With the signature wit and humor that have garnered him legions of fans, award-winning author Jack Gantos instructs young writers on using their "writing radar" to find story ideas in their own lives. Charting his own misadventures as an adolescent writer, Gantos inspires readers to build confidence and establish good writing habits as they create, revise, and perfect their stories. Pop-out text boxes highlight key tips, alongside dozens of Gantos's own hilarious illustrations and original stories. More than just a how-to guide, Writing Radar is a celebration of the power of storytelling and an ode to the characters who - many unwittingly - inspired Gantos's own writing career.

This book reports findings of a qualitative study intended to disrupt notions of heteronormativity amongst preservice elementary teachers by engaging them in multimodal writing and text production around issues facing LGBTQIA+ youth. Against the backdrop of increasing anti-transgender sentiment in the United States, the text highlights the necessity of integrating queered pedagogy in teacher education to facilitate candidates' movement through the continuum and leave them prepared, equipped, and willing to support children identifying as LGBTQIA+. Through analysis of picture books, infographics, and multimodal texts produced by teacher candidates, this cutting-edge volume develops a continuum of engagement, from apathy through to active allyship, with LGBTQIA+ youth. This timely volume will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in gender and sexuality studies, primary and elementary education, as well as teacher education more specifically. Those involved with queer theory and the sociology of education will also benefit from this volume.

"Creative Story Writing is the essential guide for all students wanting to develop their literacy skills and improve their grades in English assignments and examinations. It is the first in the Teach Your Child to Write Good English series. Creative Writing has been written by an experienced teacher and tutor and written with the needs of children in mind. This book concentrates specifically and in depth on Creative Writing required by the National Curriculum, providing everything needed to stimulate a child to write imaginatively. It is specifically targeted at Key Stage 2 and 3 (ages 8-14 years). However, it provides a useful aid for students taking GCSE at foundation level. It contains material suitable for SATS examinations, for those taking 11+ entrance examinations and for students learning English as a foreign language. Creative Story Writing will guide students through the story writing process, as if they had a tutor by their side. This book is designed to help the child with thinking up ideas, providing starting points for writing, structuring and organizing their writing into paragraphs. It features writing a good introduction with characters, setting and plot, building up suspense and winding up the plot with a suitable resolution. Attention is given to making writing more interesting by varying sentence types, using punctuation and good grammar. The student will investigate different narrative structures for writing stories, exploring various viewpoints so they can decide if they write in first or third person. They will learn to evoke mood and atmosphere by using good vocabulary. Creative Writing includes an exciting range of model answers and sample texts written by children and provides practice questions to test them. Common errors made by students are highlighted and corrected. It is packed with vital hints and tips on gaining those top grades. Creative Writing is ideal for working through at home, supplementing school work. By working methodically through this book the students will grow in confidence and will learn to enjoy writing."

This text offers practical insights for English teachers, especially novice educators, to incorporate into their classroom lessons. Roseboro guides readers through the metacognitive process that we grow to understand in our beginning years as essential parts of curriculum development. Her words encourage meaningful engagement and collaborative learning among students and teachers. Moreover, the content-specific activities demonstrate a belief in and commitment to academic rigor and relevance.

No matter the location, schools are guided by standards, including Common Core State Standards. This collection of contributions by some of the country's leading literacy experts offers practical suggestions for implementing young adult literature to meet the demand that standards mandate for focusing on nonfiction in teaching literacy. The challenges to CCSS abound, and teachers who are currently seeking avenues to reach their students no matter what content they teach will find the strategies and suggestions useful. The text advocates using young adult literature to accomplish content area literacy and is intended as a primer for those who are building curriculum.

This book is designed to be a valuable resource for all educators who seek to gain a better understanding of writing development, effective writing teaching practices, and meeting the instructional needs of struggling writers. Educators of all levels and career stages will then benefit from the extensive research provided in the book; and through its pages they will gain a thorough understanding of how to go about the process of developing proficient writers in their classrooms.

Today, the meaning of literacy, what it means to be literate, has shifted dramatically. Literacy involves more than a set of conventions to be learned, either through print or technological formats. Rather, literacy enables people to negotiate meaning. The past decade has witnessed increased attention on multiple literacies and modalities of learning associated with teacher preparation and practice. Research recognizes both the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in the new globalized society and the new variety of text forms from multiple communicative technologies. There is also the need for new skills to operate successfully in the changing literate and increasingly diversified social environment. Linguists, anthropologists, educators, and social theorists no longer believe that literacy can be defined as a concrete list of skills that people merely manipulate and use. Rather, they argue that becoming literate is about what people do with literacy-the values people place on various acts and their associated ideologies. In other words, literacy is more than linguistic; it is political and social practice that limits or creates possibilities for who people become as literate beings. Such understandings of literacy have informed and continue to inform our work with teachers who take a sociological or critical perspective toward literacy instruction. Importantly, as research indicates, the disciplines pose specialized and unique literacy demands. Disciplinary literacy refers to the idea that we should teach the specialized ways of reading, understanding, and thinking used in each academic discipline, such as science, mathematics, engineering, history, or literature. Each field has its own ways of using text to create and communicate meaning. Accordingly, as children advance through school, literacy instruction should shift from general literacy strategies to the more specific or specialized ones from each discipline. Teacher preparation programs emphasizing different disciplinary literacies acknowledge that old approaches to literacy are no longer sufficient.

This edited volume provides a single coherent overview of vocabulary teaching and learning in relation to each of the four skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking). Each of the four sections presents a skill area with two chapters presented by two leading experts in the field, relating recent advances in the field to the extent that each skill area relates differently to vocabulary and how this informs pedagogy and policy. The book opens with a summary of recent advances in the field of vocabulary, and closes by drawing conclusions from the skill areas covered. The chapters respond to emerging vocabulary research trends that indicate that lexical acquisition needs to be treated differently according to the skill area. The editors have chosen chapters to respond to recent research advances and to highlight practical and pedagogical application in a single coherent volume.

Descriptosaurus: Action & Adventure builds on the vocabulary and descriptive phrases introduced in the original bestselling Descriptosaurus and, within the context of adventure stories, develops the structure and use of the words and phrases to promote colourful cinematic writing. This essential guide will enable children to take their writing to the next level, combine their descriptions of setting and character and show how the two interact. Children can then experiment with their own adventure stories, armed with the skills, techniques and vocabulary necessary to describe their action scenes in a way that allows the reader to feel the characters' fear and excitement, and visualise the action within the setting. This new system also provides a contextualised alternative to grammar textbooks and will assist children in acquiring, understanding and applying the grammar they will need to improve their writing, both creative and technical.

Brilliant Activities for Reading Fiction contains comprehension activities to help Key Stage 2 pupils learn the key features of stories and poems and develop strategies for reading them critically. All the activities are compatible with the Primary Literacy Strategy. Activities range from looking at descriptions of characters from classic texts and analysing the features of good story openings to looking at alliteration in poems and investigating humorous prose. The book is divided into four sections, one for each year of key Stage 2. Lesson plans are accompanied by photocopiable texts and worksheets. Most of the activities allow for differentiation by outcome and so may be used with the whole class. Differentiated sheets are included where necessary so that children of lower ability have more guidance or less to do in quantity. Extension activities are given to challenge the more able, and follow-on activities enable teachers to extend the work further.

* Contains over twenty creative, engaging drama ideas to help develop reading for meaning in the primary school * Highly practical structured and fun drama activities will appeal to all primary practitioners * Shows how drama can develop some of the skills associated with reading for meaning such as engaging with characters' feelings, exploring settings and themes and making inferences * Provides a broad introduction to using drama as a learning medium, with advice on how to set the ground rules and clear explanations of the drama strategies. * Each chapter has a detailed explanation of what to do, followed by a number of examples linked to quality texts, including poetry and non-fiction.

Today, the meaning of literacy, what it means to be literate, has shifted dramatically. Literacy involves more than a set of conventions to be learned, either through print or technological formats. Rather, literacy enables people to negotiate meaning. The past decade has witnessed increased attention on multiple literacies and modalities of learning associated with teacher preparation and practice. Research recognizes both the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in the new globalized society and the new variety of text forms from multiple communicative technologies. There is also the need for new skills to operate successfully in the changing literate and increasingly diversified social environment. Linguists, anthropologists, educators, and social theorists no longer believe that literacy can be defined as a concrete list of skills that people merely manipulate and use. Rather, they argue that becoming literate is about what people do with literacy-the values people place on various acts and their associated ideologies. In other words, literacy is more than linguistic; it is political and social practice that limits or creates possibilities for who people become as literate beings. Such understandings of literacy have informed and continue to inform our work with teachers who take a sociological or critical perspective toward literacy instruction. Importantly, as research indicates, the disciplines pose specialized and unique literacy demands. Disciplinary literacy refers to the idea that we should teach the specialized ways of reading, understanding, and thinking used in each academic discipline, such as science, mathematics, engineering, history, or literature. Each field has its own ways of using text to create and communicate meaning. Accordingly, as children advance through school, literacy instruction should shift from general literacy strategies to the more specific or specialized ones from each discipline. Teacher preparation programs emphasizing different disciplinary literacies acknowledge that old approaches to literacy are no longer sufficient.

This book provides a practical understanding of digital literacy and information on integrating digital technology into English Language Arts and literacy instruction at the K-6 grade levels. Cross-disciplinary connections are also provided to bridge literacy and language arts and other content areas for a more integrated approach to literacy instruction. This text not only introduces readers to various types of digital tools and resources, but also provides practical approaches for using digital tools in instruction to help students read and write multi-modal digital texts. Each chapter contains key elements that prompt brainstorming about digital tools, connections to the Common Core State Standards in Language Arts, and resources for teachers to plan instruction that incorporates digital tools. Comprehensive sample lesson plans that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards and English Language Proficiency Standards are provided throughout the text. Information about digital citizenship, digital copyright, lesson planning, and long-range planning is also provided.

The second edition of The Music and Literacy Connection expands our understanding of the links between reading and music by examining those skills and learning processes that are directly parallel for music learning and language arts literacy in the pre-K, elementary, and secondary levels. This edition includes two new chapters: one dedicated to secondary music education and teacher evaluation, and another that offers a literature review of latest literacy research in education, neuroscience, and neuropsychology. Readers will find extensive instructional examples for music and reading teachers so that they may enrich and support each other in alignment with current initiatives for twenty-first-century curricula. Instructional examples are aligned with The National Core Music Standards and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Media Arts. Readers will find an in-depth review of the benefits of music learning in the listening, viewing, speaking and writing literacy as well as comprehensive information for children with special needs. The Music and Literacy Connection is a valuable resource for professional development, college literacy courses, and curriculum administrators.

How to Sparkle at Reading Comprehension contains over 40 photocopiable activity worksheets for Key Stage 1 (KS1). The sheets are ideal for independent work. Each activity covers at least one comprehension objective of the National Literacy Strategy. A wide variety of texts include stories, poems, recipes and character descriptions that are fun and relevant for your pupils. The comprehension activities on each sheet can be completed individually, in small groups or as a class.

* Equips teachers of grades 6-12 interested in multimodal composition with the necessary knowledge to design workshops, units, lessons, and assessment plans. * Chapters define what multimodality is, discuss why it must be explicitly taught in our workshops, and explain how to implement it. * Two appendices provide clear tools, resources, and grade-level specific support. * Key reading for secondary teachers, literacy coaches, and curriculum leaders.

* Equips teachers of grades 6-12 interested in multimodal composition with the necessary knowledge to design workshops, units, lessons, and assessment plans. * Chapters define what multimodality is, discuss why it must be explicitly taught in our workshops, and explain how to implement it. * Two appendices provide clear tools, resources, and grade-level specific support. * Key reading for secondary teachers, literacy coaches, and curriculum leaders.

The Level 3 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 build on the reading skills from Level 2 and are slightly longer. First Sentences include a range of high frequency vocabulary with repetitive text to continue to build 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.

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.

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.

Stories have great power. This book attempts to harness that power to help students grow and develop as writers. It argues that stories and narratives can be utilized in the composition classroom, specifically first-year composition (FYC) to break down barriers. Throughout a given semester, stories and narratives can help students in composition courses to overcome academic, personal, and creative barriers, establishing a space for developing as writers and thinkers. Providing theoretical approaches, practical methods, and implications for using stories in FYC, this book explores the versatility of stories as teaching tools.