Teaching and learning in grades 4-8

How to Lead Change in Your School’s Culture

In Leading School Change, Todd Whitaker focuses on strategies to successfully navigate cultural changes, using specific examples. Educator Laura Von Staden particularly likes his coverage of how standardization has as a cost, often holding back the best teachers.

Teaching Poetry for Social Justice

If every elementary, English and history teacher did even one of the book’s activities each year, our understanding of our students would deepen immeasurably, as would their appreciation of their families and their communities, both local and global, writes Sarah Cooper.

Student Collaboration: Grouping That Works

In Group Work That Works, Paul Vermette and Cynthia Kline draw on research and experience to provide a thorough plan, supported by extensive resources, for implementing collaborative learning. Educator Linda Biondi recommends the book to hesitant secondary teachers.

All You Need to Get Students Writing Daily

No matter your content area or whether your students are in special ed, AP, or ELL classes, Mary Tedrow’s Write Think Learn can help you implement a daily writing program. A “must read” says consultant Anne Anderson and a rich source of practical ideas and activities.

Put Some Bang at the Beginning of Lessons

How we start lessons makes a huge difference in learning during the remainder of our class instruction time. Teaching consultant and author Barbara Blackburn shares strategies to employ three keys to beginning lessons with a bang: focus, activation, and excitement.

Rethinking Guided Reading to Advantage ALL Our Learners

Most guided reading programs emphasize daily ability grouping with too little emphasis on developing self-directed readers who love to read for pleasure or enrichment, says literacy leader Regie Routman, who points out equity issues revealed in recent research.