Teachers can capitalize on what our students already know and can do by purposely choosing to employ the independent “You do” phase of the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) at the start. Sunday Cummins and Julie Webb show how this strategy can build student agency.
Middle grades teacher Kathleen Palmieri is taking advantage of her students’ growing comfort level with online apps to set up interactive notebooks in Google Jamboard and use Google Slides to simplify the process. She includes all her steps plus extra tips and resource links.
Community dissent is rising and schools are not immune. The dilemma for principals: conflicting demands from different groups of parents and other influencers. Ron Williamson and Barbara R. Blackburn offer 10 leadership strategies that can help lessen the impact of conflict.
Using the strategies he shares here, ELA teacher and professional development author Jeremy Hyler has been able to reach more middle grades students and help them understand how they can power up their ability to communicate by learning grammar skills and code switching.
Digital storytelling lets student writers share their own characters who come to life, engage in dialogue, and move around the setting. Best of all, it helps middle grades teachers reach all types of learners. Sam Weigle and Katie Caprino offer examples and suggested tools.
Close Reading the Media / The Emmy Awards
by MiddleWeb · Published 09/08/2021 · Last modified 09/12/2021
The Emmy Awards continue to be a rich source of teaching ideas for educators who have an interest in media, television and film literacy. Expert Frank Baker’s latest edition of his annual Emmys column offers background perspective, teaching ideas and additional resources.
Children are suffering more anxiety and depression, which many researchers attribute to overuse and misuse of personal devices and social media, writes author-educator Debbie Silver. Our response needs to focus not on scolding but on helping students become self-regulating.
Twenty years after the 9/11 attacks, it’s essential to teach students about the lives lost, the heroes who helped, and the Islamophobia that followed. To examine 9/11’s legacy and impact, middle grades teacher Kasey Short recommends key online resources and four YA novels.
At MiddleWeb central in North Carolina, late summer means fresh back-to-school ideas from our bloggers and guest writers. Discover the wealth of teacher wisdom highlighted in one, easy-to-access post. We’ll add more posts as they arrive.
Award-winning social studies teacher Ron Litz shares some of the ways he makes student voice a top priority in his history classroom – using teaching strategies that focus on engaging students with the past and allow them to demonstrate their learning in a variety of formats.
