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.
Innehållsförteckning
I. Teaching Content Literacy
1. If They Can’t Read Their Science Books—Teach Them How,
Maria Grant
2. If They Can’t 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’s Right for New Times,
Dana L. Grisham and
Thomas De Vere 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 De Vere 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’s Valuable,
Cynthia H. Brock, Julie L. Pennington, and
Jennifer D. Morrison
Om författaren
Diane Lapp, Ed D, is Distinguished Professor of Education in the Department of Teacher Education at San Diego State University. She has taught elementary, middle, and high school and serves as Director of Learning at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Her research and instruction focus on issues related to struggling readers and writers who live in economically deprived urban settings, and their families and teachers. Widely published, Dr. Lapp has received the Outstanding Teacher Educator of the Year Award from the International Literacy Association, among other honors, and is a member of both the International Reading Hall of Fame and the California Reading Hall of Fame.
Barbara Moss, Ph D, is Professor of Literacy Education in the School of Teacher Education at San Diego State University. She has taught English and language arts in elementary, middle, and high school settings and has worked as a reading coach. Dr. Moss’s research focuses on the teaching of informational texts at the elementary and secondary levels. She regularly presents at local, state, national, and international conferences and has published numerous journal articles, columns, book chapters, and books. Dr. Moss has served as the Young Adult Literature column editor for
Voices in the Middle, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English.