Imagine an open-ended math task that gets students asking questions as well as answering them. Jerry Burkhart shows how a problem like this can help teachers differentiate instruction for advanced students while stimulating curiosity and perseverance for all learners.
What really stands out in the second edition of 25 Quick Formative Assessments for a Differentiated Classroom is the attention authors Dodge and Duarte pay to meshing tried and true formative assessments with engaging digital formats, says teacher-librarian Rita Platt.
In Renew! Become a Better—and More Authentic—Writing Teacher, Shawna Coppola challenges us to reconsider three long-standing traditions of classroom writing instruction: a step-by-step writing process, graphic organizers, and the prioritization of words over images.
Marilyn Pryle’s 50 Writing Activities for Meeting Higher Standards provides educators across content areas with opportunities to teach writing in a logical, fun, and research-based way. The fully developed lessons take Writers Workshop to the next level, says Linda Biondi.
Jody Spiro provides leaders with three essential building blocks to improve school culture, instruction, and learning communities and offers case studies and videos showing how those building blocks apply to selected strategies, says teacher-leader Rebecca Berger.
Book Reviews / Concept Based Instruction
by MiddleWeb · Published 08/24/2017 · Last modified 11/13/2019
In a new edition of Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom, the authors show how to develop units of study with a conceptual focus, providing detailed resources to help students grow skills for future success, says educator Joanne Bell.
Amid the enthusiasm and anticipation that typically infuse the start of school, author Debbie Silver shares advice to help teachers plan a successful year by choosing actions that will decrease stress, build stamina, and make sure they take care of themselves first.
Book Reviews / Social & Emotional Learning
by MiddleWeb · Published 08/17/2017 · Last modified 11/19/2019
In Teaching Kids to Thrive, says special education teacher-coach Laura Von Staden, Debbie Silver and Dedra Stafford provide a great book, full of research and resources, that craftily ties together the theories and research on vital, overlapping SEL skills.
Each student Amy Estersohn shared the book “Which One Doesn’t Belong” with spent time lost deep in thought among the geometric images and was able to articulate a reasonable explanation for why a shape didn’t belong. The teacher’s guide can help build math discussion.
William Ferriter and Paul Cancellieri pack their book on rethinking student feedback with knowledge and helpful advice that can benefit teachers and empower students as learners, says educator Bill Ivey. He shares possible applications for his own classroom.
