Teaching and learning in grades 4-8
Donnie Piercey’s 50 Strategies for Integrating AI offers a comprehensive guide for educators ready to harness the potential of AI. Piercey includes a wide range of practical strategies and insights to enrich the learning experience for K-12 students, writes Kathie Palmieri.
Learning focused schools have a collective growth mindset and a shared belief that every student can learn and grow. Education leaders Ron Williamson and Barbara Blackburn share six characteristics that define such schools and offer ideas about how to accomplish each one.
Adolescents are particularly susceptible to circadian rhythms – the physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle – writes principal Mike Gaskell. Educators can do more to plan academic lessons and other content to take advantage of peak learning times.
Megan Kelly writes about improvements in her student relationships after trying out strategies adapted from Zaretta Hammond’s Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain. One key insight: talking with kids about their lives and personal interests can boost in-class learning.
Without good math fact recall, many students become discouraged about building math knowledge and solving equations. Kathleen Palmieri uses song and movement to engage fifth graders in computation fluency. Watch the music and exercise videos that are hits with her kids.
If Regie Routman had to name the most important mindsets and actions for a full and flourishing life, “I’d say gratitude and generosity are at the top and are especially essential for living and thriving in challenging times.” All of which gets her thinking about Thanksgiving.
The authors of Educating for Global Competence break down what global competence is and then give examples and advice on how teachers can help students achieve it. International teacher Megan Kelly recommends the book as a resource to engage students in global citizenship.
Young adult novels with multiple narrators offer kids the opportunity to analyze an engaging writing technique and also experience the social-emotional lives of various characters. ELA teacher Kasey Short includes sample questions, activities, and lots of title suggestions.
Author and master teacher Debbie Silver begins her case for spirit-building humor and laughter in classrooms and schools with a personal story from her years as a middle level educator. “Pay attention to how much you laugh together. Teachers and school leaders who laugh, last.”
Never skip the math class debrief, writes teacher and math coach Mona Iehl. That’s when you can help students take what they’ve explored and worked through and make sense of it all. Using clear language and examples, she describes how to avoid common debriefing mistakes.