Teaching and learning in grades 4-8

Building a Culture of Excellence

Reviewer Elisa Waingort finds Ron Berger’s 2003 book, An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students, timeless and timely, with concrete suggestions for building a classroom culture of excellence.

Unpacking the Common Core

This teacher-friendly book, Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman, helps us understand what the ELA CCSS really say and how to bring them to life in classes, writes reviewer Julie DeMicco.

Good Recipes for ELA Classrooms

In The Literacy Cookbook: A Practical Guide to Effective Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening Instruction, Sarah Tantillo’s banquet of tasty recipes for good literacy instruction are also a helpful ELA Common Core resource, says reviewer Linda Biondi.

Amazing STEM Jobs

Along with familiar STEM career choices like mechanical engineer and computer systems analyst, Anne Jolly is discovering some intriguing specialty jobs!

The Why and How of STEM

How to turn science, tech, engineering & math into problem- & project-based activities that simulate real-world R&D? Find the basics & the practice here.