When teachers think of learning centers, we often identify them with K-3 classrooms. Katherine McKnight shows how the model can be expanded and adapted for middle schoolers, incorporating the essentials of collaborative learning, content knowledge acquisition, and more.
Current Events / Future of History
by Sarah Cooper · Published 07/29/2018 · Last modified 12/14/2019
When Sarah Cooper launches an op-ed writing project, students respond best if they have wide latitude to choose a topic, picking an issue that sparks a personal connection. Beyond research and writing, the highlight for kids is sharing their op-eds with an audience.
Reading Stephanie Affinito’s Literacy Coaching can benefit classroom teachers as well as literacy coaches, writes educator Kathleen Palmieri. In addition to covering learning communities, PD, and collaboration, the book offers extensive digital resources to boost student learning.
Book Reviews / Social & Emotional Learning
by MiddleWeb · Published 07/26/2018 · Last modified 01/17/2020
Filled with thought-provoking ideas on how to meet the social and emotional needs of our students, Amber Chandler’s The Flexible SEL Classroom guides us with ideas and activities to try while meeting the curricular mandates we are given, writes Laura Von Staden.
Close Reading the Media / The Emmy Awards
by Frank Baker · Published 07/25/2018 · Last modified 11/17/2019
Studying TV in the middle grades might seem frivolous, writes media literacy expert Frank Baker, but when teachers engage kids through popular culture, they meet them where they are. The Emmys is a perfect example. Baker has background and teaching ideas to get started.
If you’re having tough times at school this year, new teachers and veterans alike can relieve some of the stress that comes when everything seems to be going wrong. Tested advice and actionable ideas from author, veteran teacher, and classroom survivor Julia Thompson.
Math educator Jerry Burkhart expanded his horizons this summer when he taught a 3-week math exploration course to a class of 22 gifted middle level students from across India. Learn what he discovered about the similarities and differences in U.S. and India math education.
Class Apps / Reciprocal Teaching
by Curtis Chandler · Published 07/15/2018 · Last modified 12/05/2019
Reciprocal teaching (RT) helps students deepen their learning by teaching other students. Curtis Chandler shows how kiddos can tackle new texts and concepts by developing their ability to apply cognitive and metacognitive strategies. He includes helpful videos and online tools.
Reader’s theatre helps EL students feel more confident “playing” with English and learning to use fixed expressions, intonation, and gesture, writes teacher-author Alice Savage. Explore her 10 ideas for extending the content or language of a script into engaging lessons.
Middle school science educator and Albert Einstein Distinguished Education Fellow Joshua Sneideman and energy education specialist Erin Twamley share seven ways that teachers and schools can involve students in climate change studies. Included: Project ideas.
