Exemplary Instruction in the Middle Grades Teaching That Supports Engagement and Rigorous Learning

Offering fresh alternatives to common instructional practices that fail to get results, this accessible, highly practical guide highlights ways to motivate middle school students while enhancing content-area learning. Each chapter features an enlightening case study of a teacher whose current strategies are not supported by research; describes effective instructional alternatives, illustrated with concrete examples; and lists online resources and lesson examples. Emphasis is given to supporting critical engagement with texts and drawing on technology and new literacies. The book covers specific content areas-including science, social studies, math, and literature-as well as ways to teach oral literacy and writing across the curriculum.

Diane Lapp, EdD, is Distinguished Professor of Education at San Diego State University. She has taught elementary and middle school and is currently a high school English/literacy teacher. Her research and instruction focus on issues related to struggling readers and writers who live in economically deprived settings, their families, and their teachers. Dr. Lapp has published numerous journal articles, columns, chapters, books, and children\u2019s materials. She has received honors including the Outstanding Teacher Educator of the Year Award and the Manning Public School Service Award from the International Reading Association, and is a member of both the California and the International Reading Halls of Fame. Barbara Moss, PhD, is Professor of Literacy Education at San Diego State University, where she teaches courses in literacy, children\u2019s literature, and language arts at the credential and master\u2019s levels. She has been an English language arts teacher at the secondary level, a literacy teacher at the elementary level, and a reading supervisor. Dr. Moss has published numerous articles in journals including the Journal of Literacy Research, The Reading Teacher, and Reading Research and Instruction, and has authored or edited several books. She currently works as a literacy coach in an urban high school in San Diego.

I. Teaching Content Literacy 1. If They Can\u2019t Read Their Science Books—Teach Them How, Maria Grant 2. If They Can\u2019t Read Their Social Studies Books—Support Their Learning with Guided Instruction, Karen D. Wood, Jennifer I. Hathaway, and Lina B. Soares 3. If You Want to Motivate the Learning of Mathematics—Use the Visual Arts as a Lens to Learning, Robin A. Ward and Susan Troutman 4. If You Want to Move Beyond the Textbook—Add Young Adult Literature to Content Area Classes, Virginia S. Loh 5. If You Want Students to Read—Motivate Them, Joan Kindig 6. If You Want Students to Use New Literacies—Give Them the Opportunity, Stephanie Schmier and Marjorie Siegel 7. If You Want Students to Evaluate Online Resources and Other New Media—Teach Them How, Jill Castek 8. If You Think Students Should Be Critically Literate—Show Them How, Peggy Albers II. Developing Spoken and Written Language 9. If You Want to Take the Ho-Hum Out of History—Teach Writing That\u2019s Right for New Times, Dana L. Grisham and Thomas DeVere Wolsey 10. If Students Are Unmotivated Writers—Motivate Them, Jane Hansen and Timothy Shea 11. If Students Are Not Succeeding as Writers—Teach Them to Self-Assess Using a Rubric, Judy M. Parr and Rebecca Jesson 12. If You Want Students to Learn Academic English—Teach It to Them, Dianna Townsend 13. If You Want Students to Learn Vocabulary—Move Beyond Copying Words, Kathy Ganske 14. If You Value Student Collaboration—Hold Students Accountable for Collaborative Group Work, Heather Casey III. Establishing Effective Learning Routines 15. If You Think Book Clubs Matter—Set Some Up Online, Thomas DeVere Wolsey and Dana L. Grisham, with Melissa Provost 16. If You Want Students to Read Widely and Well—Eliminate Round-Robin Reading, Kelly Johnson and Diane Lapp 17. If You Want to Eliminate Misconceptions and Errors—Support Learning with Questions, Prompts, Cues, and Explanations, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey 18. If You Want Students to Take Notes Instead of Copying Them—Teach Them How, Christianna Alger and Barbara Moss 19. If You Want to Help Students Organize Their Learning—Fold, Think, and Write with Three-Dimensional Graphic Organizers, Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher 20. If Homework Really Matters—Assign Some That\u2019s Valuable, Cynthia H. Brock, Julie L. Pennington, and Jennifer D. Morrison