Transforming Practices for the Middle School Classroom

Discover ways in which teachers interpret research findings and find innovative ways to incorporate them into actual classroom practice to create positive classroom transformations. Like the middle grades themselves, the chapters in this volume are organized by academic content area, including language arts, social studies, science, and math. Understand the benefits of using digital media, audio, video, visuals, and graphic representations that can make content more accessible and increase engagement. Discover how to employ multiple approaches to skill development, including scaffolding and ethnographic techniques. Learn how to foster identify formation with social, cultural, and linguistic experiences. Identify ways to prepare students for the expectations and obligations of high school, college, career, and civic life.

Kristen Lindahl is Assistant Professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she prepares English language educators. Her research explores Teacher Language Awareness, and the different ways that educators connect research to practice as they conceptualize language in the classroom. Holly Hansen-Thomas is Professor of ESL and Bilingual Education at Texas Woman’s University. A two-time Fulbright Scholar, and successful grant writer/manager of approximately 7 million dollars in federal funding, she has worked with EL educators for decades. Her research interests include language awareness, ESL training for content area teachers, and academic language development.