Help middle graders connect past and present using the easy-to-understand lessons in Hands-On Archaeology. Teacher educator Linda Biondi says the authors show us how giving kids opportunities to ‘dig’ in and out of class can build team skills and cross-curricular learning.
As we move into the 2020 presidential election, questioning what we read and hear is paramount. In the fake news era, are students learning how to verify what they consume? Media literacy expert Frank Baker doesn’t think so and says it’s up to educators to teach them.
Future of History / Writing in Social Studies
by Sarah Cooper · Published 02/10/2020 · Last modified 03/23/2020
Writing a letter to a politician is about as “civic” an assignment as we can do within our classroom walls, and it feels so relevant in our polarized political climate. After 3 years of tweaking her project, teacher Sarah Cooper shares tips to boost the response rate.
While infographics can be engaging, students may not access the content in a way that leads to deeper understanding. Using NASA images, literacy consultant Sunday Cummins shares four ways to help readers create pathways for sticky learning from this type of resource.
The narrow “alphabetic” definition of writing found in many school classrooms actively disengages youth, says literacy author Shawna Coppola. Students simply prefer to compose using forms that incorporate visual, aural, and multimodal texts as a way to make or enhance meaning.
We lead busy lives and even the best leaders and the most astute decision makers are subject to “decision fatigue.” Author-educators Ron Williamson and Barbara Blackburn believe it is imperative for school leaders to “adopt strategies to minimize its negative impact.”
Today’s educators have a plethora of technology at their fingertips. A.J. Juliani’s Intentional Innovation can guide them to make intentional choices for their classrooms, writes consultant Anne Anderson. She suggests the book for a faculty book study.
Social Emotional Learning / The Unstoppable ML Teacher
by Tan Huynh · Published 01/20/2020 · Last modified 01/21/2020
To help our English learners leave our classes and schools not only with greater language command but with more emotional control and awareness of others’ perspectives, Tan Huynh suggests storifying SEL, building social-emotional skills into lesson planning, and more.
To better understand what readers are thinking, Gravity Goldberg and Renée Houser urge teachers to reflect on current conferring questions, collaborate with colleagues on deeper questions that align with goals, and allow their teacher curiosity to help guide the conference.
Academic conversations create lifelong learners who believe they have a voice in the conversation of ideas. Jeff Zwiers’ book provides novel and effective means to equip teachers with the tools to promote academic conversations, writes instruction director Kelley Pujol.
