Literature circles bring reading to life for these sixth graders. What did we just read? I am so bored! Why are we reading this? What’s the point? Sound familiar? These were some of the responses to reading that I received during my first year teaching bright and talented sixth graders. How could 24 students, who
Read More… from Literature Circles: Student-Driven Instruction
A few years ago, I wrote an article for students about the surprising amount of sugar that Americans eat. Toward the end of the article, after explaining how sugar is added to some foods you wouldn’t expect (crackers! tomato sauce!) and describing how consuming too much sugar can impact your health, I mentioned that some
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Even the most technical STEM jobs require verbal and written communication skills. John Engler, president of The Business Roundtable and former governor of Michigan, recently wrote an article for U.S. News and World Report entitled “STEM Education Is the Key to the U.S.’s Economic Future.” Engler pointed out the United States’ reliance on more qualified workers
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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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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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