Among the ways educators can support and promote acceptance of LGBTQAI+ youth is by providing access to literature that features the challenges and joys these students experience. Librarian and author Christina Dorr suggests fiction and nonfiction titles for YA readers.
Close Reading the Media / The Grapes of Wrath
by Frank Baker · Published 03/26/2018 · Last modified 11/12/2019
Why do middle school students study The Great Depression? What do we want them to learn and understand about this period in American history? Media literacy expert Frank Baker offers a wealth of teaching ideas tied to the novel The Grapes of Wrath and its film treatment.
Take an alphabetical tour through advocating for your school in this new book from Robert Blackburn, Barbara Blackburn and Ronald Williamson. Former principal Mary Langer Thompson shares the highlights and suggests the book can be most helpful in ed leadership classes.
Mathematics author and consultant Jerry Burkhart is back with more ways to get students excited about the magic of numbers and ready to become “adventurous learners.” His interactions with a middle grades enrichment class may spark engaging ideas of your own.
Are your students ready for Common Core ELA assessments? Using the PARCC as a springboard, literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo details a 10-lesson strategy to prep for the Literary Analysis Writing Task and links to other preps at her blog. Teachers in non-PARCC states may also find the ideas helpful.
Barbara Blackburn strongly believes that if we are going to truly support students to higher levels, we must continually assess their learning and use that information to plan our future instruction. She offers eight formative assessment ideas that are easy to integrate.
It's Not Easy Being Tween / Spring Learning
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 03/11/2018 · Last modified 12/04/2019
With spring fever looming, Cheryl Mizerny breaks out her teacher-tested collection of apps and tools that can make her classroom more interactive, relevant and engaging – and her students more eager to learn. Check out Quizizz, Inklewriter and other digital all-stars.
How can teachers help students become deep thinkers and creative problem solvers – skills needed to solve the pressing challenges facing global societies? STEM provides a pathway. Expert Anne Jolly poses 11 questions that can help teachers design effective STEM lessons.
In Enticing Hard-To-Reach Writers, Ruth Ayres offers wide ranging ideas and resources to help all students become writers because “when writers believe their words matter, nothing can stop them.” We begin, reviewer Mary Langer Thompson notes, by getting our hearts right.
Co-teaching Success / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 02/20/2018 · Last modified 11/29/2019
As schools go through the annual Least Restrictive Environment process, special needs coach Elizabeth Stein is wondering – what happens once the decision is made? Read her tips to ensure students assigned to co-taught classrooms have something more than a “banking model” education.
