Exemplary Instruction in the Middle Grades

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.

This amazingly thorough book makes a major contribution to middle school education/m-/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 UniversityThis 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, PhiladelphiaThe 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, CaliforniaThis '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 -

• 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