Middle Level Experience

There Is So Much Happening in the Middle Level at NCTE

From Section-specific events to a thoughtfully chosen program, you’ll notice an energized focus on crafting sessions that speak to the complexities of teaching students in the middle grades and bringing leading authors and educators to the podium. Discover new ideas, new tools, and new friends!

Don’t Miss the New & Early Career Teacher Strand

Search the Convention app and see the Convention program for sessions in the New & Early Career Teacher Strand. These sessions focus on highlighting issues for new teachers and celebrating those in the early years of their profession. Recognizing that teachers today take various paths to the classroom, these sessions will answer questions and offer strategies specifically curated for new and early career teachers and those who support them.

What Kinds of Sessions Can I Attend?

Throughout the Convention there are more than 400 sessions designated of interest to middle level educators, but you’ll find plenty of interest at other levels as well. Among the topics are the following:

• The Missing Middle: Stories and Strategies for Navigating the Pipeline from High School to College Writing Success
• From Paper to Process: Reimagining Research as a Creative, Authentic Journey
• Youth Truth: Examining Trends and Imagining Possibilities for Teaching with Young Adult Nonfiction
• A Novel Approach: Unlocking Student Voice and Engagement through Independent Reading
• Beyond Bans and Bots: Literacy-Centered Approaches to AI in English Classrooms
• Collaborative School Communities: Reimagining Teacher & Student Learning
• Imagining Monsters: How Horror Illuminates the Past, Present, and Future for Middle School Readers
• Level Up ELA: How Games Scaffold, Differentiate, and Engage All K–12 Learners
• Pride in Comics: Teaching Queer Stories with Graphic Novels
• Teachers as Readers: Cultivating Book Love with YA Authors and Each Other
• Utilizing Spoken Word Poetry in the Classroom: Developing Written and Oral Literacy through Poetic Self-Discovery
• Fifty Books in 50 Minutes: Guaranteed to Inspire, Spark the Imagination, and Promote Innovation
• Kids as Literacy Leaders: Engaging Communities through Student-Led Book Clubs
• Innovating through the Limitless Possibilities of Gaming
• Reimagining the Power of Book Clubs: Collaborating across Your School to Build a Community of Readers
• When Quizzes Aren’t Working & Grades Don’t Motivate: Poetry as Assessment

Middle Level Favorites

Middle Level Meet-Up

Thursday, Nov. 19, 5:30–7:00 p.m.

Kick off your Convention experience with this gathering of middle level attendees that features speakers and the chance to hear from Section leaders.

ALAN at NCTE

Hear from Elizabeth Acevedo during this much-loved ALAN Breakfast event on Saturday, Nov. 21, 7:00–9:15 a.m. If you’re looking for even deeper immersion in YA lit, you might enjoy the ALAN Workshop, “Forging New Futures,” Sunday–Monday, Nov. 22–23. The first 250 registrants will get a box of books! Both of these events can be added when you register for the Convention.

Middle Level Luncheon

Friday, Nov. 20, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

This event will feature keynote speaker author Nic Stone, award presentations, and announcements from leaders of the Middle Level Section.

#MakersInTheMiddle

#MakersInTheMiddle is a series of incredible learning experiences on the program. This year’s sessions include:

• Co-Creating Inclusive and Critical Literacy Instruction in the Classroom
• Interdisciplinary and Project-Based Approaches to Literacy Instruction
• Problems and Practices: Engaging Middle Level Community in Reading, Writing, and Creating around Issues That Matter
• Imagining Possibility, Innovating Practice, Inspiring Change—The Middle Level Mosaic