Full Description
Magic in the Middle is your ultimate guide to creating a classroom filled with curiosity, collaboration, and creativity for gifted middle school learners!
Grounded in current research and enriched by years of hands-on classroom experience, this book provides 20 ready-to-use, practical lesson plans for gifted and high-ability learners. Each lesson is thoughtfully crafted to be culturally responsive, aligned with national gifted education standards, and adaptable to diverse learning needs. Centered around the theme of "middle school magic", every chapter is a transformative blend of movement, mystery, mingling, and made-to-order differentiation. These activities empower educators to move beyond screen-based learning, fostering active problem-solving, meaningful collaboration, and creative exploration.
Whether you're looking to spark joy, curiosity, or deeper intellectual engagement, Magic in the Middle equips educators at all career stages with the tools they need to balance academic rigor with the excitement of discovery. Visit www.routledge.com/9781041108634 for digital support resources and video teaching examples from the author!
Contents
Part 1. Magic in a Moment: Ready in Ten Minutes or Less Lesson 1. Around the World Divergent Thinking Lesson 2. Make the Connection Lesson 3. Counting Concentration Lesson 4. What's My Pattern? Lesson 5. Trashketball Lesson 6. Fishbowl Lesson 7. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Part 2 Charms to Channel Curiosity in Ten to Twenty Minutes Lesson 8. Human Knot Lesson 9. Cards & Categories Lesson 10. Trivia Buzzers Lesson 11. One of These Things Doesn't Belong Lesson 12. Mystery Guest Lesson 13. Memory Display Lesson 14. Musical Madness Part 3 Developing A Deeper Mystery: More than Twenty Minutes to Prep Lesson 15. Codes & Ciphers Lesson 16. Breaking Out Lesson 17. Sequencing a Timeline Lesson 18. Describe and Build Lesson 19. Rubik's Cube Mosaic Lesson 20. The Cup Game
