Literacy Lessons : Teaching and Learning with Middle School Students

by Finders, Margaret J.; Hynds, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780130303844
• ISBN10: 0130303844
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

With its sights clearly set on middle school teachers and the middle school teaching experience, this new book expands the definition of literacy to encompass today's popular electronic and audiovisual media. Research-driven coverage offers a thorough presentation of the theory of middle school teaching, plus a wealth ofreal stories fromreal classrooms that demonstrate strategies in actual practice.KEY TOPICS The authors address the current emphasis on standards, discussing their advantages and disadvantages and integrating them throughout; embrace the notion of inclusion by offering numerous suggestions for teaching special-needs students in the regular classroom; and explore the social and cultural complexities--and the joys and challenges--of teaching today's adolescents. For teachers and future teachers of middle school.

Table of Contents

Middle Schoolers and Middle School	2	(20)
Guiding Questions	2	(1)
A Case for Consideration: Teen Mothers in Different Times	2	(1)
A Bundle of Raging Hormones: The Invention of Adolescence	3	(2)
Monitoring Your Teaching: Your Fieldwork Journal	5	(2)
Beyond Biology	7	(1)
From ``Mini'' High School to Middle School	8	(9)
Interdisciplinary Teams	13	(1)
Advisory Programs	13	(1)
Varied Instruction	13	(1)
Exploratory Programs	14	(1)
Transition Programs	14	(3)
Standards in Practice	17	(1)
References	18	(1)
Resources	19	(3)
English Language Arts from Mid-Century to the Millennium	22	(26)
Guiding Questions	22	(1)
A Case for Consideration: The World Across the Hall	22	(3)
Exploring Your Teaching History	25	(1)
From Texts to Political Contexts: Literacy Learning Then and Now	26	(1)
Our Shifting Views of Literacy and Its Teaching	27	(15)
Literacy as Text: Product-Centered Approaches	30	(2)
Process-Centered Approaches	32	(5)
Social/Contextual Approaches to Literacy Teaching	37	(5)
Standards in Practice	42	(1)
References	43	(2)
Resources	45	(3)
Planning and Adapting Instruction for Middle School Learners	48	(40)
Guiding Questions	48	(1)
A Case for Consideration: The Techno Trio	48	(2)
Beyond Print: How We Think About Literacy Learning	50	(2)
Planning for All Students	52	(6)
Starting to Plan	58	(4)
Goals	58	(2)
Support for Learners	60	(1)
Assessing Materials and Resources	61	(1)
Planning for Multiple Intelligences	62	(2)
Jumping In: Collaborative Planning	64	(2)
Organizing Lesson Plans	66	(5)
Weekly Calendar	66	(2)
Daily Lesson Plans	68	(2)
Formal Instructional (or Unit) Plans	70	(1)
Interdisciplinary Planning	71	(1)
Long-Range Planning With Middle School Students in Mind	72	(4)
Sketch Out Your Overall Goals	72	(1)
Identify Relevance and Usefulness	73	(1)
Choose an Organizing Framework	73	(1)
Design a Culminating Activity	74	(1)
Investigate Materials and Resources	74	(1)
Include Evaluation	74	(1)
Describe Techniques, Strategies, and Procedures	75	(1)
Formalizing Long-Range Plans	76	(6)
Grading Rubric for the Unit Plan	82	(1)
Planning for Change	83	(1)
Standards in Practice	84	(2)
References	86	(1)
Resources	87	(1)
Including Middle School Learners With Disabilities	88	(22)
Guiding Questions	88	(1)
A Case for Consideration: Mr. Carlisle's First Days	88	(2)
Individualized Educational Program	90	(5)
Modifications	95	(2)
Activity Modifications	95	(1)
Instructional Modifications	96	(1)
Materials Modifications	96	(1)
Environmental Modifications	96	(1)
Supports	97	(2)
Consultative Support	97	(1)
Collaborative Teaching	98	(1)
Individual Support	98	(1)
Peer Support	98	(1)
Interaction With Peers	99	(2)
Considerations for Supporting Each Learner in the Middle School Classroom	101	(3)
Evaluation of Student Performance	104	(3)
Standards in Practice	107	(1)
References	107	(1)
Resources	108	(2)
Integrating Assessment	110	(36)
Guiding Questions	110	(1)
A Case for Consideration: Managing the Mess	110	(2)
Assessments! Assessments! Assessments!	112	(1)
Integrating Assessment	113	(1)
Considerations for Assessment in the Middle School Classroom	114	(1)
Performance Assessment of Authentic Learning Tasks	115	(3)
Beyond Paper-and-Pencil Tests: Tools for Alternative Assessment	118	(10)
Learning Logs as a Form of Assessment	118	(1)
Graphic Representation as an Assessment Tool	119	(1)
Assessment Conferences	120	(1)
Assessing Small-Group Work	121	(1)
Assessment of Performances and Demonstrations	122	(1)
Assessing Student Participation in Large Groups	122	(1)
Assessment of Inquiries and Investigations	123	(5)
Portfolio Assessment	128	(1)
Grading: The Final Act	128	(2)
Creating a Grading Rubric	128	(2)
Beyond Traditional Tests and Quizzes	130	(4)
Collaborative Rubrics: Assessment as a Teaching Tool	134	(2)
The Dilemma of High-Stakes Testing	136	(6)
Standards in Practice	142	(1)
References	143	(1)
Resources	144	(2)
Language Lenses: Integrating the Language Arts in the Middle Grades	146	(22)
Guiding Questions	146	(1)
A Case for Consideration: A Constant Voyeur	146	(3)
Integrating the Language Arts: Teaching for Diversity	149	(1)
Challenging Some Myths About Language	150	(2)
Myth: Speech Is an Inferior Form of Language	150	(1)
Myth: Learning to Read Must Precede Learning to Write	151	(1)
Myth: Fluency in One Language Interferes With Fluency in Another	151	(1)
Language Lenses	152	(12)
``Making a Fire in Our Hands'': One Final Thought	164	(1)
Standards in Practice	165	(1)
References	165	(1)
Resources	166	(2)
Reading and Viewing in the Middle Grades	168	(34)
Guiding Questions	168	(1)
A Case for Consideration: Making Room for Poetry	168	(2)
Reading and Viewing in New Times	170	(1)
Reading and Viewing for Multiple Purposes	170	(2)
Reading and Viewing With Middle School Students	172	(1)
Considerations for Reading and Viewing With Middle School Students	173	(1)
Differences Between Literary and Nonliterary Reading	174	(1)
Inviting Students' Responses to Literature: Stances Versus Hierarchies	175	(1)
Strategies for Comprehension and Understanding	176	(2)
Strategies for Critical Reading and Viewing	178	(1)
Inviting All Readers	179	(2)
Text Selection in the Middle School Classroom	181	(2)
Locating Texts	181	(1)
Censorship and Text Selection	181	(1)
Organizing Instruction	182	(1)
Creating a Classroom Climate for Reading and Viewing	183	(8)
Organizing for Whole Class Instruction	183	(4)
Organizing for Student-Selected Reading	187	(1)
Organizing for Small-Group Reading Experiences	187	(1)
Organizing for Workshop Teaching	188	(3)
Assessment Issues in the Reading and Viewing Classroom	191	(4)
Responding	191	(2)
Evaluation	193	(1)
Grading	194	(1)
Standards in Practice	195	(1)
References	196	(2)
Resources	198	(4)
A Focus on Writing	202	(36)
Guiding Questions	202	(1)
A Case for Consideration: To Assign or Not to Assign	202	(1)
Writing With Middle School Students	203	(7)
Balancing Acts: Writing Instruction in the Middle School	210	(9)
Comfort and Challenge	211	(1)
Collaboration and Privacy	211	(3)
Choice and Control	214	(3)
Physical Activity and Solitude	217	(1)
Correctness and Creativity	218	(1)
Personal and Public Writing	218	(1)
Creating a Classroom for Writers	219	(5)
The Writers' Workshop as a Structure for Learning	221	(3)
Assessments of Written Literacies	224	(1)
Monitoring Progress: Formative Assessments	225	(5)
Anecdotal Records	225	(1)
Writing Logs	226	(1)
Conferences	226	(1)
Writers' Journals	226	(1)
Peer Group Records and Checkpoints	227	(1)
Writing Rubrics	227	(1)
Writing Portfolios	228	(1)
Reflective Windows	229	(1)
Using Technology Effectively With Middle School Writers	230	(3)
Standards in Practice	233	(1)
References	234	(1)
Resources	235	(3)
Talking and Listening in the Middle Grades	238	(38)
Guiding Questions	238	(1)
A Case for Consideration: Beyond the ``Official Meaning''	238	(1)
The Many Faces of Talking and Listening	239	(1)
Purposes and Forms of Oral Language	240	(3)
Talking and Listening With Middle School Students	243	(1)
Leveling the Field: Race, Class, Gender, Culture, and Oral Language	244	(1)
Talking and Listening to Explore	245	(4)
Character Role Plays	246	(1)
``To Tell the Truth''	247	(2)
Talking and Listening to Learn About Talking and Listening	249	(3)
Interpersonal Communication: Exploring the Language of Self and Others	249	(3)
Talking and Listening to Connect and Transform	252	(9)
Breaking the I-R-E Pattern: Inviting Students' Genuine Responses in Class Discussion	252	(5)
Question Cue Cards	257	(1)
KWL Activity	257	(4)
Talking and Listening to Showcase and Perform	261	(5)
Speeches, Demonstration, and Presentations	261	(2)
Beyond Round-Robin Reading: Oral Interpretations, Choral Reading, and Readers' Theater	263	(3)
Evaluating Oral Language and Listening	266	(4)
Standards in Practice	270	(1)
References	271	(1)
Resources	272	(4)
A Focus on Language Study	276	(26)
Guiding Questions	276	(1)
A Case for Consideration: ``I Never Thought About Words Before''	276	(2)
What Counts as Language Study	278	(2)
Discourse Communities and Communicative Competence	280	(2)
Helping Students Understand Their Discourse Communities	282	(2)
Standardization and ``Powerful'' Language	284	(4)
Guiding Practice With Varieties of English	285	(3)
Playing With Language	288	(1)
Language Study Across the Curriculum	289	(1)
Language Diversity and Grammar Instruction	289	(2)
Teaching Grammar and Usage in the Middle School	290	(1)
Second Language Learners	290	(1)
Monitoring Language Development	291	(7)
Skills to Remember	292	(3)
Goals and Growth Records	295	(1)
Portfolios	296	(1)
Error Analysis	296	(2)
Standards in Practice	298	(1)
References	299	(1)
Resources	299	(3)
Entering the Profession: Lessons for Literacy and Life	302	(17)
Guiding Questions	302	(1)
A Case for Consideration: Teaching in Troubled Times	302	(2)
Professional Support: Where Do You Go From Here?	304	(4)
Professional Memberships	305	(1)
Help Down the Hall	306	(2)
Securing a Job	308	(7)
Gaining Experiences	309	(2)
Preparing a Professional Portfolio	311	(4)
Standards in Practice	315	(1)
References	315	(1)
Resources	316	(3)
Index	319