Mrs. Spangler in the Middle

This year, more than ever, I can see that our middle school students lack some basic essay writing skills.   When it came time to determine what they know about essay writing, it was clear that they had had a firm foundation at one point, but had lost many of the bits and pieces along the way bef…

The second quarter is all about informative essay writing and the beginning of our second semester is largely focused on Argumentative Text Analysis and Argumentative Essay Writing in my neck of the woods.  I have students from the most capable to the least capable all in one room at one time.  …

When I begin our argumentative essay unit in my middle school class, it's usually late January (after we learn how to analyze an argument ) and I always start with a pep talk.  First I ask the names of the teams that are going to play in the Super Bowl.  Then... Me:  "So when the (two te…

The first day back after a long break can seem a little awkward.  Everyone is re-adjusting to the school schedule and being together in a learning community again.  To help make this a smoother transition back to school, I suggest the following three things to get the semester off to a great star…