Accessible and engaging, this methods textbook provides a roadmap for improving reading instruction. Leland, Lewison, and Harste explain why certain ineffective or debunked literacy techniques prevail in the classroom, identify the problematic assumptions that underly these popular myths, and offer better alternatives for literacy teaching. Grounded in a mantra that promotes critical thinking and agency—Enjoy! Dig Deeply! Take Action!—this book presents a clear framework, methods, and easy applications for designing and implementing effective literacy instruction. Numerous teaching strategies, classroom examples, teacher vignettes, and recommendations for using children’s and adolescent literature found in this book make it an ideal text for preservice teachers in elementary and middle school reading, and English language arts methods courses as well as a practical resource for professional in-service workshops and teachers. Key features include: Instructional engagements for supporting students as they read picture books, chapter books, and news articles, and interact with social media and participate in the arts and everyday life; Voices from the field that challenge mythical thinking and offer realworld examples of what effective reading and language arts instruction looks like in practice; Owl statements that alert readers to key ideas for use when planning reading and language arts instruction.

"200+ Proven Strategies for Teaching Reading, Grades K-8 is an easy-to-use reference guide for teachers who seek to invigorate their literacy practices. Author Kathy Perez provides practical, brain research-based invervention techniques and reading strategies K-8 teachers can use to help all students - especially those who are struggling - make strides in their literacy achievement. As an experienced general educator, special educator, reading specialist, and literacy coach, Perez has a deep understanding of the instructional practices and interventions necessary to help meet all learners' diverse needs. Teachers can motivate and engage all students to develop their reading abilities through practices this book highlights."--Back cover.

For ten years and in two classic books, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell have described how to analyze the characteristics of texts and select just-right books to use for guided reading instruction. Now, for the first time, all of their thinking and research has been updated and brought together into Leveled Books, K-8 to form the ultimate guide to choosing and using books from kindergarten through middle school. Fountas and Pinnell take you through every aspect of leveled books, describing how to select and use them for different purposes in your literacy program and offering prototype descriptions of fiction and nonfiction books at each level. They share advice on: the role of leveled books in reading instruction, analyzing the characteristics of fiction and nonfiction texts, using benchmark books to assess instructional levels for guided reading, selecting books for both guided and independent reading, organizing high-quality classroom libraries, acquiring books and writing proposals to fund classroom-library purchases, creating a school book room. In addition, Fountas and Pinnell explain the leveling process in detail so that you can tentatively level any appropriate book that you want to use in your instruction. Best of all, Leveled Books, K-8 is one half of a new duo of resources that will change how you look at leveled books. Its companion-www.FountasandPinnellLeveledBooks.com-is a searchable and frequently updated website that includes more than 18,000 titles. With Leveled Books, K-8 you'll know how and why to choose books for your readers, and with www.FountasandPinnellLeveledBooks.com, you'll have the ideal tool at your fingertips for finding appropriate books for guided reading. Book jacket.

"Effective Literacy Instruction K-8: Implementing Best Practice" helps readers connect state standards with principles of best practice instruction and implement these concepts in the K-8 reading classroom. "Effective Literacy Instruction K-8: Implementing Best Practice" describes how to develop a solid literacy framework for instruction by identifying the central principles of best practice derived from research and tied to state reading standards. Each chapter begins with a central principle of literacy instruction and then explores a wide variety of teaching strategies that support this principle. Practical Teaching Strategies feature boxes present more than 300 great teaching ideas. Celebrating Diversity describes strategies for using diversity to promote learning. Extensive Model Lessons in each chapter show how teachers implement best practice principles within their classroom. Solutions for Technology Integration Written by two of the most recognized experts in the field, this is the "first textbook" to show how to systematically integrate new technologies into literacy instruction. A series of instructional models prepares readers for the thoughtful and meaningful integration of the Internet and other technologies in the classroom. New instructional models include Internet Workshop, Internet Project, WebQuests, and Internet Inquiry. A Companion Website at www.prenhall.com/leukinzer includes links to state standards, Internet resources, on-line video segments that demonstrate best practice, self-assessment modules, and instructor resources. The authors maintain a Listserv for students and professors usingthis text, enabling them to communicate directly with the authors and share ideas and support with people using the text at other institutions worldwide.

A must-have for every elementary science teacher striving to be highly effective and for every support person addressing the needs of science teachers. - Linda Froschauer NSTA President 2006 - 2007 This important book helps us understand the details of effective science instruction in the elementary grades. Our job is to learn from this work and use it as we prepare future teachers and support current teachers as they collaborate to become effective elementary science teachers. - George D. Nelson Director, Science Mathematics and Technology Education, Western Washington University At last, we have a comprehensive resource that can help teachers, administrators, and anyone who deeply cares about the science learning of our children... help elementary teachers become both "highly qualified" and "highly effective" teachers of science. - Page Keeley Senior Science Program Director, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance What does top-notch, learning-centered teaching look like in science? To move from competence to excellence, what should teachers know and be able to do? Tools & Traits for Highly Effective Science Teaching, K - 8 answers those questions and shows you how to make powerful practices part of your science instruction. Even if you have little formal training or background knowledge in science, Tools & Traits for Highly Effective Science Teaching, K - 8 pulls together cognitive and educational research to present an indispensable framework for science in the elementary and middle grades. You'll discover teaching that increases students' engagement and makes them enthusiastic participants in their own science learning. Tools & Traits for Highly Effective Science Teaching, K - 8 answers vital and frequently asked questions: How do you structure inquiry-oriented lessons? What assessment probes and seamless formative assessments work best? What is integration and what is it not? How can literacy be powerfully linked to science learning? How do you manage activity-based learning? How do you provide science for students with various abilities. language proficiencies, and special needs? Its practical, proven, and research-based advice helps you understand what strong science teaching looks like and gives you the repertoire of skills you need to implement it in your classroom. The National Science Education Standards say that "everyone deserves to share in the excitement and personal fulfillment that can come from understanding and learning about the natural world." Whether you are reassessing your own teaching or examining it in light of state and federal science-education mandates, Tools & Traits for Highly Effective Science Teaching, K - 8 will make a difference in your teaching and in your students' lives.

A practical guide for teaching comprehension and fluency in the kindergarten through eighth-grade classroom with instruction on reading levels, writing about reading, and interactive read-aloud and literature study; and contains a DVD with over 100 blackline masters, forms, and checklists.

Technology to Teach Literacy: A Resource for K-8 Teachers, second edition, is designed to provide teachers with an array of computer tools to promote reading, writing, and critical thinking in their classrooms. This text can be used not only in a preservice course but also by seasoned teachers who recognize the need to continue their education by becoming adept at using computers in their classrooms. In short, this book covers the major concerns K-8 teachers face as they integrate computer technology into their classrooms and provides numerous suggestions for applying the ideas described in the text in real classrooms. The discussion of literacy topics and pedagogy is grounded in research literature, best practice for teaching, and current successful technology integration strategies. ... Publisher description.