Instead of fueling the debate, Dr. Jan Burkins and Kari Yates have immersed themselves in the research and produced Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom . This concise and practical guide integrates effective reading strategies from each perspective. Every chapter of Shifting the Balance focuses on one of the six simple and scientifically sound shifts reading teachers can make to strengthen their approach to early reading instruction in these areas:Reading ComprehensionPhonemic AwarenessPhonicsHigh-Frequency WordsCueing SystemsText SelectionPractical Instruction for Primary Grades: Whether your students are just learning to read or building more advanced reading comprehensive skills,  Shifting the Balance  is designed to help teachers meet the instructional needs of K-2 students.Six Manageable Shifts: Each chapter focuses on a key shift that helps educators understand common misconceptions and adjust their thinking around some common instructional practices that teachers have been using for decades.Evidence-Based Instruction: Burkins and Yates offer busy educators a blueprint for integrating finding from brain research, cognitive science, and child development into their daily instruction, while keeping meaningful experiences with books a priority.Classroom Applications: Shifting the Balance is full of sample activities and classroom vignettes that paint a picture of what these shifts look like in action with roomful of learners.The book has already helped countless educators by taking the guesswork out of how to blend best practices with the latest research while keeping students at the forefront of reading instruction. "We've written this book to support you in making sound decisions anchored in the best of science, the truth of responsiveness, and a relentless focus on providing all children learning experiences saturated with meaning," the authors write.

    Beck--an experienced educator who knows what works--this concise volume provides a wealth of practical ideas for building children's decoding skills by teaching letter-sound relationships, blending, word building, and multisyllable words. Straightforward and accessible, the strategies presented for explicit, systematic phonics instruction are ideal for use in primary-grade classrooms or with older students who are having difficulties. Many specific examples bring the instructional procedures to life while elucidating their underlying rationale; appendices include reproducible curriculum materials.

    The practice of reading aloud to children may be viewed by some educators as an “extra”—a bit of fluff used solely for the purposes of enjoyment or filling a few spare minutes, but researchers and practitioners stand in solidarity: the practice of reading aloud throughout the grades is not only viable but also best practice.  In Defense of Read-Aloud: Sustaining Best Practices, author Steven Layne reinforces readers’ confidence to continue the practice of reading aloud and presents the research base to defend the practice in grades K–12. Layne also offers significant practical insights to strengthen instructional practice—answering the questions of “Why should we?” and “How should we?”—and provides practical advice about how to use read-alouds most effectively. Leading researchers in the field of literacy provide position statements, authors of professional books share insights on books they have loved, leaders of the largest literacy organizations in the United States write about their favorite read-alouds, award-winning authors of children’s and young adult book (Katherine Paterson, Andrew Clements, Lois Lowry, to name a few) share the powerful behind-the-scenes stories of their greatest books, and real classroom teachers and librarians speak about books that have “lit up” their classrooms and libraries around the world. Last but not least, In Defense of Read-Aloud features many great recommendations of books to share with children.Read-aloud is an essential practice in teaching literacy in grades K–12. In this book, Steven Layne has provided everything needed to support, sustain, and celebrate the power of read-aloud.

    The point is, it's a level of understanding that students of any age can achieve with the right kind of instruction. In Rigorous Reading, Nancy Frey and Doug Fisher articulate an instructional plan so clearly, and so squarely built on research, that teachers, schools, and districts need look no further:Purpose & Modeling Close & Scaffolded Reading Instruction Collaborative Conversations An Independent Reading Staircase Performance

    But as they grow, worries often crowd out wonder. Knowing this, how can parents strengthen their kids’ love for the world so it sticks around for the long haul?Thankfully, parents have at their fingertips a miracle vaccine—one that can boost their kids' immunity to the world’s distractions. Well-chosen stories connect us with others, even those on the other side of the globe. Build your kids’ lives on a story-solid foundation and you’ll give them armor to shield themselves from the world’s cynicism. You’ll give them confidence to persevere in the face of life’s conflicts. You’ll give them a reservoir of compassion that spills over into a lifetime of love in action.Give Your Child the World features inspiring stories, practical suggestions, and carefully curated reading lists of the best children’s literature for each area of the globe. Reading lists are organized by region, country, and age range (ages 4-12). Each listing includes a brief description of the book, its themes, and any content of which parents should be aware.Parents can introduce their children to the world from the comfort of home by simply opening a book together. Give Your Child the World is poised to become a bestselling family reading treasury that promotes literacy, develops a global perspective, and strengthens family bonds while increasing faith and compassion.

    Award-winning teacher and best-selling author Debbie Silver explains motivational theory and provides down-to-earth—often humorous—real life examples that demonstrate what to say when giving feedback to students.

    The pedagogy is clearly outlined and addresses personal relevancy, the learning environment, instruction, assessment and advocacy. A strong argument is presented for meaningful learner-directed art making experiences for all students. This book blends sound educational theory with actual practice, and is a resource for practicing and pre-service art teachers, curriculum coordinators, aftercare and camp directors and anyone interested in authentic learning through visual art.

    Leslie Montgomery and Margot Holmes Smith weave vocabulary into each school day using multisensory instruction that includes music, art, literature, movement, games, drama, writing, test-taking skills, and technology. Along the way, they turn every student into a lover of language.With support from literacy specialist Brenda Overturf, Leslie and Margot have developed a five-part plan—introducing new words in context, adding related synonyms and antonyms, engaging students in several days of active learning, celebrating new words, and assessing vocabulary development—that teaches all students to learn and love vocabulary.This easy-to-read reference explains how to plan, teach, and assess based on the latest research in vocabulary instruction and learning. Forget copying definitions from the dictionary and completing boring worksheets! Word mastery comes from intimate knowledge of language. From prediction to practice to performance, students from all backgrounds can discover how to make words their own. After incorporating Leslie's and Margot's vocabulary plan into your daily instruction, you and your students can become word nerds, too!

    In this groundbreaking book, education experts Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker offer tools, strategies, and advice for defining, assessing, and ultimately transforming your school's culture into one that is positive, forward-looking, and actively working to enrich students’ lives. Drawing from decades of research on organizational cultures and school leadership, the authors provide everything you need to optimize both the culture and climate of your school, including:"Culture-busting" strategies to help teachers adopt positive attitudes, outlooks, and behaviors;A framework for pinpointing the type of culture you have, the type that you want, and the actions you need to take to bridge the two;Tips for hiring, training, and retaining teachers who will actively work to improve your school's culture; andInstructions on how to create and implement a successful School Culture Rewiring Team.Though often invisible to the naked eye, a school's culture influences everything that takes place under its roof. Whether your school is urban or rural, prosperous or struggling, School Culture Rewired is the ultimate guide to making sure that the culture in your school is guided first and foremost by what's best for your students

    One of the rare breed of teachers who do know this is Nancie Atwell. - The New York TimesReading this book can be revolutionary. . . . Atwell leads us to new understandings of teaching and learning in a workshop classroom. - Voices from the Middle When first published in 1987, this seminal work was widely hailed for its honest examination of how teachers teach, how students learn, and the gap that lies in between. In depicting her own classroom struggles, Nancie Atwell shook our orthodox assumptions about skill-and-drill-based curriculums and became a pioneer of responsive teaching. Now, in the long awaited second edition, Atwell reflects on the next ten years of her experience, rethinks and clarifies old methods, and demonstrates new, more effective approaches.The second edition still urges educators to "come out from behind their own big desks" to turn classrooms into workshops where students and teachers create curriculums together. But it also advocates a more activist role for teachers. Atwell writes, "I'm no longer willing to withhold suggestions and directions from my kids when I can help them solve a problem, do something they've never done before, produce stunning writing, and ultimately become more independent of me."More than 70 percent of the material is new, with six brand-new chapters on genres, evaluation, and the teacher as writer. There are also lists of several hundred minilessons, and scripts and examples for teaching them; new expectations and rules for writing and reading workshops; ideas for teaching conventions; new systems for record keeping; lists of essential books for students and teachers; and forms for keeping track of individual spelling, skills, proofreading, homework, writing, and reading.The second edition of In the Middle is written in the same engaging style as its predecessor. It reads like a story - one that readers will be pleased to learn has no end. As Atwell muses, "I know my students and I will continue to learn and be changed. I am resigned - happily - to be always beginning for the rest of my life as a teacher."

    These tools inspire kids to work as hard as we are."-Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie RobertsWhat's DIY Literacy? It's making your own visual teaching tools instead of buying them. It's using your teaching smarts to get the most from those tools. And it's helping kids think strategically so they can be DIY learners."Teaching tools create an impact on students' learning," write Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts. "They help students hold onto our teaching and become changed by the work in the classroom." Of course, you and your students need the right tools for the job, so first Kate and Maggie share four simple, visual tools that you can make. Then they show how to maximize your instructional know-how with suggestions for using the tools to:make your reading and writing strategies stick motivate students to reach for their next learning goal differentiate instruction simply and quickly. Kate and Maggie are like a friendly, handy neighbor. They offer experience-honed advice for using the four tools for assessment, small-group instruction, conferring, setting learning goals, and, most important, helping students learn to apply strategies and make progress without prompting from you. In other words, to do it themselves."It is our greatest hope," write Kate and Maggie, "that the tools we offer here will help your students to work hard, to hold onto what they know, and to see themselves in the curriculum you teach." Try DIY Literacy and help your readers and writers take learning into their own hands.

    Peggy Kaye, renowned teacher and author of the widely praised Games for Math, Games for Reading, and Games for Learning, now gives parents more than fifty ways to help their children become skilled, confident, and enthusiastic writers.

    This is a book about LEARNING!Technology is not a magic solution for education. It is an opportunity! An opportunity to shake things up, to connect and grow, and to create dynamic learning experiences for our students! In this three-part book, you will explore WHY it's time to Shake Up Learning, WHAT changes we can make in our classrooms to support dynamic learning experiences, and HOW to plan meaningful lessons for your classroom.Rapidly evolving technology and the demands of the digital age are transforming not only the way we live but also the way we learn. The tools students are using are newer, sleeker, and faster than ever before. In some cases, the medium is even changing the message. One thing is certain: Educators cannot continue the status quo if they expect to equip young people for the world to come. Here's the good news: With digital tools that are available 24/7, learning doesn't have to stop when the bell rings. Learning can take on a life of its own! Even better, technology can help you connect with students and empower them to grow and develop a lifelong love for learning--and it doesn't have to be scary or complicated. Shake Up Learning is a powerful guide and planning tool to help educators at all grade levels make the most of technology. Educator and blogger Kasey Bell guides you through the process of using technology and proven techniques to make learning dynamic. You'll discover . . . Practical strategies to help move from static teaching to dynamic learningStraightforward and easy-to-use templates for crafting engaging learning opportunitiesTips and tricks for fearless implementation of powerful lesson plansAdvice for moving from one-and-done activities to learning that evolves and inspires throughout the school year--and beyond!This is MORE than just a book! This is a full LEARNING EXPERIENCE!This book is jammed packed with ideas, lessons, and resources, but you can bring it all to life with the companion website, ShakeUpLearningBook.com, and the companion online course, The Dynamic Learning Workshop!Be dynamic! Shake up learning in your classroom this year.

    

    You'll love the "before and after" pictures and the step-by-step processes outlined for organizing your furniture and cabinets, setting up your room space by space, and using your walls thoughtfully. Debbie has even documented how to pack your room at the end of the year to save time next fall (so you can focus on thinking about instruction) and what to do if you must move all your belongings.Through pictures and text, this unique visual reference answers tough questions educators ask, such as:What do I really need in my room and what's the best way to set it up?How does my physical classroom impact student learning?How can I find the space I need to teach more effectively? What can I get rid of and how?Where do I put all my stuff?Charts, reproducible forms, motivating quotes, a list of shopping sources, and reflection questions are included, along with a section outlining ten specific suggestions for on-going staff development. Whether or not you implement literacy work stations in your classroom, Spaces & Places includes everything you need to look deeply at classroom space and how it supports instruction.