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Exemplary Instruction in the Middle Grades

Teaching That Supports Engagement and Rigorous Learning

Edited by Diane Lapp and Barbara Moss

Paperbacke-bookprint + e-book
Paperback
November 5, 2011
ISBN 9781462502813
Price: $37.00
338 Pages
Size: 6" x 9"
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e-book
January 27, 2012
ePub ?
Price: $37.00
338 Pages
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print + e-book
Paperback + e-Book (ePub) ?
Price: $74.00 $44.40
338 Pages
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bookProfessors: request an exam copy
Includes Common Core Content

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.

“This amazingly thorough book makes a major contribution to middle school education—at just the right time. It addresses the challenges that teachers face with the advent of the Common Core State Standards, and does so in a refreshing, empowering way. It models ways to motivate students, promote literacy in meaningful contexts of use, and become more reflective as teachers who are also learners. This is a great text for classes in literacy methods, content-area literacy methods, and middle school education, both at undergraduate and graduate levels.”

—Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, PhD, English Education Program, Boise State University


“This book is essential reading for professional development providers, school-based leaders, and teachers seeking to significantly improve instructional outcomes across content areas. Lapp and Moss provide a potpourri of strategies from educational thought leaders that deepen content knowledge, honor multiple literacies, and offer practical routines that support diverse learners. As more districts and schools adopt the Common Core State Standards, this book will be a 'go-to' guide.”

—Samuel A. Reed, III, MEd, school-based instructional specialist, Beeber Middle School, Philadelphia


“The volume speaks directly to teachers' needs, exposing the shortcomings of worn-out practices and showing how to implement research-based alternatives that hold real promise. The authors provide classroom vignettes, step-by-step guidance, instructional tools, and resources. Teachers will recognize themselves and their goals in these pages and will find both encouragement and support to renew their teaching for new times. A valuable resource for reflective teaching and professional development.”

—Cynthia L. Greenleaf, PhD, Codirector, Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd, Oakland, California


“This 'multimodal' volume includes both traditional and digital-age strategies for promoting learning across the curriculum. The contributing authors write in a personal style that is both interesting and easy to understand. Each chapter is set in a middle school classroom and focuses on helping both novice and seasoned teachers provide authentic classroom practices for today’s students, who are electronically savvy and often disconnected from traditional instruction. The helpful, focused ideas in this book will prompt you to engage your students in challenging, authentic learning in every subject area. I would definitely use this book as a text in our master's-level secondary literacy course.”

—Karen Bromley, PhD, School of Education, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Table of Contents

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 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’s Valuable, Cynthia H. Brock, Julie L. Pennington, and Jennifer D. Morrison


About the Editors

Diane Lapp, EdD, 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, PhD, 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.

Contributors

Peggy Albers, PhD, Department of Middle and Secondary Education and Instructional Technologies, College of Education, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia

Christianna Alger, PhD, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California

Cynthia H. Brock, PhD, Department of Educational Specialties, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada

Heather Casey, PhD, Department of Education, Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey

Jill Castek, PhD, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, California

Douglas Fisher, PhD, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California

Nancy Frey, PhD, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California

Kathy Ganske, PhD, Department of Teaching and Learning, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

Maria Grant, PhD, College of Education, California State University, Fullerton, California

Dana L. Grisham, PhD, Department of Teacher Education, National University, San Diego, California

Jane Hansen, PhD, Central Virginia Writing Project and Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education, School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia

Jennifer I. Hathaway, PhD, Department of Reading and Elementary Education, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina

Rebecca Jesson, PhD, Department of Arts, Languages and Literacies, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Kelly Johnson, PhD, Sciences High and Middle College and College of Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California

Joan Kindig, EdD, Department of Reading Education, College of Education, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia

Diane Lapp, PhD, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California

Virginia S. Loh, PhD, Department of Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California

Barbara Moss, PhD, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, California

Jennifer D. Morrison, MS, Department of Educational Specialties, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada

Judy M. Parr, PhD, School of Arts, Languages and Literacies, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Julie L. Pennington, PhD, Department of Educational Specialties, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada

Melissa Provost, MSEd, Portsmouth School District, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Stephanie Schmier, EdD, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Timothy Shea, PhD, Department of English, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, Millersville, Pennsylvania

Marjorie Siegel, EdD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York

Lina B. Soares, PhD, Department of Teaching and Learning, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia

Dianna Townsend, EdD, Department of Educational Specialties, College of Education, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada

Susan Troutman, MA, School Mathematics Project, Rice University, Houston, Texas

Robin A. Ward, PhD, School Mathematics Project, Rice University, Houston, Texas

Thomas DeVere Wolsey, EdD, Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership, Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Karen D. Wood, PhD, Department of Reading and Elementary Education, College of Education, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina

Audience

Teachers in grades 6–8; teacher educators and graduate students; staff developers; reading specialists and coaches.

Course Use

May serve as a text in such courses as Middle School Education, Reading Methods in Middle School, and Content Area Reading Instruction.