Mobilizing Resources For District Wide Middle Grades Reform PDF Download

Offering 16 essays by presenters at the first Middle School Mosaic (held in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997), this book connects the themes of literacy, reflective practice, and the special characteristics of middle level teaching. In the first section, Literature and Literacy at the Middle Level, the authors examine questions of literacy by looking at ways to improve reading, broaden the definitions of literacy and literature, and address important issues through choices of literature. In the second section, Reflective Practice in the Middle, the authors focus on ways in which teachers can learn more about themselves, their students, and the ways to support students so that students can, in turn, learn more about themselves and each other. The writers in the third section, The Nature and Needs of Students at the Middle Level, give readers a glimpse of middle level concerns and address the needs of both middle level students as they struggle with who they are, and educators as they struggle with the day-to-day growth of their students and provide a learning environment conducive to a population in transition. Essays in the book are: (1) "When Reading Is Stupid: The Why, How, and What To Do about It" (Jeffrey D. Wilhelm); (2) "From Hall Talk to Classroom Talk to Book Talk: Helping Struggling Readers Connect to Reading" (Kylene Beers); (3) "Teaching Literature through Thematic Units" (Mary Santerre); (4) "Nonfiction and Young Readers" (Robert C. Small, Jr.); (5) "Literature and Lessons of the Holocaust: Theory and Practice" (Marlene B. Hartstein and Karen Zelde Schejtman Sultan); (6) "Telling Lewis Hine's Story: Russel Freedman's 'Kids at Work'" (Myra Zarnowski); (7) "Footprints in the Mud: Reading Science" (Petey Young); (8) "Sweating the Small Stuff: When Spelling Is More Than Small Stuff" (Rebecca Bowers Sipe); (9) "Literacy Narratives" (Cathy Fleischer), "Literacy Narratives: Knowing Students" (Jennifer Hannick Walsh), and "Literacy Narratives: Working with Parents" (Julie A. King); (10) "The Writer's Notebook: A Place To Think" (Janet Angelillo and Anna Danon Reduce); (11) "The Middle Schooler" (Jim Johnston); (12) "A Habit of the Heart: Service Learning" (Martha M. Magner); (13) "Interdisciplinary Teaming in the Middle School" (Lois T. Stover); (14) "Advisory: Building Relationships" (Martha M. Magner); (15) "Middle Level Teacher Preparation" (Judith A. Hayn); and (16) "Vertical Connections" (Lanny van Allen). Appendixes provide a brief history of the Middle School Mosaic, and the conference program. (RS)