Teaching and learning in grades 4-8

Helping Students Develop Growth Mindsets

In Mindsets in the Classroom, says reviewer Katie Gordon, author Mary Cay Ricci provides a thorough foundation in what growth mindset is, why it matters, and how to foster it in key stakeholders, namely teachers, students, and parents.

Learning by Looking Closely at the Natural World

In To Look Closely: Science and Literacy in the Natural World, Laurie Rubin draws you into her students’ excitement as they explore sun-lit spaces outside their classroom and participate in scientific observation, journaling, poetry and discussion.

Teen Life Today: It Sure Is Complicated

In her book about the social life of networked teens, Internet scholar danah boyd “issues a call to all of us who are adults to take more time to understand the shifts now taking place,” 6th grade teacher Kevin Hodgson writes. The guidance role of teachers & parents “has never been more important, nor more complicated.”

Engineer a Great Middle School STEM Curriculum

While there’s no one-size-fits-all STEM curriculum design for middle school, says expert Anne Jolly, the best programs she has seen have eight things in common. “Over the course of their middle school journey, students should be thoroughly immersed in all of these components.”

Four Myths about Parent Engagement in Middle School

By debunking four myths about parent involvement at the middle level, educators can increase engagement and spark student motivation and performance, says former middle school teacher and school improvement analyst Katie Wester-Neal, who shares some helpful strategies.

Why We Need to Listen and Let Kids Read What They Want

Jeff Wilhelm & Michael W. Smith’s findings in “Reading Unbound: Why Kids Need to Read What They Want and Why We Should Let Them” should convince educators to reconsider traditional assigned reading lists and open classroom doors to genre fiction, says reviewer Anne Anderson.