Teaching and learning in grades 4-8
No matter where you are in your journey to understand grading, this book can help, says middle school teacher Emily Prissel. Susan Brookhart does a nice job of presenting important ideas succinctly and clearly, while giving practical advice and ready-to-use strategies.
Berit Gordon offers a step-by-step plan for playing catch up with students who are not regular readers and therefore do not have the reading skills or the knowledge base to feel anything but overwhelmed and bored by classic literature, says classics teacher Kelley Pujol.
As educators work to improve science education, one message is clear, says coach Kathy Renfrew. “Science practices bring science concepts to life for students.” Renfrew offers ideas that can help teachers begin to integrate the eight NGSS practices into daily lessons.
Shared reading has the potential to be a useful vehicle for learning IF it’s implemented effectively. Literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo looks at the benefits and drawbacks of investing time in two students reading together and suggests strategies to increase retention and communication skills.
At the end of last semester, math teacher Michelle Russell found herself discouraged. A month-long battle with pneumonia left her without much joy or enthusiasm. “I realized I needed to reflect and make some adjustments.” Read the four 2018 resolutions she came up with.
Digital crowd annotation tools create the possibility that the margins of an online text or piece of media can be filled with insightful conversation by a classroom of students or a collaboration of teachers. Kevin Hodgson reveals how to get started with user friendly resources.
You might look at Heather Wolpert-Gawron’s table of contents in “Just Ask Us” and think that you’ve seen these topics before. You have – but you likely haven’t seen them all in one place, enhanced by the rich voices and wisdom of our students. says teacher Sarah Cooper.
Teachers will want to keep Pernille Ripp’s Passionate Readers as a “forever resource,” says former reading teacher Mary Langer Thompson. This practical book, full of bold ideas and ready-made resources, centers on helping students become life-long lovers of reading.
STEM Lesson Guideposts offers detailed guidance to teachers on how to help students integrate the STEM disciplines and apply what they are learning by designing units that use real-world problems. Student teacher supervisor Linda Biondi highly recommends the book.
We all want happy classrooms where true learning is at the heart of everything we do. A great way to move toward that goal is to build your classroom “brand,” says teacher-librarian Rita Platt. She describes her own brand development and offers tips to develop yours.