Welcome!
By: Paige Jennings, CAMLE Publications Director
Welcome to the November edition of The Young Adolescent Times! This month, we’re diving deep into literacy and learning to empower educators and students alike. Inside, you’ll find thought-provoking articles like Engaging Readers: The Missing Strand in the Science of Reading, which explores often-overlooked elements of effective literacy instruction. Also featured is Helping Students Read Complex Texts, offering practical strategies to tackle challenging materials with your learners. For those curious about cognitive myths in education, don’t miss Attack of the Zombie Learning Theories! It sheds light on misconceptions still lingering in classrooms. Additionally, The Power of Habit Stacking provides actionable ways to streamline routines for both educators and students, and Reading and Writing Like a Scientist connects literacy skills with scientific inquiry.
Looking ahead, we’re thrilled to invite you to our January webinar, The Voice of Small: Working with Negative Self-Talk to Create Resilience, with Lex Moschakis. This engaging session will help you and your students combat negative inner narratives to build resilience.
Thank you for your dedication to middle-level education. Let’s continue growing together!
Engaging Readers: The Missing Strand in the Science of Reading
By: Margaret Troyer, Emily Hayden, Kala Jones
AMLE
I don’t have to be forced to read. I don’t have to be told to read. I just go on my own and read ’cause I want to, not just ’cause I need to.
– Julianna, 8th grader
Reacting to data we know too well (two-thirds of eighth graders read below proficient levels (NAEP, 2022), more and more states now mandate a focus on the science of reading beyond elementary schools. As a result, middle school leaders are seeking interventions aligned to the science of reading. Unfortunately, many of these interventions for older struggling readers have one thing in common – they’re boring! Read more...
Attack of the Zombie Learning Theories!
By Richard Culatta
ASCD
Science has proven many popular learning theories wrong. So why do they still creep up in schools and classrooms?
You probably know that zombies have a fondness for brains. What you may not know is that zombies also like theories about how the brain works. Zombie Learning Theories, as researcher Bryan Goodwin has explained, are ideas about how we learn that have been killed (i.e., thoroughly debunked by research), yet still roam our classrooms. These misconceptions make it harder for students to learn since they counteract the reality of the learning process. Let’s meet some of the most common learning zombies so we can recognize them for what they are when they appear. Read more...
Helping Students Read Complex Texts
By Andrew Boryga
Edutopia
By cultivating metacognitive reading habits, you can help students remain focused as they persist through challenging material.
We’ve all had the experience. We’re reading along and suddenly realize that although our eyes are scanning the words on the page, nothing is actually registering. Minutes pass before we take our bearings and see that we’ve lost the plot entirely—pun intended. Read more...
The Power of Habit Stacking
By Miriam Plotinsky
ASCD
Boost student engagement by nurturing small, daily habits for both teachers and students.
One area where this focus on small, impactful changes proves particularly effective is in the realm of student engagement and long-term academic success. While motivating kids has long been considered a gold standard for building lasting academic success, we would all do well to focus more on the smaller habits that are built over time. James Clear popularized the idea of “habit stacking” in his bestselling book Atomic Habits (Penguin Random House, 2018). As he noted, motivation—whether extrinsic or intrinsic—is often fleeting. Read more...
Reading and Writing Like a Scientist
By Sarah D. Sparks
Education Week
Allycia Uhrhan’s 6th graders at Truman Middle School in St. Louis started their field-science week collecting data on fish hatching at nearby Forest Park. But the trip really started the prior week, in English class, where teacher Kristina Kohl had students dig into history and science articles about the park to pair with Uhrhan’s ecology readings. Once the students returned, they wrote up lab reports and reflections on their field day in both classes.
This interdisciplinary approach underscores something important about communication in the sciences: Scientific progress does not take place in a vacuum. Researchers regularly discuss avenues for exploration, present and argue about their findings, and present their conclusions to the public. Read more...
Podcasts
Cult of Pedagogy - Creating a More Inclusive Library
Easy EdTech Podcast - Classroom Tips for Comic Strips
WorkLife with Adam Grant - Malcolm Gladwell on the importance of self-correction
Colorado Accountability Task Force recommends overhaul of state education accountability system
CDE
A task force created to examine the state’s education accountability system is recommending a major overhaul, including adjustments to ratings for schools and districts, to better reflect the achievement of different student groups and to provide parents, guardians, and family members with a clearer understanding of how well schools prepare students for life after high school. Read more...
