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.
Katie Durkin’s 7th graders are once again able to visit the school library, and she has three goals for them: tap into the expertise of librarians; learn how to preview a fiction or nonfiction text; and grow the skills to become expert book hunters. Don’t miss the infographic!
Sketchnotes give kids the chance to express themselves with an assignment that falls in the gray area between ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect.’ Sixth grade teacher Kelly Owens explains how she and her co-teaching colleague use sketchnoting as a technique to promote growth mindset.
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.
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 11/17/2021
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?”
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.
Kathie Palmieri likes the free teacher-owned Flippity site, offering engaging teaching tools in all subject areas. She shows how to easily create multimedia flashcards, involve classes in randomly choosing partners, and make interactive spelling lists tailored to students.
To help in assessing students’ digital stories, Katie Caprino and Alyssa Marzili share tips on ways to engage middle graders in thinking about their stories’ purpose, genre, tone and audience, how to structure peer feedback, and how to use digital tools for ongoing evaluation.
Using informative, argumentative, personal and metacognitive writing activities, Linda Dacey shows how all learners can build skills and understanding in math through the writing process. Math and literacy coach Helene Alalouf highly recommends “this gem of a book.”
