Use these fun, easy-to-use activities to tackle the most challenging aspect of reading! "Finally, someone has written a practical book filled with easy-to-read comprehension strategies. I will definitely use this book with teachers in my district to teach about and review comprehension strategies. The section on ′How Can We Learn More′ is also fantastic. Thank you, Kathleen Jonson." --Hazel Brauer, Literacy Coordinator Jefferson Elementary School District, Daly City, CA "This book is a comprehensive, well-organized guide to teaching reading comprehension. The clear, consistent layout of the lesson plans makes it easy for the teacher to locate and implement appropriate lessons quickly. The examples are very helpful and the templates allow a teacher to begin lessons immediately. The wide variety of lesson plans makes this guide truly useful for all grade levels." --Myra Gamble, Reading Specialist Spring Valley School, Millbrae, CA Comprehension is the final goal of reading, but because it involves several cognitive processes, it remains the most difficult facet of reading development to teach. Based on the recommendations of the National Reading Panel Report, 60 Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension in Grades K-8 provides teachers with a ready-to-use toolkit of tried-and-true learning strategies designed to actively engage students in cognitive processes, including predicting, visualizing, making inferences, monitoring, synthesizing, and summarizing. Developed as specific instructional procedures with clearly delineated steps for implementation, these entertaining activities are effective in all types of classrooms. Each of the 60 strategies in the book includes: Grade-level recommendations Goals for each strategy Step-by-step instructions Graphics and examples of student work Directions for modifying strategies for different grade levels Literary expert Kathleen Feeney Jonson has created an exciting resource to help educators teach the most difficult piece of the reading process: comprehension. Offering a rare combination of fun and function, these strategies are sure to get students to listen, laugh, and most important, to learn.
Elementary school provides foundational development and education for students, and there is much that a new teacher must consider when taking on the responsibility of shaping young minds. In The New Elementary Teacher’s Handbook, veteran educators give first-year teachers a multitude of classroom-tested strategies for those critical first days of school. New teachers need just as much guidance as students in order for everyone to come away with a valuable learning experience. This authoritative handbook gives teachers practical and thorough instruction on: · Organizing the classroom and preparing engaging and effective lesson plans · Teaching using technology and the Internet · Dealing with difficult parents and conducting conferences · Motivating students and increasing positive interactions · Balancing personal and professional matters With resources, samples, templates, homework contracts, strategies, checklists, and proven solutions to everyday challenges, this book shows teachers how to turn their plans into effective strategies in the classroom. Rest assured that you are not alone, and you will succeed!
Now I Get It! Differentiate, Engage, and Read for Deeper Meaning is a practical, easy to use resource for classroom teachers, literacy coaches, school administrators and post secondary instructors. Parents will also find the information helpful as they assist their children wi...
Teachers are being bombarded with ideas for teaching nonfiction, but what really works? In this essential book, dynamic author Lori G. Wilfong describes ten best practices for teaching nonfiction and how to implement them in the classroom. She also points out practices that should be avoided, helping you figure out which strategies to ditch and which to embrace. Topics covered include... Finding quality, differentiated texts to teach content Selecting support strategies with purpose Providing students with a range of scaffolds for effective summary writing Purposely selecting vocabulary words to support content learning Working with students to develop strategies to cite textual evidence Using text structure as both a reading and writing tool for analyzing nonfiction And much more! Every chapter begins with an engaging scenario and ends with action steps to help you get started. The book also contains tons of handy templates that you can reproduce and use in your own classroom.
Doing What Works: Literacy Strategies for the Next Level will assist educators as they support students in the mastery of vocabulary, comprehension, and study skills required by the Common Core State Standards. All strategies have been carefully selected based on their ease of use, utility in terms of scaffolding, differentiation, and simplicity of format. Judy Tilton Brunner designed this key sourcebook for educators who need or want to cultivate their students’ vocabulary development, reading comprehension, note taking, and general study skills. Doing What Works provides practical, effective, and research-based strategies to help students remember and understand what they read at the highest levels of cognition: layering of texts, close reading, collaborating, using a variety of sources, teaching uncommon vocabulary, and posing text-dependent. By incorporating these teaching strategies into classroom instruction, educators will teach with purpose, and students will learn with independence.
This practical book grows out of a recent report written by the RAND Reading Study Group (RRSG), which proposed a national research agenda in the area of reading comprehension. Here, RRSG members have expanded on their findings and translated them into clear recommendations to inform practice. Teachers gain the latest knowledge about how students learn to comprehend texts and what can be done to improve the quality of instruction in this essential domain. From leading literacy scholars, the book explains research-based ways to: *Plan effective instruction for students at all grade levels *Meet the comprehension needs of English-language learners *Promote adolescents' comprehension of subject-area texts *Understand the complexities of comprehension assessment *Get optimal benefits from instructional technologies *And much more!
This updated edition provides information on stages of teacher development, professional growth, assessment of student work, mentors within teacher induction programs, and components of successful mentoring initiatives.
Essentials of Evidence-Based Academic Interventions puts at your fingertips the successful instructional techniques and materials necessary for accurate and effective use of evidence-based interventions. Written by Barbara Wendling and Nancy Mather, two experts in educational assessment and intervention, this intervention-oriented reference presents clear descriptions of research-based interventions in the areas of: phonological awareness and beginning reading phonics; phonics and sight word instruction; reading fluency; vocabulary and reading comprehension; spelling, handwriting, and written expression; basic math skills; and math problem-solving.
In this fully revised and expanded third edition of the bestselling Reciprocal Teaching at Work, Lori D. Oczkus provides both tried-and-true and fresh solutions for teaching reading comprehension. Reciprocal teaching is a scaffolded discussion technique that builds on the Fab Four strategies that good readers use to understand text: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. With a focus on these four evidence-based and classroom-tested strategies, Oczkus presents new ways to use reciprocal teaching to improve students' comprehension while actively engaging them in learning and encouraging independence. Appealing to students and teachers alike, reciprocal teaching encompasses social aspects of teaching and learning with modeling, think-alouds, and discussion. This helpful guide is packed with fresh material, including * More than 40 new and updated step-by-step lessons and minilessons that reflect current thinking and best practice. * Dozens of rich suggestions for diving into informational texts. * Updated research and relevant results that show the effectiveness of reciprocal teaching. * Creative and targeted tips that capitalize on the specific benefits of whole-class settings, guided reading groups, and literature circles. * Ideas for differentiating instruction for struggling readers and English language learners. * New and newly designed support materials, including reproducibles, posters, bookmarks, and a lesson planning menu. With a wealth of ideas to get you started—and keep you going—this is the all-inclusive resource you need to help students become active, engaged, and independent readers who truly comprehend what they read. Reviews and Testimonials "Literacy coach and author Lori Oczkus knows how to take the best of what works from long-established research and showcase it to make teaching and learning more effective, engaging, and enjoyable. In her latest edition of Reciprocal Teaching at Work, she demonstrates how to scaffold instruction so that all K–12 students can benefit from reciprocal teaching techniques, what she calls the "Fab Four"—predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing—in whole-group, guided reading, and book club settings, for both fiction and informational texts. In clearly delineated lessons and minilessons, Lori deftly shares how to support students' learning, including English language learners and students who struggle, so they can successfully apply and monitor those four discussion strategies—as well as troubleshoot problems—to yield significant progress in their reading comprehension. Filled with great practical ideas, this gem of a book is a must-have for all literacy educators!" —Regie Routman, author of Read, Write, Lead; Literacy Essentials, and Reading Essentials "Reciprocal teaching works to push students into deeper learning. There are decades of research on the impact of this instructional approach, and this book shows you how to implement and refine the practice such that all students succeed." —Doug Fisher, author of Checking for Understanding and Visible Learning for Literacy "One of the great instructional research discoveries of the past three decades has been the efficacy of reciprocal teaching for improving student learning and reading comprehension. More than anyone, Lori Oczkus has explored practical ways for making reciprocal teaching an integral part of nearly any classroom setting. This current work by Lori represents the epitome of her work in translating reciprocal teaching research into practice. Readers will find this immensely readable book filled with strategies that can be easily implemented and that will improve student learning. If you are interested in improving your students' reading achievement, you need to read this book!" —Timothy Rasinski, author of The Fluent Reader and Close Reading with Paired Texts "In this new edition of Reciprocal Teaching at Work, Lori Oczkus offers new thinking while reinforcing the best practices that make her ideas timeless. Through these engaging lessons and smart instructional moves, you will empower your students to build the confidence and competence they need to become strong, independent readers." —Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer "On every page of this book, in every activity and plan, the voice of a gifted and empowering teacher inspires the reader. In a major revision of her classic work, Lori Oczkus engages the immediacy and demands of today's classrooms with the most robust constellation of strategies for teaching comprehension. She compellingly demonstrates how the "Fab Four" are engaged across the grades, and she powerfully scaffolds, supports, and reassures teachers in their efforts to incorporate reciprocal teaching across a broad communication, textual, and digital terrain." —Shane Templeton, Foundation Professor Emeritus of Literacy Studies University of Nevada, Reno, NV
