Two Strategies to Review for State Writing Tests in Middle School
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
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1M ago
  You know what I do when I have just two weeks left before the state writing test?   1.  Give An Essay Writing Checkup Although I have prior essays and other essay work, I need a snapshot of my classes so I can pinpoint some specific skills.  If I can determine the biggest challenges overall, then I can design reteaching activities to address them. Click here to learn more about the checkup! 2.  Use Centers Now that I know what's needed, I will focus on reteaching with centers.   The centers I made addressed 4 main areas: Focus Organiza ..read more
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Top 3 Essay Prep Ideas for Middle School
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
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1M ago
  Every year we take a state essay writing test.  Obviously, we will want to review but what are the best ways to prep for an essay test?  It's not necessarily all that easy -- or is it? Here are my Top 3 Essay Prep Ideas for Middle School: 1.  The Essay Challenge  Students are given a prompt, texts, and a checklist to write an essay. Each successfully completed step from the checklist earns a puzzle piece. On the appointed day, students are awarded whatever their puzzle shows that they earned! In my class, students earned a "mudpie" - a pudding cup with all sort ..read more
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3 Ways To Motivate Middle School Writers
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
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2M ago
  My middle school students don't seem to care for writing.  They think it's an arduous task.  When I ask them why they think it's arduous, the most common responses are: "The texts are boring." "It takes a lot of time." "It's hard to remember the steps or how to use the steps." It makes sense then, that students are not motivated to write when they feel lost.  So while the first two complaints are not something I can always fix, however, the last one is something I can definitely help with and hopefully increase motivation as a result! 1.  Use mnemonics to aid in m ..read more
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3 Steps For Motivating Middle School Students
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
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3M ago
  These days it has been a challenge to motivate middle school students. They are so used to the instant gratification of games on their phones, that they struggle when life doesn't match that. Although we want our students to be intrinsically motivated, they are at the age where extrinsic motivation is the way to go.  I've tried many different things in my 30 years of teaching and these are the steps that have served me best: 1. Find out what is motivating to the students with a survey. I do this by using a very simple Google form that provides a list of free things students ca ..read more
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3 Reward Systems for Middle School
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
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3M ago
  Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation can influence students differently, and their impact may vary based on individual preferences and situations. For middle school students, extrinsic motivation, such as rewards or recognition, might initially grab their attention and drive engagement. This could be because tangible rewards, like praise or grades, provide immediate and concrete feedback. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation, driven by internal factors like personal interest or the enjoyment of the learning process, may take time to develop but can lead to more sustained and meanin ..read more
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3 Ways to Make Middle School ELA Content More Exciting
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
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4M ago
  You're probably here because you've heard the dreaded statement "This is so boring!" with the obligatory eye-roll. If you're like me, you LOVE reading and writing and cannot understand how ANYONE would think this is boring. But, let's face it, some kids just aren't natural-born Language Arts people.  So what do we do?   3 Ways to Make Middle School ELA Content More Exciting 1.  Infuse Friendly Competition There are two easy ways to do this: - Create an individual competition by telling each person that they can earn points for answering questions in class, fo ..read more
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3 Vocabulary Activities for Middle School That Don't Stink
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
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6M ago
  When I talk to others about teaching vocabulary, no one gets jazzed by it.  Everyone thinks it's boring and an ever so arduous task.  But I'm here to tell you it can be fun and when you use any of these activities to teach word parts like prefixes, suffixes, (and the like) you give your Middle School students a huge boost in reading comprehension opportunities! Here are 3 of my best vocabulary activities for middle school that don't stink! 1.  Vocabulary Tic-Tac-Toe This game is a class favorite and gets the entire group engaged and involved!  This is how ..read more
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Making Word Parts a Fun Part of Middle School ELA
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
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7M ago
  Lately, all the rage has been on the Science of Reading. In Middle School, this means a focus on word parts - prefixes, suffixes, root words, and base words.  These are the critical components to making reading comprehension gains with our students, but let's be real - this is not the most exciting stuff.  I can feel the disdain from the students all the way over here. So, I set out to find ways to make learning word parts FUN, and here are my Top 3 strategies: 1.  Make Learning Word Parts Fun with a Class Competition If you don't already use Teams in your classroom l ..read more
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Science of Reading Lessons For Middle School - Vocabulary
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
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7M ago
  When I first heard about the Science of Reading, I was sure it was some new-fangled way to box up my teaching as a middle school ELA teacher.   Then there was a required course from my district in order to maintain my certification.  I begrudgingly began the course but then my eyes were opened:  Science of Reading isn't new - it's what we had always been taught in our teacher preparation classes back in our college days! In short, the Science of Reading says that reading comprehension is the product of decoding and language comprehension.   In my school ..read more
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3 Steps For Setting Up Teams In Your Middle School Classroom
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
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8M ago
  Recently I had a class that really seemed to struggle with knowing how to work well with others.  Then I realized - it needed to be explicitly taught!  As I began my research, I found something pretty amazing - competitive teams based on the work of Jon Davis from The Courageous Classroom. These teams are formed in the classroom and they are awarded points for demonstrating the "Traits of Excellence" - things like dependability, integrity, kindness, and so on.  It sounded like just what I needed so I implemented my own version of it and the results were amazing!  ..read more
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