Whether summer means it’s time to relax, bolster your professional know-how, improve your bank balance, or reconsider your profession, we have suggestions from your educator colleagues and other sources that can help. Plan now!
This fall with some tweaks and fresh online tools and resources, Halloween can be fun and packed with learning. Check out MiddleWeb’s updated resource collection for ideas across the content areas.
When students get beyond their initial engagement in high-interest topics this fall, they will need strategies to empower their reading experience. Literacy coach Sunday Cummins suggests a mnemonic tool to help nonfiction readers make informed predictions: T.H.I.E.V.E.S!
Class Starters / Wide Open Learning
by Megan Kelly · Published 01/20/2019 · Last modified 10/05/2022
We all want our students to begin class motivated to learn and brimming with questions about the topic. To do this, Megan Kelly modifies an IB idea: the provocation, a quick activity designed to engage the students and get them wondering. Check out all her ideas!
The power of Genius Hour comes from sparking wonder, encouraging deep learning, and facilitating sharing so students can make public their new knowledge, creation, or innovation, locally and world wide. GH champions Denise Krebs and Gallit Zvi describe good ways to share.
Heart of the School / Understanding Protests
by Rita Platt · Published 07/02/2018 · Last modified 11/15/2019
How can teachers broach the topic as civic protest becomes more visible in society? NBCT Rita Platt offers resources for student reading and discussion “because learning to thoughtfully communicate ideas and entertain the ideas of others is a cornerstone of democracy.”
Diverse Reading / Heart of the School
by Rita Platt · Published 02/18/2018 · Last modified 11/29/2019
How can we help students build understanding and empathy for people and cultures outside their own experience? Librarian Rita Platt launched the Books Without Borders reading challenge at her school. See how she does it. Materials and tips on acquiring books included!
Close Reading the Media / Literacy and Film
by Frank Baker · Published 11/28/2017 · Last modified 11/28/2019
Film, video and television media are powerful engagement tools for literacy teachers. Author and media consultant Frank W. Baker shares lots of ideas about using screenplays, closed captioning, and media-related projects to boost reading and other literacy skills.
Future of History / History and Spoken Poetry
by Sarah Cooper · Published 09/24/2017 · Last modified 11/24/2019
History teacher Sarah Cooper is enthusiastically barreling into the year with a totally untried project. It asks eighth graders to research a current issue in the news that they’re passionate about, then write and film their own spoken word poem. What could go wrong?
Teachers are always looking for more engaging ways to help students demonstrate their understanding of a concept. Author and engagement expert Barbara Blackburn looks at five cool ways that students can “show you what they know” without giving them a test.
