Middle School TipsReading
Read Alouds Virtually or in the classroom Tips:SHORT TIME: SHORT TEXTS
Compared to elementary school students, middle schoolers are even more engaged in the world around them. So, treat read aloud texts critically. Do not just teach comprehension skills, also model the act of closely reading, questioning intent and bias, looking for gaps in stories or ideas. This does not mean be cynical (though adolescents naturally can be… and it’s kind of fun), just model how intellectually curious you can be about almost any text.
- Encourage your child to read different types of literature: newspaper articles, magazines, poems, etc.
- Ask your child to help you look up words and answers using different resources: dictionaries, the Internet, etc. Help your child link this new knowledge and vocabulary with things learned previously
- Set aside at least 15 mins. each evening for family reading time.
- Ask your child to help you make routine calculations (e.g., grocery or other shopping, amount of paint needed to paint a room, cost of weekend activities, etc.)
- Encourage your child to solve math problems in more than one way
- Make sure your child has taken pre-Algebra or Algebra by the end of grade 8
- Read newspaper articles on science together and discuss them
- If your child's school has a science fair, show excitement about your child's participation
- Take your child to museums, exhibits, presentations, etc. that feature science discoveries and discuss what you have seen
- Visit local places of government like city hall and courthouse and discuss their role and responsibilities
- Encourage your child to become involved with community service and projects
- Discuss local, national, and international news with your child
- Encourage your child to participate in activities like academic and special interest clubs and sports
- Sit down together as a family at dinnertime and discuss the day's events
- Make sure you and/or your family doctor has a discussion with your child about the start of adolescence
Read Alouds Virtually or in the classroom Tips:SHORT TIME: SHORT TEXTS
- Make time for at least 1-2 Read Alouds per week
- 15-20 minutes each, again, at least
- Students can go straight to independent reading (or writing or whatever else you’re squeezing into your packed schedule) right after
- Short texts give you more time for thinking/talking/teaching/learning. Whereas longer novels, within our tight schedule, tend to lead to a lot more “plot cramming” instead of valuable deep thinking and talking.
Compared to elementary school students, middle schoolers are even more engaged in the world around them. So, treat read aloud texts critically. Do not just teach comprehension skills, also model the act of closely reading, questioning intent and bias, looking for gaps in stories or ideas. This does not mean be cynical (though adolescents naturally can be… and it’s kind of fun), just model how intellectually curious you can be about almost any text.
- Treat the author/illustrator/editor/photographer/etc as a player in how the text was made
- Stop at times in narratives or informational texts to think about whose story/ideas is being told and whose is not.
- Question and then brainstorm other points of view that are missing and how you could search for them