Explore the vast range of titles available.

Many reading programs today overlook an essential component of literacy instruction-helping children develop an enduring love of reading. This authoritative and accessible guide provides a wealth of ideas for incorporating high-quality children's books of all kinds into K-6 classrooms. Numerous practical strategies are presented for engaging students with picturebooks, fiction, nonfiction, and nontraditional texts. Lively descriptions of recommended books and activities are interspersed with invaluable tips for fitting authentic reading experiences into the busy school day. Every chapter concludes with reflection questions and suggestions for further reading. The volume also features reproducible worksheets and forms.

Setting and Description focuses on the effective use of descriptive writing techniques to depict a story setting. Students practice first-drafting, editing, polishing and sharing original scenes and stories set in realistically described times and places.

This book bridges the gap between educational psychology theory and classroom practice. Specific objectives give teachers and teacher-trainees access to current advances in research and theory on human learning, teaching, and instruction in an easily understood and usable form.

Presents a collection of unconventional essays by leading writers to challenge how students think about essays using imaginative, rule-breaking, and unconventional examples.

Designed to facilitate teachers’ efforts to meet the actual challenges and dilemmas they face in their classrooms, Becoming a Teacher Researcher in Literacy Teaching and Learning : provides background information and key concepts in teacher research covers the \"how-to\" strategies of the teacher research process from the initial proposal to writing up the report as publishable or presentable work illustrates a range of literacy topics and grade levels features twelve reports by teacher researchers who have gone through the process, and their candid remarks about how activities helped (or not) helps teachers understand how knowledge is constructed socially in their classrooms so that they can create instructional communities that promote all students’ learning. Addressing the importance of teacher research for better instruction, reform, and political action, this text emphasizes strategies teachers can use to support and strengthen their voices as they dialogue with others in the educational community, so that their ideas and perspectives may have an impact on educational practice both locally in their schools and districts and more broadly. Preface Part 1: Defining, Planning, and Starting Your Teacher Research Part 1 Introduction So, What Is Teacher Research Anyway? Creating Your Research Questions—The First Step in Inquiry Planning Your Inquiry Writing a Preliminary Literature Review to Inform Your Inquiry Part 2: Enacting, Analyzing, and Writing Up Your Inquiry Part 2 Introduction Strategies for Data Collection Analysis—What do the Data Mean? Writing Up Your Inquiry as an Evocative Account Part 3: Teacher Researcher Reports Part 3 Introduction Katie Paciga’s Inquiry Paper Reading, Writing, and Sharing: The Journey to Become Kindergarten Authors Cindy Pauletti’s Inquiry Paper Word Detectives: Students Using Clues to Identify Unknown Words in Text Kristen Terstriep’s Inquiry Paper Toss Out Your Dictionaries: A Look at More Effective Vocabulary Instruction Sandra Zanghi’s Inquiry Paper Letting Their Voices Be Heard: Improving Literature Response Participation during Read-Alouds through Small-Group Discussions Tara Braverman’s Inquiry Paper What’s This Word? Helping Sixth Grade Students Use Reading and Vocabulary Strategies Independently Libby Tuerk’s Inquiry Paper Let's Read: Motivating Junior High Students to Become Life-Long Readers Meg Goethals’s Inquiry Paper \"Books that Have Ghetto Feelings\": How Reading Workshop Increases Inner-City Eighth-Graders’ Motivation, Engagement, and Comprehension Dawn Siska’s Inquiry Paper Challenging the \"I Quit!\" Going ‘Round and ‘Round with Literature Circles in a Secondary Reading Classroom Courtney Wellner’s Inquiry Paper \"But This IS My Final Draft!\" Making Peer Writing Conferences More Effective for Struggling 9 th Grade Students Shannon Dozoryst’s Inquiry Paper Using Writing Workshop to Guide Revision Nicole Perez’s Inquiry Paper Coaching as a Collaborative Process Catherine Plocher’s inquiry Paper Coaching for Change in a K–8 Urban Elementary School: Building Cultures of Collaboration and Reflective Practices Epilogue: Further Reflections and Possibilities Appendices Appendix A: General Peer Conferencing Form Appendix B: Common APA (American Psychological Association) Citing Conventions Appendix C: Reminders for Grammatical and Other Language Usage Index Christine C. Pappas is Professor Emerita, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Chicago. Eli Tucker-Raymond is Research Scientist with the Chèche Konnen Center at TERC.

\"Creative writing prompts that will have you cutting, folding, tearing, and ripping the page! Make creative writing more active and fun for elementary-aged kids\"-- Provided by publisher.

Developing children's writing abilities boosts their confidence, creates enjoyment and relevance in the task and cultivates a range of decision-making and problem-solving skills that can then be applied across the curriculum. The Countdown series provides all the support you need in helping children to improve their prose, poetry and non-fiction writing. Countdown to Non-Fiction Writing is a comprehensive and flexible resource which you can use in different ways. It includes: 37 stand-alone modules which cover all aspects of writing and understanding non-fiction texts, including the nature of language, logical thinking, recognising ‘facts’ and planning; A countdown flowchart provides an overview, showing how modules are linked and allowing teachers and pupils to track their progress; Photocopiable activity sheets for each module that show how to make decisions and solve problems which writers face on the journey to a finished piece of work; Teachers’ notes for each module with tips and guidance, including how modules can be used in the classroom, links to other modules and curriculum links, and advice on helping and guiding pupils in their writing; A self-study component so pupils can make their own progress through the material. This option gives young writers a sense of independence in thinking about their work and through offering a scaffolding of tasks, encourages confident and effective writing; 'Headers' for each module showing where along the 'countdown path' you are at that point; Contents page for quick access to particular modules and relevant aspects of writing. In short, Countdown to Non-Fiction Writing saves valuable planning time and gives you all the flexibility you need in helping pupils to prepare for, understand, and write non-fiction. The structure of the book allows teachers to utilise the modules for ‘self-study’, as a longer programme following the ‘countdown’ structure, or to dip into the book for individual lesson activities and ideas to fit in with wider programmes of study. A former teacher, Steve Bowkett is now a full-time writer, storyteller, educational consultant and hypnotherapist. He is the author of more than forty books including Jumpstart! Creativity and A Handbook of Creative Learning Activities . 'If you know that you have a tendency to favour creative over non-fiction when teaching writing techniques, then you really should get hold of this book as soon as possible ... it's an absolute joy from start to finish, and should be given not only to every pupil and teacher in the country, but also to anyone who has ever used the phrase \"I'm entitled to my opinion\" during the course of a discussion and expected to settle that matter. The modules Steve Bowkett has put together will take pupils on a fascinating, empowering and thoroughly enjoyable journey through language, taking in the nature of truth and reality, the politics of persuasion, and a mysteriously disappeared chicken leg on the way...and at the end of it, they will not only be better writers, but wiser readers, listeners and consumers too. Wonderful.' - Teach Primary Introduction Section 1 – Non-Fiction, Fiction, Truth and Lies 37 How can we tell it’s non fiction? 36 What is a fact? 35 What is an opinion? 34 What is truth? 33 Fact, opinion and wisdom 32 Example of fact and opinion 31 Some tips for writing non fiction – Purpose, audience and style 30 Non fiction text types – Persuading, Instructing, Reporting, Explaining, Recounting, Discussing 29 Types, forms and styles Section 2 – Questioning Skills 28 Be nosy – the importance of questions 27 Types of question – closed, open, specific, general, rhetorical, philosophical 26 It’s OK not to know – feeling comfortable with uncertainty 25 Yes but what does it mean? 24 Interpretation: questioning the answers – and questioning the questions – refining and clarifying questions Section 3 – Evaluating Information 23 Evaluating information 22 Ambiguity (and punctuation) 21 Scepticism 20 Reading between the lines 19 The words in the tones – emotive language Section 4 – Persuasive Writing 18 How to put feelings into writing/the power of generalisations 17 Words that influence (including strong verbs, adjectives, adverbs) 16 The language of advertising – wordplay, puns rhymes, slogans, exaggeration, intriguing questions, embedded suggestions Section 5 - Writing an Argument (Discursive Writing) 15 How to prepare an argument 14 Argument planner 13 Persuasive arguments 12 Does it follow? Logical linking / evidence is strength 11 A note on metaphors 10 Controversial issues / viewpoints 9 Assessing arguments 8 The value of discussion Section 6 - Writing to Inform 7 Some tips 6 Descriptive writing – examples and games 5 Personal and impersonal 4 Directions and instructions 3 Recounting and reporting / news article template 2 Writing a letter Section 7 – Putting it all together 1 Concept maps and making notes Review