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.
Student Civic Action / Working Draft
by Kevin Hodgson · Published 03/25/2018 · Last modified 11/12/2019
If ever there was a time to think about how to prepare our students for the larger stage of the public civic sphere, it’s now. Teacher Kevin Hodgson interviews author and educator Steven Zemelman who has been working with teachers to move kids from inquiry into action.
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.
If you want your all of your students to love reading and writing and all to be excellent readers and writers, Regie Routman’s new book will inspire, teach, gently cajole, and help you move your literacy teaching forward in service of these goals, says Rita Platt.
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.
Teacher think alouds should not be spur of the moment but carefully planned events built around specific objectives and your thoughtful analysis of the text in question. Molly Ness’s 3-step process will fully prepare you to wow your students, says reviewer Linda Biondi.
Class Apps / Student Self-Assessment
by Curtis Chandler · Published 03/07/2018 · Last modified 12/12/2019
How do we help kids become skillful at evaluating their own work and performance against clearly established criteria? Curtis Chandler highlights quality self-assessment practices, sharing how-to’s and apps for rubrics, portfolios, data notebooks, concept maps and more.
John Merrow weaves a narrative that explores the history of America’s failed school reform efforts and offers a vision for ridding public education of our addiction to more of the same in favor of long-term, meaningful and sustainable change, writes teacher Rita Platt.
