Teacher leader Kasey Short lays out a convincing argument that educators can use middle grades and YA fiction to build background knowledge and make curricular connections across the content areas. She includes teaching strategies, guiding questions and book suggestions.
Fall is Kasey Short’s favorite time to update her classroom library and create a list of new MG and YA books for our visitors to consider. This year’s choices explore themes that resonate with adolescent readers, including new series titles and books with diverse perspectives.
Articles / Artificial Intelligence / Reading
by MiddleWeb · Published 07/13/2025 · Last modified 07/15/2025
Fiction that explores AI through characters that are robots or humans who interact with AI can spark discussions about the future and engage readers with stories grounded in real ethical and scientific questions. ELA teacher Kasey Short shares titles and ideas for discussion.
Teaching dystopian fiction offers students a meaningful way to engage with literature and social issues while developing critical thinking skills. Kasey Short suggests discussion questions, activities, and a sample of dystopian novels and short stories to capture students’ attention.
By revealing and humanizing stories from the past, historical fiction fosters curiosity, inspires empathy, stimulates critical thinking, and helps develop understanding of complex issues. Kasey Short shares questions, activities and titles to help students benefit from the genre.
Creative writing exercises offer low stakes, high engagement opportunities for students to build writing skills while also having fun. Kasey Short shares a rich collection of character, plot and setting activities to help kids develop their voices as writers through the year.
Exploring human experiences through personal stories promotes discussions that focus on facts and individual realities rather than generalizations and stereotypes and helps students develop empathy, compassion and understanding, writes Kasey Short. Reading suggestions included!
With so many students experiencing stress, David Campos and Kathleen Fad help K-8 teachers understand anxiety and then implement strategies to help anxious students. Other students can benefit, too. MS leader and teacher Kasey Short sees their book as an essential tool.
As Kasey Short enters her 20th year as a middle grades educator, she’s been thinking a lot about some lessons she’s learned that now help her build a strong foundation in the early weeks of each school year. See how her tips for beginning teachers match up with your own.
2024 is another fantastic year for new middle grades books with many more titles to come in the next few months. ELA teacher Kasey Short introduces titles for school and class libraries that are sure to appeal to your students. Fantasy, immigration, science, WW II, and more!
