It happens every year.  You know it's coming, but it still manages to catch you off guard every time.  Your students (and not just one or two) don't know or don't know how to do something so basic it stops you in your tracks, and you probably utter those familiar words, "You should have learned that last year," or, in the case of working a pencil sharpener in a reasonable amount of time, in kindergarten.  Seriously, Ethan, how many cranks until it's sharp enough?

It's probably not their fault, and it isn't productive to blame elementary teachers anyway.  To borrow a phrase from Truman, "The buck stops here."  So, what do we do?  Do we scrap our scope and sequence and just teach elementary content?

​No.  Although, when I taught 8th grade American History, my students loved watching PBS' Liberty's Kids.  The answer is to fill the gaps while moving forward with new content.  I know it sounds like I'm suggesting learning to walk while we're running, but it's actually easier than that.  Over the next month or so, I will be blogging about each of the 5 things and giving you some FREE resources to get started!

So, make sure you continue (or start) to follow this blog to learn more about my Top 5 Things I Think Middle Students Should Know But Don't & What to Do About It.  

In Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the main character breaks into a house and rummages around the owners' stuff only taking what's just right for her and leaving the rest.  Our students can be like that sometimes.  Often times, when they read they will skip words they don't know which leads to misunderstanding.  If something is below their level, they might just skim it and also lose meaning.  The trick is to find readings that are at their level, or, as Goldilocks would say, "just right."

My differentiated readings address this issue.  The same content is provided at two different reading levels - Upper Elementary and Middle School.  These passages allow your at grade level students and below grade level students to all have access to the same content without the frustration of work that is too easy or too hard.

All of my World History Differentiated Readings are bundled together, but are also available by individual culture/era.  Each set covers 3 topics at 2 grade levels for 6 articles per set (36 articles total!).  Below are the cultures/eras covered:

• Early Humans
• Mesopotamia
• Ancient Egypt
• Ancient Greece
• Ancient Rome
• The Middle Ages & Renaissance

So, click the link below for my World History Differentiated Reading Bundle and don't forget to visit and follow my store for more great World History resources!

• World History Differentiated Reading Bundle
• My Store

Finding reading activities that challenge all of your students is difficult (especially if it is something to be sent home that you cannot face-to-face help them with).  For some, it's too easy, for others too hard.  It's kind of like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.  The problem is that it is nearly impossible to find something that is just right for everyone.  It would be much better to find materials that are just right for every one.

I don't have that, but I do have something that takes a big step in that direction.  My differentiated readings provide the same content at two different reading levels - Upper Elementary and Middle School.  These passages provide students with critical content in a format they won't struggle with while teaching them critical skills associated with reading informational texts!

All of my American History Differentiated Readings are bundled together, but are also available by individual event/era.  Each set covers three topics at two reading levels for six articles per topic (33 articles total!)  Below are the major events/eras covered:

• Native America
• Age of Exploration
• European Colonization
• English Colonization
• French and Indian War
• Protest!
• The Revolution
• A New Government
• Sectionalism
  
• Expansion
• The Civil War

So, click the link below for my American History Differentiated Readings Mega-Bundle and don't forget to visit and follow my store for more great American History products!

• American History Differentiated Reading Mega-Bundle
• My Store

One of the best professional development opportunities I ever had was getting to go to the National Council of Social Studies Teachers in Chicago last year.  My favorite presentation was a fascinating book talk about the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.  As I listened, I remember thinking, "I'm glad I never had to live through that."

​Well...

I know a lot of us are scrambling to find things for our students to do while they are at home, so, this week I'd like to highlight my FREE resources.  If they look good, please download them and share them with your students and their parents.

It was almost a Christmas miracle.  It was two days before Winter Break, and you could hear a pin drop in my class!  
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No, my students weren't watching a movie or doing a holiday word search or graphing lots of points that eventually draw a Christmas tree or Santa, we were learning about important cultural institutions of ancient China!

Here are the steps:

1. Find 5 or 6 or 7 articles about various facets of your topic (the number will depend on the length of the articles and the amount of time you want to give them on each one)
2. Make 7 or so copies of each article (enough for the number of students in each group)
3. Place the copies of the articles in folders (1 folder per topic, one topic per table)
4. Create a record sheet (click here for a FREE copy of the one I used)
5. When the students enter class, have them put their books or binders away - they will only need a pen or pencil and the record sheet you provide for this activity
6. Divide the students into equal groups (1 group per station)
7. I project a classroom timer from online-stopwatch.com (you can use your watch or any other timer too) to give them 7 minutes at each station (I used 5 stations) to read each article and record the critical content on their record sheet (the time you provide should be adjusted based on the length number and complexity of the articles you chose)
8. When the time expires, they are to return all the copies of the articles to the folders, and rotate to the next table and repeat the same process.

Benefits of this activity:

1. The time limit builds a sense of urgency that keeps students engaged and on task.
2. The activity can be used as a broad brush introduction to a new unit (lifestyle, art, religion, social structure, etc) or could be effectively used with a variety of articles about a specific topic (Egyptian dynasties or types of Roman buildings for instance).
3. By the end of the activity, students have an entire page of dense notes about the topic at hand and a list of questions you can use to help them develop future inquiry-based investigations or discuss in groups or as a class.
4. This activity utilizes a variety of important Marzano elements.

I recently used this activity as part of an inquiry about ancient Roman technology, and used my Roman Military Equipment Centers Activity as the resources the students rotated and got information about.  It worked great!  So, if you are interested in a great interactive way to learn about ancient Rome's military, click the link below, and don't forget to visit and follow my store for more great Social Studies resources!

• Roman Military Equipment Centers Activity
• My Store

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