chatboard - Teachers.Net

Join Teachers.Net

Chatboards

Recent Groups

Middle School

MEMBERS

24 Members

+ Join Group

Pinned Posts

ALLAll Teachers

Teachers.Net LIVE CHAT Support group - Tues eve!

Featured Jobs

Full-timeMontessori Teacher

Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

TemporaryTeachers, rural schools

Peace River North School District

Full-timeHead Teacher: 2nd/3rd Grades – Mills College Children’s School

Mills College

Teaching Jobs on Teachers.Net

Featured Job special only $39!

https://teachers.net/jobs

Become a Teachers.Net sponsor!

Middle School Teachers Chatboard

Teacher Focus Group

by Irina Kapler

Jun 18, 2012

Hello All, I am a cognitive psychology PhD student at York University, Toronto, Canada. I am part of a team that is currently working on improving memory project which we are planning to test out in real-world middle school science classrooms. We know a lot about cognitive psychology and memory, but need a lot of help when it comes to real classroo...See More

Comment

report post

block scheduling

by Renee

Jun 19, 2012

I will have Emglish and Reading combined into one 75 minute class this year for 7th and 8th grade. My school has always taught these separately. This is new for me. Any suggestions for managing a class like this. I am looking forward to having more time with my students, but not sure how to organize the time.

Comment

report post

West - E middle school Math

by Karya

Jun 21, 2012

With 2 months left before the test, I'm so anxious on how ready I'am for the test. DOes anyone here just took the test this year? If yes, any pointers you can share. I review and study as I could but would be at ease if someone who actually took the test could share some tidbits of info.

Comment

report post

Demo lesson ideas?

by BrooklynELAteacher

Jun 25, 2012

I am an ELA teacher in Nw York and am considering switching schools. I was asked to come in on the last day of school to do a demo lesson with a group of 8th graders. The lesson should be approximately 30 minutes long. The only requirements I was given were make it engaging and lively. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Comment

(1)

report post

Debbie On 6/25/12, BrooklynELAteacher wrote: > I am an ELA teacher in Nw York and am considering switching > schools. I was asked to come in on the last day of school > to do a demo lesson with a group of 8th graders. The lesson > should be approximately 30 minutes long. The only > requirements I was given were make it engaging and lively. ...See More

Jun 27, 2012

report post

Trade Books and Middle School Curriculum?

by eileen3g

Jun 29, 2012

Could my ELA colleagues weigh in and tell me whether/how trade books are used in your curriculum?

Are they mandated, an option, disallowed? Are novels read independently or in the classroom? Do you strive for a number of books per year? Are their titles you always teach?

Any and all thoughts much appreciated. Eileen

Comment

(1)

report post

Deb ms/IA In my 8th grade I require 4 novels each quarter. These are independently read by each student. During class we read from the lit textbook. This way I eliminate novels the high school reads and the lower grades read. this also allows students more choice in their reading selections. I request that students read 20-30 minutes a night and complete a b...See More

Jun 29, 2012

report post

please help!

by Avalon

Jun 29, 2012

Well, I found out from the powers to be today, that I will be a floater. I am really stressing out because I do not see how one can be an effective teacher and float. I feel as though I am nothing more than a guest, a sub, a teacher in a box. In addition, I feel as though the students will treat me as a sub. This is my first year with this school a...See More

Comment

report post

How do you have students respond to reading on reading day?

by Sherry

Jul 2, 2012

I have taught for 7 years but this is the first time I'm teaching Language Arts (8th grade).

At our school, the Language Arts teachers are encouaraged to set one day aside as reading day. Since this activity takes 20 percent of my teaching time, I want a way to be able to assess how my students are growing as readers.

I am thinkin...See More

Comment

(8)

report post

view previous comments

MaryB The other day I found a really neat site I'll be using lessons from with my Level 5 middle school ESL students. I especially liked the questions to focus on critical literacy (higher level thinking page). If the link doesn't work, check out:

[link removed]

I'm so glad I found this site. I've got several dozen pages printed to help...See More

Jul 6, 2012

report post

Christina As an 8th grade English Language Arts teacher for twelve years, and the Director of Operations for a non-profit organization for nearly ten years prior, I have seen in both lives how important it is to be a good reader. The reality is that, given the option, most people choose any other activity to reading - adults included. Sure, there are avid re...See MoreAs an 8th grade English Language Arts teacher for twelve years, and the Director of Operations for a non-profit organization for nearly ten years prior, I have seen in both lives how important it is to be a good reader. The reality is that, given the option, most people choose any other activity to reading - adults included. Sure, there are avid readers. We know those kids now who love to read on their own will probably continue to do so well into their adult lives, and, yes, there are even kids who "hate" reading now that will become hooked once they find the right material. But this does not describe the majority. Since the goal of an English teacher, especially those of us in the higher grades, is to assist students in their ability to read so they can do it without assistance in the future, I don't think that requiring students to answer questions every time they read is always the best way to go about doing so.

We must have a way to assess their progress based upon reading related to curriculum (I'm not sure if your Reading Day is curriculum-based or independent reading selections), but I find that allowing students to generate questions themselves as they read is just as effective as handing out a series of questions. Perhaps during your reading day, you can combine a bit of both. You can provide a model of the types of questions you want your students to think about: themes, characterization, motivation, tone/mood, conflicts, etc., but then provide them with an opportunity to ask their own. I have an activity I do with my 8th graders in which I teach them the difference between recall questions and questions that require inferential thinking. Periodically, rather than give them guided reading questions that they can't stand (although necessary!), I require that they create their own recall question and at least two inferential questions to determine their progress. It takes time in the beginning to teach this, at least two full class periods to teach and model, but the more they do it, the better they become. Eventually, they know that I will be using both methods to assess their understanding, so they start automatically thinking of their own questions, even when I provide questions for them. I make sure to include on my guided reading questions a space at the end for any of their unanswered questions in the event they have some. I hope this is helpful and good luck in your endeavor!

On 7/03/12, Debbie wrote: > On 7/02/12, Deb ms/IA wrote: >> I found some cool stuff on TeachersPayTeachers and some of >> them are free. If you have a PayPal account you can > purchase >> things. I don't have access to the files I downloaded at the >> moment or I'd share the names of the ones I found to be >> helpful. >> >> Deb ms/IA >> >> >> >> >> On 7/02/12, Sherry wrote: >>> I have taught for 7 years but this is the first time I'm >>> teaching Language Arts (8th grade). >>> >>> At our school, the Language Arts teachers are encouaraged >>> to set one day aside as reading day. Since this activity >>> takes 20 percent of my teaching time, I want a way to be >>> able to assess how my students are growing as readers. >>> >>> I am thinking of having them respond in a reader's journal, >>> but I want them to do more than just summarizing what they >>> have read. Does anyone have ideas that you have used >>> (whether it's a journal or something else) that helps you >>> assess their silent reading? > I did this last year with my 6th grade reading class. We use A/R > so the first 15 minutes of every class was set aside for silent > reading and response. I used very open ended questions that I got > off of a website. Try googling "reading responses". Here are some > examples: > -How does the setting effect the mood/tone of your story? > -Would you have the main character as your friend? why or why not? > -What advice would you give to the main character to help solve > the problem in the story? > -What words does the author use to set the mood or tone of the > story? Give complete sentence and page #. > -Which character do you connect with the most? The least? why? > -what is the main character's problem in the story? How would you > solve or respond to that problem? > -What issue does your story make you think the most? > -What is the author's message or the theme of the story? Ex: > friendship, doing the right thing, loyality, etc. > These are questions that require the reader to do some deep > thinking. I usually put "why?" at the end of everyone.

Jul 13, 2012

report post

Gundoskjf

by Aboutpkjtd

Jul 5, 2012

Aloha! clq

Comment

report post

Lesson Plan Book Question

by Sandy

Jul 6, 2012

I am teaching 6th grade science for the first time this coming school year. It will be my first year in middle school as well. What type of lesson plan book is best to use for one subject, many kids?!

Comment

(2)

report post

Debbie On 7/06/12, Sandy wrote: > I am teaching 6th grade science for the first time this > coming school year. It will be my first year in middle > school as well. What type of lesson plan book is best to > use for one subject, many kids?! Fortunately, we use Oncourse at our school so our lesson plans are electronic. It is so easy!

Jul 8, 2012

report post

Margie HI Sandy, I use Planbook- found at Planbook.com. It costs about $12.00 per year, but has all the standards built into it. You also get to check it out for free for 30 days. Super easy to use!

On 7/06/12, Sandy wrote: > I am teaching 6th grade science for the first time this > coming school year. It will be my first year in middle &g...See More

Jul 26, 2012

report post

New to 6th grade

by Agsrule!

Jul 6, 2012

I am moving to anew grade and subject for next school year. I've taught 7th grade LA for 7 years, but now I am moving to 6th grade social studies. Any advice that you have to share about how to manage 6th graders differently from 7th, I would love to hear. I'm nervous because the only interaction I have with 6th graders is to tell them to quit runn...See More

Comment

(2)

report post

Longhorns Rule I too moved down for two years, and thankfully, I am moving back up. Sixth graders are scared to death and struggle with locker issues. They jump across chairs instead of going around. They love to lay on the floor and read. Make sure your lessons are addressing their kinesthetic needs. They are much sweeter than the older kids...and easier to disc...See More

Jul 9, 2012

report post

Love 6th graders more than 7th! I've been teaching both levels for four years now, and this year I will only be teaching 6th grade. I am SOOO relieved not to have to deal with the squirreliness of 7th graders deep in the throes of puberty!

What I have learned from working with 6th graders is, they come in as "babies" so to speak, but they should leave as "young adolescen...See MoreI've been teaching both levels for four years now, and this year I will only be teaching 6th grade. I am SOOO relieved not to have to deal with the squirreliness of 7th graders deep in the throes of puberty!

What I have learned from working with 6th graders is, they come in as "babies" so to speak, but they should leave as "young adolescents". I see it as a slow growth process, giving them some leeway at first, but really buckling down on them and getting them to take on more and more responsibility and accountability for everything. They are thrilled and excited to be entering "middle school", but are terrified of the added changes and responsibilities. At our school, they also start earning letter grades, so that takes them a while to understand.

They also are far less dramatic and hormonal than 7th graders (through my own experience), are just forming their first crushes, still grossed out at the idea of kissing the opposite sex, still find farts funny, and get pulled between acting babyish and acting grown up a million times a day.

Regardless of all of the above, I love my 6th graders. I can still capture and hold their interest, impress them with my knowledge, and hold them in awe with some of the trivial knowledge they don't know.

And they make me laugh!

On 7/09/12, Longhorns Rule wrote: > I too moved down for two years, and thankfully, I am moving > back up. Sixth graders are scared to death and struggle with > locker issues. They jump across chairs instead of going > around. They love to lay on the floor and read. Make sure > your lessons are addressing their kinesthetic needs. They are > much sweeter than the older kids...and easier to discipline. > Make everything a teachable moment as they really don't > understand how to deal with the new freedom. > > > > On 7/06/12, Agsrule! wrote: >> I am moving to anew grade and subject for next school year. >> I've taught 7th grade LA for 7 years, but now I am moving >> to 6th grade social studies. Any advice that you have to >> share about how to manage 6th graders differently from 7th, >> I would love to hear. I'm nervous because the only >> interaction I have with 6th graders is to tell them to quit >> running in the hall!

Jul 25, 2012

report post

« prev page

Teacher Chatboards