Child & Adolescent Development
Classroom Management & Discipline
Middle School
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Middle School Motivators

April 19, 2016 Categories: Brain Breaks and Motivators / Middle School
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 are more likely to behave in positive ways and engage more deeply with academics.
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APR
18
2012

Morning Message Idea: What Do You Know?

Here’s a Morning Meeting message idea from 80 Morning Meeting Ideas for Grades 3–6, by Carol Davis: Use a message like this one to tap students’ prior knowledge and engage them in…
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APR
03
2012

Group Activity Idea: Encore!

Here’s a Morning Meeting activity idea from 80 Morning Meeting Ideas for Grades 3–6, by Carol Davis: Encore! Students team up to connect vocabulary words with favorite songs. How to do this…
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MAR
27
2012

Sharing Idea: Who Remembers My Favorite Book?

Playing a fun remembering game builds on children's listening and memory skills.
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MAR
15
2012

Greeting Idea: Secret Handshake

Here’s a Morning Meeting greeting idea from 80 Morning Meeting Ideas for Grades 3–6, by Carol Davis: Secret Handshake Greeting Creating secret handshakes taps students’ creativity and builds community. How to do…
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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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SEP
16
2009

Introducing Time-Out to Older Students

A few weeks ago, on the RC discussion board on Facebook, Aimee Casale asked for suggestions for introducing Take a Break (also called Positive Time-Out) to students in the upper elementary grades.…
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AUG
01
2006

It All Adds Up

More homework. That’s the response of many school districts feeling increasing pressure to enhance student achievement. It’s a response that can burden not just students, but also parents, who are already short…
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