Middle School Café – Strategies & Support for Middle School ELA Teachers
Are you a middle school ELA teacher looking for practical, proven strategies to help your students grow as confident readers and writers? Middle School Café is your go-to podcast for engaging teaching ideas, classroom-tested tools, and real talk about what works in today’s ELA classroom.
Each episode delivers actionable tips to help you close reading gaps, build student ownership, and create a classroom culture where literacy thrives. Whether you're navigating a curriculum, supporting struggling readers, or just looking for fresh ways to inspire your students, you'll find support, strategy, and a sense of community right here.
Join a community of passionate middle school ELA teachers working to build confident, engaged readers. Visit www.middleschoolcafe.com for classroom tools, podcast extras, and resources to support every student on their reading journey.
Middle School Café – Strategies & Support for Middle School ELA Teachers
Practical Vocabulary Strategies For Middle School ELA [Ep. 14]
Struggling to find time to teach vocabulary in your ELA classroom? In this episode, I’m continuing the conversation on vocabulary instruction by sharing three low-prep strategies you can start using right away—without needing to overhaul your entire curriculum.
I’ll dive into how Word Walls create visual clarity, how the Frayer Model helps students connect beyond the definition, and how Word of the Week can sneak in consistent exposure to high-utility words. These practical vocabulary strategies will help your students build word knowledge and deepen their reading comprehension—without overwhelming your lesson plans.
Read more in the show notes.
Vocabulary Strategies and Resources You Can Use with Your Class
- Vocabulary Activities
- Word of the Week
- 6th Grade Context Based Vocabulary Activities - Full Year
- 7th Grade Context Based Vocabulary Activities - Full Year
- 8th Grade Context Based Vocabulary Activities - Full Year
Related blog posts:
- Vocabulary Instruction: The Key to Comprehension
- Vocabulary instruction that works
- 5 Ways to Gamify your Vocabulary Instruction
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