Dale Russakoff’s The Prize recounts what happens to Newark NJ schools when Gov. Chris Christie, Mayor Cory Booker and Supt. Cami Anderson take a $100 million gift from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and invest in corporate reform. Matt Renwick says it’s a must read.
Debbie Zacarian and Michael Silverstone successfully build the case for school and community partnerships in diverse settings that are two-way relationships with the goal of increased student achievement, both academic and social, says principal Deb Hubble.
Future of History / History & Current Events
by Sarah Cooper · Published 10/18/2015 · Last modified 11/22/2019
FDR’s “Four Freedoms” speech in 1941 versus Donald Trump’s debate performances this year: meaningful connection or unfair comparison? Sarah Cooper describes her recent lesson and presents her new ground rules for history and current event mashups.
Future of History / History Resources
by Jody & Shara · Published 09/21/2015 · Last modified 11/13/2019
In earlier years Jody Passanisi provided sources to her 8th grade history students. More recently, as they look to the Internet for information, she finds they need to understand not only how to cite sources they uncover but also why they need to credit ideas.
Differentiation / Future of History
by Sarah Cooper · Published 09/06/2015 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Wondering how – with enough learning time – she could reach individual 8th grade U.S. history students where they are “most curious & invested,” teacher Sarah Cooper considers the breadth of current events resources and connections she could suggest.
A New School Year / Kids on the Cusp
by Mary Tarashuk · Published 08/25/2015 · Last modified 11/16/2019
Mary Tarashuk is packing for her trip back to Room 106 and her new class of fourth graders. She shares her pre-flight checklist and her new student-centered theme for the year: “In Class 4-T We DO Learning.” Along the way she includes middle grades resources.
Future of History / Understanding Religions
by Lauren S. Brown · Published 08/23/2015 · Last modified 11/29/2019
Teaching about Judaism, Christianity and Islam is a staple in many middle school world history and culture classes. To help counter students’ frequent confusion about these religions, Lauren Brown points out misconceptions and offers resource ideas.
In his ELA classroom, David Sebek focuses on four aspects of what it means to be a “good citizen” – truthfulness, justice, equality and responsibility – and uses whistleblower stories and dystopian fiction to explore the elusive definition of citizenship.
Written from the experiences of two veteran teachers, Empowering Families is the most useful guide in promoting student literacy at home that 4th grade teacher Alex T. Valencic has ever come across. He plans to share its many suggestions with teachers and parents this fall.
Teachers looking for new ways to incorporate primary sources into history lessons covering 5 centuries will find great ideas in Jana Kirchner and Andrew McMichael’s Inquiry-Based Lessons in U.S. History, says social studies teacher Michael DiClemente.
