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"Of Particular Interest" Archives

21ST CENTURY MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH
Although the Middle School Math Project was developed specifically for California teachers (it's aligned to CA standards and textbooks), middle grades math teachers in every state will be rewarded when they explore this website. Program director (and OPI subscriber) Micheline LeBlanc writes: "The use of technology tools and electronic resources in the math classroom seems like such a natural fit but finding appropriate applications of technology has always been a challenge in the K-12 classroom." This project seeks to make the connections between math and technology. Visit the link above to examine collections of video and print lesson components, many with teacher support material, aligned to standards (and several popular texts) by grade level. And speaking of math: A new report says many middle grades teachers need more preparation to teach math.

ART TEACHERS: EXPERIMENT WITH STILL LIFE
This feature at the National Gallery of Art makes it possible for students to use web tools to compose their own still life paintings, using images of fruits, flowers, and other size and spatial arrangements. They can even add textured brushstrokes. The program includes a slideshow of 38 still life paintings, and kids can identify common elements and try to guess the artists who painted them. The activity requires Adobe's Shockwave Player, which can be downloaded as a free browser plug-in (if you don't have it). The player is not yet available as native software for Intel-based Macs - you'll need to run it in emulation mode. Find out how.

USING DIGITAL MAPPING IN SOCIAL STUDIES
This article from Innovate magazine combines scholarly and practical information to support social studies teachers as they develop digital mapping activities for the classroom. Co-author Thomas Chandler is an instructional designer at Columbia University and his colleague Heejung An is an assistant professor of learning technologies with an interest in how K-12 schools use geographic information systems. They believe digital mapping is an authentic example of how technology can deepen student learning in social studies. For example, they write, digital mapping systems "can play a role in helping students engage with community issues by linking spatial information with map overlays that depict demographic, environmental, and public policy data for the students' communities." They offer several models of practice, including an example from a N.C. middle school. (Free registration required.)

LITERACY - TEACHER TO TEACHER
The annual Teacher to Teacher summer workshops sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education have become popular places for savvy teachers to pick up lesson ideas and teaching strategies from accomplished colleagues (an share some of their own). This page at the USDOE website collects the 2007 presentations and handouts from literacy workshop sessions around the USA. You'll find materials on teaching reading, comprehension, vocabulary and writing across the curriculum, working with struggling adolescent readers, narrative writing, expository compositions, persuasive writing, reading and writing in math and science and with limited English proficient students, plus literature and the arts. Browse dozens of articles and click anything of interest to read a summary. Middle grades teachers and literacy coaches will want to examine the several presentations on unlocking the mysteries of informational text.

INTERACTIVE LEARNING
Looking for interactive web lessons in history, writing and language arts? Visit this teacher-developed website submitted by one of our Aussie subscribers, Kieran O'Regan. His student-driven activities cover history topics like  Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Vikings, Barbarian Invasions, and the Medieval Church - plus literature, poetry and grammar resources. Poke around and see what's there!

WELLNESS PROGRAM BOOSTS ACHIEVEMENT
When David Jones, principal of Everett WA's Eisenhower Middle School, surveyed students on their state of wellness, he found they spent a good part of the school day feeling tired and hungry. They felt unsafe in some areas of the school and many were depressed by the condition of school facilities. “We were shocked at the extent of their discontent, especially among the most disruptive students,” he writes in this article in Principal Leadership (12/07). Jones chronicles Eisenhower's wellness odyssey, which involved not only students, but faculty and staff who “needed to see for themselves that school wellness not only had merit but also could produce significant learning outcomes for the students.” The initiative “improved spirits and energy,” Jones reports, and “also raised students' academic achievement. Once staff members saw the benefits for themselves, they supported the program fully.” (PDF file)

DIGGING DEEPER INTO MAYAN CULTURE
Jon and Pamela Voelkel are the authors of a new YA fiction series based on Mayan culture. Jon grew up in South America, Pamela in England, and they both had “high-creative” careers in Great Britain before moving to rural Vermont in 2001 to begin work on the Jaguar Stones series. The first volume, Middleworld, earned enthusiasitic reviews from School Library Journal and several teen-oriented sources. We've been corresponding with the Voelkels -- they've put together a nice collection of teachers' resources and lesson plans “designed to bring alive the Maya world for grades 5-9” across a range of subjects (including math, social studies, earth sciences, debate and PE). It's on a free CD that includes an illustrated 26-page teacher's guide, and you don't need the novels to use the materials. Send them your name and school address for a free CD.

GOOD MATH RESOURCE SITE
In the category “oldies but goodies,” Education World highlights a 1999 math website, “Tools for Understanding,” which blends professional development with lesson ideas that stand the test of time. Ed World says the site – aimed at secondary educators – “has something for the pre-service teacher, new teacher, and the veteran teacher alike.” There's a math concepts section that provides a wide variety of lessons arranged by topic. The integrated lessons section offers examples of in-depth problem solving in mathematics and explicit suggestions for moving students through the problem solving process toward high-quality products. There are some fun activities and most ideas are adaptable by grade levels. Speaking of math fun, have you seen these humorous clips from old Ma & Pa Kettle and Abbott & Costello movies making the rounds?

A DECADE OF HISTORY – PLUS TECH!
Here's a great middle school story from the What Kids Can Do website. For ten years, teachers at Skowhegan Middle School in Maine have inspired their students to become local historians, publishing in-depth research and historic photos, producing videos and essays, and creating a website to display their huge body of work. They are now putting the finishing touches on a historic walking tour of Skowhegan, which once depended on spinning mills and now hopes to become a tourist stop for Canadian travelers. This remarkable example of community engagement has attracted national support and interest — most recently when a team from Apple came to film a day in the life of a technology student. Says teacher Laura Richter: “Our challenge as teachers is to develop academically rich curriculum that will support all of these initiatives. Extending the walls of the classroom into the surrounding community has…allowed our students to become vital resources as they engage in real life learning."

READY TO DIFFERENTIATE?
Differentiation. It's hard to say - and harder to do. You'll find lots of support as you work to meet individual student needs at this collection of differentiation articles assembled by the National Middle School Association. Part of NMSA's collection of On Target resources, the links download PDFs of articles from Association publications, as well as a research summary.

DIGGING INTO EARTH SCIENCE
Looking for ways to make earth science interesting and understandable to students as young as sixth graders? Here's a suggestion from math/science teacher Marsha Ratzel, a long-time MiddleWeb subscriber. It's a website that features earth science news. Marsha got the idea from an article in NSTA's middle grades magazine which "gave me hope that my kids could read this website independently - and sure enough they can." She begins by teaching her students, in a school computer lab, how to use the site and understand the various icons and functions. They practice summarizing articles and begin weekly homework assignments. She creates a new worksheet each weekend based on site updates, and students survey weekly happenings using a world map. "I think this site and process is helping me make my students much more scientifically literate, " she says. "It helps them see how science is happening everyday throughout the world." You can access the article (and much more) by registering for a no-cost membership at the NSTA Learning Center. Click on "My Account" to register.

GET A GRIP ON GRAMMAR
English professor Paul Brians has maintained this grammar resource on the Web for more than a decade. There's a simple alphabetical search tool or you can do a custom Google search. Teachers who bookmark this page will have a quick reference just a mouse-click away. The explanations are clear and concise enough for student use, too. Our friends at Stenhouse Publishing also turned up this fun Grammar Girl website, where you and your students can listen to witty podcasts offering “Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing” -- including verbification of nouns, serial commas, ending a sentence with a preposition, and more: While you're there, you might want to order the "Talk grammar to me, baby" t-shirt!

WORKING WITH SPECIAL ED PARENTS
It's easy for special education teachers, who often work with up to 150 students, “to get into the habit of thinking of parents as nuisances or even the enemy,” says Elaine Mulligan, a special ed teacher who has served as a project coordinator for the National Institute for Urban Schools. “However, we need to keep in mind the parents have invested much more time and emotion in the student's growth and learning than we have. The inclusion of parents in the [IEP] creates a forum for parent participation as a member of the decision-making team; there is an understanding that the parents of an exceptional child have expertise in their child's specific learning needs.” The process is labor-intensive, Mulligan says in this article at the NEA website, but it builds effectiveness and trust. Teachers who work with parents of challenging children may also want to explore this website developed by a group of such parents. It's called “A Wild Ride."

EVERYBODY LOVES FREEBIES
You may have visited the Teachers Pay Teachers website in the past. It was started a couple of years ago by teacher Paul Edelman, who eventually sold it to Scholastic and is now the site's general manager. Good pay, we'd guess. Anyway, you may not know that the site features nearly a thousand free teacher-products (in addition to 5000+ you can buy for fairly small change). This link leads to a search engine for the no-cost stuff. While you're there, you might look into sharing or selling some work of your own.

STUDENTS CAN DO HARD THINGS
"What can our students possibly learn if we only gave them easy tasks?" asks middle grades teacher Anthony Cody in this recent Teacher Magazine essay. "On the other hand, how can we motivate our students to accept a challenge if they doubt their own ability?" Students who lack motivation are often not convinced that the effort they invest in themselves is going to be rewarded, says Cody, a science content coach in the Oakland CA schools. "They simply have not been academically successful in the past, so why bother?" He offers several useful strategies that can increase students' willingness to embrace and master difficult assignments.

CHOICE LITERACY
We like the tagline for this site designed for literacy leaders, coaches and teachers: "Come for the resources. Stay for the inspiration." Although you'll need to subscribe to get the full benefit of all the site's resources, you'll find plenty of no-cost samples that make a site visit well worth your time, including articles like "Understanding the 'Silent Period' with English Language Learners," and "Writing Conference Principles." You can also sign up for a free weekly newsletter that includes 4-5 resources available to non-members. Here's an example.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT MATTERS
We predict this description from the Parent Involvement Matters website will capture the attention of educators: "We think it is time to acknowledge that although volunteer work makes a significant contribution to schools and kids, it is not the full picture of what it means to be an 'involved parent.' For children to reach their full potential, parents must teach respect, discipline, and a love of learning at home. They must hold their kids accountable for their behavior and academic performance and provide an atmosphere at home that is conducive to learning." In return, schools "must be advocates for meaningful family and parental involvement. They must listen to parents, help them understand their role in education, collaborate with them about their children, and teach them to become effective advocates and problem-solvers within the school community." Sounds like an ideal partnership! Visit the site to find no-cost resources and  partnership success stories submitted by readers.

TEACHER SCIENTISTS
The "Academies Creating Teacher Scientists" program pairs top federal scientists with middle and high school teachers willing to spend 4-8 weeks over three consecutive summers to sharpen their classroom skils. This recent Education Week story describes the experiences of several middle grades teachers who spent last summer at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, VA. “We didn't have someone just talking at us,” says first-year participant Joseph Amma. “We were physically engaged.” The scientists at the lab, he said, showed teachers “very simple concepts, taken to a very advanced level.” Similar experiences are available at Department of Energy sites across the USA. Find out more about program qualifications by following the links in this Ed Week story. (Free registration required.)

MULTIMEDIA PROJECT PROMOTES TOLERANCE
MiddleWeb subscriber Emily Vickery has an intriguing lesson plan in the Nov/Dec issue of  "TechLearning" magazine. It's titled "Promoting Tolerance" and describes how her students at Montgomery (AL) Academy use an online assessment tool developed at Harvard to examine subconscious bias, then reflect on their learning via multimedia projects. This short article has all the basics you need to adapt this project to your own school, including a link to Harvard's Project Implicit website.

TEACHING MATH: A VIDEO LIBRARY
This handy set of six 15-minute videos features “real middle school teachers” using an a variety of engaging activities to guide and assess student understanding of pre-algebra concepts. For example, in Video 3, a sixth grade teacher uses a secret location game to teach the class about statistics, connections, and reasoning. The videos are free on demand (you can watch them over the Internet), and each video is supported by a webpage of materials that suggest ways to carry out and extend the lessons you are viewing.

TODAY IN HISTORY
History teachers who haven't yet discovered the “Today in History” feature at the Library of Congress American Memory site are in for a treat. Each day of the year, you'll find a fresh article (or two) that springs from an historical event associated with that date. For example: “On the evening of December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American, was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring black passengers to relinquish seats to white passengers when the bus was full.” In addition to a capsule biography of Parks, there are links to primary source materials, related stories (in this case, the history of the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome”) and other items from the American Memory collection. Great for teaching ideas or student exploration (what happened on your birthday?). An archive search feature leads to all 365 entries.

SHARING STUDENT VOICE
 “Students who learn to collaborate with adults, present their ideas in constructive ways, and take action can be effective spokespeople for themselves, their peers, their school, and their community,” begins this excellent and practical guide (PDF file) to involving students in presentations before adult gatherings. The guide cautions educators not to fall into the trap of “precocious entertainment” by simply “trotting children out at conferences and then congratulating ourselves for listening to student voice.” The experience should be authentic for students and create opportunities for them to learn “how to speak out on their own behalf in a variety of arenas and on a range of issues.” Created by the Generation YES project, which promotes student-led technology projects in schools and communities, the guide offers ideas and tips applicable to any situation in which students are (paraphrasing John Dewey) given something to do, not just something to learn. Visit the Generation YES website.

NEW KINDS OF LEARNING: A WAY FORWARD
Watch this excellent video at the Edutopia website and hear a pair of eighth grade sisters describe their excitement about a social studies project inspired by the national EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology Initiative) program. "It lets them run with their learning," says their teacher. The video is one of four (all accessible from this page) that document the EAST program at Horace Mann Magnet Middle School in Little Rock, AR. You'll want to share this illustration of true 21st Century learning with teachers, administrators and parents. And if you need convincing yourself, listen to the testimony of the "old school" basketball coach and science teacher who's now an enthusiastic advocate.

ADOLESCENT LITERACY: GREAT NEW RESOURCE
"As important as it is to teach students to read in grades K-3," begins a promo for this new website, "it is every bit as important to help them build upon that foundation in grades 4-12, so that they develop the more sophisticated reading and writing skills that are the true measure of the educated individual, the skilled worker, and the capable citizen." ADLIT.ORG promises to help, with a rich array of free instructional materials, research-based articles, best classroom practices, book lists with guided discussion questions, author interviews, and more. The resource, developed by the creators of LD OnLine, is sponsored by Washington PBS station WETA. It's a lively site with daily updates, an interesting blog on YA literature, and RSS feeds that will keep you alerted to new materials. First-rate.

WHAT IF STUDENTS DEFINE QUALITY?
Eighth grade teacher Ellen Berg was fed up with an arbitrary grading system that felt disconnected from the learning goals she wanted to pursue in her classroom. So the 12-year veteran decided to share ownership of the assessment process with her students. She began the school year by guiding her students through an exploration of the meaning of "quality." The result was a student-generated list of process standards (how quality is created) and product standards (how do we identify something of quality?). Berg and her students then began to hold their own classroom work "up to the standards we set as a class." In this blog at the Teacher Leaders Network website, Berg offers details of her work in progress. "Every single assignment this quarter has been turned in by every single student. This is the first time in my career that's happened. They see the purpose in what they're doing."

ATTENTION MUSIC TEACHERS (AND FANS)
Developed by the U.K.-based Royal Schools of Music, the comprehensive Sound Junction site offers secondary students and their teachers the opportunity to explore many kinds of music (and musical instruments) in depth. Education World says music educators "will find an enormous free music resource with around 1,000 pages of information and activities as well as curriculum materials such as packets of lesson plans, ideas for using the site with students, quick links for learning how to use site features, and a forum for sharing learning ideas." There's even a Composer Tool to create original compositions. Give yourself some time to explore — consider starting in the Journey mode to get a feel for how the site works.

MATHEMATICAL LITERACY
Although young children often use math as a way to quantify and understand their world, by middle school many students lose their belief that math is a tool to make sense of things. Teaching students to "mathematize" should be a goal of math education, says author and veteran math teacher Hope Martin. Problems should be grounded in the real world, and the mathematical solutions should relate to things students want to know. In this article from Principal Leadership (January 2007), Martin summarizes an effective approach to increasing student engagement in a subject that many of us never learned to love. (5 mg PDF file)

PODCAST: THE BRIGHT MIDDLE SCHOOLER
In this 13-minute audio broadcast, education researcher Carol Ann Tomlinson talks about serving the needs of two groups of bright middle school students -- the high-performers and the "high potentials." Tomlinson, co-author of "Smart in the Middle Grades," drives home the important but often overlooked truth that even the brightest students will not reach their poential "unless an adult shows them how... (and) raises the bar for them and helps them reach that bar." You can download the NMSA interview right onto your iPod or other MP3 player — or listen to it on your school or home computer. It's a good intro to Tomlinson's book, reviewed here. See all the NMSA podcasts at this page.

A MUST-SEE TEACHER SITE FOR E.L.L. RESOURCES
We mentioned this excellent site, maintained by California literacy teacher Larry Ferlazzo, about a year ago. Since then, Larry has relocated under his own domain name, expanded the resources, and added a blog with daily news and updates. Larry's a busy teacher, and his site has an informal feel. But if you follow his notes and directions, you'll find what you need. When you land on the homepage, click on "English" and you'll see nine categories of ELL materials (including science, geography and world history). That's a good starting point. Also check out the blog, where you can subscribe via email or RSS. Here's a recent news story describing Larry's family literacy outreach project. It might inspire action in your school.

TEACHING SECRETS: ASK THE KIDS
In this recent essay for Teacher Magazine, eighth grade language arts teacher Ariel Sacks shares an "aha moment" she had in her second year of teaching. When the wheels began to come off her classroom management plan, Ariel decided to "ask the kids" what was wrong. Their answers led to a simple but profound change in her classroom procedures — and a new willingness to learn. A graduate of New York's respected Bank Street College, Ariel began her teaching career just four years ago in a Harlem middle school. But her habits of daily reflection have earned her roles as a curriculum leader and new-teacher mentor.

SCRAPBOOKING IN SOCIAL STUDIES
Adults and kids alike enjoy scrapbooking. Glue, scissors, piles of interesting paper...who can resist? But what about academic applications? Social studies teacher Heidi Willard discovered the benefits of this "hands-on" teaching strategy 10 years ago while teaching a group of particularly hard-to-reach middle school students. She showed them her travel journal and photographs and noticed "they were actually listening and making eye contact with me. It was sort of an 'A-ha!' moment." This story at the Edutopia website describes the techniques of several teachers who use scrapbooks (the term "mixed-media journals" might be taken more seriously), including ideas about keeping costs down. If you're techy, imagine scrapbooking using wiki pages— visit this website.

MIDDLE SCHOOL "FASHION BULLIES"
"Aryana McPike, a sixth-grader from Springfield, Ill., has a closet full of designer clothes," begins a recent story in the Wall Street Journal. "But her wardrobe, carefully selected by a fashion-conscious mother, hasn't won her friends at school. Kids in her class recently instructed her that she was wearing the wrong brands." The story quotes guidance counselors and psychologists who say that fashion bullying is "reaching a new level of intensity as more designers launch collections targeted at kids." As a result, an increasing number of school and community programs that address girl-on-girl bullying are recognizing the sizable role clothing plays in girls' identity and ensuing peer pressure. Read this blog for an interesting take on this story from a middle school FACS teacher.

ASSESSING ENGLISH LEARNERS IN SCIENCE
Science teachers who work with English language learners want to make sure these students have a reasonable way to communicate what they are learning. This sample chapter from the updated edition of Making Science Accessible to English Learners: A Guidebook for Teachers offers ideas about how to select, modify, and administer good classroom assessments that inform a teacher about English learners' true understanding of science content. "Equal assessment opportunity for English learners means lowering language barriers in the testing process so that the focus is on science learning, not mastery of English." (PDF file) Find out more about the book, published by WestEd.

THE NEW MILLENNIAL KID IN TOWN
There's an interesting profile describing characteristics of the "New Millennials" (born 1980-2000) in the the Journal of the New England League of Middle Schools (Fall 2007). It might provide the basis for some interesting faculty discussion about the changing middle grades learner. If you have lately "been baffled because those lessons that always worked have not been getting the same responses they used to," you will gain from author Karen Walker's own "BGO, or blinding glimpse of the obvious." The article includes a graphic organizer, a game-based lesson plan, and lots of helpful references. Download the entire issue of the NELMS journal at the link above.

RETHINKING MATH HOMEWORK
Speaking of BGOs (see entry above): In the era of differentiation and an increasing concern about the acquisition of 21st Century skills, what should math homework look like? In an article published in T.H.E. Journal, "Homework: A Math Dilemma and What To Do About It," Patricia Deubel invites you to think more deeply about ways to link homework decisions to current theories of teaching and learning and the important competencies being identified by groups like the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

LANGUAGE ARTS RESOURCES: PLAIN & SIMPLE
As subscriber Ann Smithwick says, this page of links to language arts resources is plain and simple, but there's plenty of good stuff! Categories include grammar, literature, writing, and Miscellaneous, which includes one item we like to call attention to from time to time — Midlink Magazine. Check out Midlink's latest issue on Storytelling.

TEACHER LEADERSHIP TRANSFORMS MIDDLE SCHOOL
Test scores at Curtis Middle School in San Bernardino CA were among the state's lowest, and the morale of both teachers and students was at rock bottom, thanks in part to a culture that seemed to pit them against each other. After teacher leaders helped the school restructure, Curtis nearly tripled its standardized test growth targets and became one of California's most-improved schools. In this story from Educational Leadership's special issue on "Teachers as Leaders" (September 2007), two participants in the transformation tell how a new administrative team "synthesized all the existing teacher potential into a single focused movement."

GRAMMAR INTERRUPTED
Text messaging and instant chat are reeking havoc on the English language, says middle grades English teacher Cindi Rigsbee. Is resistance to this full frontal assault on grammar futile? Rigsbee is unwilling to surrender. In this recent essay at Teacher Magazine Online, she has some fun documenting the problem (e.g., a MySpace message posted by one of her students), then shares her clever plan of counterattack.

MAKING BEAUTIFUL MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSIC
'In my first 15 years as a middle school band teacher,' writes Nancy Flanagan, 'I used all the competitive schemes, including a chairs-and-challenges system familiar to anyone who's played in a school instrumental group.' In this reflection from her blog Teacher in a Strange Land, the former Michigan teacher of the year describes what happened when she traded competition for cooperation. 'My band program got larger, as fewer kids quit. The kids with weaker skills improved, sitting next to stronger players and playing more challenging parts. And, in turn, my bands got better, as playing quality was more even across the group—allowing us to choose increasingly difficult and rewarding music.'

TECHNOLOGY HELP THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY
A MiddleWeb subscriber writes: "I stumbled on a neat site today called Common Craft that makes simple 'papercraft' tutorials designed to teach users about digital concepts." Turns out that a papercraft tutorial is a video presentation in which a knowledgable person simply explains a digital tool or concept, using a whiteboard (the dumb kind) and a marker! If you're a visual learner, or just like the idea of 'simply,' explore some of the tutorials at the Common Craft website. Here's one about RSS Feeds — always a bit tricky to grasp in the abstract.

MATH DOESN'T SUCK
If you're a math teacher, chances are your attention was grabbed by the title of Danica McKellar's recent book, aimed at encouraging middle schoolers (and middle school girls, in particular) to see math studies in a new, more glamorous light. McKellar, a successful actress who played middle school heartthrob Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years, earned a highest-honors math degree from UCLA in 1998. Her website not only promotes her book, it offers free downloads of interest to both students and teachers, including "The Most Fabulous Review of Long Division, Ever" and "Tricky Technicality for the Order of Operations Rule," where Danica revises the familiar Aunt Sally mnemonic. The site also includes a student survey (Do You Hide Your Smarts?) and a discussion forum.

INTERNET SAFETY & TRAILFIRE
Our friend and sixth grade teacher Bill got pretty excited while browsing the fresh teaching ideas offered through the K12 Online Conference. He learned about Trailfire, a new generation of social bookmarking that Bill says "has tons and tons of classroom potential." He describes Trailfire as "a collection of weblinks that are assembled in a logical order. Creators can add comments to each site in their new Trail. The comments then appear automatically when viewers visit each site in the trail. Users can also leave new comments. Blue arrows in each comment are used to navigate through a trail." To see how it works (and check out some useful resources) visit the Trailfire on internet safety that Bill created for his students. "I did all this in exactly 45 minutes," he says. Find out more about no-cost Trailfire.

SOCIAL STUDIES: LISTEN TO THE PERFECT STORM
The folks at Awesome Stories are adding streaming audio to some of their great collection of non-fiction stories about events in history. One of the first tales students can listen to is "The Perfect Storm: The Story Behind the Movie." You don't need audio player software — just click on 'listen' while on any chapter page. Control buttons allow you to back up or pause. Students can read while they listen and stop to check out the many links to primary sources, illustrations and helpful websites. Other stories with added audio include 'Major League Baseball: Early Days & Baseball Cards,' 'Thomas Jefferson,' and a look at the real 'Pirates of the Carribean.' More coming! Free subscriptions for teachers and schools.

JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN
High school senior Megan Friel is the editor/publisher of Sparrow Tree Square, a literary magazine aimed at adolescents and teens, now in its 16th issue. The colorful online publication includes excerpts from classic literature and poetry, interesting articles from Victorian and early 20th-century magazines, word games, book reviews, attractive artwork, and the editor's own short features. Each issue has a theme — the latest is "Knights and Ladies." Two issues from last fall will be of current interest, "A Jolly Halloween," and "Ghosts and Hauntings."

THE POWER OF SELF-ESTEEM
This cover article from Middle Ground (October 2007) defends the importance of self-esteem building in the education of young adolescents, a practice which author Jim Paterson notes "has taken a beating lately." Despite criticisms that students have "too much" self esteem or that emotional-learning programs take too much time away from academic instruction, Paterson says that "many experts and middle school educators stand firm in their conviction that since self-worth is rigorously tested during the middle school years, attention to it can only help students become successful." Perhaps, the proponents say, "self-esteem simply has not been defined properly or the strategies used to build it have done more harm than good." Paterson, a middle level counselor, sets out to better define effective approaches in this useful overview.

THE ORGANIZED MIDDLE SCHOOLER
Little wonder that new middle schoolers are so disorganized, writes Laurie Wasserman in this "Teaching Secrets" essay at the Teacher Magazine website. Most "have spent their first five years of school with a single teacher for the majority of the day." When they enter middle school "they are given a combination lock, a hallway locker, a homeroom, and a schedule that often has four or more subject-area teachers...This is where the child with significant organizational challenges becomes both overwhelmed and frustrated." Wasserman, a sixth grade special ed teacher who works with ADD/ADHD students, shares her secrets for building the Organized Middle Schooler.

WHAT MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS ARE THINKING
Middle school students put "caring teachers" at the top of their most-important list in a recent poll sponsored by NASSP, Phi Delta Kappa International, and the Lumina Foundation for Education. In this article from Principal Leadership (October 2007), Patti Kinney summarizes the perspectives of 1,800 middle level students about teachers, their schools, their fellow students, and their plans for the future. Kinney, director of the National Center for Middle Level Leadership, says educators "with an eye on school improvement" should take note of "the valuable insights that can be drawn from the students' responses." If you'd like to see the complete survey results (which we highlighted in an earlier issue), here's the link.

K12 ONLINE CONFERENCE – GET DIGITAL!
Last year's first K12 Online Conference — a volunteer effort organized by teachers to showcase Web-based teaching/learning ideas — drew more than 40,000 visitors during the conference window, and at least that many more have visited the archives since. This year's virtual gathering was built around four strands: Classroom 2.0, New Tools, Professional Learning Networks, and Obstacles to Opportunities. Presenters used video, audio, wikis and other web-based tools to create their presentations, which are all archived online.

SCIENCE: PLANETARY PHOTOJOURNAL
How about a family photo album of the universe? At this NASA site, you'll see images of the planets, look through the Hubble telescope at nebulae far beyond our galaxy, watch a video of the Mars rovers, and catch up on news of space surveillance technology. There's even a "solar system simulator" that offers visitors the option of viewing celestial bodies from above or below, from an orbiting spacecraft, or from another planet.

KIDIPEDE – HISTORY FOR KIDS
If you can stand the irritating level of advertising, this website offers quite a few resources on the Ancient World and the Middle Ages. It's managed by a history professor and promises that articles are either written by or vetted by scholars. You be the judge. The site aims at a middle school audience and has lots of visuals to supplement the straightforward text.

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING EXCHANGE
Explore the project-based learning units developed by teachers at this site supported by Envision Schools. And don't be fooled by the "high school" label — there are lots of cool ideas and materials adaptable for middle school content areas (science, math, language arts, social studies, visual/performing arts, world language). One of our favorites is MythBusters, "a variation on the classic scientific inquiry.... Instead of choosing a formal scientific question, students choose a myth to prove or disprove using scientific and problem solving means," following the same process used in the Discovery Channel's popular Mythbusters show. See three samples (including The Three Little Pigs). One of the site's developers writes: "What sets it apart as a curriculum and project library is that teachers both inside and outside our network can access the variety of project samples and accompanying instructional activities, resources, and assessments. All these materials are downloadable and ready to be replicated, adapted, and built on according to the teacher's specifications." Also see the Edutopia story.

TEACHING VOCABULARY
Vocabulary and comprehension are inextricably linked. This article by Mary E. Curtis and Anne Marie Longo, "Teaching Vocabulary to Adolescents to Improve Comprehension," details a successful 16-week vocabulary intervention "in which the comprehension of middle and high school students reading below grade level was improved significantly." ALSO: If you're looking for a way to heighten interest in vocabulary studies (and who isn't?), visit Pottersaurus, a site promoting a dictionary of challenging words used in the Harry Potter series. Click on Lists for samples (e.g., "SAT/ACT Words"). There's also an online vocabulary builder disguised as the game "Word Quidditch."

WONGS' 10 TIMELY TOOLS FOR SUCCESS
In a recent column at their Teachers.Net website, Harry and Rosemary Wong begin by cautioning new teachers not to fall into the trap of thinking school is just for fun. "The purpose of school is for students to acquire knowledge, learn skills, and develop habits and principles that will make them productive citizens and help them grow to their fullest potential as human beings," they say. "Fun is the satisfaction that results when a lesson is completed with accomplishment and achievement." We've mentioned the Wongs' 2000-2004 essay collection in our MiddleWeb newsletter and on our website. The Wongs have now created a seven-year index. We like these columns because they tell stories of successful new teachers and provide the level of detail novices want and need. Spend some weekend time with these webpages. The payoff is tremendous.

WHAT WILL IMPROVE MIDDLE SCHOOLS?
"Middle school students are falling behind in academic achievement," begins the introduction to this poll-and-comment page at the Edutopia website. Back in February, the editors asked visitors to take a survey and indicate whether changes in school structure would make a difference or whether other changes are required. The questions were kind of dumb, but the commentary has been interesting and visitors continue to post. Drop by and share your views. Just scroll down to the "Post a New Comment" section. If you need some inspiration (or righteous indignation) read some of the other comments first. Or perhaps this story on middle school initiatives in Montgomery County, MD will prod your thinking.