Key tip: We recommend letting students choose a few books that pique their interest. Why? Because book choice is key to student agency and motivation.

Now, let’s get into our top middle school books to promote Anti Bullying. 

Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper

Melody knows she’s not like most people. For starters, she cannot walk or talk, but she has a photogenic memory and can remember everything she’s ever experienced.  She is brilliant but dismissed as mentally challenged by her classmates in her integrated classroom because she cannot tell them otherwise. In a true display of courage, Melody refuses to be defined by her disorder, cerebral palsy. And she’s determined to let everyone know it…somehow.

This book is great for grades 5 and older. 

Confessions of a Former Bully, Beth Adams

Ever wonder what goes on in the mind of someone who bullies? What if you’re the bully? Katie never thought of herself as a bully. She may occasionally exclude kids from games or say some harsh things to her friends every once and a while but it’s not like she ever got physical with anyone. So what’s the big deal, right? After Katie gets caught teasing a schoolmate, she faces consequences for her actions. The consequences help Katie realize that bullying has hurt not only the people around her, but her, too. And that words can hurt. Told from the unusual perspective of the aggressor, Confessions of a Former Bully provides kids with real life tips and tools they can use to help identify and overcome emotional bullying. 

This book is great for students in middle school.

Wonder, R.J. Palacio

August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. The book begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance. In a world where bullying among young people is an epidemic, this is a refreshing new narrative full of heart and hope. Dubbed “a meditation on kindness”—this book will ensure that every reader will come away with a greater appreciation for the simple courage of friendship. Auggie is a hero to root for, a diamond in the rough who proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.

This book is best for grades 5-7

The Adventures of Emery Jones Boy Science Wonder, Charles and Elsheba Johnson

Emery Jones is a genius. He even built a robot butler to get out of doing his chores. Despite his brains, however, Emery’s life isn’t easy. The other students don’t understand him, and that makes them lash out at him. When Emery accidentally sends one of the students who bullied him 190 million years back in time, he must figure out how to save him…or even if he wants to.

Told from the perspective of Emery’s best friend, Gabby, The Adventures of Emery Jones is sure to thrill and delight students. Combining an engaging story with real, tough lessons about responsibility and forgiveness, this book is an excellent way to open up discussions with students about the impact of words. 

This book is best for students in grades 5-9. 

The Survival Guide to Bullying, Aija Mayrock

The Survival Guide to Bullying covers everything from cyberbullying to how to deal with fear and how to create the life you dream of having. From inspiring “roems” (rap poems), survival tips, personal stories, and quick quizzes, this book will light the way to a brighter future for students from all walks of life. 

This book is best for grades 5 and up. 

What books would you recommend to promote Anti-Bullying? Share your top picks below in the comments section.

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Remember, Relationships are Key

Amanda Hunt, a Texas-based Middle School Librarian of The Next Gen Librarian, understands how important relationship building is. “Relationships are key,” Amanda shared. “Put that at the forefront of your mind before content, state testing, and other daily obligations. That stuff will come after you have a strong relationship with your students.” 

Heather Plachon of The Primary Party echoed those sentiments by sharing, “It’s okay to take it slow and build relationships and expectations during that first week. Content will always be there for you to cover, but taking time at the start of the year to get to know your students will help you best serve them throughout the year!”

Need some inspiration for the best ways to start building strong relationships with your students? Check out our top 5 get-to-know -me activities for middle school to get the ball rolling!

Put the Power in Your Students’ Hands

We’ve found great success in our Learning Games by allowing students to be the boss. Rebekah Poe, a special education educator and the personality behind Lessons and Lattes, finds success in this model as well. “Let your students help come up with the rules and expectations for the classroom. When students have a say, they also have an increased sense of ownership and responsibility. Allow your students to make suggestions for how they think a classroom can run the most smoothly by asking them what a classroom should look, sound, and feel like. Rules that state what a student SHOULD do as opposed to should NOT do lets the student know exactly what is expected of them, giving them a greater understanding and awareness of their behavior.”

We love this advice!

Take Your time and Have FUN

Heather Planchon also shared to give yourself grace in this new period of learning for both yourself and your students. “It’s okay not to do it all in the first week. Give yourself time and grace as you navigate a new year.”
 

John Rodney of Teacher to Teacher shared the importance of tying it all together. “Prioritize relationship-building activities into the curriculum. Those relationships will improve the learning taking place in the classroom and make it so much more fun.”

We wish you a safe, joyful, successful, and FUN start to your school year. We meant when we said last year that we have your back, and that statement still stands. We will continue to remain free for this 2022-2023 school year. 

Sign up for your free Read to Lead account here!

If you want 1:1 onboarding training, have questions about how to mobilize the Million Words Read Challenge in your class, or anything in-between – we’re here for you. 

Onward Educators!

The Read to Lead Team & Community

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even more impactful for your class this year.

So what’s new in game based learning on the platform? 

Deepen student engagement with Badges!

As students play Read to Lead’s learning games, they now have the opportunity to earn digital badges that recognize development of a particular competency. Badges are centered around engagement, literacy, SEL, and career skills. Watch as students earn badges, track their success, and are more motivated than ever to continue reading and leading! 

Level-up project based learning with Quests! 

To deepen the learning from immersive game-play, we’ve added Quests which offer project-based learning experiences that allow students to dig deeper, learn more about themselves, and solve complex problems. Students will have the opportunity to take a strengths finder test, create a vision board, and so much more!

Invite students to be the boss in our newest learning game!

Drum roll please….. a brand new game series is coming soon. This summer, we collaborated with Blackrock’s Financial Inclusion team to create a new learning game that immerses students in the day-in-the-life of an Asset Manager. Students are sent on an important mission to take on the role of the “boss” as they read closely, make complex decisions, and lead a diverse team! Be sure to check back soon as this series is released in the coming weeks ahead!

Join a community built for educators, by educators

We’re uniting our most-passionate educators by forming a national community of Educator Leaders who are committed to empowering the next generation of readers and leaders, solve real classroom challenges, and be a part of the future of ed-tech. Sound like you? Start your application here!

Get up and running faster

Have questions with your account? You can use the Live Chat function on our website, check out the Help Center, or join a free Onboarding Training Webinar.

Best part is, this is just the start. Hold onto your hats – more updates are coming soon!

Create a free account or log in to create your class and begin building your students’ literacy, life, and career skills!

The post Back to School – What’s New – 2023 appeared first on Read to Lead.

With so many tools available, deciding which one to implement can be overwhelming. To make your decision a little bit easier, here are four of our top choices!

Stay on Track with a Learning Management System

Depending on what your school uses, you likely already have a subscription to a learning management system (LMS). Canvas, Schoology, and Google Classroom are popular choices that many school districts have adopted. If you don’t already use an LMS, you can easily get a Google Classroom subscription for free!

Using an LMS allows you to create, assign and grade assignments, and share information, materials, and resources with students virtually. It makes it easy to keep track of students’ progress and you’ll never have to worry about losing a paper assignment again! Certain platforms even have tools to communicate with parents and for students to interact socially within the platform – excellent for keeping parents in the loop and kids engaged!

Provide Differentiated Instruction with Formative Assessments

Research shows that using formative assessments in the classroom positively impacts student achievement – more so than almost any other educational intervention. Additionally, keeping track of students’ progress is critical to being able to provide differentiated instruction and additional support where needed.

If you’re not using formative assessment in your classroom – it’s not too late to start! Use tools like Pear Deck or Nearpod to infuse formative assessments seamlessly into each lesson. These tools also provide you with real-time insight into student understanding, allowing you to respond and adapt. Interested in integrating these formative assessment tools into your classroom? Check both options out for free to see which works best for your classroom!

Deeply Engage Students with Immersive Learning Games

Gone are the days of teachers standing at the front of the classroom and lecturing for an hour while students take copious notes. Interactive lessons that engage the whole child are the way to go! Check out Read to Lead learning games – the perfect fit for the ELA classroom.

Tap into the power of game-based learning and start building your students’ literacy, leadership, and life skills with Read to Lead. In this interactive platform, students take on the role of boss in a virtual workplace and have to navigate complex scenarios modeled after real-world situations. All content is aligned to Reading Standards and the CASEL framework so you can be sure students are mastering essential ELA skills as they work through each game. For the busy teacher, each game also comes with discussion questions and other ready-to-teach wrap-around materials!

As a bonus, Read to Lead integrates with Canvas, Schoology, and Google Classroom, making it a breeze to implement as a part of any ELA curriculum. The best part? Read to Lead is always free for educators! Find out more and sign up here!

Build Community with Collaborative Tools 

After two years of isolation and social distancing, students are craving community – something that is crucial to a healthy learning environment. Flip, previously known as FlipGrid is a unique classroom management tool educators can harness to build community. 

A video discussion app designed for small group connections, Flip offers students a creative outlet to express their ideas and learn from each other. Students can participate in class discussions via video clips on Flip and build deeper relationships with each other, even outside the classroom.

Classroom management is a fundamental aspect of a thriving classroom. With the right tools in place, you can cultivate a positive classroom environment that allows all students to reach their potential and excel. Why not get started today by introducing interactive lessons with Read to Lead into your ELA classroom? It’s easy – simply click here to sign up!

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1. This or That?

Help students find common ground with each other in this easy activity that gets students on their feet and mingling with each other. Prepare some statements that encourage students to take a stand or voice an opinion on a casual topic like “pizza is better than pasta.” Students then have to pick a side and physically move to the side of the room that represents their position. As a team, they take turns presenting their position to the class. This activity not only builds students’ confidence as they share their perspectives with their new classmates but also lets students see what they have in common with each other.

Here are some examples of this or that statements:

• I would rather vacation in the mountains than at the beach.
• Living in space is better than living underwater.
• Attending a concert is better than going to the movies/theater.
• One month without electronics is better than one month without junk food.
• I would rather have no money than no time.

Credit: Cult of Pedagogy

2. Get-to-know-you Bingo

What better way to get to know each other than by asking each other questions? In get-to-know-you Bingo, each student receives a 5×5 Bingo card. Each square has a specific characteristic like “is left-handed”, “plays the piano”, or “has an elder sibling”, “has the same birth month as you”. You can create your own, or use an online tool like this to create them.

Students ask each other questions to find a classmate who fits the criteria for each box. The first student to get BINGO wins, but the game can be extended to ensure all students complete the entire card. This game is sure to get students chattering as they discover interesting tidbits about their new classmates!

3. Class Playlist

“Where words fail, music speaks.” – Hans Christian Andersen

For middle school students going through physical, mental, and emotional changes, music is a way to express themselves. Creating a class playlist can be a great way for students to showcase their personalities, even the shy ones who hesitate to speak up. Ask students to contribute a song of their choice to a class playlist and let them bond through shared tastes in music. This playlist could also come in handy throughout the school year for an impromptu dance party!

Credit: We Are Teachers

4. Sweet Secrets

If you want to get to know your students better and win brownie points for being the sweetest teacher (pun intended!), you’ll love this activity. Bring a bag of colored candy (Skittles are a good option!) to class and announce that everyone can take as many as they want from the bag. After each student has collected their candy, reveal that each color corresponds to a category (e.g. yellow for sports, red for food). For every piece of candy, they have to share a fact about themselves related to that category. For example, if a student has two yellow candies and one red candy, they might say – I broke my leg rollerblading last year, I hate swimming, and I’m allergic to peanuts.

For a more intimate sharing session, put students in small groups to encourage discussion and deeper connections. Allowing students to get to know each other in a smaller group setting also nurtures SEL skills and fosters more authentic relationships among new classmates. And of course, everyone gets to enjoy their candy at the end of the session!

Credit: SignUpGenius

5. Summer Pen pals

The first day of middle school can be downright scary for some students – new teachers, new classmates, possibly even a new school! Help ease your students’ first-day jitters by setting them up with summer pen pals. Students will have their summer vacation to exchange emails and get to know each other better – and a friendly face to navigate the first days of school!

Randomly put students in your class in pairs or groups and start them off with some questions that encourage them to share more about themselves. You could even model the activity for them by sharing a fun introduction of yourself! Not only will it put students at ease knowing who their teacher and some of their classmates are going into the school year, but it is also a great way to learn more about your students and their writing abilities before the year starts. An extension of this activity could be to ask them to bring a hand-written letter to give to their pen pals on the first day of school!

Credit: Time Out For Teachers

In the midst of setting up your classrooms and planning your lessons, don’t forget to sign up for your free Read to Lead account this year! Keep students engaged in literacy, life, and career skills through engaging learning games, enrichment activities, and more. Get started today!

The post 5 Get-to-Know-Me Activities for Middle School appeared first on Read to Lead.

Keep reading to find out why teachers are assigning Read to Lead over the summer instead of a book list! 

Deeply Engage and Combat Learning Loss

The long break from school is refreshing for students and teachers no doubt, but along with this comes the dreaded summer slide. Going weeks without picking up a book or doing anything more stimulating than watching YouTube videos can be detrimental, but motivating students to continue their learning through their vacations can be a challenge. That’s why educators love Read to Lead learning games as a way to combat summer learning loss!

Fun – check!

Engaging – check!

Educational – check!

Builds literacy and leadership skills – check!

Choose from a library of immersive learning games depending on the skills your students need to polish up or assign summer reading playlists based on Lexile range, grade level, or career paths. The interactive platform engages students’ hearts and minds and working through different storylines captures their imagination – they won’t even notice they’re reading 5,000 words in the course of each game! Trust us, this will be one summer vacation homework that your students will be begging for!

Know Where Each Student Stands

What if there was a way to know where each of your new students stand before the school year even started? Read to Lead’s data reports lets you keep track of students’ progress even when you’re not physically in the classroom with them!

Use the Class Progress Report to track which episodes students have completed and the specific reading standard associated with it. For more in-depth information on individual student performance within the class, tap into the Performance Report. This feature can also be used to group students of different capabilities and offer tailored support and guidance on specific tasks or reading standards. Get a laser-focused look at each student’s progress and performance with the Student Activity Report. Check out the time they spent on each task, how well they performed on each task, and even review their written responses from this dashboard. With such detailed student performance reports that show exactly how each student is performing, you’ll know how best to support them in the new school year! Way to start the year off on the right foot!

Build Social-Emotional Learning & Encourage Career Exploration

Summer is not just a time for students to close learning gaps and play catch up with schoolwork – it is also a great opportunity to nurture the whole child. Build students’ social emotional-learning (SEL) while giving them a taste of what it’s like to be “the boss” in an interactive virtual workplace with Read to Lead.

How do you decide how to allocate finances within a tight budget?What’s the best way to mobilize volunteers and distribute resources in a crisis?When there is a conflict between staff members, how can you resolve the situation fairly and keep the peace?

Students tackle difficult questions like these and navigate complex challenges within different workplaces as they get a better understanding of some career options and the skills necessary to thrive in the modern workplace. Read to Lead offers students a safe space to make mistakes and learn from them as they cultivate essential life skills through summer reading.

There’s no reason reading in summer needs to be a chore for students. Fun, engaging, and enriching – Read to Lead is the quintessential summer reading companion for your students! Sign up today for a free educator account and get started building your students’ literacy, life, and career skills!

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Thinking of ways to give students more agency in their learning while being able to devote more time and attention to each individual student? Station rotations could be the answer!

A tried-and-tested teaching model that can easily be implemented in any classroom, station rotations are excellent in allowing students to control the pace and direction of their learning. They also give teachers the opportunity to focus on a few students at a time and effectively address learning gaps among students. We have a few ideas on how to implement the station rotation model in Language Arts classrooms, but first …

What is the station rotation model all about?

Typically in the station rotation model, the teacher sets up several different tasks around the classroom, each called a station. Students are then assigned to a specific station, and work collaboratively or individually on the task at hand. At the end of a certain amount of time, students move to a new station to work on a different task. This continues until all students have had a chance to work on the tasks at each station.

The station rotation model creates opportunities for deepening differentiated learning, as teachers are able to customize tasks for small groups of students and provide assistance where necessary. It also allows students to decide how they will complete their tasks, and provides opportunities for small group collaboration.

If this sounds like something you and your students will benefit from, keep reading because we have some great ideas on how to put this into action in your ELA classroom!

Grammar Stations

Does doing rote grammar exercises put your students to sleep? Energize them with grammar station rotations! Some ideas for stations include sorting to categorize (e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs), identifying grammatical concepts in set texts (e.g. pick out the sentences in the passive voice), and sentence construction using the target grammatical concept. Another popular idea for a station is editing for common grammar mistakes – you could even use actual sentences your students have written (without their names of course!)

For more ideas on grammar stations, check out Grammar Stations: 15 Engaging Stations.

Annotation Stations

Working through a set text with your students but struggling to get them to participate in discussions because they haven’t read it closely? Skip the lecture on the importance of reading their texts before class, and incorporate annotation stations into your close reading protocol instead! Have students annotate for specific directives at each station, switching highlighter colour between stations.

Too often, students read their texts without thinking critically about them, so getting them to work on specific annotations will encourage them to read more closely. At the end of all the rotations, students would have a much better grasp of that section of text, and will be able to participate in deeper discussions as a class!

Peer Review Stations

If you’re tired of having to read through essays filled with spelling mistakes and basic grammar errors, you’re going to love peer review stations. Set up stations for spelling,  grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure and content. At each station, students take on the role of the teacher and read through a peer’s work to highlight errors and make edits in one of these five areas. 

After cycling through all the stations, students will have a much better idea of how to improve on their work before submitting their final essay. They will also be able to tap into support from their peers to generate and revise ideas, and clarify their thinking work. This not only gives students a chance to draw inspiration from each other and learn from their own mistakes, but it also makes your job much easier! Win-win!

Reading Stations

Independent reading is one of the most powerful predictors of student achievement and success, but getting students to read can be a challenge. If you’re wondering how reading stations can work to encourage independent reading, that’s where Read to Lead games come in handy!

Pick a Read to Lead game to set as an independent reading tool for one station, and use the accompanying discussion prompts for another station. The corresponding debate question can form the third station, and the fourth station would be small group time with the teacher to engage in differentiated learning exercises based on the reporting found on the platform. Students get a chance to read independently while playing fun games, AND enjoy personalized attention from their teacher – in addition to working in small groups and developing collaborative skills! What’s not to like?

Station rotations are sure to be a hit among your students, and will definitely keep students engaged and interested in learning. So what are you waiting for? Sign up for Read to Lead today to get started with reading stations in your ELA classroom – it’s FREE for educators!

Source

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School is officially back in session! This is an exciting time for students and teachers alike, and we’re all eager to get the year started off on the right foot. Establishing a positive classroom culture is a great way to set your students up for success through the year, and it all begins on the first few days back at school.

Here are five of our favorite activities to build a classroom culture where all our students can thrive!

1. Set Classroom Expectations Together 

Want a classroom that’s fun yet respectful and encourages creativity and collaboration? You’ve got to set classroom expectations with your students!

At the beginning of the year, it is so important to explicitly set the expectations for your classroom to ensure students know how best to show up for their learning. But for optimal results, make this a collective process done together with students! Having students contribute their input isn’t just beneficial for engagement, it also makes reinforcing these expectations much easier during the course of the year.

Pro Tip: As a class, review the school-wide expectations, and use this as a foundation to brainstorm what other expectations students have for themselves and their peers. Find a theme or a Golden Rule like “Treat others the way you want to be treated” and create a class contract based on it for students to sign. If possible, print the contracts and have students put their signed contracts somewhere they can see it every day – stapling it into their planners or taping it to their desks are practical options!

2. Represent Students Of Marginalized Backgrounds

How can we make all of our students feel welcome in their classroom, including students of marginalized backgrounds? Representation and inclusion!

We must actively take steps to ensure that our students of marginalized backgrounds feel represented and included in our classroom culture. This can mean a variety of different things, but some ideas to consider are reviewing the types of social and emotional check-in questions we are asking, as well as doing an audit of the content we feature in the curriculum. It is critical for students to see themselves in classroom materials, so curate texts, content, and tools used in your classroom to reflect the diversity of your students.

Pro Tip: Need some help deciding which books to include in your classroom? Check out our multicultural book recommendations for 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grade to get started. And for an engaging classroom supplement that supports reading, vocabulary, and SEL while being culturally relevant, look no further than Read to Lead Games!

3. Understand The Power Of “Yet” 

“Our words have power. They impact others, but they also impact us.” – Michael Hyatt

Bringing our students’ awareness to the power of their words is a worthy investment of time and effort, and can help shape their self-beliefs and image. Start the year by highlighting expressions we commonly use to describe ourselves, our abilities and capabilities, like “I’m not ….” and “I can’t…”,  and have students discuss what they mean. Introduce the students to the concept of a growth mindset, and share the power of the word “YET”. Get your students to reframe their negative expressions about themselves by using the word “yet”, and encourage them to share their goals for themselves with each other. Over time, they may even start using it on their own, and perhaps even correct you!

Pro Tip: Start a practice for students to set an intention for the week using “yet”. E.g. “I can’t do long division yet.” Let that intention guide their work for the week. It will help boost students’ confidence as they work towards focused goals weekly!

4. Take Time To Reflect Together 

Did you know that reflection can be a powerful learning tool to help students develop critical thinking skills, build self awareness and cultivate independence? 

Build this important aspect of learning into your classroom culture by setting aside dedicated time at the end of the day or period for reflection. For many students, self-reflection may be a new concept, so having frameworks and references to guide them will be helpful. Come up with questions for your students to consider for reflection, and encourage them to pen their thoughts into a journal. Some examples of questions could be “What did you do to take a risk today in your learning?”, “What did you try today that was successful or unsuccessful?” or “How would you approach a problem differently in the future?”.

Such questions can prompt students to be more conscious of their decision making processes, and at the end of the year, their reflections will also showcase their own personal growth and development.

Pro Tip: Ask students to share their daily reflections in small groups to build up trust and respect, and nurture strong relationships with their peers.

5. Celebrate Class Success

It’s so important to have an element of teamwork in the classroom, and nothing brings together a group of people quite like working on a collaborative challenge. This is definitely true for our middle schoolers as well. And what better feeling than celebrating as a class when they crush big team goals! Wondering where you can get all of that?

Enter the Million Words Read Challenge – a game-based challenge on the Read to Lead platform that encourages middle school students to read, and rewards them with prizes! That’s right – the Million Words Read Challenge promises students games + fun + prizes PLUS bragging rights of being Millionaires when they reach the target milestone of one million words read collectively as a class! As students work through the literacy games, their words read count gets recorded on a leaderboard in real-time, so they can track their progress against classes around the nation, inspiring them to climb the board to the top. 

The best part? When they become Millionaires, they’ll receive Read to Lead Student Prize Packs and a sponsored class party, courtesy of Read to Lead!

Pro Tip: Encourage other teachers in your school to join the Million Words Read Challenge to add in a little more friendly competition, and really bond your students together as a class as they work in collaboration to outdo Mr. Smith’s class in 6B

Ready to accept the challenge? Sign up for a FREE Read to Lead account and get your students in on some reading fun and games, even as they create an awesome classroom culture that sets them up for success!

The post 5 Activities to Build Classroom Culture  appeared first on Read to Lead.

To start as a first-year teacher any year can be daunting, nevermind starting during the middle of a pandemic. 

It’s normal to move into your first classroom and feel unequipped to handle all the unexpected challenges. You may even be feeling your own first-day jitters. Understandably – did you know teachers make over 1,500 decisions in a day? Thankfully, every educator remembers how their first-year of teaching was, and there is a community of teachers ready to support you every step of the way. That’s the thing about teachers, we’re a group of natural nurturers! 

We’ve reached out to our community of veteran teachers and asked them for their most candid advice. Here’s what they said… 

Give yourself the same grace you give your students…

“The first year of teaching is always the most challenging, and now you all are about to embark on your first year that is also happening during a pandemic. With that said, give yourself grace by not taking on too many responsibilities; be open, but know that you can say no to the extra curricular activities in order to say yes to your students and yourself.”

– Staci Lamb, English Teacher & Author

Want more candid advice? Check out her newest book Keeping the Wonder. 

“The first year of teaching is like drinking out of a fire hose – give yourself grace and remember that each new day is an opportunity to try again.”

– Maggie Ritter, former Assistant Principal & Special Education Teacher, Educator Success Manager @ Read to Lead

TIP: Stay honest with yourself. Try to break down your responsibilities into manageable tasks rather than thinking of your day or week as a whole. This can help you feel less overwhelmed and make you less likely to second-guess yourself!

Students don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care…

“People always wonder how to get kids involved in their learning so that they’re paying attention to the teacher and working together to learn the standards. They think it’s some sort of magic trick but really it’s all about creating relationships and building community.  Every year instead of giving students rules, we create agreements together.  Sometimes that’s enough to get the train moving down the track in a positive direction and sometimes I need to add in a little positive reinforcement. But creating agreements it’s always the fundamental first step.  After that it’s all about nurturing the relationship to build community. By nurturing relationships I mean giving students opportunities to share about themselves in meaningful ways so that each person feels valued and respected.  Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

– Lisa Spangler, English Language Arts & SPED Teacher

Looking for more middle-school teacher tips? Check out her blog. 

“It’s normal to feel overwhelmed by everything you have to do to get through the day. First things first. Set aside regular time to connect with each student individually to build trust and let them show you where your focus should be.“

– Ali Tepper, Former Elementary School Teacher, Director, Content & Curriculum @ Read to Lead

TIP: Allow students to be a part of your classroom management process. Work to understand your students upfront, allow them to show agency in your classroom’s norms, and to express themselves in your daily routines. 

A.B.L = Always be learning…

“Never get bored with your profession. Never stop wondering. Teaching is a road lined with plenty of questions and challenges. Rather than fear them, embrace them as a lifelong learner. Sure, you’ll make mistakes. We all do! Focus on doing better for your students once you know better. And, of course, snacks. Always have snacks nearby!”

– Melissa Kruse, English Language Arts Teacher 

Looking for more meaningful teaching and learning tips? Check out her blog!

TIP: Adapt a growth mind-set early on in your career and understand the power of “yet.” “I don’t know yet.” Rather than, “I don’t know.” Our words are powerful – choose them wisely. And also… stock the snack drawer! 

Lean on your veteran colleagues… 

“That first year of teaching can feel lonely, but often your colleagues are just a classroom away. So, use your new network of support to obtain ideas, lessons and to help manage the stress of year one. You got this!”

– Christina Oliver, former Middle School Teacher, Executive Director @ Read to Lead

“Seek out mentors that provide wisdom and positivity, and keep a healthy distance from those that try to bring you or the profession down.”

– Madison Kinnard, former Special Education Teacher, Product Development Associate @ Read to Lead

TIP: You attract the energy you give. Go in with a positive attitude, lean on your colleagues, and seek out the good!

We wish you a safe, joyful, and successful start to your school year. We meant when we said last year that we have your back, and that statement still stands. We will continue to remain free for this 2021-2022 school year. Sign up for your free Read to Lead account here!

 If you want 1:1 onboarding training, have questions about how to mobilize the Million Words Read Challenge in your class, or anything in-between – we’re here for you. 

Onward!

The Read to Lead Team & Community

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What do our middle school readers need right now?

We want our 5-9 grade students to become flexible, resilient readers who read for pleasure as well as for academic purposes. At the same time, we want our students to be empathetic, curious, and confident leaders. A student who can read confidently, comprehend fully, and write clearly opens doors to worlds of discovery in science, literature, math, and history. But a student who can do all those things and can practice self-management, empathy, and make complex decisions — that’s the student that’s fully prepared for life after school. 

How can we best meet those needs?

With just 15-minutes a day of consistent skills-based learning, students will begin to build muscle — and not the kind you build in the gym! After all, why do we call it a Literacy Blitz? Its 15 intensive minutes of immersive game-play where your students will experience high engagement, rigorous standards-aligned content, and unparalleled achievement. In fact, after playing four Read to Lead reading games, students build the foundation to outperform reading expectations by 60%.

Why are our Literacy Blitz Bundles so effective?

The simplicity and predictability of the bundle frees the teacher from constant choreographing so that they have time to observe, to listen, to assess, and to teach into specific student needs. With a real-time student insights dashboard, teachers are able to know where each student stands and how to differentiate teaching.

How can you get started?

Easy, grab your free bundle, and sign up for a free Read to Lead account. 

Now… more about each bundle!

We’re focusing on the three skills our middle school students need to master most. While there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all classroom, so you can choose one or teach them all. The choice is yours! Each bundle is jam-packed with immersive learning games, activities, discussion prompts and more.

   Reading Comprehension

   Vocabulary Acquisition

   Social Emotional Learning 

Reading Comprehension Bundle: Analyze and Compare Texts

Reading Comprehension is when students are demonstrating a level of understanding of a text. This understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text. 

In this bundle, we specifically tackle and achieve your classroom learning goals focused around the CCRA.R. 9 standard. Let your students dig deep by practicing analyzing and comparing multiple texts during their work day when they take on the role of the ‘boss’ at a community center.

 Get the bundle! 

Vocabulary Acquisition Bundle: Practice interpreting words and phrases

Vocabulary acquisition word knowledge is often linked to academic success. Students who possess large vocabularies can express their ideas better and understand new concepts more quickly than students with limited vocabularies. 

In this bundle, you’ll focus on anchor standard CCRA.R.4 to nurture and reinforce students’ vocabulary skill development. Students will play immersive learning games and participate in activities specifically designed to contain texts where students flex this skill when selecting words or phrases that suit a specific context or message. Bonus: Since students are deep in an immersive day at work, the experience is centered on real-world application and will even introduce industry-specific vocabulary. 

Get the bundle! 

Social Emotional Learning Bundle: Practice self-management skills

Everyday students endure various levels of stress and change, prompting the ongoing need to find programs and curriculum that helps them identify and manage their emotions. Building from the foundation of self-awareness, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines self-management as, “the ability to successfully regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations.

While Read to Lead covers many SEL competencies, in this bundle we’ll focus on students’ practicing self-management. Support students as they navigate their own complex emotions, learn healthy ways to manage stress and develop the agency needed to advocate for themselves. Encourage students when they play these learning games to set goals that are personally meaningful and define a plan to achieve them.

And that’s a wrap – three core bundles to help you streamline lesson planning and jump-start literacy skill-building this school year! 

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