| All About the Middle Grades |  |
- What should middle-grades students read this year?
 Sixth-grade language arts teacher Bill Ferriter in this blog post shares suggestions from a class assignment on what middle-school students should be reading this school year. His students offer their top reads -- from the "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" series to "Pretty Little Liars" -- in Twitter-friendly form with 140 characters and accompanying hashtags. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education
(9/13)
- Expectations, goals are required for "deeper learning"
Defining and measuring "deeper learning" will require teachers to set clear goals and expectations, while giving feedback to let students know what's expected of them, according to a report from the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science. A commitment from local, state and national policymakers will be needed for deeper learning -- a process of taking a lesson learned in one situation and using it in another situation -- to become the standard, said Linda Darling-Hammond, professor of education at Stanford University and advocate for education reform. KQED.org/Mind/Shift blog
(9/13)
 | Teach about the Holocaust Using Visual History Testimony
The leading Holocaust education program, Echoes and Reflections includes a comprehensive curriculum with over two hours of visual history testimony from survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust, interactive digital activities on IWitness, and a dynamic professional development program that has reached over 16,000 educators. Sign up today!
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| Tweens & Young Teens
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- Sixth-grade girls showcase PBL by launching cameras into space
A group of sixth-grade girls from Bowling Green, Ky., created their own project-based learning experience this summer when they launched three cameras 22 miles above Earth to take pictures in space. Journalist Suzie Boss in this blog post offers several best practices for PBL that were reinforced through the project, including having ambitious goals, using social networking to build support and pushing beyond obstacles. Edutopia.org/Suzie Boss' blog
(9/14)
| Classroom Innovation
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- Graphing game helps students investigate math concepts
Middle-school math teacher Marsha Ratzel in this blog post shares a method for bringing Common Core strategies into her classroom by making graphing equations into a game. She offers a step-by-step guide to a lesson in which she teaches students about the equations of parallel and perpendicular lines, allowing them to experiment throughout the lesson. "The best part here was not only the engagement, but the fact that we 'tested' everyone's idea ... rather than me telling them if they were correct or not," Ratzel writes. Reflections of a Techie blog
(9/9)
- How flexibility can make managing classrooms easier
Teachers should consider which classroom rules bothered them as students when deciding how to maintain order in their own classrooms, middle-school teacher Jose Luis Vilson writes in this blog post. Vilson has found it difficult to enforce rules that he does not believe in -- such not allowing students to write with pencils -- and has become more flexible on those. However, he maintains strict rules in other areas such as classwork, he writes. Jose Vilson blog
(9/13)
| Technology & Connected Learning
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- How teachers can plug into videoconferencing
In this blog post, fourth-grade teacher Stephanie Bader suggests ways in which teachers can use videoconferencing in the classroom. She suggests using the technology to help connect students with subject-matter experts, professionals and other teachers and students they might not otherwise be in contact with. She also suggests several resources to help teachers initiate videoconferencing and recommends starting small. Powerful Learning Practice
(9/13)
| Middle Grades Leadership
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- School librarians take the lead on Common Core
School librarians find themselves in high demand with the focus Common Core State Standards have brought to the skills of research, reading and writing. Kristen Hearne, librarian at Wren Middle School in Piedmont, S.C., said she has been working with other librarians to train science and social studies teachers who must teach their students literacy skills for those subjects. "When it comes to the Common Core, librarians can be a school's secret weapon," said Hearne, who assisted a social studies teacher with a cross-disciplinary unit on the Vietnam War. Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)
(9/12)
| MiddleWeb Recommends
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Presidential debates are teachable moments
Be ready for the October Presidential and VP Debates with this guest post from media literacy expert Frank Baker. In addition to outlining the logistics of the 2012 debates, Baker provides a worksheet to help students analyze the candidates' performance. Drop by MiddleWeb's Learning about Elections for supporting materials.
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3 ways to make STEM research fun
STEM Imagineering blogger Anne Jolly is back with a post to help kick-start your students' STEM project research. Rather than have them poring over books with fill-in sheets at hand, she gives examples of hands-on data collection, digital digging and conversations with experts. Jolly welcomes further suggestions from readers. Read more.
| Editor's Note
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Updated SmartBrief privacy policy
SmartBrief has updated its privacy policy to better reflect the state of the digital world. View the updated policy.
| SmartQuote
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 | The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided."
--Casey Stengel,
American baseball player and manager
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