STEM & the Makers Movement / STEM By Design
by Anne Jolly · Published 06/23/2013 · Last modified 11/23/2019
The authors of “Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom” share an exciting guest post at Anne Jolly’s STEM Imagineering blog. The tools and ethos of the maker revolution offer insight and hope for middle schools and for science and math studies, they say. “The breadth of options and the ‘can-do’ attitude is exactly what students need.”
Book Reviews / Common Core State Standards
by MiddleWeb · Published 06/16/2013 · Last modified 11/16/2019
In Big Skills for the Common Core: Literacy Strategies for the 6 -12 Classroom, Amy Benjamin & Michael Hugelmeyer provide Common Core literacy strategies with easy-to-use charts & guides for 6-12 students, say a pair of MiddleWeb reviewers.
Book Reviews / Vocabulary Instruction
by MiddleWeb · Published 06/09/2013 · Last modified 02/03/2024
In addition to its comprehensive, CCSS-friendly approach to integrating vocabulary lessons into literacy curriculum, Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary is also fun for students, says reviewer Linda Biondi.
A new web tool, designed just for education, can help promote student creativity and innovative thinking, says ed consultant & former MS teacher Mike Fisher.
Randy Bomer’s passion for literacy for all students is evident throughout Building Adolescent Literacy in Today‘s English Classroom. Reviewer Linda Biondi suggests close reading of this research & experience based book.
Inference Rubric / MiddleWeb Classics
by MiddleWeb · Published 04/19/2013 · Last modified 01/19/2024
In this MiddleWeb Classic post, literacy coach Juli Kendall shares a rubric used in her middle school across content areas to evaluate a student’s level of inference with academic texts.
Vocabulary Strategies That Work: Do This – Not That! is an excellent book for all teachers who want to strengthen students’ grasp of the vocabulary associated with their subject, says ELA teacher Brooke Schultz.
Four years after becoming an instructional coach, Elena Aguilar once again found herself in front of a class of 8th graders, looking for trusting relationships. “Within just five minutes, I was humbled. Who did I think I was that I could incur their trust that fast? I wanted to bow down to the teacher—Oh, yes, this is so hard.”
Closing the Achievement Gap / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 04/03/2013 · Last modified 11/18/2019
Elizabeth Stein & assistant principal Paul McNeil consider personal, classroom, and school strategies that can help close achievement gaps for students with disabilities, including peer tutoring and support for high expectations. It takes a team approach, and it takes time and patience.
The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy Good Stuff I’ve Learned About Teaching Along the Way is a major collection of the author’s columns and articles on middle grades teaching practice and is indeed “crazy good stuff,” says reviewer Elizabeth Stein.
