Tag: Literacy

Making a Middle School Magazine

A student-produced magazine celebrates middle level student voice. In October 2015, a team of seven editors—all eighth grade boys at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Virginia—met during lunch to compare two digital publishing platforms. They judged entries for the Cover Art Contest and debated the potential of QR codes. By mid-November, a staff of 36

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Reaching the Reluctant Reader

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

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Necessary Noise: The Importance of Collaborative Learning

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

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A Global Awareness Collaboration Across Disciplines

Teaching students broader concepts using an interdisciplinary approach promotes more authentic experiences and broader learning. Laura Duerr, author of the Spring 2008 Educational Horizons article, “Interdisciplinary Instruction, Educational Horizons,” notes that students also become more involved learners and are able to remove the imaginary discipline lines across subjects, allowing for deeper connections. What’s more, significant statistical research

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