Teaching Middle School Language Arts

Incorporating Twenty-first Century Literacies

By (author) Anna J. Small Roseboro

Not available to order

Publication date:

16 April 2010

Length of book:

336 pages

Publisher

R&L Education

ISBN-13: 9781607095811

Teaching Middle School Language Arts is the first book on teaching middle school language arts for multiple intelligences and related 21st century literacies in technologically and ethnically diverse communities. More than 670,000 middle school teachers (grades six through eight) are responsible for educating nearly 13 million students in public and private schools. Thousands more teachers join these ranks annually, especially in the South and West, where ethnic populations are ballooning. Teachers and administrators seek practical, time-efficient ways of teaching language arts to 21st century adolescents in increasingly multicultural, technologically diverse, socially networked communities. They seek sound understanding, practical advice, and proven strategies for connecting diverse literature to 21st century societies while meeting state and professional standards. Teaching Middle School Language Arts provides strategies and resources that work. Roseboro's book provides an entire academic year of inspiring theory and instruction in multimedia reading, writing, and speaking for the 21st century literacies that are increasingly required in the United States and Canada. An appendix includes supplementary documents to adapt or adopt, and a companion web site is designed to continue communication with readers.

Foreword: Amazing Grace
Preface: Teaching at the Intersection of Old and New Literacies
Introduction
Chapter 1 Networking Socially at the Start of a School Year
Chapter 2 Unpacking the Story and Understanding the Genre
Chapter 3 Exploring Traditional and Contemporary Grammars
Chapter 4Discussing and Writing Short Stories: Where Story Meets Genre
Chapter 5 Checking Out a Twentieth Century Novel
Chapter 6 Teaching Classical Fiction: Where the Ghosts of the Past Speak Today
Chapter 7 Taking T.I.M.E. to Teach Poetry
Chapter 8 Versing Life Together
Chapter 9 Opening the Past Imaginatively: Teaching Historical Fiction
Chapter 10 Playing It Right: Reading, Performing and Writing Drama
Chapter 11 Speaking of Grammars: Public Speaking and Media Arts
Chapter 12 Celebrating Names: A Unit about Community and Identity
Chapter 13 Congratulations and Bon Voyage!

Roseboro provides a valuable map for traveling through the challenging world of middle school language arts. She includes descriptions of specific lessons aimed at helping students demonstrate their understandings through writing, speech, music, and art. These lessons develop language skills using library and online research while meeting language arts standards. They use both print and electronic forms. Of particular use to teachers who may not be as familiar with electronic formats as their students are suggestions for incorporating new options for language expression. For example, group or individual video journaling, podcasts, wiki sites, using digital photos to scan drawings, posting on the class or school Web site, etc. YouTube and other video posting Web sites can be a source for fan readings of poetry or literary excerpts that can be downloaded or played directly from the Internet in class. The author reminds readers of the need to establish rules for civil engagement while using electronic formats. Postings can be saved and shown later to provide a record of learning. A rich teacher resource appendix should prove an invaluable aid for implementing these suggestions. Roseboro has truly shown how to address 21st-century literacies. Summing Up: Highly recommended.