Thomas Newkirk urges us to consider how, in a test-crazed culture, we can stay focused on what matters for our students. Holding On To Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones is not a literacy ‘how-to’ book, says Jenni Miller, but important nonetheless.
Students shouldn’t come away from a role play “having done something memorable and learned nothing valuable,” says history teacher Aaron Brock. “There should always be a core skill or concept guiding the activity.” He offers 2 examples to illustrate.
Working with a group of teachers openly wary of technology, Kevin Hodgson offered this writing prompt: “Recall your first aha moment about tech and teaching.” And then, like the good writing teacher he is, he shared his own story as a model.
Former middle grades teacher Daniel Fountenberry says his experiences struggling to organize group reading sessions among students with varied reading skills led him to develop adaptive technology that tailors the “same” book to different readers.
The Killgallons’ sentence-composing approach to grammar instruction, bolstered by “a mountaion” of model sentences and mentor texts, could be a valuable tool if teachers would like to see less hesitation and more acrobatics in their students’ writing, says reviewer Jenny Ovadia.
Are there components that must always be in place for something to earn the STEM program label? STEM curriculum expert Anne Jolly identifies two essentials.
Articles / Teaching Vocabulary / Vocabulary
by MiddleWeb · Published 11/03/2013 · Last modified 01/26/2020
ELA teacher & former llama wrangler Lee Ann Spillane details how she teaches content-related vocabulary using several versatile digital tools.
Book Reviews / Classroom Management / Engagement
by MiddleWeb · Published 10/28/2013 · Last modified 11/30/2019
“What does student engagement look like?” is just one of 14 questions Larry Ferlazzo & other experts answer in this new eBook reviewed by Julie Dermody.
Middle school advocates have long championed thematic curriculum design & project learning. Now is the time to actually do it, say Nancy Doda & Mark Springer.
Ariel Sacks says that by teaching novels “whole” she has been able to ignite interest in books, deepen discussions & improve reading comprehension. In this informative article, Sacks shares her rationale, her method, and reactions from her middle school students.
