Language Arts and Literacy in the Middle Grades (2e)

From two prominent scholars in the field of literacy comes a middle school teacher preparation text that offers important innovations not usually found in traditional secondary methods texts. The book is rife with concrete examples of teaching literacy and language arts in middle school contexts, but is relevant to preservice and practicing teachers at middle and high school levels. This edition includes a stronger focus on culturally relevant pedagogy and the needs of English Language Learners as well as a Standards in Practice feature, which helps teachers incorporate state and national standards in teaching and planning.  The book is based on a teacher-as-inquirer model. A fieldwork component provides tools for classroom inquiry and reflection in each chapter. The book is timely and relevant, with classroom cases written by experienced and new middle school language arts teachers. 

Chapter 1: Entering the Middle School as a Professional

Chapter 2: Middle School Students and Middle Schools

Chapter 3: English Language Arts from Mid-Century to the Millennium

Chapter 4: Designing for Excellence and Equity

Chapter 5: Supporting Middle School Students with Disabilities 

Chapter 6: Language Lenses: Integrating the Language Arts

Chapter 7: Language Study in the Middle Grades

Chapter 8: Writing in the Middle Grades

Chapter 9: Talking and Listening in the Middle Grades

Chapter 10: Reading and Viewing in the Middle Grades

• Chapters on Tapping the Expertise of all learners-A new chapter addresses current research and practice on culturally relevant pedagogy as well as attention to the needs of English Language Learners.  Woven throughout the book are research studies as well as practical applications that address how to best support middle school students who may be most at risk for failure due to limited English proficiency and/or background knowledge and experiences which do not map easily onto school expectations.
• Standards in Practice—that invite readers to consider various aspects of teaching philosophies and practices in conjunction with the INTASC English Language Arts Standards, National Board Certification Standards, National Middle School Association recommendations, NCTE/IRA Standards, and individual state standards.

• Classroom Cases-These cases are written by student teachers as well as experienced teachers and invite those reading the book to explore the complexities of teaching English language arts.

• Standards in Practice-Rather than simply listing a set of standards, we provide guided practice to explore the underlying assumptions and ask readers to consider the obstacles and opportunities that particular standards might pose.  Each chapter concludes with a set of standards that impact the middle school language arts teacher.  The reader is then asked to engage with the set of standards from NCTE, CREDE, NMSA, etc. 

• Chapters on Tapping the Expertise of all learners-A new chapter addresses current research and practice on culturally relevant pedagogy as well as attention to the needs of English Language Learners.  Woven throughout the book are research studies as well as practical applications that address how to best support middle school students who may be most at risk for failure due to limited English proficiency and/or background knowledge and experiences which do not map easily onto school expectations.