Learning at Home Resources for Middle School

Also check out Read, Wonder, & Learn – a growing collection of online videos & resources for all grade levels!

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Kahn Academy has free online classes for all main subjects grades K-12, with video lessons and practice problems. The website is now also sharing recommended schedules for students working at home.

The Authors Everywhere Youtube Channel has a great collection of read-alouds, writing workshops, and art demonstrations.

Crash Course has hundreds of short online lessons in a large variety of subjects ranging from computer science to film history to biology.

On the Kids Ask Authors podcast, you can hear author/illustrator Grace Lin and a guest author answer a kid question! Kids can submit their own book reviews, poems or jokes! https://www.kidsaskauthors.com  Subscribe to the podcast here: http://ow.ly/8OPg30qr7WD

The folks at Middle Grade at Heart share a list of MG novels with discussions questions & related activities here.

Read-Alouds

Leah Henderson reads the first chapter of her novel THE MAGIC IN CHANGING YOUR STARS.

Jason Reynolds reads an excerpt from his novel GHOST.

Kate Messner shares a read-aloud excerpt from TRACKING PYTHONS: THE QUEST TO CATCH AN INVASIVE PREDATOR AND SAVE AN ECOSYSTEM.

Jo Knowles reads from her novel WHERE THE HEART IS and shares a writing exercise.

Chris Tebbetts reads from STRANDED.

Ann Braden reads an excerpt from THE BENEFITS OF BEING AN OCTOPUS.

Debbi Michiko Florence reads from KEEP IT TOGETHER KEIKO CARTER and shares a writing prompt.

KA Holt reads an excerpt from her forthcoming middle grade novel-in-verse, BEN BEE AND THE TEACHER GRIEFER.

Mae Respicio reads from ANY DAY WITH YOU and shares a writing prompt.

Lisa Yee reads from MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS.

Kate Messner shares an excerpt from CHIRP.

Lisa Schroeder reads an excerpt from her novel MY SECRET GUIDE TO PARIS.

Janet Fox reads the first chapter of her novel THE ARTIFACT HUNTERS.

Chris Tebbetts reads the first chapters of MIDDLE SCHOOL, THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE.

Poet Charles Waters shares poetry from DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD.

Abby Cooper reads the first chapter of FRIEND OR FICTION.

Author KA Holt reads an excerpt from her novel-in-verse, HOUSE ARREST.

Author Jennifer Roy shares a video read-aloud from her historical novel YELLOW STAR.

Author Chelsea Clinton shares an excerpt from her book START NOW: YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Author Sayantani DasGupta shares a read-aloud of the first chapter of THE SERPENT’S SECRET.

Drawing/Art Lessons

Illustrator Jarrett Lerner shares drawing tips and techniques.

Illustrator Kelley McMorris shares a video about how she illustrates a book cover.

Author-illustrator Lita Judge shares a video about how a sketching trip inspired one of her picture books.

Author-illustrator James Burks shares a video lesson on how to draw Squirrel from his graphic novel series, Bird and Squirrel!.

Writing Lessons

Diary writing prompt with Veera Hiranandani

Author Erin Entrada Kelly shares the contents of her notebooks

Paula Chase offers a mini-writing exercise to help students build stories around their unique traits.

Christina Soontornvat shares how she came up with the idea for her new middle grade fantasy novel, A WISH IN THE DARK.

Author Elly Swartz shares tips on how to use emotion in your life to create authentic characters.

Chris Tebbetts shares a lesson on how to create a good beginning for a story.

Chris Tebbets gives a writing workshop called Four Elements of Character.

Author Liz Garton Scanlon shares a video lesson on writing an ETHEREE — a ten line poem in which each line is one syllable longer than the last.

Joyce Sidman shares an amazing collection of poem starters for beginning poets.

Here’s a poetry lesson from Kathryn Apel – writing a didactic cinquain! 

If you’re stuck at home, it’s a great time to start a writer’s notebook! Author & Poet Amy Ludwig VanDerwater has a whole collection of posts from different writers, called “Sharing Our Notebooks.” 

Author Madelyn Rosenberg shares a collection of writing prompts.

Author and poet Laura Shovan shares a collection of poetry mini-lessons on her website! 

Tracey Baptiste shares a lesson on comparative mythology.

Sarah Darer Littman offers short readings and writing prompts on her website.

STEAM Resources

Bill Nye’s website shares full episodes of his show “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” discussing life science, physical science, and planetary science.

A collection of science experiments to perform at home from Prepscholar

The New England Aquarium shares videos of animal feedings and other aquarium work along with at-home science projects and activities.

NASA has an amazing collection of stories, games, videos, and at-home activities for kids of all ages.

Sarah Albee shares a STEM mystery, “Did the Doctor Do It?”