Free Reading Friday has transformed Laurie Miller Hornik’s 7th grade class into a reading community, without having to cut back on whole-class text studies. Students arrive on Fridays ready to talk and write about the free reading they’ve done outside of school during the week.
100-Word Stories is a valuable resource, providing a structured yet flexible framework that serves as a tool to enrich language instruction and a catalyst for exploration and creative expression in the classroom. It will be especially valuable to her SLIFE learners, writes Melinda Stewart.
As Kasey Short enters her 20th year as a middle grades educator, she’s been thinking a lot about some lessons she’s learned that now help her build a strong foundation in the early weeks of each school year. See how her tips for beginning teachers match up with your own.
In her second article examining the five key questions she has identified to help students become critical readers, author and NBCT Marilyn Pryle recommends helping them move beyond what the text (or video, audio, meme, and so on) “says” and instead ask what it “shows.”
Teacher Ariel Sacks illustrates the value and practicality of offering more opportunities during writing instruction for students to imagine and create, says reviewer Stacy Haynes-Moore. One highlight: The book includes four months of curriculum with integrated roles for students.
While questions about literature can focus on identifying elements, Jason DeHart wants to expand his students’ thinking beyond matching words and examples. He begins with two questions designed to move students deeper into a text: “What’s that?” and “What’s that doing there?”
This school year teacher-coach Mona Iehl is committing to do less so that her math students can do more. More thinking, more problem solving, more growing, all to empower them to take the lead in their learning and give them space to figure things out. Learn how she does it!
Ruth Miller finds Lessons That Last an indispensable guide to enriching teaching practice and fostering a impactful learning environment. The book’s lessons, drawn from interviews with former students, affirm the significance of teachers’ work and the lasting influence we have.
To avoid experiencing co-teaching within an imbalanced power relationship, author, NBCT and co-teaching coach Elizabeth Stein shares a process that strengthens co-teaching through a dynamic exchange of individual and collective power – truly in partnership with one another.
“Try It! Math Problems for All” by Jerry Kaplan is just what math teachers want: a collection of offbeat, open-ended problems, riddles and brain teasers to engage the most reluctant student. Math teacher Michael Hernandez can’t wait to lure in his middle schoolers this fall.
