Expeditionary Learning’s free open-source curriculum is framed by Topics, Targets, Texts & Tasks. Co-designer Cheryl Dobbertin shares insights gained during the crowd-sourced development phase, arguing that inquiry learning begins with compelling curriculum.
Urban ELA teacher Mackenzie Grate found mock trials to be the perfect vehicle to encourage reading, teach speaking & listening, and prepare her 6th graders for their first argumentative writing essay. How-to tips, downloads and lessons learned included.
Kids on the Cusp / Standardized Testing
by Mary Tarashuk · Published 02/26/2015 · Last modified 11/15/2019
Teacher Mary Tarashuk has reasserted her “Irish Zen” following the full frontal assault on PARCC testing in her last post. She describes how her fourth graders had fun learning about Chinese New Year while also practicing for the high stakes test in prescribed ways.
When Cheryl Mizerny invited her 6th graders to pursue a “passion project” of their own choosing, she included the option to help someone in need. The results surprised her. “I greatly underestimated my students’ capacity for wanting to make a difference.”
Book Reviews / Teaching for the Future
by MiddleWeb · Published 02/12/2015 · Last modified 11/13/2019
David N. Perkins’ Future Wise: Educating Our Children for a Changing World is profoundly unsettling in the best way, simply because it gives so many expansive possibilities for making every minute of a student’s day relevant, says reviewer Sarah Cooper.
Articles / Teaching the Whole Adolescent
by MiddleWeb · Published 02/08/2015 · Last modified 07/15/2024
In her valentine “to those volatile adolescents and the educators who cherish them,” veteran middle level teacher Beth Morrow highlights six good reasons to spend your days with “the wonderfully rough and resilient gems that are middle school students.”
Upstanders supports the complex challenge of cross-content literacy with excellent lesson plans, and authors Smokey Daniels and Sara Ahmed also describe a path to develop the most difficult skill for young middle schoolers, learning to be truly empathic.
Florida teacher David Finkle chronicles middle school life in a daily comic strip for the Daytona Beach News. Here he shares the 15-year story of “Mr. Fitz,” including four sample strips guaranteed to draw chuckles and knowing nods from teachers everywhere.
Book Reviews / Professional Development
by MiddleWeb · Published 01/28/2015 · Last modified 11/19/2019
The authors make the case for the Peer Observation Process (POP) – teams of teachers observing one another – as an inexpensive PD alternative that builds supportive collegiality. Reviewer Dina Murphy highly recommends the research-based book, which offers many implementation resources.
Book Reviews / Teaching in the Middle
by MiddleWeb · Published 01/22/2015 · Last modified 11/30/2019
Even if you think you know all there is to know about middle schoolers, says teacher-reviewer Beth Morrow, you are bound to understand their thinking and behavior differently after you finish reading What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know.
