Turning negative perceptions into positive outlooks. Common Core State Standards require that students read at complex levels. Guiding students through these increasingly complex materials can be daunting for teachers of mixed ability students, special education students, English Language Learners, and students considered to be Level 1 and Level 2 readers. Some students do not have
These simple strategies put students’ voice in their writing. Some students come to class ready to engage and offer their voice, but others wish to go unnoticed and remain silent observers to the educational scene. The following is an assortment of creative writing, image writing, and cross-curricular writing ideas that may encourage young adolescents to
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You’ve read it … that one passage in a student research paper that startles you. The sentence structure and vocabulary exceed middle school norms. You raise your eyebrows, shake your head, and take a deep breath. How many times did you say, “Don’t copy word for word.” As middle school educators, we’re used to saying things
Read More… from Preventing Plagiarism: Three Proactive Paraphrasing Lessons
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An old-fashioned radio broadcast encourages deeper reading. Connections between students, connections between texts and students, and connections between texts and the real world are vital to student learning. In classrooms, one way to make connections is by linking people, ideas, behaviors, and activities through projects. My first experience teaching in a classroom was when I
Read More… from Necessary Noise: The Importance of Collaborative Learning
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Speed date a book? Let students give it a try! Although it’s been said that all learning should come from the teacher, sometimes it’s the students who do the teaching. In my second year of teaching, Chad, an eighth grade student, taught me my first lesson. Under a district mandatory reading program, all students, regardless
Read More… from Ignite the Reading Spark in Young Adolescents
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Understanding student needs is only part of the teaching expedition. I started the group discussion with what I believed to be a rather easy question: “How does the article, ‘Rise of the Machines,’ connect with your life experiences?” After all, students interact with technology each day, smartphones are glued to their hands. After I posed
Read More… from Discovering Treasure: Adapting Instructional Strategies to Meet Student Needs
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