No funding for field trips? Concerns about travel safety? Consider taking your students on a virtual adventure instead. Teacher-authors Billy Krakower, Jerry Blumengarten, and Paula Naugle share four of their favorites and offer plenty of other ideas!
Dale Russakoff’s The Prize recounts what happens to Newark NJ schools when Gov. Chris Christie, Mayor Cory Booker and Supt. Cami Anderson take a $100 million gift from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and invest in corporate reform. Matt Renwick says it’s a must read.
Debbie Zacarian and Michael Silverstone successfully build the case for school and community partnerships in diverse settings that are two-way relationships with the goal of increased student achievement, both academic and social, says principal Deb Hubble.
Educators may be reluctant to try memoir writing with middle grades students, but the rewards are considerable, says 8th grade teacher-author Jake Wizner. He shares three insights that can help guide teachers as they enrich the student writing experience.
As working adults, our kids will deal with dilemmas involving wholesome food, cloning, climate change, drones, clean water, availability of medicines, genetic testing, and more. Is STEM study preparing students to make decisions that meet ethical standards?
Field trips don’t have to be elaborate, says school leader Mike Janatovich, but they are important for young adolescents who are still making connections between academic content and the real world. He shares ideas and tips to plan an outing this fall.
Book Reviews / English Language Learners
by MiddleWeb · Published 09/17/2015 · Last modified 11/22/2019
Pauline Gibbons discusses ELL issues in each of the four essential areas of speaking, listening, reading and writing in separate chapters, weaving implications from relevant research about second language learning throughout, says reviewer Glenda Moyer.
Differentiation / Future of History
by Sarah Cooper · Published 09/06/2015 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Wondering how – with enough learning time – she could reach individual 8th grade U.S. history students where they are “most curious & invested,” teacher Sarah Cooper considers the breadth of current events resources and connections she could suggest.
Close Reading for the Whole Class is easy to follow and designed for “real life classrooms.” Research based and with practical lesson plans, the book takes the angst out of close reading. Great for individual or group study, says reviewer Linda Biondi.
In his ELA classroom, David Sebek focuses on four aspects of what it means to be a “good citizen” – truthfulness, justice, equality and responsibility – and uses whistleblower stories and dystopian fiction to explore the elusive definition of citizenship.
