenge, caring, empowerment and inspiration.
Bringing Math Students into the Formative Assessment Equation is in a league of its own by focusing solely on the middle level math educator who wants to write effective learning targets. Educator Maia Fastabend already plans to employ some of the book’s tools.
Educators may be reluctant to try memoir writing with middle grades students, but the rewards are considerable, says 8th grade teacher-author Jake Wizner. He shares three insights that can help guide teachers as they enrich the student writing experience.
Connected Reading: Teaching Adolescent Readers in a Digital World lays out the rationale, as well as a path forward, for expanding the definitions of reading, showing how to engage readers in authentic experiences using varied texts, says Kevin Hodgson.
