Middle schoolers are at an age when they need frequent opportunities to pause, move, and interact with each other to recharge themselves and refocus their energies for more productive learning. Teachers can boost students’ energies, efforts, and engagement with quick, whole-class activities called brain breaks.
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MAY
09
2016
Reinforcing Language: Giving Middle Schoolers Supportive Feedback
Teacher language—the words, tone, and pace we use when we talk to students—may be the most powerful of all our teaching tools. After all, language permeates nearly every interaction we have with…
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APR
19
2016
Middle School Motivators
As middle schoolers begin the transition into young adulthood, they have a strong developmental need for learning that’s both active (hands-on, experiential) and interactive (social, collaborative). When we meet that need, students…
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APR
17
2015
The Fervent Fourteens
Fourteen-year-olds seem to have mostly gotten used to the idea of being teenagers. Their moods are not as mercurial as at thirteen. They are somewhat more comfortable in their own skin and…
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APR
17
2015
The Thriving Thirteens
The thirteen-year-old has lots of positive attributes to help navigate the first of these teen years. At the forefront are a keen sense of humor and a sense of silliness that makes…
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APR
09
2015
The Building Blocks of Collaboration: Partner and Small-Group Chats (Grades 5–6)
Children learn a great deal, academically and socially, by collaborating—working together toward common goals. A good way to help students begin developing collaboration skills is by teaching them how to exchange ideas,…
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OCT
24
2011
The Twixt Twelve-Year-Old
Closer to teenagers than to middle childhood, twelves are tweens. They have enormous positive energy for independent and group endeavors, whether at school, in sports, or in after-school activities.
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JUL
20
2011
The Electric Eleven-Year-Old
Powerful advocates and strong believers, elevens are passionate about their ideas and opinions, allegiances and sense of justice. They’re devoted to classmates and peer groups, and the social negotiations surrounding cliques (which…
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