Middle School Café – Strategies & Support for Middle School ELA Teachers

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Reading Strategies: How to Get Students Thinking About What They Read [Ep 85]

2026-10-0612:24

Reading strategies should do more than help students find the right answer in a text. We also want students thinking about what they’re reading, making connections, considering different ideas, and developing their own understanding. But when reading becomes focused on finding information and getting the answer right, those opportunities for deeper thinking can easily get lost. In this episode, I’m talking about how we can help students move beyond simply finding the answer and create more op...

Teaching Author's Craft From the Writer's Perspective [Bonus]

2026-09-2908:00

Literary skills like point of view, mood, dialogue, imagery, and conflict aren’t new to our students. But even when students can identify these skills in a text, they may not always see how they fit into the bigger picture of an author’s craft. In this bonus episode, I’m sharing Voices in Lit!, an original podcast series I created for middle and high school students that uses fictional interviews with classic authors to help students explore familiar literary skills from the writer’s perspect...

Helping More Students Participate in Academic Conversations [Ep 84]

2026-09-1512:43

You ask a question and wait. A few hands go up right away, while everyone else seems perfectly happy to let those same students do the talking. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the rest of the class has nothing to say. Sometimes students need more time to think, more practice sharing their ideas, or simply some help figuring out how to get those ideas into the conversation. In this episode, I’m sharing how I help students become more comfortable with academic conversations without putting al...

ELA Warm-Up Activities: A Simple Routine That Supports Student Success [Ep 83]

2026-09-0113:04

The first few minutes of class often set the tone for everything that follows, yet warm-up activities are sometimes treated as little more than time fillers. In this episode, I share why I believe a consistent warm-up routine is one of the most valuable structures we can build into our classrooms. From helping students transition into learning to reinforcing important ELA skills throughout the year, warm-ups can create a predictable start that benefits both students and teachers. I'll also sh...

Five Class Routines to Focus on During Back to School [Ep 82]

2026-08-1813:07

The first few weeks of school are the perfect time to establish classroom routines that will support learning all year long. In this episode, I share five routines I intentionally teach at the beginning of every school year: arrival, independent reading, classroom discussions, getting help, and ending class. We discuss why these routines matter and the role they play in creating a smooth start to the school year. Along the way, I share examples from my own classroom, practical ideas for build...

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Middle School Café – Strategies & Support for Middle School ELA Teachers