MiddleWeb: All About Teaching and Learning in Grades 4-8

MiddleWeb.Com: All About the Middle Grades



Click here to access MiddleWeb, a great website/blog that is all about middle school & the middle grades — with a sharp focus on teaching and learning in grades 4-8. Find ideas, resources, blog posts, guest articles, book reviews and interviews specifically targeted to students in grades late elementary through early high school. Some great resources to check out now:

• Click here for Back-to-School articles
• Click here for MiddleWeb's Best New Teacher Resources

Also, check out the very timely post that relates to our Birdville Building Opportunities for Literacy Everyday (BOLD) initiative, "Why Teachers and School Librarians Should Unite!"
In the post, Rachel Grover, discusses specific ways librarians and teachers can partner to increase student achievement.

Multiple studies have shown that students who attend schools with certified school librarians achieve more than those who attend schools without librarians (AASL, 2013) - Click here to open & download the infographic

In addition to supporting and enhancing instruction across the content areas with informational texts and research databases, librarians can make the difference in the reading success of each student.
Check out this story from middle school librarian, Nora Murphy:

Soon after I became a school librarian, a teacher came to me about Mario, an eighth-grader who had never read an entire book. Mario struggled to read at all, and English was not his first language, but he was a bright kid whose teacher believed in him. I recommended a short, funny, mysterious book that appeals to reluctant boy readers. Mario took it home, read it in a week and came back with his friends in tow to check out the remaining titles in the series.

When he was ready to tackle more challenging content, I started him listening to audiobooks while following along in the text, a strategy helpful for building fluency and comprehension. Mario would come to the library even when his track was on vacation, and he'd sit for hours, headphones on, reading. Soon, he was able to transition into reading the books on his own. By the end of that one school year, Mario had read 42 books, exceeding the goal set by the state of California for eighth-graders. He was ready for high school.

Are you "Uniting With Your Librarian" - an expert teacher -  for maximum student success?