In recent decades, the science of reading acquisition has been advancing through interdisciplinary research in cognitive, psycholinguistic, developmental, genetic, neuroscience, cross-language, and experimental comparison studies of effective instruction. Some of the science of reading has emerged from the theory and research into the realm of practice and policy. Yet the science and practice of measuring "reading comprehension" has remained relatively immune to much of this foundational knowledge. Measuring Up questions the traditional format of reading comprehension tests, typically a single series of questions asked about a series of passages, and offers ideas and innovations we might expect in a next generation of 21st century reading assessments. Sabatini, Albro, and O'Reilly believe that in light of the move towards Common Core State Standards and assessments, as well as significant national investments in reading and literacy education, it is a critical and opportune time to bring together the research and measurement community to address fundamental issues of measuring reading comprehension, both in theory and in practice.

The Spelling & Vocabulary series provides a complete and comprehensive course building a child's spelling and vocabulary expertise. Working through the series will give your child a working vocabulary of more than 5,400 words. The series helps prepare children for the GL Assessment and CEM 11+ exams, SATs, CATs, the Northern Ireland Transfer Test, Common Entrance and scholarship examinations for independent schools, and all other styles of verbal reasoning/ability and English tests. This series of books is designed to be used in sequence and is divided into three levels: Foundation (Workbooks 1-3) for children aged 7 to 9 Intermediate (Workbooks 4-7) for children aged 8 to 10 Advanced (Workbooks 8-12) for children aged 9 to 12 We recommend older children who face challenges in spelling and vocabulary work from Workbook 1 to ensure that there are no gaps in their understanding and their skills are built progressively. Children with more developed skills could begin with the Intermediate or Advanced series. All our materials have been rigorously classroom tested. The methodologies have been successfully used in AE Tuition classes for over 20 years.

These engaging Storybooks provide structured practice for children learning to read the Read Write Inc. Set 1 and 2 sounds. Each set of books is carefully levelled to match childrens growing phonic knowledge so children can read them with accuracy, fluency and comprehension. The Storybooks include a range of engaging stories such as fairy tales, myths and legends, rhyming stories and familiar settings. Activities at the start of the books help children to practise the sounds and words they will encounter in the story. Questions to talk about at the end of the story provide an extra opportunity for developing childrens comprehension. The 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 willing writers. It includes Handbooks, Sounds Cards, Word Cards, Storybooks, Non-fiction, Writing books and an Online resource. Read Write Inc. is fully supported by comprehensive professional development from Ruth Miskin Training.

The activities in How to be Brilliant at Writing Poetry are open-ended and focus on the process of writing - from initial idea gathering to redrafting and the final product. They recognize that a sense of audience and a purpose for writing are crucial. The 40 photocopiable worksheets aimed at 7-11 year olds (KS2) pupils provide models for different forms of poetry. Activities include: finding a beginning, using words to paint a picture, making up similes and rhyming.

Timely and accessible, this book offers tangible strategies that will help teachers plan and sustain writing workshop experiences that are responsive to the needs of their specific students. Angela Stockman helps teachers understand why some writers may fail to meet their expectations and how to help all writers reach their fullest potential. Organized in three parts, this book reframes common narratives about resistant writers, empowers teachers to design, lead and refine their workshop, and provides a toolkit to do so. The appendices and eResources included provide teachers with instructions for mini-lessons and learning targets that support multimodal composition, perfect for pre-service and in-service teachers.

With its reusable wipe-clean surface and dri-erase pen, Writing Skills helps children learn how put together a sentence, paragraph, and story and provides tons of activities to practice their new-found skills. The packed pages feature punctuation; sentence structure; types for words such as describing and question; parts of a story; and sample entries. The book will introduce three types of writing-narrative, opinion, and informative-and provide graphic organizers to simplify the process. As a bonus, the perforated pages allow children to assemble an "all about me" book when they are finished. Perfect for first through third graders, this 128-page workbook, with its useful wipe-off reference chart of proper formation, is ideal on-the-go package for fighting summer brain drain.

Do you wish you had a published writer's secrets at your fingertips, ready to help you achieve your goals of publication, success, and the chance to be the next great teen writer? In Seize the Story: A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write, Victoria Hanley, award-winning author of young adult fiction, spills the secrets for bringing action, adventure, humor, and drama to stories. All of the elements of fiction, from creating believable dialogue to exciting plots, are laid out clearly and illustrated with examples taken straight from story excerpts by excellent writers. The book is packed with writing exercises designed to encourage teens to tell the stories that are theirs alone.

In addition, other published authors of young adult literature share their insights about the writing life. Teens can gain firsthand advice from accomplished writers T. A. Barron, Joan Bauer, Hilari Bell, Chris Crutcher, David Lubar, Lauren Myracle, Todd Mitchell, Nancy Garden, and many more.

Make sure your students develop the rich vocabulary that's essential to successful reading comprehension and academic achievement with A Word a Day. Each book in this newly revised series covers 144 words in 36 engaging weekly units.

Don't have students just memorize vocabulary words ... give them the tools they need to understand and apply the words!

Help your students learn 144 new words with the focused daily practice in A Word a Day, Grade 3. Activities such as identifying attributes, making personal connections, choosing the right word in context, and answering true or false questions give students multiple exposures to the words, helping them to develop the vocabulary they need to be successful on assessments and in the classroom.

Examples of vocabulary words presented in Grade 3:

* landscape, optimistic, significant

* conduct, expand, increase

* spectacular, stubborn, zest

* deliberately, cherish, commence

These engaging Storybooks provide structured practice for children learning to read the Read Write Inc. Set 1 and 2 sounds. Each set of books is carefully levelled to match childrens growing phonic knowledge so children can read them with accuracy, fluency and comprehension. The Storybooks include a range of engaging stories such as fairy tales, myths and legends, rhyming stories and familiar settings. Activities at the start of the books help children to practise the sounds and words they will encounter in the story. Questions to talk about at the end of the story provide an extra opportunity for developing childrens comprehension. The 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 willing writers. It includes Handbooks, Sounds Cards, Word Cards, Storybooks, Non-fiction, Writing books and an Online resource. Read Write Inc. is fully supported by comprehensive professional development from Ruth Miskin Training.

These engaging Storybooks provide structured practice for children learning to read the Read Write Inc. Set 1, 2 and 3 sounds. Each set of books is carefully levelled to match childrens growing phonic knowledge so children can read them with accuracy, fluency and comprehension. The Storybooks include a range of engaging stories such as fairy tales, myths and legends, rhyming stories and familiar settings. Activities at the start of the books help children to practise the sounds and words they will encounter in the story. Questions to talk about at the end of the story provide an extra opportunity for developing childrens comprehension. The 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 willing writers. It includes Handbooks, Sounds Cards, Word Cards, Storybooks, Non-fiction, Writing books and an Online resource. Read Write Inc. is fully supported by comprehensive professional development from Ruth Miskin Training.

Writing Instruction for Generation 2.0 addresses many of the concerns teachers have about the impact of the digital world on student writing and suggests ways for teachers to approach these issues within a 21st century literacies framework. This book is not about teaching the writing process, running a writing workshop, or using specific digital tools to support writing instruction. Forward-thinking teachers who wish to understand the 21st century literacies, understand what youth are doing in respect to those literacies, and discover how they can apply this knowledge to classroom instruction will find answers to their questions. The chapters include specific suggestions, but those suggestions are meant as a jumping-off point for imaginative and innovative teachers to adapt to meet the specific needs of students in their classrooms.

A paw-fect pack of 31 full-colour phonics flash cards starring CBeebies' Waffle the Wonder Dog, perfect for children starting school. These bright and colourful cards support the way children are taught to read in their first years of school. Including: letters a to z 4 first digraphs and a parent's guide Join Waffle and his friends on a reading adventure!

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. First Sentences provide practice of high frequency vocabulary with highly repetitive text to continue to build fluency. Patterned Stories and More Patterned Stories A practise vocabulary in the context of a repeated sentence structure to help develop confidence and fluency. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with childrens reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk.

Teaching grammar can be overwhelming and is often an overlooked part of effective instruction. The Elementary School Grammar Toolkit to the rescue! Now in its second edition, this comprehensive guide makes grammar instruction fun and meaningful. You will learn how to... * Teach grammar in a practical way to help students grow as readers and writers by presenting each grammar rule as a useful writing tool. * Use mentor texts-excerpts from great literature-to help students understand grammar in action. * Promote metacognition along the way so that students become responsible for their own learning. * Implement innovative instructional strategies and tools aligned with Common Core and other state standards. Throughout the book, you'll find step-by-step recommendations for teaching each of the grammar tools to help students meet the Common Core State Standards and other state language standards for grades three to five, plus classroom snapshots that show you the tools in action, handy templates that you can use in the classroom, and new tips for extra support at the end of every chapter. New! The second edition features revised classroom snapshots and exemplars to showcase successful practices, new visuals, more free charts and activities, and new "Bonus Tips for Support" in each chapter, with extra practices and strategies to use with students who need extra support. The expanded, free annotated bibliography is updated to include contemporary, high-quality children's and young adult literature and gives examples of key grammatical concepts found in each work. These resources are available as supplemental downloads on our website.

Transform your literacy outcomes and engage your whole school in reading. Inspire and delight your children with contemporary, diverse and engaging texts that will spark a lifelong love of reading for pleasure. Get the most out of best-loved children's books with our bestselling Read & Respond series - the perfect way to explore favourite stories in your classroom. This resource book brings you a wealth of inspiring activities, discussion ideas and guided reading notes based on The Smeds and the Smoos by Julia Donaldson. Stimulating content mapped to curriculum objectives Phonics section Shared reading and whole-class guided reading section including non-fiction extracts Time-saving lesson plans, activities and assessments Huge variety of speaking, listening and creative activities. Our Read & Respond series now has a dedicated online space containing: Curriculum and teaching overviews with recommendations on books to read for pleasure Classic small-group guided reading notes and resources Teaching reading resources such as ideas for vocabulary and fluency Read & Respond helps you build a whole-school literacy programme based on timeless children's stories, chosen to inspire reading for pleasure. Fun-filled activities help children to fully engage with each story, encouraging a love of reading and building a range of skills. Underpinned by a wealth of research the teacher's guides provide activities with a strong focus on all of the 'big five' plus oracy and reading for pleasure, as well as concentration on grammar, punctuation & spelling and writing Foster reading for pleasure with stories from acclaimed and award-winning authors Prepare with confidence with essential teacher's books and supportive resources Save hours of preparation time with ready-to-use print and digital resources Boost guided reading in every year group with detailed teachers notes. PRAISE FOR READ & RESPOND 'The resources are wonderful. I like the fact that it has a mix of fiction and non-fiction activities ... and how material can link to other areas of the curriculum, not just literacy.' Miss North, teacher 'Reading for enjoyment and writing for enjoyment are two of the most powerful ways of getting children interested in books. Read & Respond provides exactly this.' Michael Morpurgo, author '[Read and Respond] makes it easy to explore texts fully and ensure that the children want to keep on reading more.' Chris Flanagan, Primary teacher.

The Level 4 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 help children to progress from teacher-supported reading at the early Levels to more independent reading. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with childrens reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk.

Our brilliant Targeted Question Book 2 for Year 4 pupils is jam-packed with even more Reading Comprehension practice! It contains more engaging texts (at the same level as Book 1) - including fiction, non-fiction and poetry - that cover a diverse range of styles and eras, from well-known classics to modern authors. Each text is accompanied by practice questions to help build pupils' comprehension skills, and there are full answers at the back. There are also handy online extras, including a pupil progress chart. For more Year 4 Reading Comprehension practice, don't miss our Book 1 (9781782944492) and challenging Stretch Book (9781789083514).

Pinpoint is a series of activities and resources created to provide you with highly focused resources for specific needs in English. 144 page photocopiable book, A4 size Questions and mark scheme based on style of Reading SATs Mixture of fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts 20 units containing a text extract and differentiated practice at 3 levels to provide challenge for all Focus on higher order skills and a wide range of comprehension strategies Saves teachers time searching for engaging texts with carefully levelled practice Promotes stamina with the inclusion of longer extracts This book provides confidence-building, independent activities for Year 5 / P6 that help children to master a wide range of comprehension strategies. The resources are photocopiable to allow repeated use year-on-year. The book comprises 20 curriculum-matched units that follow the principles of scaffolded practice by reducing the support as children grow in confidence. SATs style questions are mapped to the KS2 content domains. The Pinpoint characters provide friendly hints and tips. Contains a good mix of contemporary and classic fiction, stimulating non-fiction and engaging poetry. The comprehensive mark scheme provides answers and commonly made mistakes.

"Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science" presents a unique and effective interdisciplinary approach to teaching science poems and science poetry writing in secondary English and science classrooms. A collaboration between two award-winning teachers, one in English, the other in science, this crossover work demonstrates how scientific literacy, knowledge, and methods can inform and inspire poetic response in the classroom and in the field. "Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science" illustrates how students can utilize field research, observations, sensory data gathering, poetic writing strategies, and model science poems by poets, scientists, students, and teachers to produce skillful and creative science poetry. The authors explore the commonalities shared by the domains of science and poetry as well as the potentials for intersections and interactions across those two domains. As the science teacher raises scientific questions and suggests technical vocabulary to further language specificity and precision, the poetry teacher demonstrates multiple poetic stances enabling imaginative poetic responses. The active, hands-on, collaborative nature of the classroom atmosphere motivates students to write inspired poems, and students who have never before written poetry can become excited, engaged, and productive. "Writing Poetry Through the Eyes of Science" is built on original field data gathered by Colfax from expeditions to Iceland and other locations around the world as well as the original poetry and poetry teaching techniques of Gorrell. It illustrates basic science poetry writing exercises useful for students of all levels and abilities, and includes student work as well as commentary and feedback on their science poems in each chapter. It then moves to advanced exercises designed to teach the inspired poems of awe, empathy, outrage, protest, meditation, speculation, and perplexity. In the final section of the work, the authors present sample lesson plans specifically designed for the advanced English language and composition curriculum as well as for advanced science courses in research, ecology, and the environment.

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.