Rosalind Wiseman’s Owning Up takes on the ambitious task of talking to middle schoolers about some of the complex social situations adolescents encounter. Maeghan Warburton recommends the 17 flexible lessons addressing bullying, social cruelty, and injustice.
Katherine Bomer provides concrete suggestions that help teachers move away from formulaic essay teaching while helping young writers name and revise their thinking, reveal truth, and weave in other voices as they draft, fine-tune, and revise, says Brian Kelley.
David B. Cohen travels to 70 California schools to meet inspired teachers who experience autonomy and opportunities to lead. Though his visits lack the rigor of research, Mary Langer Thompson says his book can show readers what’s good about public schools.
Change Agents / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 03/28/2017 · Last modified 12/05/2019
Elizabeth Stein calls on co-teachers to create powerful ripple effects throughout the nation’s classrooms with positive actions aimed at strengthening inclusion and every student’s sense of achieving their best. She offers six jumping-off places to start the wave.
Classroom Recordings / Meaningful Math
by Michelle Russell · Published 03/27/2017 · Last modified 04/28/2024
When Michelle Russell reviewed video of the classes she had recorded, reality turned out to be much different than what she had imagined was happening. In her usual transparent style, Russell describes what she’s learning and what she’ll do to improve her practice.
Art of Movie Making / Close Reading the Media
by Frank Baker · Published 03/26/2017 · Last modified 12/02/2019
As moviemaking transitions from analog to ever advancing computer-driven technologies that meet the expectations of today’s audiences, the blended learning options involving media literacy, art, science and tech grow apace. Frank Baker explores the possibilities.
Kids on the Cusp / Modeling Learning
by Mary Tarashuk · Published 03/26/2017 · Last modified 11/17/2019
As she receives the Educators’ Choice Award for her blog post “Teaching By Doing Something Meaningful” at her first national conference, Mary Tarashuk remembers Madeline Hunter’s simple wisdom and considers the teaching power that comes from writing with students.
In “Read Talk Write” Laura Robb provides strategies that can grow students’ ability to have rich, accountable conversations, leading to productive, engaging writing. Reviewer Linda Biondi especially appreciates the mentor texts, detailed lessons, and reproducibles.
Cathie E. West packs her book with key concepts and skills, charts to help explain these, engagement strategies and step-by-step activities, all to help achieve teacher – and subsequently student – engagement. Literacy coach Janice Rustico finds it a keeper.
Book Reviews / Project Based Learning
by MiddleWeb · Published 03/23/2017 · Last modified 12/03/2019
Todd Stanley’s units of study address the need of today’s students both to problem solve and present findings to an audience. Jennifer Wirtz implemented a well resourced Oral Presentation unit and will use more of the easily adapted projects with her 7th graders.
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