Teachers are required to increase the rigor for students, but how? This book by bestselling author and rigor expert Barbara Blackburn has the answer! It is a treasure chest of more than 200 practical and highly-effective tools that can be used across grade levels and subject areas to increase student rigor, leading your students to higher engagement and deeper learning. Topics covered include... Asking higher-level questions Scaffolding to help all students achieve success Differentiating instruction and using modifications Fostering independence through gradual release of responsibility Increasing text difficulty and teaching close reading Setting high expectations Changing students’ views of success Encouraging effort and goal-setting Creating an environment that is conducive to learning Using effective grading policies and assessment tools Working with parents, colleagues, and administrators And much, much more! Rigor in Your Classroom will be your go-to resource throughout the school year, as you continually return to it to try new tools with your students. Bonus: The tools are accompanied by graphic organizers, charts, templates, and reproducibles for easy implementation.

Learn how to keep the rigor and motivation alive in a remote learning or hybrid K–12 classroom. In this essential book, bestselling author Barbara R. Blackburn shares frameworks and tools to help you move online without compromising the rigor of your instruction. You’ll learn... how to create a remote culture of high expectations; how to scaffold so students reach higher levels of learning; how to have students collaborate in different settings; and how to provide virtual feedback and deliver effective assessments. You’ll also discover how common activities, such as virtual field trips, can lack rigor without critical thinking prompts. The book provides practical strategies you can implement immediately to help all students reach higher levels of success.

This practical, easy-to-read guide explains how to raise the rigor for students with special needs so they can achieve higher levels of learning. Learn how to set clear goals and expectations establish a climate of success scaffold and model lessons use graphic organizers and "think-alouds" apply modifications and accommodations use rigorous questioning strategies differentiate instruction increase family involvement Get even more out of this book by discussing it with others! It’s ideal for study groups and the appendix features a detailed guide on how to make it work for your group! Bonus! You get a great variety of handy black line masters for use in your own classroom.

Learn how to assess students in a way that truly impacts learning. In Rigor and Assessment in the Classroom, bestselling author Barbara R. Blackburn provides a broad range of practical strategies for increasing the rigor and usefulness of your formative and summative assessments. You’ll discover how to... Create an environment where students are expected to learn at high levels; Evaluate and check student learning in a way that ensures growth; Strengthen the validity and reliability of your assessments; Plan assessments in conjunction with planning the instruction; Differentiate assessments to increase the rigor for all students; Enhance the effectiveness of your grading system and feedback; Use performance-based assessment to enhance rigor; and Design clear, reader-friendly rubrics and scoring guides. Each chapter includes ready-to-use tools, examples across the subject areas, and "Think About It" questions to help you reflect on what you’ve read. Many of the tools are also offered as free eResources at www.routledge.com/9781138936140, so you can easily print and distribute them for classroom use.

Learn how to differentiate instruction while maintaining a rigorous learning environment. In this practical book, rigor expert Barbara R. Blackburn shows that the differentiated classroom doesn’t mean extra work for top students and easy work for others; instead, you can have high expectations for all students and provide scaffolding so that everyone can reach success. She also addresses many of the greatest concerns teachers have about implementing differentiated instruction, including: How to manage your time so that you can create lessons, find resources, and grade assignments for students working at different levels; How to balance differentiated instruction and teaching standards; How to ensure rigor at all tiers of instruction; How to collaborate with teachers and other faculty members; How to differentiate homework and other out-of-class assignments; How to explain differentiated instruction to parents and families; And more... Each chapter includes practical tools and activities that you can use immediately to bring all students to higher levels of achievement. Many of these tools are available as eResources and can be downloaded for free from the book’s product page: www.routledge.com/9780815394471.

Teachers are required to increase the rigor for students, but how? This book by bestselling author and rigor expert Barbara Blackburn has the answer! It is a treasure chest of more than 200 practical and highly-effective tools that can be used across grade levels and subject areas to increase student rigor, leading your students to higher engagement and deeper learning. Topics covered include... Asking higher-level questions Scaffolding to help all students achieve success Differentiating instruction and using modifications Fostering independence through gradual release of responsibility Increasing text difficulty and teaching close reading Setting high expectations Changing students’ views of success Encouraging effort and goal-setting Creating an environment that is conducive to learning Using effective grading policies and assessment tools Working with parents, colleagues, and administrators And much, much more! Rigor in Your Classroom will be your go-to resource throughout the school year, as you continually return to it to try new tools with your students. Bonus: The tools are accompanied by graphic organizers, charts, templates, and reproducibles for easy implementation.

Learn how to increase instructional rigor so that all students can reach higher levels of learning! In this new edition of a best seller, author Barbara R. Blackburn offers practical ideas for raising expectations, increasing complexity, integrating scaffolding into instruction, creating open-ended choices and projects, and much more. This timely new edition provides connections to rigorous standards, plus it features new sections on topics such as questioning models, student ownership, Genius Hour, summative assessments, becoming a teacher-leader, and increasing rigor in instructional technology. Appropriate for teachers of all grade levels and subject areas, the book is filled with helpful strategies and tools that you can implement immediately. In addition, full-sized templates are available as eResources on our website (www.routledge.com/9781138569560) so you can download and print them for classroom use. With its practical advice and helpful tools, Rigor Is NOT a Four-Letter Word will set you and your students on the fast track to higher learning and sustained success.