EXEMPLARY INSTRUCTION IN MIDDL

Edited by Diane Lapp, EdD, and Barbara Moss, PhD, both at the School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, USA

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.

Part I: Teaching Content Literacy. Grant, If They Can't Read Their Science Books - Teach Them How. Wood, Hathaway, Soares, If They Can't Read Their Social Studies Books - Support Their Learning with Guided Instruction. Ward, Troutman, If You Want to Motivate the Learning of Mathematics - Use the Visual Arts as a Lens to Learning. Loh, If You Want to Move Beyond the Textbook - Add Young Adult Literature to Content Area Classes. Kindig, If You Want Students to Read - Motivate Them. Schmier, Siegel, If You Want Students to Use New Literacies - Give Them the Opportunity. Castek, If You Want Students to Evaluate Online Resources and Other New Media - Teach Them How. Albers, If You Think Students Should Be Critically Literate - Show Them How. Part II: Developing Spoken and Written Language. Grisham, Wolsey, If You Want to Take the Ho-Hum Out of History - Teach Writing That's Right for New Times. Hansen, Shea, If Students Are Unmotivated Writers - Motivate Them. Parr, Jesson, If Students Are Not Succeeding as Writers - Teach Them to Self-Assess Using a Rubric. Townsend, If You Want Students to Learn Academic English - Teach It to Them. Gasnke, If You Want Students to Learn Vocabulary - Move Beyond Copying Words. Casey, If You Value Student Collaboration - Hold Students Accountable for Collaborative Group Work. Part III: Establishing Effective Learning Routines. Wolsey, Grisham, Provost, If You Think Book Clubs Matter - Set Some Up Online. Johnson, Lapp, If You Want Students to Read Widely and Well - Eliminate Round-Robin Reading. Fisher, Frey, If You Want to Eliminate Misconceptions and Errors - Support Learning with Questions, Prompts, Cues, and Explanations. Alger, Moss, If You Want Students to Take Notes Instead of Copying Them - Teach Them How. Frey, Fisher, If You Want to Help Students Organize Their Learning - Fold, Think, and Write with Three-Dimensional Graphic Organizers. Brock, Pennington, Morrison, If Homework Really Matters - Assign Some That's Valuable.