"It's Our World Too": Socially Responsive Learners in Middle School Language Arts

Author(s): Beverly Busching, Betty Ann Slesinger

“It’s Our World Too” is a valuable resource for middle school and high school teachers who want to use significant social issues such as race, class, and poverty to invigorate their teaching of literacy and communication skills through student inquiry and collaborative learning. Beverly Busching and Betty Ann Slesinger developed a curriculum in which students learned to identify with, investigate, and then act on the social issues that have defined our society and continue to affect human relationships as well as influence national policy.

Grounded in the premise that students can learn about the world, nurture the impulse to care about others, and still meet required educational standards, this book offers teachers extended discussions of two units—the Great Depression and World War II/the Holocaust; help in planning a social issues curriculum that focuses on reading, researching, and writing skills, and advice on how to help struggling learners find the confidence and competence that active reading and writing demand; guidance on how to coach students to improve communication skills; and lists of fiction, nonfiction, and other sources for students on a range of topics, as well as resources and materials for teachers.

“It’s Our World Too” blends theory and practice as it demonstrates how cumulative habits of literacy and citizenship can flourish throughout an entire school year. Teachers will find they can commit gradually to this approach and modify it to fit their students and topics.
238 pp. 2002. Grades 6–9. ISBN 0-8141-3833-0.
No. 38330

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ISBN: 0-8141-3833-0

Grade Level(s): Middle