Humor in the Classroom
Where does humor fit into the classroom? Just about anywhere! Check out these refreshed resources on why humor works, how to share it, and where to find it. Funny math, ELA, social studies, and science resources abound.
Where does humor fit into the classroom? Just about anywhere! Check out these refreshed resources on why humor works, how to share it, and where to find it. Funny math, ELA, social studies, and science resources abound.
Engineering Career Preparation / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 03/29/2016 · Last modified 11/13/2019
The sky’s the limit for students pursuing engineering careers. Anne Jolly offers STEM educators Q&As they can share with middle graders who’d like to investigate engineering’s possibilities. Jolly highlights creativity, teamwork, making a difference and more.
Evernote is a 21st century day planner. In Part 4 of his productivity series for school leaders, organization consultant and former principal Frank Buck singles out Evernote as a must-have for collecting school and home information in an easily accessible way.
Even before you view the lessons and become acquainted with the many cross-curricular strategies the authors of Smuggling Writing share, you’ll discover a matrix that unifies the strategies, literacy strands, samples, lessons, digital applications and CCSS.
In The Gift of Failure, teacher/writer Jessica Lahey calls on parents to value failures along the way to help children build growth mindsets. She also effectively describes how educators can work with parents, reports retired principal Mary Langer Thompson.
Excellent Teaching / It's Not Easy Being Tween
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 03/21/2016 · Last modified 12/01/2019
During March Madness we have to ask: what can teachers learn from great coaches? Cheryl Mizerny reflects on the words of basketball coaching legends and considers how their insights carry over into classrooms and the work teachers do with their own learners.
Wordl clouds are everywhere, in every color and size. Middle grades teacher and Scholastic author Marilyn Pryle shows 10 ways word clouds made from free generators on the web can be crafted into powerful literacy teaching tools, using the right prompts and directions.
Book Reviews / Visual & Media Literacy
by MiddleWeb · Published 03/17/2016 · Last modified 11/16/2019
Roger Essley shares an abundance of visual strategies and tools to help a wide range of middle grades students understand complex ideas in ELA, math, science and social studies. Reviewer Anne Anderson recommends his research-based, classroom tested approach.
Effective group work sparks student engagement and builds communication skills for the future. But how do teachers structure teamwork activities so kids are cooperative and everyone learns? Instructional expert Barbara Blackburn offers a step-by-step blueprint.
Meaningful academic conversation makes for sticky learning, but most students don’t bring a high proficiency in the needed skills to the classroom. Expert Jackie Walsh describes a step-by-step process that can help teachers cultivate deep student discussions.