Author: Curtis Griffin

Student success is greatest when students, teachers, and parents are collectively working together to enable student success. Students feel valued when they have an opportunity to voice their opinions in a meaningful way. This survey tool allows students to do just that. Secondary campus administrators can use this survey to gauge students’ perceptions of the teaching and learning at their school. The survey contains 15 Likert-type items and 3 open-ended questions to which students can respond.

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Middle School Matters Field Guide Alignment
School Climate, Culture, and Partnerships
Principle 2 Practice 1: Use surveys to gather information on school climate and culture.

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More Tools for School Climate

Attendence Survey

Developed by GradNation, this tool provides a sample survey that could be used with middle or high school students to find out why they are not coming to school, cutting one class, or are simply tardy. Developing a better understanding of current student thinking will help you develop redirection strategies.
Download the Survey

This guide is designed for teachers and provides detailed information about some of the lesson plans used in Tier 2 intervention for struggling readers in middle school as part of the research efforts of the Texas Center for Learning Disabilities (TCLD). This guide describes each component of instruction for improving comprehension and provides instructions, sample scripts, and planning templates so that teachers can develop similar lesson plans that align with their own state standards and adopted curricula.

READ MORE from Texas Center for Learning Disabilities

Middle School Matters Field Guide Alignment
Reading and Reading Interventions
Reading Principle 4: Teach students to use reading comprehension strategies;
Reading Principle 6: Guide students during text-related oral and written activities that support the interpretation, analysis, and summarization of text.

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More Tools for Teaching Comprehension Strategies

Generating Leveled Questions

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Student Materials

Download the Student Handout

Vocabulary acquisition is part of learning in every content area. Learning vocabulary can be especially important for English Language Learners (ELLs) for learning content and becoming English-proficient. This tip sheet gives teachers strategies for supporting their ELLs’ vocabulary development. It is a must-read for any teacher of ELLs!

READ MORE from Colorin Colorado

Middle School Matters Field Guide Alignment
Reading and Reading Interventions
Reading Principle 2: Teach word-meaning strategies within content area classes.

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More Tools for Teaching Vocabulary

Vocabulary Instruction Lesson Plan: Choosing Words to Teach, Grades 5–8

Explicit and robust vocabulary instruction can make a significant difference when we are purposeful in the words we choose to teach our students. The goal in explicitly teaching these words is to help students gain ownership of the words by developing a deep understanding of them, improving students’ ability to comprehend text. These short PD sessions developed by the Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts at the University of Texas Austin break down the vocabulary instruction into chunks that can be delivered to teachers as they begin the implementation process. Lesson plan content includes: materials needed, suggested preparation knowledge, handouts, and a detailed script. There are a total of four PD module:

Choosing Words to Teach Grades 5–8
Defining Vocabulary Words Grades 5-8
Examples and Nonexamples
Deep-Processing Activities

Lesson Plan: English Learners in Content Area Classes- Social Studies

These social studies lesson plans were developed by the Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE Center). Each Unit contains five lesson plans comprised of: student learning objectives, key vocabulary, teacher and partner-led reading passages, practice applications, and lesson assessments. The lesson plans incorporate instructional practices for English learners in seventh-grade social studies identified and investigated during a 5-year period and associated with improved outcomes in content knowledge and vocabulary acquisition.

Lesson plans are provided for the following units:

Unit 1: The Texas Revolution: Part I
Unit 2: The Texas Revolution: Part II
Unit 3: The Republic of Texas
Unit 4: From Republic to Statehood
Unit 5: The Mexican War
Unit 6: Slavery Divides the Country
Unit 7: The Civil War
Unit 8: Pink and Say
Unit 9: Reconstruction
DOWNLOAD RESOURCE from Meadows Center