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.

    

    Halpern is funny. He is handsome. He likes to laugh. I love Mr. Halpern. How can I top that? Who doesn't want to be funny, handsome, laugh all the time, and be loved by their students? What they don't know is I left a dreary cubicle job for the exciting, never boring life of a kindergarten teacher eight years ago and never looked back. I have seen and heard some crazy, hilarious, and even touching moments. Look at My Happy Rainbow is my account of the first few years working in a kindergarten classroom experiencing the day to day trials and tribulations and trying to see the world a little more through the eyes of a five-year-old. From the first time a child reached up to take my hand to learning the true value of zipping a coat, being a 'rooster in a world of hens' my unique perspective on teaching and children will (hopefully) warm your heart, make you laugh, and might even help you remember what it felt like to be in kindergarten. Warning: I have a very short attention span (this is why I'm so well suited to teach kindergarten). Some of the chapters are short. One is less than one page. I think this makes the book 'charming', but please know - this is not War and Peace.

    In this inspiring book, the genius behind the triumphs in Room 56 and on the stage with the Hobart Shakespeareans returns with words of wisdom and advice for those who struggle day to day in the world’s hardest profession. After thirty-plus years in the job, Esquith still puts in the countless classroom hours with which any dedicated teacher will be instantly familiar. He recognizes that new teachers and veteran educators need different kinds of nourishment, whether it’s encouragement to see through a teacher’s difficult early years, advice on midcareer classroom building, or novel ideas for how longtime educators can put their expertise to work. Mixing his trademark offbeat humor and no-nonsense maxims with instructive stories and useful in-class advice, Esquith proves the perfect companion for teachers who need a quick pick-me-up, a long heart-to-heart, or just a momentary reminder that they’re not alone. Real Talk for Real Teachers is from-the-hip advice to help teachers of every stripe cope with the overwhelming challenges of the classroom and beyond.

    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.

    If we follow the guidance offered from 35 years of research, says author Robert J. Marzano, we can enter an era of unprecedented effectiveness for the public practice of education. In What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action, Marzano synthesizes that research to provide clear and unequalled insight into the nature of schooling.Marzano defines the factors affecting student achievement and offers compelling answers to once-elusive questions:How can schools set academic goals that do not underestimate student potential?How critical are staff collegiality and professional development?Do all students have equal opportunity to learn, given current curriculum requirements?Supplemental versus required content-is there room for redefinition?What types of parental and community involvement make a real difference?What instructional strategies really work?What influence can an individual teacher have (as separate from the influence of the overall school)?How can teachers manage classrooms that promote positive student-and-teacher relationships?How can teachers structure their curricula to better sequence and pace content?Can teachers really overcome a student's negative home environment?How does an understanding of motivation theories help students and teachers overcome learning obstacles?What specific learning strategies can enhance learned intelligence and background knowledge?In each chapter, Marzano recommends specific-and attainable-action steps to implement successful strategies culled from the wealth of research data.Schools can and do affect student achievement. In his latest work, Marzano leads the way in establishing positive approaches that can make the long-held dream of effective public education a reality.

    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.

    Containing information necessary for teachers to teach math through problem solving, this resource is filled with engaging activities from every strand of mathematics.

    Costa and Bena Kallick present a comprehensive guide to shaping schools around Habits of Mind. The habits are a repertoire of behaviors that help both students and teachers successfully navigate the various challenges and problems they encounter in the classroom and in everyday life. The Habits of Mind include* Persisting* Managing impulsivity* Listening with understanding and empathy* Thinking flexibly* Thinking about thinking (metacognition)* Striving for accuracy* Questioning and posing problems* Applying past knowledge to new situations* Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision* Gathering data through all senses* Creating, imagining, innovating* Responding with wonderment and awe* Taking responsible risks* Finding humor* Thinking interdependently* Remaining open to continuous learningThis volume brings together--in a revised and expanded format--concepts from the four books in Costa and Kallick's earlier work Habits of Mind: A Developmental Series. Along with other highly respected scholars and practitioners, the authors explain how the 16 Habits of Mind dovetail with up-to-date concepts of what constitutes intelligence; present instructional strategies for activating the habits and creating a thought-full classroom environment; offer assessment and reporting strategies that incorporate the habits; and provide real-life examples of how communities, school districts, building administrators, and teachers can integrate the habits into their school culture. Drawing upon their research and work over many years, in many countries, Costa and Kallick present a compelling rationale for using the Habits of Mind as a foundation for leading, teaching, learning, and living well in a complex world.

    

     When we tell kids to complete an assignment, we get compliance. When we empower kids to explore and learn how to make an impact on the world, we inspire problem solvers and innovators. This required change in education involves more than providing training for administrators and teachers to implement new curriculum or programs and resources; it demands that we, as teachers and leaders, create an environment where learners at every level are empowered to take risks in pursuit of learning and growth rather than perfection. This book is for you if you are wondering . . . What if learners were valued for their diverse talents and not just our traditional model of “smart”? What if I could create new and better experiences for those I serve? What if I could inspire students to learn, to discover their passions, and to share their ideas with the world? “This must-read book will inspire you to create experiences that develop learners, workers, and citizens who will thrive in a changing world.” —Linda Darling-Hammond, president, Learning Policy Institute “Katie not only provides an analysis of what's (glaringly) wrong in education, she also paints a bright vision for what's possible and provides a practical roadmap for how we might get there.” —Kaleb Rashad, director, High Tech High, San Diego “In Learner-Centered Innovation, Martin eloquently shares evidence-based, practical ways to ignite curiosity, develop passions, and unleash student genius through the types of learning experiences that today’s modern learners need to thrive in tomorrow’s world.” —Thomas C. Murray, director of innovation, Future Ready Schools “Learner-Centered Innovation is an inspirational call to action for all educators who dream of a brighter future for our children.” —Devin Vodicka, chief impact officer, AltSchool

    And when his Oprah appearance shot the book onto the New York Times bestseller list, he kept the heat on. We can expect the same tenacious commitment to promoting his follow-up book, The Excellent 11.The Excellent 11 contains eleven sections, with each one focusing on a theme directly related to teaching and raising children. Ron Clark draws from his own experience to give advice, telling personal stories that demonstrate the significance of each theme within the learning environment--an environment that extends beyond the classroom and into the larger world. Using themes ranging from Adventure, Ingenuity, and Humor to Dedication, Creativity, and Love, Clark provides a road map for both parents and teachers who want to enrich their children's learning experiences.

    I don't have anything to write about! they say. And when writing does happen, how do you help them develop these ideas into more effective pieces?A powerful tool to jumpstart writingIn The Quickwrite Handbook, master teacher Linda Rief shares 100 compelling mentor texts and shows how to use each one as a powerful tool for sparking successful writing. Each mentor text includes Try this suggestions for inviting students to get started. You'll also find Interludes woven throughout: examples of quickwrites that students crafted into more fully developed pieces.These mentor texts are curated in four categories:Seeing Inward How do students view themselves?Leaning Outward What do students consider when they step outside of themselves?Beyond Self What do students notice and wonder about the world at large?Looking Back How does reflection help students grow into more articulate, thoughtful citizens of the world? Quickwrites go beyond writing promptsThe pages of this book champion Linda's wise words: Quickwrites-writing to find writing-are a powerful teaching tool that help students find ideas, discover their voices, and build their confidence as they discover they have important things to say.Quickwrites are more than a set of formulaic prompts. They are opportunities for students to use another writer's words to stimulate their thinking and-through writing themselves-to discover a voice they didn't know they had.

     This illuminating book shows how to make this scenario an everyday reality. With its foundation in principles introduced in the authors' bestselling Visible Learning for Literacy, this resource delves more deeply into the critical component of self-assessment, revealing the most effective types of assessment and how each can motivate students to higher levels of achievement.

    Tomlinson shows how to use students' readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles to address student diversity.