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- Volume 14, Issue 2, 2006
Voices from the Middle - Volume 14, Issue 2, 2006
Volume 14, Issue 2, 2006
- Articles
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Editors’ Message: A Postcard from the Editors
Author(s): Roxanne Henkin, Janis Harmon and Elizabeth PateThe VM editors place this month’s contributions in a context of “postcards,” highlights from our journey toward new understandings about literacy and learning.
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Youth in the Middle: Our Guides to Improved Literacy Instruction?
Author(s): Donna E. AlvermannAlvermann urges teachers to “listen to their own students for guidance in adapting their instruction,” calling it both “feasible and worthwhile.” She says, “But having personal access to good directional ideas is not enough. Finding ways to turn those ideas into sound instructional practices (based on principles derived from equally sound research) requires something more.” She recommends these “four principled practices for the journey”: 1) Middle graders needs to generate and share their ideas about complex content area texts with others. 2) Middle graders thrive in active learning environments. 3) Middle graders need support in developing a critical awareness of what they read, view, and hear. 4) Middle graders need opportunities to connect literacies that span in- and out-of-school learning.
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A Journey down the Yellow Brick Road: What Oz Can Teach Students about Literary Techniques
Author(s): Bryan GillisGillis has found a wealth of instruction material within the beloved classic novel (and its many subsequent permutations) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and demonstrates how teachers can “take advantage of the inherent appeal of this classic film and its easy accessibility … to introduce and reinforce literary techniques to middle level students.” He offers ideas around the concepts of alliteration, similes, puns, idioms, symbolism, foreshadowing, irony, and paradox.
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What’s in a Name? A Whole Lot of Talking, Researching, and Writing
Author(s): Lesley RoessingNothing interests middle schoolers more than themselves, so a project that has them investigating their own names proves to be motivation for research, interviews, and writing. In the process, students find a reason to care about organization, writing conventions, writing style, and personal reflection.
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Cross-Curricular Literacy: Writing for Learning in a Science Program
Author(s): Shelley Stagg Peterson and Leonora RochwergerTeacher educator and researcher Peterson works with eighth-grade science teacher, Rochwerger, who believes that writing is a learning tool that will enable her students to become scientifically literate. Here, we see this belief played out through an action research project that found students using a genre of their choice to write about what they had learned during hands-on activities in the classroom, and analyzing a science fiction story for scientific principles. The authors conclude with a list of recommendations for teachers who would like to teach writing using content area topics or who would like to collaborate with science teachers in their schools.
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Tapping into Students’ Motivation: Lessons from Young Adolescents’ Blogs
Author(s): Sylvia ReadIn an effort to use adolescents’ enthusiasm about blogging to design more effective writing experiences, Read analyzed its appeal and found that blogging satisfied two of Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs”: relatedness needs and growth needs. By studying the blogs of 6 adolescents, Read also discovered that the process of writing in blogs helps students grow as writers and improved their technology skills, even for those who have been historically reluctant to write. If blogging per se is not a viable option, at least use the lessons it teaches: Make writing assignments personal (or self-chosen), relevant, flexible. Share writing—knowing others will read or hear the work is motivation to do one’s best. Allow for rough drafts and quick feedback. In the end, writing under safe and motivating conditions can validate our middle level students.
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Out of the Narrow Tunnel and into the Universe of Discourse
Author(s): Denise MalteseThrough reading and reflecting on the words of Atwell, Rief, Moffett, and Graves, Maltese began to think like a teacher-researcher, and questioned her writing workshop practices. Once she began to consider audience as a motivating factor, writing became more meaningful for her students, encompassing a wide range of possibilities. Working from a foundation of student-centered learning, Maltese believes “school stops being an academic exercise and transforms into a place where we practice real world writing … and real world thinking.” She describes how this philosophy plays out with a specific student example.
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Next Steps in the Journey: Living Our Bottom Lines for Teaching
Author(s): Jeffrey D. WilhelmWilhelm proposes that “we use the concept of ‘bottom lines’ as a heuristic to think about our teaching every day: what did we do that fit our bottom lines? What would we have done differently?” He argues for renaming our subject “personal studies” so that everything would connect to our students’ need to explore and express their own identities, and would focus on “relatedness” and having “hard fun” that would make our work meet both personal and disciplinary standards.
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Books for Young Adolescents: On the Road: The Journey of Adolescence
Author(s): Teri LesesneThis month’s books are about new beginnings, about journeys—external and internal—that offer hope on the road toward adulthood.
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Stories Along the Way: Postcards from My Classroom
Author(s): Penny KittleKittle offers a “first assignment of the year” writing exercise that confines students to the space of a single postcard to capture a friend or family member in a single telling moment. Then she demonstrates with postcard introductions to three students.
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New Puzzles, Next Moves: How Do We Talk with Students to Help Them Learn?
Author(s): Nancy ShanklinShanklin explains how we can use talk—thoughtful and immediately relevant talk—with our students to elaborate on content and on literacy strategies. She offers specific strategies and guides for increasing productive talk and shows how it deepens engagement and learning.
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Student to Student: Postcards from the World of Fantasy
Author(s): Kim FordIf students are looking for books that will transport them into a mysterious fantasy world, one of these reviews might be just the postcard they need.
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Technology Tool Kit: Improving Writing:Online Bulletin Boards
Author(s): Sandy HayesUsing an online bulletin board to conduct peer conferences increases the efficiency and quality of responses and gives students a context of peers’ writing to help gauge their own ideas and progress.
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Professional Reading for Middle Level Educators: Multiple Ways of Learning and Knowing
Author(s): Penny SilversWith a common thread of engagement and meaningful learning, Silvers reviews Going with the Flow: How to Engage Boys (and Girls) in Their Literacy Learning by Michael W. Smith and Jeffrey D. Wilhelm; New Literacies in Action: Teaching and Learning in Multiple Media by William Kist; Telling Pieces: Art as Literacy in Middle School Classes by Peggy Albers and Sharon Murphy; Out of This World: Why Literature Matters to Girls by Holly Virginia Blackford.
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Bumps in the Road: Reading Incentives Don’t Necessarily Grow Readers
Author(s): Wanda HedrickHedrick outlines the unintended flaws in computer incentive programs designed to encourage students to read on their own.
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Postcard From The Middle Level Section
Author(s): Sandy HayesHayes anticipates the invigorating effects of the Annual Convention at Opryland in November, welcomes new members to the Middle Level Section Steering Committee and thanks the outgoing members, encourages participation in the Promising Young Writers program, and gives a sneak peek at NCTE’s soon-to-be-unveiled Pathways project.
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Volumes & issues
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Volume 31 (2023 - 2024)
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Volume 30 (2022 - 2023)
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Volume 29 (2021 - 2022)
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Volume 28 (2020 - 2021)
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Volume 27 (2019 - 2020)
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Volume 26 (2018 - 2019)
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Volume 25 (2017 - 2018)
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Volume 24 (2016 - 2017)
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Volume 23 (2015 - 2016)
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Volume 22 (2014 - 2015)
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Volume 21 (2013 - 2014)
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Volume 20 (2012 - 2013)
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Volume 19 (2011 - 2012)
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Volume 18 (2010 - 2011)
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Volume 17 (2009 - 2010)
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Volume 16 (2008 - 2009)
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Volume 15 (2007 - 2008)
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Volume 14 (2006 - 2007)
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Volume 13 (2005 - 2006)
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Volume 12 (2004 - 2005)
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Volume 11 (2003 - 2004)
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Volume 10 (2002 - 2003)
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Volume 9 (2001 - 2002)
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Volume 8 (2000 - 2001)
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Volume 7 (1999 - 2000)
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Volume 6 (1998 - 1999)
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Volume 5 (1998)
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Volume 4 (1997)
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Volume 3 (1996)
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Volume 2 (1995)
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