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The EB Academics Blog

Evidence-Based Strategies for ELA Success

Welcome to the EB Academics Blog, where our mission is to support and serve Middle School ELA teachers with engaging and rigorous lesson ideas backed by educational research. Each post offers practical strategies designed to increase student learning outcomes while helping you find joy and sustainability in your teaching practice. Our evidence-based approach ensures you can implement these techniques with confidence.

How to Integrate Writing Into Your Mandated Curriculum Without Losing Your Mind

 

If you’ve ever been told to “do more writing” but no one could tell you where it fits, this episode is for you.

Most teachers aren’t struggling be...

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Exemplar Sentences: Using Student Texts to Strengthen Sentence Skills

 

Teaching sentence writing doesn’t have to be dry or disconnected from your reading time. In fact, some of the best sentence-writing lessons come st...

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Offering Timely and Effective Feedback to Student Writers

 

If you're an ELA teacher, chances are good that you've stared at a stack of student papers thinking, How do I give meaningful feedback without spen...

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Why a Lexile Score Isn’t Enough: A Smarter Way to Choose Complex Texts

 

If you’ve ever searched for the “right” book for your students and landed squarely on a Lexile number, you’re not alone. Quantitative data—like Lex...

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A Comprehensive Approach to Teaching Research and Writing

 

Helping students become confident researchers doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. With our carefully designed resources, research opportunities are ...

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Improving Sight Word Recognition for Middle School Students: Strategies for ELA Teachers

 

Today we’re diving into a key component of fluent reading: sight recognition. This is the ability to instantly recognize and read words without h

...
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Building Accountability Structures for Independent Reading in the Classroom

 

Independent reading is a cornerstone of literacy development, supporting critical thinking, comprehension skills, vocabulary development, and a lif...

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How Phonological Awareness Strengthens Reading Skills in Middle School ELA

 

Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds in spoken language. This skill is foundational for reading and plays a...

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Decoding: An Essential Skill for Middle School ELA Teachers

 

Decoding refers to the process of figuring out what a written word says by sounding it out. It involves matching letters and letter combinations to...

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