Teaching students how to write more effectively is a goal that English teachers of all levels share. How can you motivate your students to produce their best writing, think critically, and participate more actively in class? How can you conduct workshops in your classroom that create a more dynamic, interactive, student-centered environment? This practical, comprehensive guide to teaching writing offers English teachers a variety of new, classroom-tested instructional activities, workshops, lesson plans, journal entries, teaching strategies, and creative assignments to use in their classrooms, including modified mini-lessons and group discussions that engage students and stimulate critical thinking. Emphasizing the proven benefits of cooperative learning, the book includes step-by-step instructions for special writing workshops on invention strategies, critical reading, thesis statements, draft feedback, narrative writing, debates, outlining, introductions, proofreading and editing, and much more. Topics also include how to coach students, manage problematic students, attack plagiarism, and deal with student evaluations.

Here's a handy guide for young children and students to help with their first steps through the English language. This dictionary serves as a helpful tool for all young learners, and contains more than three thousand words, pictures, and definitions to create a comprehensive reference. An easy-to-understand glossary, it explains meanings and functions of words that children are likely to come across in their daily interactions with the world around them. With its vivid, colorful pictures, the dictionary will also prove visually appealing to readers.

Beyond the Bedtime Story: Understanding and Promoting Reading Development During the Middle School Years was written for educators, parents, and all who care about promoting the reading development of middle school students. The book fills a much-needed void in scholarly literature by considering the unique developmental nature of early adolescence. Although the authors highlight many of the challenges with promoting reading achievement during the middle school transition years, their hope is that this user-friendly book will suggest ways that reading can remain a critical part of middle school students' lives, both in and out of school, so that we can create a nation of life-long readers. This book also encourages practitioners and family members to accept the challenge of creatively engaging reluctant readers so that all middle school students will share in the literacy legacy begun in preschools and elementary schools and offers practical strategies to build this legacy.

The Level 7 Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories, written by Roderick Hunt and illustrated by Alex Brychta, provide a rich story context to help develop language comprehension and decoding skills. Stories, More Stories A and More Stories B involve familiar situations and a variety of fantasy settings through the magic key adventures. Longer stories help to build reading stamina, which is important for later reading success. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with childrens reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk.

A small set of important practices should be considered non-negotiable elements of daily reading instruction. The research base of these non-negotiables is described along with practical examples of their application. The non-negotiables do not require additional materials, time or funding, but can be integrated into any program in order to ensure every student has access to effective literacy instruction. This book can be used as a guide for program design and evaluation, as well as a source of ideas and (re)assurances for those currently engaged in the ongoing pursuit of effective literacy instruction for every reader, every day.

Michael Anthony, 20-year reading workshop practitioner at the secondary level, and Joan Kaywell, acclaimed author and advocate for young adult literature in learning, present Between the Lines, a creative paradigm shift for the English Language Arts workshop classroom. In contrast to the traditional sustained silent reading and individual conferencing model, an impractical commitment for most teachers, BtL invites collaborative engagement and active inquiry among students as well as on-demand writing and integrated YA literature, all designed to support existing middle and secondary level ELA classroom curriculum instruction and national academic learning standards while empowering English educators toward improved student literacy achievement and the creation of lifelong readers. The classroom activities, with student-friendly names like Book Chat Check and Pop Goes the Question, promote animated discussions in social learning contexts and produce writings supported by textual evidence from student selected texts. Clear step by step directions for facilitation and authentic models of resulting student writing are shared along with a standards-based lesson plan suitable for grades 6-12. Ongoing teacher/student journal conversations validate independent reader thought processes and provoke differentiated learning experiences. The book includes Common Core State Standards-based strategies for responding to students meaningfully and for inviting extensions beyond the book, motivating increasingly complex and connective writings. Sample dialogue journal entries are shared along with insightful commentary and practical analysis. Everything needed for implementing Between the Lines is contained within these pages, including a user friendly appendix filled with fully reproduceable classroom workshop materials, tips for reducing the teacher reading and writing loads, and suggestions for building an enviable classroom library stocked with award-winning adolescent literature.

This highly practical activity workbook is linked to the core text How to Manage Spelling Successfully and has been designed to support dyslexic students practise the spelling strategies and methods recommended in that book.

This activity book can be used separately, or as part of an integrated programme for building students' spelling skills at home or at school. Suitable for mainstream classrooms, pupils undertaking additional literacy support in small groups, and for one-to-one teaching of individuals with specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, this excellent resource contains activities suitable for use at different stages of development, and for use with adults as well as school students.

Each section contains a range of multi-sensory activities, including word searches, simple crossword puzzles and dictation exercises. This is an essential classroom companion for anyone helping struggling spellers.

The Level 1 Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories, created by Roderick Hunt and illustrated by Alex Brychta, provide wordless stories and a rich story context to help develop language comprehension. Wordless Stories B introduce the characters and children learn that the pictures tell a story, where a story begins and how to turn the pages. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their learning. Help with childrens reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk. Contains one copy of each of the six titles at Oxford Level 1.

Part of the Bug Club Comprehension programme, this workbook provides: activities for each day of the teaching cycle clear, child-friendly designs that complement the accompanying texts formative assessment opportunities a 'Reading Journal' section for children to record their independent reading. This pack contains 16 workbooks.

This pack contains one copy of each of the Read Write Inc. Phonics Book Bag Books at Grey level, a total of 13 books. Read Write Inc. Phonics Book Bag Books are engaging texts to support children with additional reading practice outside the classroom. They have been specifically designed for children to take home after school, in order to share their reading journey and celebrate their achievements with parents and carers. The books are closely matched to the existing Read Write Inc. Phonics Storybooks to reinforce childrens classroom learning of phonics at the appropriate level, helping them to make even faster progress in reading. Read Write Inc. Phonics Book Bag Books fit into the existing Read Write Inc. timetable, providing an additional opportunity for structured practice for children learning to read the Read Write Inc. Set 1, 2 and 3 sounds. Book Bag Books are part of the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme developed by Ruth Miskin. The programme is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and keen writers. The programme resources include Handbooks, Sound Cards, Word Cards, Storybooks, Non-fiction books, Get Writing! books, and an online subscription. All Read Write Inc. programmes are fully supported by comprehensive professional development from Ruth Miskin Training.

Part of the Usborne Key Skills series that supports the English lessons children learn at school, this book is filled with activities that use basic comprehension skills to understand written English including stories, poems, instructions and more. Wipe-clean pages offer endless practice, and answers and secret notes for grown-ups are at the back.

Under No Child Left Behind, nearly every teacher faces a high-stakes balancing act; managing the often incompatible responsibilities of teaching students meaningfully or preparing them for standardized tests. Through their experiences teaching at a school that struggled to meet state test standards driven by NCLB, authors Amy Greene and Glennon Melton discovered a way to raise scores without compromising their strong beliefs about good teaching and learning. In "Test Talk," Amy and Glennon share their story and their proven approach.

This compelling book shows that teachers don't have to choose between best practice teaching and test preparation; effective test-taking strategies can be integrated into authentic reading instruction. The authors demonstrate how to improve performance on tests without resorting to "teaching to the test," mnemonic devices, or other gimmicks. Instead, they focus on encouraging student readers to explore tests as a specific genre containing unique language, format, and cues.

Concise and easy-to-use, "Test Talk" includes lesson plans and practice passages, as well as sample questions and suggested language to use during lessons. Throughout the book, classroom vignettes show how seamlessly one can weave the test genre into reading workshop and connect those specialized skills to more general reading strategies. It is an invaluable resource for any teacher who struggles with how to prepare kids for tests without sacrificing real teaching and learning.

Lesson planning in line with the new Primary National Curriculum! Why do we teach children to read? It is not merely to decode the words. We teach them to derive meaning from the text, to comprehend it. To not just read the lines, but to read between the lines and even read beyond the lines. So how can you make teaching comprehension in primary schools effective and engaging? How are you ensuring that children are finding meaning in what they read and how do we support more able readers to learn more? What does a good 'reading' lesson look like? This book demonstrates the effective teaching of reading through exemplar lessons. It discusses what makes them good lesson plans and how they can be adapted to suit different classes and different schools. In particular, this book helps you to meet the needs of more able readers particularly in years 5 and 6, outlining ways to challenge more able pupils to support them with the level 6 tests in Year 6. It helps you to cultivate your subject knowledge and invigorate your classroom teaching through focusing on what children need to learn and how to teach it. Did you know that this book is part of the Lessons in Teaching series? WHAT IS THE LESSONS IN TEACHING SERIES? Suitable for any teacher at any stage of their career, the books in this series are packed with great ideas for teaching engaging, outstanding lessons in your primary classroom. The Companion Website accompanying the series includes extra resources including tips, lesson starters, videos and Pinterest boards. Books in this series: Lessons in Teaching Grammar in Primary Schools, Lessons in Teaching Computing in Primary Schools, Lessons in Teaching Number and Place Value in Primary Schools, Lessons in Teaching Reading Comprehension in Primary Schools, Lesson in Teaching Phonics in Primary Schools

The Level 5 Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories, written by Roderick Hunt and illustrated by Alex Brychta, provide a rich story context to help develop language comprehension and decoding skills. Stories, More Stories A, More Stories B and More Stories C take the children from familiar, predictable events at home and school into the less certain realms of fantasy through the magic key adventures. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with childrens reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk. Contains one copy of each of the six titles at Oxford Reading Level 5.

This book presents young writers with a wide variety of writing activities, all designed to give them practice in skills they meet in the school curriculum. Based around the theme of a holiday, writing tasks include letters, diaries, emails, stories, cartoons and summaries, all presented in a friendly, encouraging format.

This popular text, now in its Fourth Edition, introduces pre-service and in-service teachers to the most current theories and methods for teaching literacy to children in elementary schools. The methods presented are based on scientific findings that have been tested in many classrooms. A wealth of examples, hands-on activities, and classroom vignettes--including lesson plans, assessments, lists of children's literature books to fiction and nonfiction texts, and more--illustrate the methods and bring them to life.The text highlights the importance of teaching EVERY child to become competent in all of the nuances and complexities of reading, writing, and speaking. The value of reflection and peer discussion in learning to expand their students' literacies is emphasized. Readers are encouraged to reflect on their own experiences with reading and teaching throughout their lifetimes--experiences that will serve well in learning to teach reading. "Your Turn" boxes invite readers to think about their views of the material presented, and to talk with colleagues and teachers about their "best ways" of learning this new information. "Did You Notice?" boxes engage readers in observation and analysis of methods and classroom situations discussed in the text. Teachers' stories serve as models of successful teaching and to draw readers into professional dialogue about the ideas and questions raised. End-of-chapter questions and activities provide additional opportunities for reflection and discussion. All of these pedagogical features help readers expand and refine their knowledge in the most positive ways. Topics covered in Teaching Reading to Every Child, Fourth Edition: *Getting to Know Your Students as Literacy Learners; *Looking Inside Classrooms: Organizing Instruction; *Assessing Reading Achievement; *The Importance of Oral Language in Developing Literacy; *Word Identification Strategies: Pathways to Comprehension; *Vocabulary Development; *Comprehension Instruction: Strategies At Work; *Content Area Learning; *What the Teacher Needs to Know to Enable Students' Text Comprehension; *Writing: Teaching Students to Encode and Compose; *Discovering the World Through Literature; *Technology and Media in Reading; *Teaching Reading to Students Who Are Learning English; *All Students are Special: Some Need Supplemental Supports and Services to Be Successful; and *Historical Perspectives on Reading and Reading Instruction. New in the Fourth Edition: *A new chapter on technology with state-of-the-art applications; *A new chapter with the most up-to-date information on how vocabulary is learned and on how it is best taught, responding to the national renewed interest in vocabulary instruction; *A new section on Readers/Writer's workshop with a focus on supporting student inquiry and exploration of multiple genres; *A more comprehensive chapter on literature instruction and the role of literature in the reading program with examples that support students' multigenre responses; *A discussion of literary theories with examples for classroom implementation; *Broader coverage of the phases of reading development from the pre-alphabetic stage to the full alphabetic stage; *A more inclusive chapter on writing instruction; and *A thoroughly revised chapter on teaching reading to students who are learning English, including extensive information on assessment and evaluation.

In the early grades, talking and drawing can provide children with a natural pathway to writing, yet these components are often overlooked. In "Talking, Drawing, Writing: Lessons for Our Youngest Writers" Martha Horn and Mary Ellen Giacobbe invite readers to join them in classrooms where they listen, watch, and talk with children, then use what they learn to create lessons designed to meet children where they are and lead them into the world of writing. The authors make a case for a broader definition of writing, advocating for formal storytelling sessions, in which children tell about what they know, and for focused sketching sessions so that budding writers learn how to observe more carefully.

The book's lessons are organized by topic and include oral storytelling, drawing, writing words, assessment, introducing booklets, and moving writers forward. Based on the authors' work in urban kindergarten and first-grade classes, the essence and structure of many of the lessons lend themselves to adaptation through fifth grade. The lessons follow a consistent format: what's going on in the classroom;what children need to learn next;the materials needed;the actual language used in the lesson;when children's literature is used, reasons for choosing the books and suggestions for other books;suggestions for other lessons.

Martha and Mary Ellen show the thinking behind their teaching decisions and provide a way to look at and assess children's writing, giving us much more than a book of lessons; they present a vision of what beginning writing can look and sound like. Perhaps most powerfully, they give us examples of the language they use with children that reveal a genuine respect for and trust in children as learners.

The Level 2 Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories, written by Roderick Hunt and illustrated by Alex Brychta, provide a rich story context to help develop language comprehension and decoding skills. Stories, More Stories A and More Stories B offer a predictable sentence structure to support reading success. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with childrens reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk. Contains one copy of each of the six titles at Oxford Reading Level 2.

Reinforce your sixth-grader's spelling skills with Spectrum Spelling. With the progressive lessons in this workbook, students will practice diphthongs, regular and irregular plurals, related words, Greek and Latin roots, and dictionary skills. Engage your child with brainteasers, riddles, and puzzles in these full-color spelling lessons from Spectrum(R). Students in grades K-6 will find systematic instruction and practice in spelling patterns, spelling strategies, and spelling skills related to meaning and context. Each workbook also includes a speller's dictionary, proofreader's guide, and answer key. Aligned to current state standards, Spectrum is your child's path to spelling success. Spectrum, the best-selling workbook series, is proud to provide quality educational materials that support your students' learning achievement and success.

'K-3 teachers will find this book very appealing. Based on current research and commonsense experience, the book is full of effective strategies that are easy to use!' - Jeanne Gren, First Grade Teacher, Woodburn Elementary School, Morgantown, WV 'Provides interesting and informative background knowledge about phonics instruction. The author defines terms, discusses the difficulties practitioners may encounter, provides strategies and suggestions for teaching, and presents numerous easy-to-use reference charts' - Jane Ching Fung, First Grade Teacher, Alexander Science Center School, Los Angeles, CA A comprehensive, easy-to-use guide with invaluable resources for planning phonics instruction. Phonemic awareness instruction and phonics instruction are highly beneficial for students learning to read. In this updated second edition, Edmund V. Starrett provides educators with guidance on teaching phonics as part of a well-planned reading programme. This reference book presents the content and ideas of phonics instruction in an accessible format that appeals to both new and experienced teachers. Coverage of each topic begins with a broad general overview and then offers specific, practical tips and strategies. Thorough and in-depth, this beneficial guide: * Discusses specific principles of phonics in teacher-friendly terms * Presents and explains the most useful phonics rules and generalizations * Provides practical guidance for sequencing phonics instruction * Includes informal assessments and checklists * Offers a generous collection of instructional strategies and activities Teaching Phonics for Balanced Reading offers all teachers a comprehensive guide for planning phonics instruction that helps students become better readers and better learners!

Teachers are always looking for activities that not only enhance the mechanics of writing-grammar, spelling, and syntax-but also allow students to express themselves in creative and personal ways. Creating Strong Kids Through Writing is the perfect resource for teachers seeking quick, ready-to-use writing lessons that encourage social and emotional growth, personal development, introspection, and innovative thinking in students. Each of the 20 lessons has been classroom-tested with students of all ability levels in grades 4-8, and each lesson contains one or more samples of student work to help guide and inspire student writers. Creating Strong Kids Through Writing is a resource teachers will turn to again and again when they seek writing lessons that, although short in duration, are lasting in their personal impact on student growth. Grades 4-8