The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has a partnership with Questar Assessment Inc. (Questar) for the development of the 2020 Grades 3-8 Mathematics Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2020 Grades 6-8…

The New York State Department of Education (NYSED) has a partnership with Questar Assessment Inc. (Questar) for the development of the 2020 Grades 3-8 Mathematics Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2020 Grades 6-8…

Good writers don't wing it--they have a plethora of skills. They list, picture, circle, strategize and revise to make language come alive. They know what to use and when. Like ace athletes, they are highly trained, well-versed in the techniques found in this lively book. "Writing Workouts" provides a method for instruction that gives…

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has a partnership with Questar Assessment Inc. (Questar) for the development of the 2020 Grades 3-8 English Language Arts Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2020…

Teaching grammar can be overwhelming and is often an overlooked part of effective instruction. "The Middle School Grammar Toolkit" to the rescue! Now in its second edition, this comprehensive guide makes grammar instruction fun and meaningful. You will learn how to: (1) Teach grammar in a practical and applicable way by presenting each…

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has a partnership with Questar Assessment Inc. (Questar) for the development of the 2020 Grades 3-8 English Language Arts Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2020…

In this article the authors describe an Integrative Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Design-Based Learning (I-STEM ED DBL) activity that invites students to delve into the science, technology, and engineering related to the production of Ötzi's copper axe and to speculate about the circumstances surrounding his…

In the author's experience with this activity, students struggle with the idea of representativeness in probability. Therefore, this student misconception is part of the classroom discussion about the activities in this lesson. Representativeness is related to the (incorrect) idea that outcomes that seem more random are more likely to happen. This…

Adolescents are influenced by the type, length and quality of the connections shared with different people throughout their lifespan. Relationships with peers, friends, and adults help to shape knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs related to health. Recognizing healthy or unhealthy characteristics allow youth to strengthen relationships and…

A story problem about borrowing money, presented in this article, may be represented with positive or negative numbers and thought about in different ways. The authors describe ideas related to integers (both positive and negative) and how students used them in relation to a story problem, and how they related these ideas to equations.

What better way to interest students in mathematics than using a Super Bowl® commercial? A Prudential® insurance commercial aired during the Super Bowl in 2013 was the impetus for this lesson (see it here on You-Tube™: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=IsNiKGMSHUQ). In the commercial, four hundred people were polled on "How Old Is the Oldest…

Motivating middle school students to learn can be challenging. One proven method for doing so is through an integrated curriculum. Educational philosophers and curriculum theorists have long noted the benefits of an integrated curriculum, which recognizes that the subject areas within the curriculum are connected to one another and to the real…

Grounded in theory and best-practices research, this practical text provides elementary and middle school teachers with 40 place-based activities that will help them to make science learning relevant to their students. This text provides teachers with both a rationale and a set of strategies and activities for teaching science in a local context…

The cycle of duplication and division, known as the "cell cycle," is the essential mechanism by which all living organisms reproduce. This activity allows students to develop an understanding of the main events that occur during the typical eukaryotic cell cycle mostly in the process of mitotic phase that divides the duplicated genetic material…

Collecting, processing, and using assessment data to form instruction for each student can be overwhelming--especially with so much diversity in the classroom. Help is here, with this hands-on guide that brings together the two leading approaches to teaching students of varying abilities: Response to Instruction and Intervention (RTI) and…