It provides a detailed discussion of the nature and causes of reading difficulties, which will help develop the knowledge and confidence needed to accurately assess why a student is struggling. Readers will learn a framework for organizing testing results from current assessment batteries such as the WJ-IV, KTEA-3, and CTOPP-2. Case studies illustrate each of the concepts covered. A thorough discussion is provided on the assessment of phonics skills, phonological awareness, word recognition, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Formatted for easy reading as well as quick reference, the text includes bullet points, icons, callout boxes, and other design elements to call attention to important information.Although a substantial amount of research has shown that most reading difficulties can be prevented or corrected, standard reading remediation efforts have proven largely ineffective. School psychologists are routinely called upon to evaluate students with reading difficulties and to make recommendations to address such difficulties. This book provides an overview of the best assessment and intervention techniques, backed by the most current research findings.Bridge the gap between research and practice Accurately assess the reason(s) why a student struggles in reading Improve reading skills using the most highly effective evidence-based techniques Reading may well be the most important thing students are taught during their school careers. It is a skill they will use every day of their lives; one that will dictate, in part, later life success. Struggling students need help now, and Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties shows how to get these students on track.

    Author and teacher, Matt Miller shows you how to choose and incorporate teaching practices that are:   Different from what students see daily. Innovative, drawing on new ideas or modifying others' ideas. Tech-laden with the use of digital sites, tools and devices. Creative, tapping into students' original ideas as well as your own. Hands-on, encouraging students to make and try things on their own.  Packed with practical advice, specific recommendations for tools, and the encouragement you need to revolutionize your classes, Ditch That Textbook will inspire you to create relevant teaching that gets student buy-in so they'l enjoy learning. What people are saying about Ditch That Textbook: "Matt Miller's Ditch That Textbook is a book that delivers sound advice, relatable anecdotes and an actionable roadmap for educators." -- Adam Bellow, 2011 ISTE Outstanding Young Educator of the Year"In an age where many schools are still training students to work in a factory, Matt Miller moves past sweeping rhetoric and shows teachers how to move their classes into the future. This is a quick, energetic read that will leave you inspired to take the next step in your classroom!" -- Don Wettrick, Innovation Specialist and Author, Pure Genius

    "You need tools, not rules." His book distills decades of experience into 50 tools that will help any writer become more fluent and effective. WRITING TOOLS covers everything from the most basic ("Tool 5: Watch those adverbs") to the more complex ("Tool 34: Turn your notebook into a camera") and provides more than 200 examples from literature and journalism to illustrate the concepts. For students, aspiring novelists, and writers of memos, e-mails, PowerPoint presentations, and love letters, here are 50 indispensable, memorable, and usable tools. "Pull out a favorite novel or short story, and read it with the guidance of Clark's ideas. . . . Readers will find new worlds in familiar places. And writers will be inspired to pick up their pens." -Boston Globe"For all the aspiring writers out there-whether you're writing a novel or a technical report-a respected scholar pulls back the curtain on the art." -Atlanta Journal-Constitution"This is a useful tool for writers at all levels of experience, and it's entertainingly written, with plenty of helpful examples." -Booklist

    I use Words Their Way both in my first grade classroom and with college students as a way to implement word study. ""Kristi McNeal, CSU Fresno" Words Their Way's developmentally-driven, hands-on instructional approach has been a phenomenon in word study, providing a practical way to study words with students. The keys to this research-based approach are to know your students' literacy progress, organize for instruction, and implement word study. This streamlined book and the DVD and CD-ROM that accompany it gives you all the tools you need to carry out word study instruction that will motivate and engage your students, and help them to succeed in literacy learning. Ordered in a developmental format, Words Their Way complements the use of any existing phonics, spelling, and vocabulary curricula." ""Knowing Your Students"Streamlined Chapter 2 provides step by step guidelines for assessing students. NEW Words Their Way Word Study Resources CD: Assessment Planning and Additional Interactive Word Sorts contains computerized assessments to gauge students' developmental levels. Word Study with English Learner sections in each chapter help you organize and adapt instruction to meet the needs of students whose first language is not English. "Organizing for Instruction"NEW Words Their Way DVD Tutorial: Planning for Word Study in K-8 Classrooms reinforces and illustrates classroom organization and management, as outlined in Chapter 3. Word Study Routines and Management sections in every chapter give you practical guidance on managing and implementing word study in your classroom. NEW Tech Notes throughout chapters pinpoint opportunities for you to use the DVD and CD-ROM to prepare for instruction. "Implementing Word Study "Classroom-proven, research-driven activities end each developmental chapter, giving you the instructional practices to get your word study instruction up and running immediately. NEW Words Their Way Word Study Resources CD: Assessment Planning and Additional Interactive Word Sorts provides more than just assessments. You'll also find hundreds of additional word and picture sorts, games and templates, and an interactive Create Your Own section. The Appendix at the back of the book contains a comprehensive bank of word lists, word sorts, picture sorts, games and templates." ""The theory behind and practice for word sorts allows even the novice teacher to understand how to use the assessments to organize instruction. The organization of the last five chapters creates a useful resource for teachers. Each begins with a research-based description and moves into sound instructional practices, giving the teacher a complete understanding of how to meet the needs of students. ""Cathy Blanchfield, CSU Fresno "" ""Meet the Authors"Donald Bear is Director of the E.L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy at the University of Nevada, Reno, assessing and teaching students who experience difficulties learning to read and write. A former preschool and elementary teacher, Donald currently researches literacy development with a special interest in students who speak languages other than English, and he partners with schools and districts to consider assessment and literacy instruction. Marcia Invernizzi is Director of the McGuffey Reading Center at the University of Virginia exploring developmental universals in non-English orthographies. A former English and reading teacher, Marcia works with children experiencing difficulties learning to read and write in intervention programs such as Virginia's Early Intervention Reading Initiative and Book Buddies. Shane Templeton is Foundation Professor of Literacy Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. A former classroom teacher at the primary and secondary levels, he researches the development of orthographic and vocabulary knowledge Francine Johnston is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she teaches reading, language arts, and children's literature. A former first-grade teacher and reading specialist. Interested in extending your Words Their Way training? Learn more about the new Online Workshop at www.pearsoncourseconnect.com/wtw.

    Stephen D. Krashen, PhD, is an advocate for free voluntary reading in schools and has published many journal articles on the subject. Free Voluntary Reading: Power 2010 collects the last ten years of his extensive work and reconsiders all aspects of this important debate in light of the latest findings.The book provides an accessible examination of topics, such as free voluntary reading's value in language and literary acquisition domestically and worldwide, recent developments in support of free voluntary reading, whether rewards-based programs benefit the development of lifelong reading, the value of phonics in reading instruction, and trends in literacy in the United States.

    "Letters to a Young Teacher" reignites a numberof the controversial issues Jonathan has powerfully addressed in recent years: the mania of high-stakes testing that turns many classrooms into test-prep factories where spontaneity and critical intelligence are no longer valued, the invasion of our public schools by predatory private corporations, and the inequalities of urban schools that are once again almost as segregated as they were a century ago. But most of all, these letters are rich with the happiness of teaching children, the curiosity and jubilant excitement children bring into the classroom at an early age, and their ability to overcome their insecurities when they are in the hands of an adoring and hard-working teacher.

    You'll learn from some of today's top creative nonfiction writers, including:Terry Tempest Williams - Analyze your motivation for writing, its value, and its strength.Alan Cheuse - Discover how interesting, compelling essays can be drawn from every corner of your life and the world in which you live.Phillip Lopate - Build your narrator–yourself–into a fully fleshed-out character, giving your readers a clearer, more compelling idea of who is speaking and why they should listen.Robin Hemley - Develop a narrative strategy for structuring your story and making it cohesive.Carolyn Forche - Master the journalistic ethics of creative nonfiction.Dinty W. Moore - Use satire, exaggeration, juxtaposition, and other forms of humor in creative nonfiction.Philip Gerard - Understand the narrative stance–why and how an author should, or should not, enter into the story.Through insightful prompts and exercises, these contributors help make the challenge of writing creative nonfiction–whether biography, true-life adventure, memoir, or narrative history–a welcome, rewarding endeavor.You'll also find an exciting, creative nonfiction "reader" comprising the final third of the book, featuring pieces from Barry Lopez, Annie Dillard, Beverly Lowry, Phillip Lopate, and more–selections so extraordinary, they will teach, delight, inspire, and entertain you for years to come!

    KEY TOPICS: Specific, practical strategies include ways to get students active from the start through activities that build teamwork and immediately get them thinking about the subject matter. 101 activities include ice-breakers for the beginning of class, strategies for the middle of a lesson, and concluding exercises to foster student reflection and future application. In addition, these activities are designed to enliven learning, deepen understanding, and promote retention. Designed for the preservice and inservice teacher, this book is effective for anyone teaching in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and centers for adult education. For professionals working in middle school/secondary school education.

    

    She shows how you, too, can get terrific ideas for stories, invent great beginnings and endings, write sparkling dialogue, develop memorable characters—and much, much more. She advises you about what to do when you feel stuck—and how to use helpful criticism. Best of all, she offers writing exercises that will set your imagination on fire.With humor, honesty, and wisdom, Gail Carson Levine shows you that you, too, can make magic with your writing.

    It opens with a clear research-based rationale for teaching oral reading, word recognition, fluency, and comprehension. From there, Rasinski provides the strategies themselves - read aloud, repeated reading, performance reading, and many more. The strategies are fun, easy to implement, and -- most important -- effective in helping children read with ease, confidence, and understanding.Praise for The Fluent Reader:"What I find remarkable about The Fluent Reader is the way Timothy Rasinski leads us from the theoretical to the practical...I suspect that teachers who read this book will be quick to take the ideas and apply them in their classrooms." ---From the foreword by James Hoffman, University of Texas at Austin

    The methods are based on social-constructivist/socio-cultural theories of literacy learning, and incorporate research on literary response conducted by the authors.Teaching Literature to Adolescents - a totally new text that draws on ideas from the best selling textbook, Teaching Literature in the Secondary School, by Beach and Marshall - reflects and builds on recent key developments in theory and practice in the field, including: the importance of providing students with a range of critical lenses for analyzing texts and interrogating the beliefs, attitudes, and ideological perspectives encountered in literature; organization of the literature curriculum around topics, themes, or issues; infusion of multicultural literature and emphasis on how writers portray race, class, and gender differences; use of drama as a tool for enhancing understanding of texts; employment of a range of different ways to write about literature; integration of critical analysis of film and media texts with the study of literature; blending of quality young adult literature into the curriculum; and attention to students who have difficulty succeeding in literature classes due to reading difficulties, disparities between school and home cultures, attitudes toward school/English, or lack of engagement with assigned texts or response activities.The interactive Web site contains recommended readings, resources, and activities; links to Web sites and PowerPoint presentations; and opportunities for readers to contribute teaching units to the Web site databases.Instructors and students in middle and high school English methods courses will appreciate the clear, engaging, useful integration of theory, methods, and pedagogical features offered in this text.

    A moving account of Dillard’s own experiences while writing her works, The Writing Life offers deep insight into one of the most mysterious professions.

    Writing True serves as a valuable core textbook or a supplement for any creative writing or composition course with an emphasis on creative nonfiction. A solid pedagogical approach shows students how to be true to capturing the real world with integrity and creativity. The first part of the book, "Writing Creative Nonfiction," offers ten chapters of practical guidance, skill-building exercises, and ideas to help writers develop their creativity. The second part of the book, "Reading Creative Nonfiction," contains an anthology divided into Memoir, Personal Essay, Portrait, Essay of Place, and Literary Journalism. Selections include works by Nora Ephron, Tracy Kidder, Eric Liu, David Sedaris, and other well-known masters of the creative nonfiction genre. The anthology also includes a section entitled "Stories of Craft," with four prominent writers, including John Irving and Sue Miller, describing the challenges and rewards of writing creative nonfiction.

    More comprehensive than ever before--and now 1,000 pages--this revised edition describes the insider dynamics at hundreds of U.S. and Canadian publishers, with hundreds of names and specialties for book acquisition editors. Nearly 200 of the most powerful literary agents reveal invaluable tips, as if they were having a private conversation with a special friend. With detailed information on what to do (and what not to do) to break the code, break down the walls, and get that first book, second book, or thirtieth book published, bought and read, Jeff Herman's Guide is the go-to source for writers everywhere.