Teaching Young Adolescents A Guide to Methods and Resources

Welcome to the fourth edition ofTeaching Young Adolescents: A Guide to Methods and Resources.The primary purpose of this textbook is to provide a practical, concise, criterion-referenced, performance-based, mastery learning model for college and university students who are in a methods course or in the field component of teacher education, learning how to teach young adolescent students regardless of where or how those students are housed or of the cognomen of the school in which they are housed. The termyoung adolescentsrefers to children ranging in age from 9 to 14 who are in the traditional middle level grades of 5 through 8. Others who will find the guide useful are experienced teachers who want to continue developing their teaching skills, and curriculum specialists and school administrators who want a current, practical, and concise text of methods, guidelines, and resources for teaching young adolescents. NEW TO THIS EDITION Exemplary middle level programs are those that are rooted in celebrating and building upon the diverse characteristics and needs of young adolescents. To become and to remain exemplary, teachers in such programs must be in a continual mode of inquiry, reflection, and change. It is no different for us as the authors of this book. In a continuing effort to prepare a comprehensive and exemplary book that focuses on teaching young adolescents, we are in acontinual mode of inquiryinto the latest findings in research and practice, inconstant reflectionas we listen to and assess the comments from practitioners in the field and from users and reviewers of the book, and insteady changeas we prepared each edition. Changes for this fourth edition were substantial as we continue with our focus to respond to the challenge of providing a comprehensive and concise coverage of methods and resources for teaching young adolescents in the classroom, regardless of whether that classroom is housed, for example, in a middle school or in a K-8 elementary school. That focus resulted in this book's new title. Other changes include: We revisited and rewrote the entire book to assure a strong and consistent focus and the most current research base possible on teaching the young adolescent learner. Although separated in this book for reasons of organizational clarity, the component on planning the classroom learning environment is an integral and ongoing component of planning and implementing curriculum and instruction. The former section about establishing a supportive classroom learning environment, now titled "Planning the Classroom Learning Environment," has been moved from Part I to Part II where it is the first of three chapters about "Planning for Instruction," the title of Part II. The other two chapters in Part II are "Curriculum Planning" and "Preparing an Instructional Plan." Part III underwent organizational and content changes and now includes four rather than the previous three chapters. Despite the blue-ribbon commissions, authors, and politicians who vilify what they perceive as the failures of middle level school education in particular and public school education in general, thousands of committed teachers, administrators, parents, guardians, and community representatives struggle daily, year after year, to provide young adolescents with a quality education. So that readers can learn about or visit exemplary middle level programs, many are recognized and identified by name throughout this text. Other changes made for this edition are mentioned in the paragraphs that follow. OUR BELIEFS: HOW AND WHERE THEY ARE REFLECTED IN THIS BOOK In preparing this book, we saw our task not as making the teaching job easier for you--effective teaching is never easy--but as improving your teaching effectiveness and providing relevant guidelines and current resources. You may choose fromKellough, Richard D. is the author of 'Teaching Young Adolescents A Guide to Methods and Resources', published 0007 under ISBN 9780130617088 and ISBN 0130617083.