Professional Development Resources
for Middle Level Teachers and Teacher Leaders

Many of you have contacted NCTE seeking high-quality resources for professional development experiences in writing, grammar, and reading instruction. Here, NCTE highlights a few of our resources in those areas of instruction. Teacher leaders can enhance the insight gained from these resources by bringing an NCTE Consultant to their school. These consultants can demonstrate effective strategies in the classroom and then discuss what happened with the teachers. Other formats are available and all experiences can be customized to meet your schools' needs. After reading and clicking through the items on the list, if you have a specific question, do not hesitate to contact the NCTE Professional Development Department or complete the Professional Development Request Form. We provide some ideas for implemention below, but contact NCTE for further ideas to fully utilize these resources. 

Reading in the Content Areas

Resource	Application of Resource
Adolescent Literacy Kit	This kit features Kylene Beers's When Kids Can't Read—What Teachers Can Do and Teaching Reading in High School English Classes, edited by Bonnie O. Ericson. Teacher leaders can use this kit to assist your team of content area teachers to build common knowledge of effective comprehension, word recognition, and fluency strategies.
The Vocabulary Book: Learning and Instruction	Author Michael Graves presents a comprehensive plan for vocabulary instruction across the grade levels. Middle-level teachers can use this book to help students of all levels as they negotiate vocabulary in a variety of texts, including fiction and non-fiction.
NCTE Consultants	Consultants specializing in reading in the content areas include: Peggy Albers, Amy Benjamin, Pamela Childers, Kathy Egawa, Nancy Frey, Jeffrey Golub, Bill Kist, Heather Lattimer, Bob Probst, and Jeffrey Wilhelm.

Writing Instruction at the Middle Level

Resource	Application of Resource
Writing Matters Kit	Are students writing more out of class than in class when they IM their friends? Teachers and teacher leaders will find this kit useful to explore effective writing instruction for adolescent writers.  Creating opportunities for multi-draft writing and authentic writing experiences are also discussed.
More Ways to Handle the Paper Load: On Paper and Online	Are you reluctant to assign another writing project because you fear having the time to provide quality feedback? Purchase this book for practical ideas on how to deal with the paper load and find out how utilize electronic methods and peer-review. Teachers leaders can consider bringing NCTE Consultant Jeffrey Golub, Editor, for an on-site workshop.
Teaching Writing: Craft, Art, Genre	This new resource for writing teachers helps students set purpose and find form for their writing. Teachers can use the wonderful and practical examples from this book in their classrooms.
English Journal September 2004	Teacher leaders should consider purchasing multiple copies of this issue on "Re-forming Writing Instruction"  for ongoing teacher discussions and reflections for the time between staff development days.
NCTE Consultants	NCTE Consultants specializing in writing can be found across the nation. These consultants include: Jeff Anderson, Lawrence Baines, Amy Benjamin, Leila Christenbury, Chris Jennings Dixon, Anne Ruggles Gere , Harry R. Noden, William Kist, Isoke Titilayo Nia, Katherine Bomer, Jeffrey Golub, Katherine McKnight, Bob Probst, Sarah Robbins, Jeffrey Wilhelm, and Ingrid Wendt.

Teaching Grammar at the Middle Level

Resource	Application of Resource
Grammar Kit	Teacher leaders who want to bring their teachers together to discuss and improve the quality of grammar instruction, will love this kit! The kit provides strategies for teaching grammar in context, addresses dialect and language variations and teaching grammar to English language learners. It features Grammar Alive! and 12 articles from English Journal, Voices from the Middle, and Language Arts.
Grammar Alive!	Teachers who wonder what to do about grammar—how to teach it, how to apply it, how to learn what they themselves were never taught, will want to purchase this book from the NCTE’s Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar. Convince other middle school teachers to buy and hold book group discussions!
Code-Switching: Teaching Standard English in Urban Classrooms	When teachers hear African American students write or say “Mama jeep is out of gas” or “The Earth revolve around the sun,” many teachers—labeling this usage poor English or bad grammar—assume that their students have problems with possession or don’t know how to make subjects and verbs agree. Perhaps you wonder what you can do about this? Finally, there are some answers. Authors Rebecca Wheeler and Rachel Swords offer a practical, hands-on guide to code-switching, providing teachers with step-by-step instructions and numerous code-switching charts that can be reproduced for classroom use. Teacher leaders should consider the use of this book in conjunction with a consultation/workshop by NCTE Consultant, Rebecca Wheeler.
Classroom Notes Plus April 2006	Teachers can find teaching strategies on literature, grammar, writing, and poetry in this issue. Students debate The Scarlet Letter as characters, expand their view of texts through exploration of popular culture, ask and answer questions about grammar, talk and write about their connectedness with others, and take notes on favorite poems with a class poetry survey.
NCTE Consultants	Consultants specializing in grammar include: Jeff Anderson, Amy Benjamin, Deborah Dean, Cathleen Greenwood, Harry R. Noden, Beth Hewett, Rebecca Wheeler and Jeffrey Wilhelm.