Book picks similar to
The Book Club Companion: Fostering Strategic Readers in the Secondary Classroom by Cindy O'Donnell-Allen
teaching
pedagogy
teacher-books
education
Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters
Robert Probst - 2017
Now, in Disrupting Thinking they take teachers a step further and discuss an on-going problem: lack of engagement with reading. They explain that all too often, no matter the strategy shared with students, too many students remain disengaged and reluctant readers. The problem, they suggest, is that we have misrepresented to students why we read and how we ought to approach any text - fiction or nonfiction. With their hallmark humor and their appreciated practicality, Beers and Probst present a vision of what reading and what education across all the grades could be. Hands-on-strategies make it applicable right away for the classroom teacher, and turn-and-talk discussion points make it a guidebook for school-wide conversations. In particular, they share new strategies and ideas for helping classroom teachers:–Create engagement and relevance–Encourage responsive and responsible reading–Deepen comprehension–Develop lifelong reading habits“We think it’s time we finally do become a nation of readers, and we know it’s time students learn to tell fake news from real news. It’s time we help students understand why how they read is so important,” explain Beers and Probst. “Disrupting Thinking is, at its heart, an exploration of how we help students become the reader who does so much more than decode, recall, or choose the correct answer from a multiple-choice list. This book shows us how to help students become the critical thinkers our nation needs them to be." Includes online resource bank.
Setting Limits in the Classroom: How to Move Beyond the Dance of Discipline in Today's Classrooms
Robert J. MacKenzie - 1996
That’s why thousands of teachers and child-care providers have turned to the solutions in Setting Limits in the Classroom. This fully updated and expanded third edition offers the most up-to-date alternatives to punishment and permissiveness—moving beyond traditional methods that wear you down and get you nowhere.Topics include:• Eliminating power struggles and handling disruptions quickly• Establishing an effective environment for learning• Using natural and logical consequences to support your rules• Conducting proactive, focused parent conferences• New research and techniques for supporting special-needs childrenWith its new focus on younger students and special tools for handling “strong-willed” children, this edition offers schoolteachers the tools they need to gain control of their classrooms—respectfully and effectively. From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students
Jessica Minahan - 2012
MoreThe Behavior Code includes user-friendly worksheets and other helpful resources.
Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms
Timothy D. Walker - 2017
That was in 2001; but even today, this tiny Nordic nation continues to amaze. How does Finnish education—with short school days, light homework loads, and little standardized testing—produce students who match the PISA scores of high-powered, stressed-out kids in Asia?When Timothy D. Walker started teaching fifth graders at a Helsinki public school, he began a search for the secrets behind the successes of Finland’s schools. Walker wrote about several of those discoveries, and his Atlantic articles on this subject became hot topics of conversation. Here, he gathers all he learned and reveals how any teacher can implement many of Finland's best practices.Remarkably, Finland is prioritizing the joy of learning in its newest core curricula and Walker carefully highlights specific strategies that support joyful K-12 classrooms and integrate seamlessly with educational standards in the United States.From incorporating brain breaks to offering a peaceful learning environment, this book pulls back the curtain on the joyful teaching practices of the world's most lauded school system. His message is simple but profound: these Finland-inspired strategies can be used in the U.S. and other countries. No educator—or parent of a school-aged child—will want to miss out on the message of joy and change conveyed in this book.
Writing about Reading: From Book Talk to Literary Essays, Grades 3-8
Janet Angelillo - 2003
She shows us how to teach students to manage all the thinking and questioning that precedes their putting pen to paper. More than that, she offers us smarter ways to have students write about their reading that can last them a lifetime. She demonstrates how students' responses to reading canstart in a notebook, in conversation, or in a read aloud lead to thinking guided by literary criticism reflect deeper text analysis and honest writing processes result in a variety of popular genres--book reviews, author profiles, commentaries, editorials, and the literary essay. She even includes tools for teaching-day-by-day units of study, teaching points, a sample minilesson, and lots of student examples-plus chapters on yearlong planning and assessment. Ensure that your students will be readers and writers long after they leave you. Get them enthused and empowered to use whatever they read-facts, statistics, the latest book--as fuel for writing in school and in their working lives. Read Angelillo.
Breathing New Life Into Book Clubs: A Practical Guide for Teachers
Sonja Cherry-Paul - 2019
Managing classroom book clubs can be hard. Real hard. But honestly, is there any better way to get students vested in reading? When book clubs work, don't they create a culture of reading unlike anything else? One that brings out the very best in our students?With both infectious enthusiasm and a realistic perspective, Sonja and Dana take on teachers' doubts and concerns about book clubs, and build a compelling case for their value in every classroom. They provide all the nuts and bolts for creating and managing successful book clubs, including:Dozens of pitfalls and pathways minilessons that address common roadblocks Tips for using technology to enhance book club work for deeper student engagement Suggested book bins for book club work, organized by grade level and genre. Whether you're looking to breathe new life into book clubs or begin implementing them in your classroom, Sonja and Dana give you essential strategies to make book clubs work. Because book clubs, they write, are where students fall in love with reading.
We Got This.: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be
Cornelius Minor - 2018
You want to make everything about reading or math. It's not always about that. At school, you guys do everything except listen to me. Y'all want to use your essays and vocabulary words to save my future, but none of y'all know anything about saving my now.In We Got This Cornelius Minor describes how this conversation moved him toward realizing that listening to children is one of the most powerful things a teacher can do. By listening carefully, Cornelius discovered something that kids find themselves having to communicate far too often. That my lessons were not, at all, linked to that student's reality.While challenging the teacher as hero trope, We Got This shows how authentically listening to kids is the closest thing to a superpower that we have. What we hear can spark action that allows us to make powerful moves toward equity by broadening access to learning for all children. A lone teacher can't eliminate inequity, but Cornelius demonstrates that a lone teacher can confront the scholastic manifestations of racism, sexism, ableism and classism by showing:exactly how he plans and revises lessons to ensure access and equity ways to look anew at explicit and tacit rules that consistently affect groups of students unequally suggestions for leaning into classroom community when it feels like the kids are against you ideas for using universal design that make curriculum relevant and accessible advocacy strategies for making classroom and schoolwide changes that expand access to opportunity to your students We cannot guarantee outcomes, but we can guarantee access Cornelius writes. We can ensure that everyone gets a shot. In this book we get to do that. Together. Consider this book a manual for how to begin that brilliantly messy work. We got this.
Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching
Meenoo Rami - 2014
In Thrive, Meenoo shares the five strategies that helped her become a confident, connected teacher. From how to find mentors and build networks, both online and off, to advocating for yourself and empowering your students, Thrive shows new and veteran teachers alike how to overcome the challenges and meet the demands of our profession. Praise for Thrive "Whether you are entering your first year of teaching or your 40th, Thrive feels as if it were written just for you. At a time in our profession when many of us are feeling stretched thin, Meenoo Rami offers strategies to reignite our passions and rediscover why we chose to teach." -Christopher Lehman, coauthor of Falling in Love with Close Reading "Teaching is a profession that eats its young. Meenoo Rami offers guidelines for surviving the challenges of the classroom as well as the faculty room." -Carol Jago, author, teacher, and past president of NCTE "Thrive includes a mosaic of dynamic teacher voices from many grade levels and content areas. Reading their stories deepened my thinking about the immense untapped potential of our profession. Meenoo Rami's vision of teaching and learning can sustain us all." -Penny Kittle, author of Book Love Join the conversation on Twitter at #edthrive. SAVE on a book study bundle! 15% off 15 copies.
Other People's Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy
Victoria Purcell-Gates - 1995
These are the children and grandchildren of Appalachian families who migrated to northern cities in the 1950s to look for work. They make up this largely "invisible" urban group, a minority that represents a significant portion of the urban poor. Literacy researchers have rarely studied urban Appalachians, yet, as Victoria Purcell-Gates demonstrates in Other People's Words, their often severe literacy problems provide a unique perspective on literacy and the relationship between print and culture.A compelling case study details the author's work with one such family. The parents, who attended school off and on through the seventh grade, are unable to use public transportation, shop easily, or understand the homework their elementary-school-age son brings home because neither of them can read. But the family is not so much illiterate as low literate--the world they inhabit is an oral one, their heritage one where print had no inherent use and no inherent meaning. They have as much to learn about the culture of literacy as about written language itself.Purcell-Gates shows how access to literacy has been blocked by a confluence of factors: negative cultural stereotypes, cultural and linguistic elitism, and pedagogical obtuseness. She calls for the recruitment and training of "proactive" teachers who can assess and encourage children's progress and outlines specific intervention strategies.
No More "I'm Done!": Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades
Jennifer Jacobson - 2010
No More "I'm Done!" demonstrates how to create a more productive, engaging, and rewarding writer's workshop. Jennifer guides teachers from creating a supportive classroom environment through establishing effective routines; shows teachers how to set up a writer's workshop; and provides an entire year of developmentally appropriate mini-lessons that build confidence and, ultimately, independence.
When Readers Struggle: Teaching That Works
Gay Su Pinnell - 2008
It's filled with specific teaching ideas for helping children in kindergarten through Grade 3 who are having difficulty in reading and writing.We want these young students to think and behave like effective readers who not only solve words skillfully but comprehend deeply and read fluently. To achieve our goal, we need to place them in situations in which they can succeed and then provide powerful teaching. Gay Su Pinnell and Irene Fountas offer numerous examples and descriptions of instruction that can help initially struggling readers become strategic readers. When Readers Struggle: Teaching That Works focuses on small-group intervention and individual interactions during reading and writing. Pinnell and Fountas also illustrate how to closely observe readers to make the best possible teaching decisions for them as well as how to support struggling readers in whole-class settings.Find immediately usable answers to your questions about struggling readers from educators you trust. Read Pinnell and Fountas's When Readers Struggle: Teaching That Works and find teaching that works for struggling readers.
Shake Up Learning: Practical Ideas to Move Learning from Static to Dynamic
Kasey Bell - 2018
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 learning Straightforward and easy-to-use templates for crafting engaging learning opportunities Tips and tricks for fearless implementation of powerful lesson plans Advice 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.
Conscious Classroom Management: Unlocking the Secrets of Great Teaching
Rick Smith - 2004
His deep understanding of how we learn, his highly nuanced, empathetic humor, and his gentle regard for fellow learners of any age combine to provide the reader with 'aha after aha.'-Bea Warner, Staff Development DirectorEscondido, CAMake your job easier! Find out what really works for effective classroom management and reap the benefits of engaged and productive students!Conscious Classroom Management is a delightfully rich text that incorporates meaningful stories, insights, humor, and invaluable strategies for what really works in the classroom. And while classroom management is the primary factor behind how successful teachers can achieve sustained student learning, this wonderful text also addresses the human elements of teaching, focusing on three primary subjects: the students, the teacher, and the relationship between the two. Comprehensive and practical, Conscious Classroom Management helps teachers to: Eliminate power struggles with your most challenging students Discover how holding your ground can help students cooperate Uncover your teacher presence while reducing stress Create lessons that help students remainfocused, eager, and willing to learn Appreciate your craft at a deeper level Think ahead and prepare to teach Energize and invigorate how you mentor and train other teachersFor the novice, first-year teacher to the veteran, classroom-tested teacher, classroom management is the most critical factor for sustained student learning. And eliminating the cycle of student misbehavior is the cornerstone for effective classroom management. This reference transcends every level of preparation and provides new and experienced teachers with the practical and comprehensive strategies necessary to get the most out of every student. Written in an easy-to-read and humorous, conversational style, this resource is indispensable for new teacher induction or regular staff development.
The First-Year Teacher's Survival Guide: Ready-To-Use Strategies, Tools & Activities for Meeting the Challenges of Each School Day
Julia G. Thompson - 2002
Packed with valuable tips, the book helps new teachers with everything from becoming effective team players and connecting with students to handling behavior problems and working within diverse classrooms.The new edition is fully revised and updated to cover changes in the K-12 classroom over the past five years. Updates to the second edition include: - New ways teachers can meet the professional development requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act - Entirely new section on helping struggling readers, to address the declining literacy rate among today's students - Expanded coverage of helpful technology solutions for the classroom - Expanded information on teaching English Language Learners - Greater coverage of the issues/challenges facing elementary teachers - More emphasis on how to reach and teach students of poverty - Updated study techniques that have proven successful with at-risk students - Tips on working effectively within a non-traditional school year schedule - The latest strategies for using graphic organizers - More emphasis on setting goals to help students to succeed - More information on intervening with students who are capable but choose not to work - Updated information on teachers' rights and responsibilities regarding discipline issues - Fully revised Resources appendix including the latest educational Web sites and software
Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning: Learning in the Age of Empowerment
Charles Schwahn - 2010