In Teaching with Intention: Defining Beliefs, Aligning Practice, Taking Action, K-5 , Miller defines her actions to ensure that children are the true beneficiaries of her teaching. As Peter Johnston writes, "Through this book we have Debbie's teaching mind on loan. She engages us in the details of a teaching life from inside her mind, showing the thinking behind her teaching and the consequences of her actions." Teaching with Intention brings us into classrooms of teachers and children Miller has met over the last five years in her work as a literacy consultant. From setting up the classroom environment to the intentional use of language, from comprehension instruction to lesson design, Miller is explicit about what she does and why. At the same time, she encourages teachers to develop their own belief statements concerning teaching and learning and includes key questions to guide them in this important process.In an environment where the handing down of scripted programs and "foolproof" curricula is increasingly the norm, Teaching with Intention offers a compelling reminder that truly transformative teaching is built from the ground up, and is rebuilt every year, by every teacher, in every classroom, with every new group of students.

    Highly respected education leaders and innovators focus on why these skills are necessary, which are most important, and how to best help schools include them in curriculum and instruction.

    Organized according to the elements of explicit instruction (what? why? when? and how?), the Sourcebook includes both research-informed knowledge base and practical sample lesson models. Like the first edition, the updated and revised second edition of the Teaching Reading Sourcebook combines the best features of an academic text and a practical hands-on teacher's guide. It is an indispensable resource for teaching reading and language arts to both beginning and older struggling readers.New to the Teaching Reading Sourcebook, 2nd Edition:All new sample lesson modelsMore reproducible activity mastersA whole new section on reading fluencyMore about letter knowledge and multisyllabic word readingMore about the comprehension strategies that good readers useUseful information about the Comprehensive Reading Model (Three-tier Model)Highly respected contributing authors who are experts in the field of reading

    UDL is a framework for inclusive education that aims to lower barriers to learning and optimize each individual's opportunity to learn. Novak shows how to use the UDL Guidelines to plan lessons, choose materials, assess learning, and improve instructional practice. Novak discusses key concepts such as scaffolding, vocabulary-building, and using student feedback to inform instruction. She also provides tips on recruiting students as partners in the teaching process, engaging their interest in how they learn. UDL Now! is a fun and effective Monday-morning playbook for great teaching.

    This book broadens and extends our available teachingtools and materials, and can help engage all students. It is a valuable resource for language arts teachers.—Cris TovaniLanguage arts teachers want all of their students to love literature and embrace the novels they assign. The classroom reality is that many students are not ready or motivated to immerse themselves in an entire novel. In order to reach and engage all students, teachers need to look beyond novels alone and embrace a richer variety of literature.In Less Is More Kimberly Hill Campbell draws on research as well as her own classroom experiences to show how short texts engage a wide range of middle and high school students. She shares her discovery of the power of short texts to support her students' skills as readers, writers, and students of literature.Kimberly shows how short texts can be integrated into the curriculum, without sacrificing required novels. Chapters examine different genres of short text, such as short stories, essays, memoir, and graphic novels. Each chapter provides reading, writing, and response strategies as well as a broad selection of short text resources that have proven effective with a wide range of students.

    Little has changed, however, since then: over half of our children still read at a basic level and few become highly proficient. Many American children and adults are not functionally literate, with serious consequences. Poor readers are more likely to drop out of the educational system and as adults are unable to fully participate in the workforce, adequately manage their own health care, or advance their children's education. In Language at the Speed of Sight, internationally renowned cognitive scientist Mark Seidenberg reveals the underexplored science of reading, which spans cognitive science, neurobiology, and linguistics. As Seidenberg shows, the disconnect between science and education is a major factor in America's chronic underachievement. How we teach reading places many children at risk of failure, discriminates against poorer kids, and discourages even those who could have become more successful readers. Children aren't taught basic print skills because educators cling to the disproved theory that good readers guess the words in texts, a strategy that encourages skimming instead of close reading. Interventions for children with reading disabilities are delayed because parents are mistakenly told their kids will catch up if they work harder. Learning to read is more difficult for children who speak a minority dialect in the home, but that is not reflected in classroom practices. By building on science's insights, we can improve how our children read, and take real steps toward solving the inequality that illiteracy breeds. Both an expert look at our relationship with the written word and a rousing call to action, Language at the Speed of Sight is essential for parents, educators, policy makers, and all others who want to understand why so many fail to read, and how to change that.

    Drawing on neuroscience, psychology and sociology The Teacher's Toolkit provides an overview of recent thinking innovations in teaching and presents over fifty learning techniques for all subjects and age groups, with dozens of practical ideas for managing group work, tackling behavioural issues and promoting personal responsibility. It also presents tools for checking your teaching skills - from lesson planning to performance management.

    Acknowledged by the publishing industry, authors and would-be writers as the indispensable companion to navigating the world of publishing, it appears for the first time as an e-book and in print. The 80 articles are reviewed and updated each year to provide inspirational and how-to guidance on writing for newspapers, magazines, scripts for film, radio and TV; advice on writing and submitting plays, poetry, non-fiction and fiction of all genres - from fantasy to thrillers to romance; how to contact publishers and agents; managing finances as a writer; negotiating legal issues, such as copyright; understanding the editing process; self-publishing and conventional routes; digital and print.Every single one of over 4,500 listings of who to contact, where and for which disciplines across the whole media, are reviewed and most updated, with new listings added every year. The combination of up-to-date listings information and expert advice, make the Yearbook a topical and reliable resource; the perfect gift for every writer every year.New articles for the 2014 edition include:Foreword by Martina Cole Writing successful erotic fictionWriting as co-authors by Louise Voss and Mark Edwards authors of thrillers Catch Your Death and Killing CupidHow to be a writer by novelist (The Harbour) and screenwriter Francesca BrillWriting for newspapers by journalist Kate MeadWriting short stories by Tania Hershman Being an agent in the digital age by literary agent Gordon Wise Writng flash fiction by Peter BlairMarketing, publicising and selling self-published books by Ben Cameron, Smith PublicityWhat to look for in a self-publishing provider by Jeremy Thomspon of MatadorArticles from experts and authors, include:Bernard Cornwall on writing historical fictionWilliam Dalrymple on writing about travelDavid Eldridge on writing for the theatreKatie Fforde on writing romantic fictionNeil Gaiman on writing cross-over fictionClaire Tomalin on writing biographiesSimon Winchester on writing non-fictionBenjamin Zephaniah on writing poetry

    Beyond the Bake Sale shows how to form these essential partnerships and how to make them work.Packed with tips from principals and teachers, checklists, and an invaluable resource section, Beyond the Bake Sale reveals how to build strong collaborative relationships and offers practical advice for improving interactions between parents and teachers, from insuring that PTA groups are constructive and inclusive to navigating the complex issues surrounding diversity in the classroom.Written with candor, clarity, and humor, Beyond the Bake Sale is essential reading for teachers, parents on the front lines in public schools, and administrators and policy makers at all levels.

    As a result, many students talk about college in ways that cause them to overlook some of their most important learning opportunities. Becoming a Learner asks students to carefully reconsider conventional common sense about college and learning, and invites them to consider a new conversation about college and learning that focuses on who they are becoming and their ability to learn.

    In Why They Can't Write, John Warner, who taught writing at the college level for two decades, argues that the problem isn't caused by a lack of rigor, or smartphones, or some generational character defect. Instead, he asserts, we're teaching writing wrong.Warner blames this on decades of educational reform rooted in standardization, assessments, and accountability. We have done no more, Warner argues, than conditioned students to perform "writing-related simulations," which pass temporary muster but do little to help students develop their writing abilities. This style of teaching has made students passive and disengaged. Worse yet, it hasn't prepared them for writing in the college classroom. Rather than making choices and thinking critically, as writers must, undergraduates simply follow the rules--such as the five-paragraph essay--designed to help them pass these high-stakes assessments.In Why They Can't Write, Warner has crafted both a diagnosis for what ails us and a blueprint for fixing a broken system. Combining current knowledge of what works in teaching and learning with the most enduring philosophies of classical education, this book challenges readers to develop the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and habits of mind of strong writers.

    Temple Grandin called "really helpful for teaching reading to children who are mathematical pattern thinkers..."For the past 70 years students have needed to break the complex code of English without help. This has resulted in low literacy rates and highly educated professionals who cannot spell. The principles taught in Uncovering the Logic of English describe 98% of English words and eliminate the need to guess.Simple answers are given for questions such as:* Why is there a silent final E in have?* Why don't we drop the E in noticeable?* Why is discussion spelled with -sion rather than -tion?As the rules unfold it becomes apparent how this knowledge is vital to reversing the educational crisis that is plaguing America. This slim volume is easy to read and accessible to parents and classroom teachers.

    And the best news? This book tells you how to do it without spending lots more time planning, researching and preparing out of this world lessons.All of the activities have been tried-and-tested in the classroom and are divided into three areas: ideas for embedding or preparing ''''by this time tomorrow'''', ''''by this time next month'''' and ''''by this time next term'''' so you can choose the activity you have time for. Each chapter focuses on a perennial issue in teaching and in inspection, such as differentiation, working with your Teaching Assistant and Assessment for Learning.There are dozens of starters and plenaries and useful websites, and the authors own website offers resources to save you even more time. A must for all primary school teachers who want to become outstanding, not just for the inspectors but for every child they teach.

    The books we hear or read when we are children stay with us all our lives. If we miss them when we are young, we’ll miss them forever: no Hungry Caterpillar, no Winn-Dixie, no Roll of Thunder. As adults we remember a few familiar favorites, but no one but an expert like Anita Silvey, with her thirty-five years at the heart of children’s book publishing, could put together an authoritative list like this one. Parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians, and bookstore clerks will feel completely comfortable recommending these books for any child, from infancy to almost-teens. Silvey includes, in addition to the 100 best, extensive lists of books to meet special needs and interests as well as classics, selected by age, to round out this extraordinarily useful work. In addition to giving an age range and the plot of each book, Silvey relates the fascinating, often hilarious story behind the story, something only an insider in the field of children’s publishing could tell. 100 Best Books for Children is as much fun to read as it is helpful.

    Moss and Susan M. Brookhart contend that improving student learning and achievement happens in the immediacy of an individual lesson--what they call today's lesson--or it doesn't happen at all.The key to making today's lesson meaningful? Learning targets. Written from students' point of view, a learning target describes a lesson-sized chunk of information and skills that students will come to know deeply. Each lesson's learning target connects to the next lesson's target, enabling students to master a coherent series of challenges that ultimately lead to important curricular standards.Drawing from the authors' extensive research and professional learning partnerships with classrooms, schools, and school districts, this practical book- Situates learning targets in a theory of action that students, teachers, principals, and central-office administrators can use to unify their efforts to raise student achievement and create a culture of evidence-based, results-oriented practice. - Provides strategies for designing learning targets that promote higher-order thinking and foster student goal setting, self-assessment, and self-regulation. - Explains how to design a strong performance of understanding, an activity that produces evidence of students' progress toward the learning target. - Shows how to use learning targets to guide summative assessment and grading. Learning Targets also includes reproducible planning forms, a classroom walk-through guide, a lesson-planning process guide, and guides to teacher and student self-assessment.What students are actually doing during today's lesson is both the source of and the yardstick for school improvement efforts. By applying the insights in this book to your own work, you can improve your teaching expertise and dramatically empower all students as stakeholders in their own learning.