Close Reading the Media / Tobacco Advertising
by Frank Baker · Published 07/18/2017 · Last modified 11/26/2019
What works to discourage adolescents from smoking? Media literacy expert Frank Baker suggests taking on Big Tobacco’s pervasive and persuasive marketing tactics, involving students in creating their own anti-tobacco ads. Baker provides the background and resources.
Kevin Hodgson invites Troy Hicks and Kristen Hawley Turner to share their thinking about the need to teach argument in the context of students’ authentic digital lives, using the structure of a traditional argument approach with such texts as videos and social media.
In his guide to writing memoir with adolescents, Jake Wizner shares what he has learned as a writer teaching writers: how to balance honesty and discretion in student writing and how to reach writers of all levels. Fellow 8th grade teacher Brian Kelley loves it.
Adolescents constantly work to make sense of new information, often by referencing what they already know. Teachers can help by introducing analogies. Curtis Chandler shares tips and tech tools to help put analogies to work, including Metamia and Google Slides.
Future of History / Middle School History / New Teacher Advice
by Lauren S. Brown · Published 07/19/2016 · Last modified 11/26/2019
After many years teaching high school & college students, Lauren Brown re-entered a middle school classroom last fall as a full-time social studies teacher. She describes her delight with young adolescents who greeted history with enthusiasm and deep discussions.
In 112 pages, Elyse S. Scott shares how she engineered (designed and created) lessons to achieve the learning goals for her 8th graders. The ELA activities and projects she shares are sure to produce readers, writers, and thinkers, says reviewer Anne Anderson.
It's Not Easy Being Tween / Middle School Life
by Cheryl Mizerny · Published 09/06/2015 · Last modified 11/13/2019
After 20+ years of teaching, Cheryl Mizerny knows middle school is where she’s meant to be. In her first post at “It’s Not Easy Being Tween” Mizerny shares six aspects of young adolescents that make middle-level teaching the toughest job she’s ever loved.
Jake Wizner has done what few teachers would ever attempt – teach memoir writing to eighth graders. Reviewer Mary Langer Thompson admires the book for its use of models and plentiful prompts, Wizner’s ability to relate reading to writing, and his call for teachers to write too.
In our lives beyond school we expect understanding, trust, and a sense of fair play. We want our concerns validated and taken seriously, and we want our voices to be heard. Our students are entitled to the same, says veteran teacher Elyse S. Scott.
Jill Spencer’s conversational, resource filled book,Teaming Rocks! Collaborate in Powerful Ways to Ensure Student Success, makes a compelling case for high functioning teacher teams says reviewer Susan Shaver.
