The early formal years of education are the key to reversing the reading gap and setting up children for success. But K-4 education seems to widen the gap between stronger and weaker readers, not close it. Today, the Common Core further increases the pressure to reach high levels of rigor. What can be done?This book includes the strategies, systems, and lessons from the top classrooms that bring the habits of reading to life, creating countless quality opportunities for students to take one of the most complex skills we as people can know and to perform it fluently and easily.Offers clear teaching strategies for teaching reading to all students, no matter what levelIncludes more than 40 video examples from real classroomsWritten by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, bestselling author of "Driven by Data" and "Leverage Leadership""Great Habits, Great Readers" puts the focus on: learning habits, reading habits, guided reading, and independent reading.NOTE: Content DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of the e-book file, but are available for download after purchase

    Finally, students can "see" what good readers do and apply it to their own reading process. Think alouds are great for struggling readers, because they make reading an active, social experience. Includes engaging activities like Open Mind, Fish Bowl, Thought Bubbles, Post its, and more. For use with Grades 3-8.

    In this remarkable resource, Maria Walther shares two-page read-aloud experiences for 101 picture books that tune you into what to notice, say, and wonder in order to bolster students' literacy exponentially.A first-grade teacher for decades, Maria is a master of "strategic savoring." Her lesson design efficiently sparks instructional conversations around each book's cover illustration, enriching vocabulary words, literary language, and the ideas and themes vital to young learners.Teachers, schools, and districts looking to energize your core reading and writing program, search no further: The Ramped-Up Read Aloud delivers a formula for literacy development and a springboard to joy in equal parts.

    Alluring and captivating, they capture children's curiosity, give free reign to their imagination, and motivate learning.The hundreds of inspiring photographs showcase an array of loose parts in real early childhood settings. And the overviews of concepts children can learn when using loose parts provide the foundation for incorporating loose parts into your teaching to enhance play and empower children. The possibilities are truly endless.

    Rebecca brings us back to our better selves! -Naomi Shihab NyeIt's no secret that reading aloud to children every single day is one of the most important things any teacher, parent, or grown up can do to help children become better readers, thinkers, and frankly, better human beings. There are many resources available-scores of books, articles, web sites, videos, podcasts, and more that highlight the research on why reading aloud to kids is so vital, how to incorporate it into the day, and lists of texts to choose from for each grade level.The Artful Read-Aloud is a user-friendly guide that builds a bridge between the artistic world and the classroom, providing a deeper dive into the artistry of reading aloud. Rebecca Bellingham draws on her experience as a performer, teaching artist, classroom teacher, and literacy coach to make explicit connections between the arts and reading aloud, providing dozens of easy moves teachers can make that can enhance, elevate, and deepen the impact of interactive read-alouds.Each chapter focuses on a specific guiding principle that is drawn from the arts and is meant to spark engagement, provoke inquiry, and inspire deep thinking. She includes practical tips for how to bring each principle to life in the classroom, including:how to embody the text by making small shifts with your body and voice to bring the words to life, helping kids envision different characters and their actions more completely learning when to slow down, pause, and read in an deliberate and careful way to give kids time to think, feel, process, and connect when and how to create opportunities for talk, giving kids the space to ask questions and reflect on what they notice, wonder, and predict how to give kids a chance to move around as they try on characters, recreate scenes, learn about new concepts, and live inside the book prioritizing read alouds that give students practice listening to and learning from diverse voices while creating space for meaningful conversation about important issues relating to injustice, identity, inequality, and more ways to be intentional in your choices, from matching books to the students in front of you to choosing passages that support instructional goals and teaching points. Reading aloud to your students supports a balanced, rigorous, and joyful literacy curriculum that not only feeds the souls and minds of your students but your own as well. Dip into The Artful Read-Aloud and see what's possible inside your daily read-alouds. By learning to make simple moves that model what real reading looks and sounds like you can help your students become the kind of readers all of us hope they will become: engaged, thoughtful, lifelong ones.

    It's about combining what we know about the research process, about thinking, and about people working together to create a structure that consistently supports kids to build knowledge that matters in their lives." -Stephanie Harvey and Harvey "Smokey" DanielsListen to a podcast with Smokey and two master teachers who use inquiry circles Comprehension and Collaboration: Inquiry Circles in Action occurs at the intersection of comprehension, collaboration, and inquiry and serves as a guide for teachers who want to realize the benefits of well-structured, student-led, cross-curricular projects. Stephanie Harvey (Strategies That Work and The Comprehension Toolkit series) and Harvey "Smokey" Daniels (Literature Circles and Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles): - lay the foundation for inquiry circles by chronicling the current research and practices behind comprehension instruction and classroom collaboration - explain nine fundamental classroom conditions needed for active, small-group learning - provide 26 practical lessons in comprehension, collaboration, and research - offer how-to instructions for four types of inquiry circles-mini-research projects; curricular inquiries; extensions of literature circles; and open inquiry projects - address characteristic management concerns, such as how to use the Internet for research and how to assess and monitor student achievement. Throughout, chapters offer a mix of materials for you to grab and go as well as some big ideas to think through as you customize inquiry circles for your students. It is time for another stronger, more intentional era of education. Comprehension and Collaboration: Inquiry Circles in Action will serve as your companion and provide a guiding light on this important endeavor.

    

     And yet it feels impossible to have that focus when you’re exhausted and overwhelmed. How can you make a difference when you’re distracted by never-ending paperwork, meetings, errands, and housework? How can you give the best of yourself when you’re bogged down with mundane tasks and unfulfilling obligations? You’ll never have enough time to do everything. But there is a way to free up time, attention, and energy for the things that really matter: the activities that truly impact student learning; the practices that make you a more effective educator; and the routines that make your home and personal life more fulfilling. Throughout this book, you’ll learn how to disrupt the status quo by challenging school and cultural norms. You’ll also discover how to create healthy boundaries, overcome feelings of self-doubt, release yourself from perfectionism, and decide what work/life balance looks like for you. "Fewer Things, Better" will help you challenge the correlation between hours worked and effectiveness. It’s not about how much you’re working; it’s what you’re using your hours to focus on. As you read, you’ll gain clarity on what’s most important in every aspect of your life and work so you can allocate time to your biggest priorities. You’ll deepen the courage it takes to live with intentionality, so you can do more of what you love and let go of habits and expectations which aren’t serving you well. It’s time to release yourself from the feeling of never having done enough. It’s time to stop giving in to the pressure to be constantly busy. It’s time to do fewer things, so what remains can be done even better.

    Pez dispensers. Nerf balls. When we give students junk to reward reading, we are focusing their intention away from the act of reading and from their own independence as readers. Instead, we can create classrooms where reading is seen as its own reward. In this book, esteemed researcher Linda Gambrell provides a research-based context for cultivating children's intrinsic motivation to read and identifies three essential principles, the ARC of motivation:access: giving kids a wealth of reading materials and opportunities to discuss texts relevance: offering high interest, moderately challenging and authentic reading experiences choice: allowing students to self-select texts and reading activities What exactly do those principles look like in action? Reading specialist and researcher Barbara Marinak shares the strategies and techniques that make a difference for student readers' motivation, turning disengaged readers into passionate ones. Pizza and Pez dispensers are short lived, Linda and Barbara write, but confident and empowered readers are likely to remain motivated for life.

    She very eloquently shows us why and how education needs to change...Teacher made me laugh and cry. I loved it!' - Kathy Margolis, former teacher and activist.Watching children learn is a beautiful and extraordinary experience. Their bodies transform, reflecting inner changes. Teeth fall out. Knees scab. Freckles multiply. Throughout the year they grow in endless ways and I can almost see their self-esteem rising, their confidence soaring, their small bodies now empowered. Given wings.They fall in love with learning.It is a kind of magic, a kind of loving, a kind of art.It is teaching.Just teaching.Just what I do.What I did.Past tense.In 2014, Gabrielle Stroud was a very dedicated teacher with over a decade of experience. Months later, she resigned in frustration and despair when she realised that the Naplan-test education model was stopping her from doing the very thing she was best at: teaching individual children according to their needs and talents. Her ground-breaking essay 'Teaching Australia' in the Feb 2016 Griffith Review outlined her experiences and provoked a huge response from former and current teachers around the world. That essay lifted the lid on a scandal that is yet to properly break - that our education system is unfair to our children and destroying their teachers. In a powerful memoir inspired by her original essay, Gabrielle tells the full story: how she came to teaching, what makes a great teacher, what our kids need from their teachers, and what it was that finally broke her. A brilliant and heart-breaking memoir that cuts to the heart of a vital matter of national importance.

    Unlike so many education 'reforms, ' this is not small-bore stuff. For that reason alone, it's likely to be resisted by defenders of the status quo, even though it's necessary and right for our kids. We owe it to them to make sure this book isn't merely a terrific read; it must become a blueprint for educational transformation." --Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education"A brilliant teacher, Christensen brings clarity to a muddled and chaotic world of education."--Jim Collins, bestselling author of "Good to Great"According to recent studies in neuroscience, the way we learn doesn't always match up with the way we are taught. If we hope to stay competitive-academically, economically, and technologically-we need to rethink our understanding of intelligence, reevaluate our educational system, and reinvigorate our commitment to learning. In other words, we need "disruptive innovation."Now, in his long-awaited new book, Clayton M. Christensen and coauthors Michael B. Horn and Curtis W. Johnson take one of the most important issues of our time-education-and apply Christensen's now-famous theories of "disruptive" change using a wide range of real-life examples. Whether you're a school administrator, government official, business leader, parent, teacher, or entrepreneur, you'll discover surprising new ideas, outside-the-box strategies, and straight-A success stories.You'll learn how Customized learning will help many more students succeed in school Student-centric classrooms will increase the demand for new technology Computers must be disruptively deployed to every student Disruptive innovation can circumvent roadblocks that have prevented other attempts at school reform We can compete in the global classroom-and get ahead in the global marketFilled with fascinating case studies, scientific findings, and unprecedented insights on how innovation must be managed, "Disrupting Class" will open your eyes to new possibilities, unlock hidden potential, and get you to think differently. Professor Christensen and his coauthors provide a bold new lesson in innovation that will help you make the grade for years to come.The future is now. Class is in session.

    If you are a high school teacher or a kindergarten teacher, the seven steps in The Wild Card will give you the knowledge and the confidence to bring creative teaching strategies into your classroom.You'll learn: Why the deck is not stacked against you, no matter what kind of hand you've been dealt Why you should never listen to the Joker How to identify the "Ace up your sleeve" and use it to create classroom magic How to apply the "Rules of Rigor" in order to fuse creativity with learning How to become the "Wild Card" that changes the game for your students

    The predictable results: stress and conflict, frustration and exhaustion. Parents respond by reassuring themselves that at least the benefits outweigh the costs. But what if they don't? In The Homework Myth, nationally known educator and parenting expert Alfie Kohn systematically examines the usual defenses of homework--that it promotes higher achievement, "reinforces" learning, and teaches study skills and responsibility. None of these assumptions, he shows, actually passes the test of research, logic, or experience. So why do we continue to administer this modern cod liver oil -- or even demand a larger dose? Kohn's incisive analysis reveals how a mistrust of children, a set of misconceptions about learning, and a misguided focus on competitiveness have all left our kids with less free time and our families with more conflict. Pointing to parents who have fought back -- and schools that have proved educational excellence is possible without homework -- Kohn shows how we can rethink what happens during and after school in order to rescue our families and our children's love of learning.

    The author explains what a classroom number talk is; how to follow students’ thinking and pose the right questions to build understanding; how to prepare for and design purposeful number talks; and how to develop grade-level specific thinking strategies for the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Number Talks includes connections to NCTM’s Principles and Standards for School Mathematics as well as reference tables to help you quickly and easily locate strategies, number talks, and video clips. Includes a Facilitator’s Guide and DVD.

    It's never too late."-Penny KittlePenny Kittle wants us to face the hard truths every English teacher fears: too many kids don't read the assigned texts, and some even manage to slip by without having ever read a single book by the time they graduate. As middle and high school reading declines, college professors lament students' inability to comprehend and analyze complex texts, while the rest of us wonder: what do we lose as a society when so many of our high school graduates have no interest in reading anything?In Book Love Penny takes student apathy head on, first by recognizing why students don't read and then showing us that when we give kids books that are right for them, along with time to read and regular response to their thinking, we can create a pathway to satisfying reading that leads to more challenging literature and ultimately, a love of reading. With a clear eye on the reality of today's classrooms, Penny provides practical strategies and advice on:increasing volume, capacity, and complexity over time creating a balance of independent reading, text study, and novel study helping students deepen their thinking through writing about reading building a classroom library with themes that matter to 21st century kids. Book Love is a call to arms for putting every single kid, no exceptions allowed, on a personal reading journey. But much more than that, it's a powerful reminder of why we became English teachers in the first place: our passion for books. Books matter. Stories heal. The right book in the hands of a kid can change a life forever. We can't wait for anyone else to teach our students a love of books-it's up to us and the time is now. If not you, who? For information about the Book Love Foundation, which provides classroom libraries to deserving teachers and schools, visit booklovefoundation.org.