When students tackle fact-rich texts, teachers may need to shift into focused instruction mode, modeling the strategic processing nonfiction readers use to make sense of new information. Cummins and Webb share a teacher-student partnership scenario.
Discovery Engineering in Biology offers 20 thoughtful case studies, each centering around a different scientific phenomenon or discovery followed by additional activities with an engineering challenge closing out the lesson. A real winner for MS science teacher Ilana Cyna.
We often turn to friends when we’re looking for new books to read. The same is true for students. Making book talks a regular part of your classroom gives kids a platform to recommend books they love and want to share. Lynne Dorfman and Brenda Krupp offer helpful tips and tools.
Shifting our STEM teaching approach to align with current workforce needs means broadening our thinking about the design process, writes Anne Jolly. That includes helping students work together to build the skills of empathy and creativity that lead to innovative solutions.
Close Reading the Media / Evaluating Media
by Frank Baker · Published 11/14/2021 · Last modified 05/28/2025
Students are constant targets of advertisers and influencers, writes author–consultant Frank Baker. Introduce kids to seven key media literacy questions that can boost their critical thinking skills and get them in the habit of always asking “What’s really going on?”
Anna M. Quinzio-Zafran and Elizabeth A. Wilkins bring together up-to-the-minute advice from award-winning educators to guide new and veteran teachers alike as they navigate the school system, form relationships with colleagues, and connect with students and families.
I Will Screw This Up / Pandemic Stress
by Dina Strasser · Published 11/10/2021 · Last modified 01/03/2022
As teacher Dina Strasser looks at the multiple sources of stress educators face in fall 2021, she shares insights from the radical origins of the concept of self-care: it is possible to tune in to ourselves without tuning out the larger social issues surrounding us.
In an earlier MiddleWeb post, professor and former middle grades ELA teacher Jason DeHart argued on behalf of teaching with graphic novels, with numerous examples. Here he delves deeper into a single text from the Kid Beowulf series, detailing his own instructional strategies.
Getting in touch with emotions, especially as a middle schooler, has become a critical component to classroom success. It’s also an essential life skill. Award-winning social studies teacher Jennifer Ingold shares some ways she helps students raise their emotional awareness.
Brain and learning expert Marilee Sprenger highlights the 25 most high-frequency words for learners in the English language to focus upon. “I call these words ‘essential’ because knowing and using them can boost academic success and lifelong learning.” Are they on your vocab list?
