Get the "big picture" of teaching reading in the middle school, including research, as well as the practical details you need to help every stydent become a better reader. Veteran teacher Laura Robb shares how to: teach reading strategies across the curriculum, present mini-lessons that deepen students' knowledge of how specific reading strategies work; help kids apply the strategies through guided practice; support struggling readers with a plan of action that improves their reading motivation; and much more.

Grade level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, p, e, i, t.

In a Southwestern retelling of "The Little Red Hen," Burro finds it difficult to get any help from his friends as he diligently works to turn corn into tortillas, in a text that includes a Spanish/English glossary and a simple recipe for making tortillas.

In this classic Irish legend, two harpists -- merry-hearted Old Pat and ill-spirited Young Tom -- set off for a contest to name the finest harpist in all of Ireland. When Young Tom realizes that Old Pat is truly the better musician, he schemes to be the winner -- but he doesn′t reckon with the clever trickery of a mischievous little leprechaun. Noted picture book creators Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole have imagined a joyful and fanciful tale with a priceless lesson.

While most children learn to read fairly well, there remain many young Americans whose futures are imperiled because they do not read well enough to meet the demands of our competitive, technology-driven society. This book explores the problem within the context of social, historical, cultural, and biological factors. Recommendations address the identification of groups of children at risk, effective instruction for the preschool and early grades, effective approaches to dialects and bilingualism, the importance of these findings for the professional development of teachers, and gaps that remain in our understanding of how children learn to read. Implications for parents, teachers, schools, communities, the media, and government at all levels are discussed. The book examines the epidemiology of reading problems and introduces the concepts used by experts in the field. In a clear and readable narrative, word identification, comprehension, and other processes in normal reading development are discussed. Against the background of normal progress, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children examines factors that put children at risk of poor reading. It explores in detail how literacy can be fostered from birth through kindergarten and the primary grades, including evaluation of philosophies, systems, and materials commonly used to teach reading.

Presents ideas for teaching children in grades K-3 phonics, spelling, and language conventions through the creation of word walls; suggestions include an ABC wall, chunking wall, words-we-know wall, and help wall.