Integrated Literacy Instruction in the Middle Grades: Channeling Young Adolescents' Spontaneous Overflow of Energy, MyLab School Edition

This book presents both a theoretical framework and classroom-tested ideas for literacy instruction in middle schools. Equally suitable for middle school courses as well as for in-service training, this concise yet comprehensive text is divided into two parts—Part I introduces students to 8 principles/concerns that are at the forefront of middle school students' minds and Part II includes applications for Literacy Instruction and Learning in the Middle Grades Reading/LA classes, providing teaching ideas, instructional strategies, and suggestions for assessment, evaluation and grading. This text gives one new insight for the potential for literacy instruction in today's middle schools and the need to understand the many questions and concerns that pre-service and practicing teachers have as they teach in those schools. This text is loaded with theoretically-sound ideas for building student-sensitive literacy curricula.

Table of Contents:
Preface. 1. Spontaneous Overflow of Young Adolescents' Literacy in Language Arts Classrooms. A Bit of Personal History. What Do Literacy Demands Look Like from the Shoes of a Middle School Student?. The Integrated Literacy Pedagogy. Goals of an Integrated Literacy Pedagogy. What Integrated Literacy Instruction Can Look Like: The “Our Generation's Heroes” Project. Channeling Young Adolescents' Spontaneous Overflow of Energy. Works Cited. 2. Today's Young Adolescents: Spontaneously Overflowing with Powerful Feelings. A Middle School Scene. Biopsychosocial Characteristics of Young Adolescents. Intellectual Characteristics. Recognizing Today's Young Adolescents. The Lenses We Need as Teachers of Young Adolescents. Minority Groups. Valuing The Lives That Young Adolescents Bring Into Our Classrooms. Works Cited. 3. Reading Goals for Middle School Students: Learning to Use Reading Skills Spontaneously. Reading Instruction Today. A Scenario of Controversies and Confusion, Reading Panel. Instruction in the Middle Grades. Teaching Reading Is Not Synonymous with Teaching Literature. Learning to Read. Teaching Phonics. Reading to Learn. Reading for Life. Appropriate Choices. 4. Overflowing with Possibilities for Literature Engagement. Learning Lessons About Literature from our Students. Literacy Pedagogy. Camp Literature. Literature Study: Looking at Life in a Mirror, Under a Microscope, Through a Telescope. Literature as Mirror. Literature as Life Under a Microscope. Literature as Life Through a Telescope. Integration of Literature Study with Other Language Arts. Reacting to and Connecting with a Text When Literature Is a Mirror. Commenting on a Text When Literature Provides a Microscope. Extending Beyond a Text When Literature Becomes a Telescope. Making Good Choices as a Literature Teacher. A Closer Look at Adolescent Literature in the Middle Grades. Two Tricky Spots: Discussion and Evaluation in Literature Instruction. Hynds' Statements. Dias' Group Reading. Probst's Five Ways of Literary Knowing. Langer's Envisionments. My Reactions Journal. Tableaux to Tap Personal Responses. Reading Shiloh to Examine the Text World Under a Microscope: Commenting on the Text. Dogabulary: A Lesson on Figurative Language. Extending Beyond the Text. Stepping Into Social Action. Checklist of Integrated Language Arts. Works Cited. 5. Overflowing with Ideas: Writing as Students, Writing as People. Writing Workshops and an Integrated Literacy Pedagogy. Establishing a Writerly Environment: The Look, Feel, and Focus of the Classroom. The Writing Process. Polishing. The Literacy Teacher's Task: Writing Assignments, Assessments, and Evaluations. Assessment and Evaluation of Writing. Lesson Set Sample: The “A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words” Project. Sixth and Seventh Graders as Photographers and Writers. Works Cited. 6. Overflow of Oral Language: Listening, Speaking, and Languaging with a Purpose. Oral Language in an Integrated Literacy Pedagogy. The Power of Language: Students as Speakers and Listeners. A Playful Pedagogy for Language Learning and Growth. Oral Language Opportunities in Clasrooms. The Language of Power. A Sample Lesson Set: Generational Dialect Project. Works Cited. 7. Overflowing with Competing Messages: Developing a Mindset to Critique Popular Media. Pedagogy. Confusion. Work Cited. 8. Integrated Literacy Across the Curriculum. A Plan for Thinking About Literature-Based Integrated Literacy. Units and Interdisciplinary Instruction Possibilities. Enhancement. Teaching Freak the Mighty in an Integrated Literacy Setting. Enhancement. Conclusions. Work Cited.