Reading books written for today’s middle schoolers helps teachers gain insight into the different ways students experience their adolescence. ELA teacher Kasey Short spotlights 21 novels, memoirs and collections that explore a wide range of race and gender issues and social-emotional challenges.
Each educator braving the gauntlet of Covid-era teaching has been stressed and stretched to wits’ end. It’s time to collect the payoff from this strenuous work. Curtis Chandler relates 5 questions teachers asked themselves during the crisis. “If we begin the new school year with solid answers, we’ll be rewarded.”
Asking three basic questions can help middle grades readers connect with informational texts and make sense of their meaning. Literacy consultant Sunday Cummins describes several classroom-tested steps that can aid students in identifying and analyzing new information in nonfiction material.
To cope with the next iteration of our world, students will have to master the art of continual learning. Fresh from a lengthy stint writing workplace-savvy STEM curriculum, Anne Jolly has insights educators can use to reboot teaching and help students better create their future.
Dual Language / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Tan Huynh · Published 06/28/2021 · Last modified 07/09/2021
Drawing on his podcast with Dr. Sonia Soltero, language specialist and co-teacher Tan Huynh explains 9 myths that often prevent language learners from receiving the most equitable, rigorous learning experiences and can sever connections to their communities and families.
Helping students who avoid reading see themselves as developing readers rather than struggling readers can make all the difference, writes Laura Robb. She shows how guided practice lessons give students opportunities to strengthen their skill and move steadily forward.
Educators Daniel Rose and Christine Walsh receive a thank-you note for their new book, Talking Through Reading and Writing: Online Reading Conversation Journals” from middle school director and teacher Jeny Randall. She’s ready to reinvigorate her practice with their ideas.
New YA books by Amanda Gorman, Lois Lowry and Margarita Engle are all written in verse, says Katie Caprino, yet each tells a story in a different way. One is a poem to America. Another is memoir. And the third is historical fiction, set in 1990s Cuba, with a singing dog.
Language specialists and multilingual educators can boost achievement for their students by using Ester de Jong’s principles of multilingualism, making sure ML learners study grade-level content in two languages as a daily practice, writes teacher and podcaster Tan Huynh.
In celebration of Pride Month, 8th grade ELA teacher Kasey Short highlights 12 YA books featuring LGBTQIA+ characters who represent diverse identities, sexualities, experiences and families – showing young teens experiences that may be similar to or different from their own.
