MiddleWeb

Rick Wormeli's Grading & Assessment Resources

Here's an offer you absolutely won't refuse if you want to learn more about assessment and grading practices that support differentiated instruction. Middle grades teacher-author Rick Wormeli has created a "microsite" at the Stenhouse website, populated with articles, videos, Q&As and study guides spinning off his popular book Fair Isn't Always Equal. It doesn't cost a nickel. And, as Wormeli says, "That doesn't mean it's weak, without much 'meat'." To partake of the bounty, just follow the link above to create a user name and password.

 

Rethinking 5-paragraph Writing

Kate Glass, cofounder of 21stcenturyteaching.org, remembers many years of teaching students to write essays in five paragraphs. But is such tightly structured writing still relevant? In this ASCD Express article, Glass wants to free students to appeal to audiences with logical, not tortured, arguments -- saving some surprises for the end. She suggests tactics to help students flourish in their newly found freedom.

 

Good Study Habits

Research shows that common wisdom about study habits is not so wise. New York Times science writer Benedict Carey reports that learning can improve when students vary study locations, material format, and time between study sessions. And taking spaced tests aids retention, too. To further make the point, the NYT Learning Network offers a detailed lesson plan reviewing study habits and introducing the research. Students begin by brainstorming their own ideas.

 

Teaching Tool: Google's Wonder Wheel

Middle grades English and social studies teacher Bill Ferriter is getting some great comments on his ideas (taken from his new book Teaching the iGeneration) about using a Google tool to help students break down broad topics into related subtopics as they develop research projects. Check out Ferriter's blog post in which he explains how to find the Google Wonder Wheel and offers a link to a lesson plan that teaches students how to put the tool to work.

 

Teaching Time Management

We all understand and sympathize with the distractions of tween-hood, says middle grades teacher Heather Wolpert-Gawron, but "we still need to teach deadlines and responsibility." In an installment of her "Middle School Nuts and Bolts" series, the TweenTeacher offers ideas from her own classroom about helping students manage their minutes and their workloads. Wolpert-Gawron's blog post was a most-clicked story from the daily Accomplished Teacher SmartBrief newsletter for more than a week. Are we surprised?

 

High Stakes: Addressing Vocabulary Gaps

Blogger Ariel Sacks has come up with "a nice trick for teaching vocabulary and critical thinking" to the eighth graders in her Brooklyn NY classroom. "We've been gearing up for the NY state middle school ELA exam, and I realized my students' vocabulary gaps were hurting them on the multiple choice part.  Sometimes, for example, they comprehended the text--and know how to use context clues to guess meanings of words they don't know--but didn't know the meaning of a key word in one of the multiple choice answers. Those answers have no context, so they ended up choosing the wrong one. I felt the need to do some explicit vocabulary work to try to improve their chances." Read on for Sacks' strategy.

Classroom Games Can Improve Achievement

Before anyone passes off this resource as too frivolous in a standards-driven school climate, we hasten to note it's authored by "What Works" guru Robert Marzano. "I have been involved in more than 60 studies conducted by classroom teachers on the effects of games on student achievement," Marzano wrote in a recent Educational Leadership article. "These studies showed that, on average, using academic games in the classroom is associated with a 20 percentile point gain in student achievement." We're not talking Nintendo here, but games modeled on popular shows like Jeopardy, Family Feud or Pyramid. Before you don your Alex Trebek mask: Marzano found teachers get much higher gains from games by following four key practices. Click to find out which ones.

Teacher-Supported Homework Hotlines

The February issue of Edutopia Magazine has several stories about teacher-supported homework hotlines that engage students with teachers using web interfaces. This link leads to a description of a model program underway at the NYC Public Library. There are links in the story to other articles about various homework helplines around the U.S. If you're looking for an idea that might be pitched to a local business or industry for support, this could be a good one.

Tailoring Homework to Student Needs

In this Teacher Magazine interview, Cathy Vatterott describes a nonpunitive, differentiated approach to homework that can be beneficial to teachers, parents and students. Vatterott, a former middle-school teacher and principal, is the author of a new ASCD book titled Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs. Assigning homework that is too extensive or too difficult may interfere with a student's motivation to learn, she says. Quantity does not equal quality. (requires free registration)

Ideas "Guaranteed" to Raise Achievement

California middle grades teacher-coach Elena Aguilar is beginning a series of posts at Edutopia's Spiral Notebook blog that are "guaranteed to raise student achievement." That's an offer difficult to resist, don't you think? Aguilar's first entry is titled "How to Focus Lessons and Learning Goals." AND while you're visiting Edutopia, you might want to check out another practice-oriented post, "When Teaching the Right Answers Is the Wrong Direction," for some good tips on inquiry learning.

Improve 21st Century Search Skills

One of the many skills identified in all the talk about "21st century learning" is the ability to locate pertinent and credible information and resources on the Web. A key prerequisite to developing that skill is the expert use of Web search engines like Google. Most of our students (and many of us) have probably mastered the basics, but in a busy world where few have time to peruse more than 2-3 pages of search results, we need to become more strategic inquisitors. This link leads to an About.com page of useful tips for Google "power searchers." Or you may prefer the Top 10 approach found here.

Study Skills Mentor

Our summer note about this site reads, "no-nonsense." And maybe that's what you need in the study skills department? Ainslie Hunter is an Australian teacher with 12 years experience who works mostly with students in the upper middle grades. "I like the way you have to earn their trust, but once you have got it, they will work so hard for you," she wrote me. Ainslie thinks the site will be useful both to novice teachers and to parents who want some ideas about "how to help at home." She has a great logo -- drawn by a student. She's not really that mean, she says. A great resource, all kidding aside.

Test Prep Magic

Ten-year teaching veteran Heather Wolpert-Gawron is no great fan of standardized testing, but the middle grades ELA teacher figures: if you gotta do it, don't be a bubblehead -- do the prep! In this article at the Teacher Magazine website, the former California regional teacher of the year shares several ways in which teachers can help students develop self-defense skills that will protect them (and you) in the testing wars. 

Quick Resource: Study Guides & Strategies

This commercial-free site, Study Guides & Strategies, is all about effective study. We think it’s really pretty amazing! It's maintained by an academic web developer at a Minnesota university. Topics include: preparing to learn; studying; classroom participation; learning with others; project management; reading skills; preparing for tests; taking tests; writing basics; math and science, and online learning & communicating. Teachers are granted permission to freely copy, adapt, and distribute individual Study Guides in print format in non-commercial educational settings that benefit learners.