Welcome to the Middle Grades!
MiddleWeb is all about middle school & the middle grades — with a sharp focus on teaching and learning in grades 4-8. Join us, learn about our 5 streams of content, and find out how to get involved.
Teaching and learning in grades 4-8
The Top Skill We Can Teach Our Students
It’s at the precise moment when students are bombarded by facts, whether historical or current, that we need to be especially vigilant, writes American history and current events teacher Sarah Cooper, paraphrasing historian Sam Wineburg. Sifting through sources has become a life skill.
Achieving Accessibility for All of Our Learners
Simply making content available to students is not enough. We have to make it accessible to each and every one, including English learners. Specialist Valentina Gonzalez offers ways to identify obstacles to accessibility and create paths to learning in every subject.
Help Students Craft Mindful Class Responses
In Reading with Presence discover how Marilyn Pryle gives students an opportunity to organize their thoughts, reactions, opinions, and questions in writing, so they’re prepared and even eager to participate in class discussions. Definitely a keeper, writes Anne Anderson.
Quick Writes to Kindle Kids’ Hearts and Minds
In SPARK!, a book about quick writes, Paula Bourque offers a powerful teaching tool to help students find ideas, discover their voices and build confidence about writing. Teacher educator Linda Biondi notes the frequent, low-stakes writing can stretch across content areas.
Women Scientists Today: Challenging Stereotypes
Systemic change is still needed to shift stereotypes and achieve equity and equality in STEM fields, writes middle school science educator Cristina Veresan. But educators can make a difference by exposing students to “everyday” science superheroes who defy typecasting.
To Learn about Respect, 4T Kids Pay It Forward
“My learners are young and impressionable,” writes grade 4 teacher Mary Tarashuk. “Teaching them true respect, for themselves and for others, just might get us on the path to improving some bigger problems we see around us.” Learn how Room 4T’s Pay It Forward project supports that goal.
2 Math Activities Ease the Spring Break Wait
Michelle Russell says her classes were beginning the slide into pre-Spring Break slump when she opted to try some math games she’d been squirreling away for “later.” Both the Math Card War and One Incorrect activities proved engaging and useful as formative feedback.
Earth Day: Going Green in the Middle Grades
Megan Kelly is passionate about informing students about human impact on the planet and working with them to take action. Earth Day is on April 22. You can plan now how you will celebrate and make your school a more eco-friendly place. Kelly shares her Eco Club ideas.
Helping Middle Graders Master Nonfiction Texts
With this volume of their Jacob’s Ladder program Joyce VanTassel-Baskel and Tamra Stambaugh have devised a way to garner the most impact from nonfiction mini-lessons while allowing for flexibility and choice within the texts, says educator Erin Corrigan-Smith.
Revolutionize Teaching with an ‘Essentials’ Focus
Mike Schmoker dispels many myths that guide American education, says teacher leader Jennifer Peters, proposing instead a manageable, research-backed solution for educators to revolutionize their teaching and infuse literacy. She’s bought a copy for all her colleagues.
