In Complex Text Decoded, educational consultant and former master teacher Kathy T. Glass presents strategies, activities, and assessments that target students’ ability to comprehend complex text—whether presented as traditional written text or in multimedia formats—in grades 5–10. You’ll learn * The essential elements of unit design and models for lesson planning. * Specific, step-by-step instruction for teaching vocabulary. * Effective questioning techniques. * Strategies and activities explicitly designed for teaching complex text. * How to measure text complexity and select appropriate texts that are aligned with curricular goals. It’s important to provide opportunities for students to read a wide variety of texts for different purposes and along a spectrum of difficulty and length. To meet the goal of comprehensively grasping complex text, students must have concrete tools to help them become highly skilled readers. Complex Text Decoded enables teachers to provide precisely that.

In Complex Text Decoded, educational consultant and former master teacher Kathy T. Glass presents strategies, activities, and assessments that target students’ ability to comprehend complex text—whether presented as traditional written text or in multimedia formats—in grades 5–10. You’ll learn * The essential elements of unit design and models for lesson planning. * Specific, step-by-step instruction for teaching vocabulary. * Effective questioning techniques. * Strategies and activities explicitly designed for teaching complex text. * How to measure text complexity and select appropriate texts that are aligned with curricular goals. It's important to provide opportunities for students to read a wide variety of texts for different purposes and along a spectrum of difficulty and length. To meet the goal of comprehensively grasping complex text, students must have concrete tools to help them become highly skilled readers. Complex Text Decoded enables teachers to provide precisely that.

It’s the teaching around the standards that counts! What makes Sharon Taberski’s Common Core Companion “that version of the standards you wish you had?” It’s the way Sharon translates each and every standard for reading, writing, speaking and listening, language, and foundational skills into the day-to-day “what you do.” It’s all here: The standards for literature and informational texts put side by side for easier planning More than a dozen teaching ideas for each standard Recommendations on how to cultivate critical habits of mind A glossary of academic language for each standard An online bank of graphic organizers, reproducibles, charts, and more

With the click of a mouse, anyone has access to the standards. So aligning our instruction should be a snap. If only it were that simple . . . Jim Burke anticipated the challenges and developed the Common Core Companion series for K-12. In his next smart move, he deferred to the talents of Leslie Blauman to be author of the 3-5 volume. What makes Leslie Blauman’s Common Core Companion "that version of the standards you wish you had"? It’s the way Leslie translates each and every standard for reading, writing, speaking and listening, language, and foundational skills into the day-to-day "what you do": lesson ideas, best literacy practices, grouping configurations, adaptations for ELL, anchor charts, and so much more. The wisdom and how-to’s are all here, page by page: The standards for literature and informational texts put side by side for easier planning Teaching ideas for each standard Recommendations on how to cultivate the habits of mind that are critical to meeting the standards, including interpersonal skills, collaboration, and perseverance A glossary of academic language for each standard with adaptations for ELL students An online bank of graphic organizers, student reproducibles, sample classroom charts, rubrics, and photos Reproducible planning templates for each standard to help you map out lessons, select books, generate key questions, and more With 30 years of classroom experience and consulting in schools nationwide, Leslie Blauman brings to this book a keen eye for what teachers need in order to get students in the intermediate grades ready as readers, writers, thinkers, and learners capable of meeting the Common Core’s rising expectations in middle school. Leslie’s classroom is a working model for child/staff development in reading, writing, and critical thinking in collaboration with the Public Education & Business Coalition (PEBC). "When considering the CCSS, we need to remember that teachers do not teach standards. Teachers teach kids! A classroom teacher who mixes it up with kids every day, Leslie Blauman teaches as if her hair′s on fire" --STEPHANIE HARVEY Coauthor of The Comprehension Toolkit

That version of the standards you wish you had All over the nation, teachers and administrators are poring over the Common Core State Standards to come up with meaningful plans for raising student achievement. But as clear as the standards are, they are more of a sundial than a GPS for pinpointing just what to teach and how to teach it. Enter Jim Burke with The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 6-8. It's that version of the standards you wish you had: a roadmap of what each standard says, what each standard means, and how precisely to put that standard into day-to-day practice across English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. Designed to provide schools, districts, and departments with a common language or set of reference points for effective school-wide implementation, The Common Core Companion clearly lays out: Grades 6-8 standards side by side with key distinctions highlighted so teachers know what they must teach from grade to grade All the different content-area versions of each standard arranged on one page to facilitate easy reference and school wide collaboration Explanations of each standard on a corresponding page, written in accessible language, along with prompts and questions to help students learn and apply each standard Essential content to cover and lesson ideas for modeling the literacy skills behind the standards Instructional techniques for each standard based on Jim's extensive teaching experience and current research on effective instruction Complete glossary for each standard and adaptations for ELL students Don't spend another minute poring over the standards. Jim has already done that for you. Focus instead on how to teach them, using The Common Core Companion as your one-stop guide for teaching, planning, assessing, collaborating, and designing powerful reading and writing curricula.

If you're a high school teacher, no need to despair. Jim Burke has created a Common Core Companion for you, too, as your one-stop guide across subjects.

This book explains what the standards say, what they mean, and how to teach them. The book is organized by the Anchor Standards in the following categories: Reading Literature Informational Text Foundational Reading Skills (This is a departure from the 6-12 standards that we will have to consider in design/format) Writing Speaking and Listening Language