Using new literacies critically can be an excellent pedagogy for motivating and empowering students who feel alienated from their school and society. This article describes how one middle school teacher engaged his inner-city English language learners with critical media literacy as a way of making their learning more meaningful and motivating.…

Pursuing student voice in your design of curriculum helps students take more ownership of their learning. Gaynor and Shanklin developed an open-ended survey to gather information about students' growing understandings of the purposes for reading and writing and to solicit feedback about the year's activities. The survey is presented here, along…

When the author offered the option of writing an article for "Voices from the Middle" to her seventh- and eighth-grade language arts classes, some students were unwavering in their preference to stay on the steady, familiar ground of writing a letter to a peer about a book they had read and loved. Noah McCord, Tobin Feldman-Fitzthum, and…

New literacies are affecting the ways that we choose to spend our time in teaching and learning. In this article, Hagood describes the work of nine middle grades teachers' explorations of new literacies, including digital technologies and pop culture, and their implementations in their content area instruction. She also highlights some of the…

If we listen to them, the words of our students can provide a road map for instructional responses that meet their diverse literacy needs. In this article, Cara Gutzmer, a middle school literacy coach, and Phil Wilder, a teacher collaborator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, discuss how a responsive teaching framework guided their…

Many recent publications describe writing as the neglected "r"; however, there is very little data on what writing instruction looks like in schools, especially in grades 4-6. The purpose of this article is to describe large urban school district literacy leaders' views on the state of writing instruction within their districts--and their…

This study focuses on ways that sixth graders reacted to the question of book awards and awards in general, positioning themselves as reflective inquirers as they engaged in the regular sixth-grade beginning-of-the-year curriculum--reading books that have been nominated for the state book award. The authors focus on four dispositions of critical…

This study examines unintended consequences during a 6th-grade book club discussion of Bette Bao Lord's (1984) In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. The participants modeled a book club discussion, otherwise known as the fish bowl, for a newly enrolled student. Unintended consequences occurred within the realm of deviating from the rules of…

Because approximately two-thirds of the nation's middle school students are writing and reading below the proficient level (NCREL, 2005), researchers warn that we may be facing a literacy crisis in the next decade unless schools commit to creating a culture that promotes college or other postsecondary education. The authors endorse the position…

The authors adopt the stance that, even though strategy use should be taught to help learners monitor their comprehension, such instruction is not sufficient to insure transfer or ownership. Further, such instruction often emphasizes only literal recall, limiting students' understanding. Therefore, the author argues that teachers should consider…

Writing comes to life when students remember to watch for and express detail--name names. Examples from favorite authors, classroom exercises and discussion, and practice with absolutes and appositives all support students as they focus the "camera" on vivid descriptive elements. (Contains 3 figures.)

Literacy educators are troubled by the isolated nature of many contemporary reading programs. Too often in middle school classrooms, students read alone, take computerized tests, and do not engage in authentic dialogue with peers. In this article, the authors argue that reading texts individually, while necessary, is not sufficient, and through…

Presents an activity to connect language arts, social studies, and technology in a meaningful way while encouraging students not only to read for details but to "read between the lines" and draw conclusions about a historical figure's inner thoughts and personality. Notes that the biopoem is a simple 10-line poem with a specific, easy-to-follow…

Describes how one sixth-grade teacher of English/Language Arts stopped teaching from grammar texts and instituted a writing workshop. Describes flak he received from colleagues and parents, encouragement he received from students and from his principal, and how, over time, writing workshops have spread in his school. (SR)

Describes a critical reading unit in which one seventh-grade class read L. Sacher's "Holes" and three other classes read texts of their choosing along with a partner. Notes that the goal was to set up a context for the students, as readers, to experience the main character's growth--for them to become active, independent, passionate readers. (SC)