Teaching and learning in grades 4-8
Reading iRules through an education lens, our teacher/reviewer noticed that while parents are pushing technology away and trying to figure out how to limit its role in their children’s lives, teachers are doing almost the opposite. How can they close that gap and work together?
Sue Stephenson’s Kidding Around is overflowing with ideas for teachers who would like to add more humor and fun to their classrooms and want to help kids understand how they can promote their own happiness, says reviewer Jennifer Underwood. Also available in Spanish.
Teachers and administrators who want to boost their ability to meet the needs of all their students will find immediate help in Planning and Organizing Standards-Based Differentiated Instruction (2nd Edition), says reviewer Casey Gilewski.
The end of the school year has been difficult for Kevin Hodgson, as his 6th graders begin to abandon their collaborative community, looking ahead to summer and secondary school. He finds sustenance in a new book of poetry and teacher reflection.
Summer is upon us and we hope you’ll soon be able to settle in with a stack of books you’ve been looking forward to reading. Some fiction perhaps. And then a couple of books to grow on. Here are a dozen we’ve selected from among our MiddleWeb reviews.
Our Two Teachers in the Room blogger shares her expertise for an upcoming online course. How can teachers create and maintain a successful co-teaching relationship? Elizabeth Stein answers questions from learning consultant Barbara Flanagan.
How to STEM the summer learning slide? MiddleWeb’s Anne Jolly offers a great collection of ideas and resources that can help parents and educators keep kids tuned into math, science and engineering topics until the school doors open again this fall.
It’s hard to put down Readers Front & Center: Helping All Students Engage with Complex Texts, says our reviewer. Dorothy Barnhouse shows teachers how to focus on the reader, not the text, by using conferencing, questioning & other student-centered strategies.
While introducing vocabulary takes only a few minutes, true comprehension requires time. What’s a teacher to do? Reviewer Beth Morrow suggests picking up a copy of Marilee Sprenger’s Vocab Rehab for a succinct guide to research based activities.
The Common Core standards expect students to read increasingly challenging texts across the curriculum. Barbara Blackburn, author of Rigor in Your Classroom, highlights key factors associated with text complexity that teachers need to consider.