Using their own experiences with classroom libraries and ideas from other professionals, Colby Sharp and Donalyn Miller provide insight, wisdom, and actionable practices for teachers in The Commonsense Guide to Your Classroom Library. Katie Durkin highly recommends it.
Fresh off seeing U2 in concert at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Stephanie Farley is still savoring the experience by describing it to others. New research says students can learn better and enjoy school more by savoring their own favorite memories. Farley shares some strategies.
Donnie Piercey’s 50 Strategies for Integrating AI offers a comprehensive guide for educators ready to harness the potential of AI. Piercey includes a wide range of practical strategies and insights to enrich the learning experience for K-12 students, writes Kathie Palmieri.
Without good math fact recall, many students become discouraged about building math knowledge and solving equations. Kathleen Palmieri uses song and movement to engage fifth graders in computation fluency. Watch the music and exercise videos that are hits with her kids.
If Regie Routman had to name the most important mindsets and actions for a full and flourishing life, “I’d say gratitude and generosity are at the top and are especially essential for living and thriving in challenging times.” All of which gets her thinking about Thanksgiving.
Facing the ‘December Dilemma’ of how to include winter holidays in the instructional day? This MiddleWeb resource offers a multi-faceted look at religious and non-religious aspects of the season, legal issues, and some ideas for seasonal lesson planning.
Kasey Short recommends offering middle schoolers YA novels with multiple narrators as a way to enrich opportunities for content instruction and SEL. They’re also really engaging and fun for kids to read. Included: sample questions and activities and lots of suggested titles.
Ready to leave Granny’s snooze-inducing grammar lessons behind? Three simple yet powerful changes in grammar instruction can make a big difference in how students use grammar as a creative tool to shape their writing, says literacy coach and teaching consultant Patty McGee.
Gholdy Muhammad’s Unearthing Joy offers ways to elevate meaning, reflection and joy so readers can offer cultural and historically responsive teaching most effectively. Sarah Cooper calls it “one of the most beautiful, inspiring, actionable books about pedagogy I’ve ever read.”
Kelly Owens suggests ways to promote more engagement and motivation in class by using a HEAD, HEART, HANDS lens. She includes her team’s strategies for creating a student-centric learning environment, increasing opportunities for self-reflection, and decluttering the classroom.
