Climate Change: Discover How it Impacts Spaceship Earth with 25 Projects is on a level that most tweens can grasp, yet it is not oversimplified and builds vocabulary. With its cool facts and high order questions, this book gets MS teacher Laura Von Staden’s recommendation.
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.
A three-perspective approach to reading response (as a reader, a writer and a human being) has been a helpful resource for Sarah Donovan and for her students as they respond to writing by their peers. Donovan includes several model activities and examples.
When you think of Greek and Latin roots, you think high student engagement, right? No? ELA teacher Amber Chandler plans to make all those old roots rock this fall as she introduces the concepts of language development and acquisition to her students.
The first step toward gamifying your classroom can be as simple as taking the “ew” out of “review” with these helpful game-oriented apps, selected and described by tech integration expert Curtis Chandler. Included: Quizizz, Kahoot, Classcraft and Class Dojo.
Future of History / History Resources
by Sarah Cooper · Published 07/19/2015 · Last modified 04/17/2024
Sarah Cooper emerged from her summer study of Emancipation thinking about the surprises and challenges presented by primary sources. She explores several options that could help students understand sources with antiquated language and complex structure.
Formative assessment is good practice, as every teacher knows, says tech consultant Curtis Chandler, but finding time to measure individual student understanding is challenging. Chandler offers seven apps that can make the practice both routine and engaging.
Future of History / Teaching strategies
by Sarah Cooper · Published 04/19/2015 · Last modified 01/12/2023
What do middle school students gain and lose in a thematic history curriculum? Sarah Cooper relays her experiences with both theme and chronology approaches, finding strengths in each, as national standards shift from facts and dates to skills and big questions.
Kevin Hodgson begins his 6th grade poetry unit “with a listening field trip across the United States, powered by our imaginations.” Before young writers can compose poetry, they need to listen closely to its rhythms and “make the shift away from prose.” The anthology My America provides mentor texts.
Karen Chace knows storytelling can build literacy as well as joy. In Story by Story she explains in detail how to develop students’ storytelling skills and how to gain support for storyteller festivals. Reviewer Kevin Cordi especially values her reports of student engagement.
