Teaching Middle School Language Arts is the first book on teaching middle school language arts for multiple intelligences and related 21st century literacies in technologically and ethnically diverse communities. More than 670,000 middle school teachers (grades six through eight) are responsible for educating nearly 13 million students in public and private schools. Thousands more teachers join these ranks annually, especially in the South and West, where ethnic populations are ballooning. Teachers and administrators seek practical, time-efficient ways of teaching language arts to 21st century adolescents in increasingly multicultural, technologically diverse, socially networked communities. They seek sound understanding, practical advice, and proven strategies for connecting diverse literature to 21st century societies while meeting state and professional standards. Teaching Middle School Language Arts provides strategies and resources that work. Roseboro's book provides an entire academic year of inspiring theory and instruction in multimedia reading, writing, and speaking for the 21st century literacies that are increasingly required in the United States and Canada. An appendix includes supplementary documents to adapt or adopt, and a companion web site is designed to continue communication with readers.
Anna J. Small Roseboro is widely known for her work with groups like the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the Conference on English Leadership, the California Association of Teachers of English, the Michigan Council of Teachers of English, and the California Association of Independent Schools. With 40 years experience in public and private schools, she is a National Board Certified Teacher vetted by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards.
A sought-after convention speaker, Ms. Roseboro earned a B.A. in Speech Communications from Wayne State University and an M.A. in Curriculum Design from the University of California, San Diego. Her articles have appeared in journals such as English Journal, English Leadership Quarterly, Fine Lines: A National Quarterly, Creative Writing Journal, California English, Utah Journal of Teachers of English, San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art Journal, and the CAIS Quarterly. Additional publications include Black Boy, Autobiographical Guide (Scott Foresman, 1995), and "Multicultural Literature: A Challenge and an Opportunity," in Multicultural Voices' Teacher's Resource Book (Scott Foresman, 1994).
Ms. Roseboro has consulted with and read manuscripts for textbook publishers and represented Rotary International in a group-study exchange with educators in Africa. She taught at Rochester Theological Institute, Grand Valley State University, and Calvin College. From 1989 to 2005 she directed summer sessions at The Bishop's School, La Jolla, CA--a program for grades 5-12. She was English Department Chair at Bishop's from 1999 to 2005. She was a faculty leader at the NCTE Affiliates Conference, working with ten national finalists who submitted proposals for education leadership projects in their local districts. In 2009 she was honored with the California Association of Teachers of English 2009 Distinguished Service Award.
Currently, Ms. Roseboro is a mentor for the NCTE's Early Career Educators of Color cohorts for 2008, 2009 and 2010, was recently elected as the Secondary Section Liaison to the Conference on English Leadership, and serves as an adjunct professor in the Communication Arts and Sciences Department of Calvin College.
