Season 4, Episode 15

How to motivate middle schoolers with Kamilah Simpson

In this episode, Susan Lambert is joined by Amplify senior product specialist Kamilah Simpson, a former Title 1 middle school intensive reading teacher and instructional coach. Kamilah offers tangible advice on allowing for productive struggle so that students can learn through discovery. She also discusses how to teach with complex text and rigor, learning to scaffold, the importance of listening to text, incorporating writing practice, and supporting students without over-supporting. Finally, she stresses the importance of motivating middle school students to read by providing texts that they can see themselves and their worlds in.