The Ideas Behind the Work
Middle school literacy sits in a tricky place. Students are no longer simply learning to read, but many are not yet ready to make sense of dense prose, unfamiliar knowledge, subtle arguments, and demanding literature on their own.
The work requires more than generic strategies or standards checklists. It requires teachers and leaders who know how to stay close to the text, notice where comprehension breaks down, and build classroom routines that help students do serious reading.
The essays below are the foundation for the thinking behind my consulting, workshops, and school support.
You can read the full archive at www.middleschoolliteracyproject.org and follow me on LinkedIn where I regularly publish new work.
Start here
Why Mastery Doesn’t Matter
Why standards mastery is the wrong goal for reading instruction — and what students need instead.
Wading Into the Deep End
Why rigorous texts require more than exposure — and how explicit, text-centered instruction helps students make meaning when the reading gets hard.
Finding Meaning in the Margins
A closer look at high-quality annotation, with classroom artifacts and tools teachers can use to make text-marking a centerpiece practice.
A Dangerous Fantasy
Why adaptive platforms like i-Ready cannot replace grade-level, whole-class literacy instruction.
Featured Writing and Conversations
A conversation with Melissa & Lori about complex text, comprehension, and what students need when the reading gets hard.
A reflection on reading data analysis — and how benchmark results can support curriculum implementation instead of shallow standards mastery.
A guest essay for Holly Korbey’s The Bell Ringer on what it took to build one of Colorado’s highest-performing middle school ELA classrooms.
A short reflection on the stale gummy bear: the small classroom ritual that became my most-read essay.