After a year of having her classroom book collection in pandemic disarray, Katie Durkin was ready for a restart. “I’d been researching the benefits of promoting student voice and choice by having them assist in organizing an in-class library. Now I wanted to give it a try.”
Michelle Russell’s math students were eager to learn as this school year began but found the mechanics of solving equations more challenging than Michelle’s pre-Covid classes. After research and talk with colleagues, she’s trying several strategies to give kids the grounding they need.
Dina Strasser’s mute button moment hooks us into a reflection on student interruptions and their cultural roots. Consider this: How do we balance middle level kids’ natural tendency to run over each other verbally with their eager desire to engage in what we’re teaching?
In Leading Literate Lives Stephanie Affinito strikes the perfect balance between encouraging reflective pedagogy and sharing fresh teaching ideas for reading and writing so teachers can pass the love they have for literacy on to students, writes ELA teacher Rebecca Crockett.
Middle grades teacher Kathleen Palmieri is taking advantage of her students’ growing comfort level with online apps to set up interactive notebooks in Google Jamboard and use Google Slides to simplify the process. She includes all her steps plus extra tips and resource links.
Blended teaching? Hybrid teaching? Remote teaching? We don’t know for sure when teaching “pandemic-style” will go away, but with a look over the last year, here are 13 insightful MiddleWeb articles about surviving the “blend” and hanging on to some strategies that were long overdue.
Learning about lots of books students might enjoy is not an easy task, write literacy educators Lynne Dorfman and Brenda Krupp. How can teachers become experts in children’s literature? First “we have to really read the books.” Browse their many tips and resources.
Using the strategies he shares here, ELA teacher and professional development author Jeremy Hyler has been able to reach more middle grades students and help them understand how they can power up their ability to communicate by learning grammar skills and code switching.
Digital storytelling lets student writers share their own characters who come to life, engage in dialogue, and move around the setting. Best of all, it helps middle grades teachers reach all types of learners. Sam Weigle and Katie Caprino offer examples and suggested tools.
Close Reading the Media / The Emmy Awards
by MiddleWeb · Published 09/08/2021 · Last modified 09/12/2021
The Emmy Awards continue to be a rich source of teaching ideas for educators who have an interest in media, television and film literacy. Expert Frank Baker’s latest edition of his annual Emmys column offers background perspective, teaching ideas and additional resources.
