The ultimate aim of reading is not the process but to understand what we read and comprehension can take place at many different levels. There has been an increasing emphasis on the importance of reading comprehension in recent years but despite this there is very little written on this vital topic accessible to trainee and practicing teachers. The Handbook of Reading Comprehension presents an overview of recent findings on reading comprehension and comprehension problems in children. It provides a detailed examination of the characteristics of children who have reading comprehension difficulties, and examines ways in which comprehension can be supported and improved. It is accessibly written for students and professionals with no previous background in the psychology of reading or reading problems. This indispensable handbook asks the question 'what is comprehension?' The authors consider comprehension of different units of language: understanding single words, sentences, and connected prose and outline what readers (and listeners) have to do to successfully understand an extended text. This book also considers comprehension for different purposes, in particular reading for pleasure and reading to learn and explores how reader characteristics such as interest and motivation can influence the comprehension process. Different skills contribute to successful reading comprehension. These include word reading ability, vocabulary knowledge, syntactic skills, memory, and discourse level skills such as the ability to make inferences, knowledge about text structure, and metacognitive skills. The authors discuss how each one contributes to the development of reading comprehension skill and how the development of these skills (or their precursors) in pre-readers, provides the foundation for reading comprehension development. Areas covered include:- Word reading and comprehension Development of comprehension skills Comprehension difficulties Assessment Teaching for improvement Throughout the text successful experimental and classroom based interventions will be highlighted, practical tips for teachers and summary boxes detailing key points and explaining technical terms will be included in each chapter

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.

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.

`Education is not about filling a pail, it's about lighting a fire.' -W.B.Yeats Through carefully selected and contextualized quotes, this book provides an engaging and inspiring way for reading teachers to look at and reflect on their own practice and grow professionally. A year's worth of thought-provoking quotations from thinkers in and out of education are tied to 11 themes for a reading educator's professional development. With each quote, the authors provide: Three reflective questions relating the core idea of the quote to teaching practice Lesson prompts that provide ways to use the quote with students Links to books for K-2, 3-8 and 9-12 to extend thinking generated by the quote The introduction spells out for teachers and literacy coaches how reflective use of the quotes and related prompts can promote and document professional development. It also provides multiple applications for the quotes in the classroom to directly foster enhancement of students' literacy, metacognitive skills and goal setting.

Spelling Workbooks are designed to help students improve their ability to read and write by strengthening spelling skills. By learning key spelling techniques, young readers will benefit inside and outside the classroom. Each of the lessons in these fun, colorful books provide:

• Activities to teach readers to relate to sounds to spelling patterns
• Exercises to help children link spelling to meaning
• Unit reviews to test and reinforce what children have learned
• Short passages to proofread for misspelled words
• Rules for capitalization and punctuation
• Introduction to dictionary use

Reinforce your kindergartner's new skills with Spectrum Spelling. With the progressive lessons in this workbook, your child will practice letter recognition, short vowels, sight words, 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.

Nelson Comprehension provides a simple and effective course for the teaching of key comprehension skills. Units cover all genres of texts - including fiction, poetry, playscripts, instructions and biography - with plenty of practice, repetition and assessment built in. Differentiated questions and resource sheets as well as assessment materials help ensure that all children are on track. This Pupil Book offers 20 engaging illlustrated texts with accompanying differentiated questions which test the whole range of comprehension skills, including literal, inferential and deductive.

Nelson Comprehension provides a simple and effective course for the teaching of key comprehension skills. Units cover all genres of texts - including fiction, poetry, playscripts, instructions and biography - with plenty of practice, repetition and assessment built in. Differentiated questions and resource sheets as well as assessment materials help ensure that all children are on track. This Pupil Book offers 30 engaging illlustrated texts with accompanying differentiated questions which test the whole range of comprehension skills, including literal, inferential and deductive.

"""These series of books are of really high quality. [They] take the time to explain the issues and work in good straight forward steps - meaning frustration-free learning!"" Nick H, Amazon customer Help children master core English skills required for success at school and beyond. Matched to the curriculum, our acclaimed Scholastic English Skills series is full of easy ways to teach the essentials. An ideal English toolkit for the primary years Gets children speaking, reading and writing confidently Tackles common problems that hold back progress Saves time with inspiring ready-made lesson ideas, activities and posters The accompanying CD-ROM contains animations of letter formations and space for the teacher to demonstrate on an interactive whiteboard. This handwriting teacher's book includes ready-for-writing activities, writing and spelling practice, simple first joining and support for left-handers, covering: practise of the joins covered in the previous two titles, focusing on Spelling. It also looks at speed and the children developing their own style. A linked pupil workbook is also available. (Previously published under the Scholastic Literacy Skills series)

Reinforce your child's fourth-grade skills with Spectrum Word Study and Phonics. With the progressive lessons in this workbook, your child will strengthen language skills in digraphs and diphthongs, synonyms and antonyms, idioms, and dictionary skills. The Spectrum(R) Phonics series provides your child with skill-building exercises that focus on phonics, structural analysis, and dictionary skills. Phonics for grades K-2 guides students progressively through letter sounds, blends, and pairs and how they combine to form words. Word Study and Phonics for grades 3-6 includes lessons in decoding as well as vocabulary comprehension, spelling, word relationships, figurative language, and even foreign words. Unique exercises will keep children engaged, and complete answer keys will help you gauge their understanding of the way words work. Spectrum, the best-selling workbook series, is proud to provide quality educational materials that support your students' learning achievement and success.

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.

Dockside, the award-winning reading intervention programme, is specifically designed for older children who are struggling with their reading, or for children learning English as an additional language. It provides an opportunity for children to practise their reading skills at a suitable level with age-appropriate storylines. A handy breakdown of key words is included as well as question prompts to encourage discussion. The series is set in an everyday world featuring a range of strong characters and stories to which children can relate, and enjoy, providing a unique approach to reading intervention.

Chosen as one of the best homeschooling books to educate kids during lockdown by The Independent. The perfect guide for helping your child with phonics, containing over 40 fun, multi-sensory games and activities to bring phonics to life in the home environment. Phonics at Home helps parents get to grips with letters and sounds and complements any phonics scheme already used in primary schools. Whether you are home schooling or simply looking for fun activities to keep your child engaged in learning, this is the number one resource for teaching reading, writing and spelling at home. Kate Robinson uses her wealth of experience as a teacher and trainer to demystify phonics with clear explanations of related terminology and step-by-step instructions to help parents and children make the most of every activity. What's more, the easy-to-play games work with any phonics scheme - it doesn't matter which scheme the school is using - and use items found around the house. Aimed at Key Stage 1 and early Key Stage 2 children, this practical book is ideal for all parents keen to support their child's reading and spelling development at home.

Treasure House Composition Pupil Books are aimed at ages 5-11. They include both classic and contemporary fiction and non-fiction, which stimulate children to think, talk and write for a range of purposes. This Treasure House pupil book: * covers all the composition skills in the 2014 National Curriculum * includes a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction extracts * accompanies each extract with carefully structured questions, building up to a short piece of writing * lays the foundations for pupils to become assured, proficient writers. This pupil book can be used with Treasure House Teacher's Guide 1, Anthology 1 and activities on Collins Connect for an integrated approach to teaching English.

Unlock hidden writing skills in all learners through UDL! The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for writing are promising but present a host of challenges in implementation, especially for struggling students. In this valuable resource, Sally A. Spencer demonstrates the potential of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a framework for making the CCSS writing and language standards accessible to all kids. Educators who utilize these strategies will know: How to leverage the strengths of students to optimize writing instruction and overcome their weaknesses The ways UDL can minimize the roadblocks in CCSS implementation How to - and how not to - use technology to teach writing and language conventions With dozens of classroom-ready activities, resources for further reading, and reproducibles, this easy-to-use guide will help you make all students proficient writers.

The Level 1 Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories, written by Roderick Hunt and illustrated by Alex Brychta, provide both wordless stories and a rich story context to help develop language comprehension and decoding skills with simple first words and sentences. Wordless Stories A and 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. First Words and More First Words introduce children to simple words and the characters' names. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk

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.

The next 10 Tippie adventures are proudly South-African, interesting and builds on the skills acquired in the Level 1 books. The text is supported by colourful, engaging illustrations to support comprehension and practise short vowel sounds and simple consonant clusters. Tippie learns and explores alongside his friends whilst staying true to typical child development. These sequential reading books were designed with a focus on sound development, linking sounds and letters as well as continuing building success and self-confidence in reading. The Level 2 books still focus on short vowels, simple consonants, sight words and final position consonant clusters. Children will love Tippie’s latest adventures as it is full of fun and humorous incidents along the way.

The Level 1+ 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. First Sentences and More First Sentences A, B and C introduce children to stories told through complete sentences to provide practice of high frequency vocabulary to build confidence and 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.

Words consist of units of meaning, called morphemes. These morphemes have a striking effect on spelling which has been largely neglected until now. For example, nouns that end in "-ian" are words which refer to people, and so when this ending is attached to "magic" we can tell that the resulting word means someone who produces magic. Knowledge of this rule, therefore, helps us with spelling: it tells us that this word is spelled as "magician" and not as "magicion."
This new book by Terezinha Nunes and Peter Bryant and their colleagues shows how important and necessary it is for children to find out about morphemes when they are learning to read and to spell. The book concentrates on how to teach children about the morphemic structure of words and on the beneficial effects of this teaching for children's spelling and for the breadth of their vocabulary. It reports the results of several studies in the laboratory and in school classrooms of the effects of teaching children about a wide variety of morphemes. These projects showed that school children enjoy learning about morphemes and that this learning improves their spelling and their vocabulary as well. The book, therefore, suggests new directions in the teaching of literacy. It should be read by everyone concerned with helping children to learn to read and to write.

With reports from several studies showing the benefits of teaching young children about morphemes, this book is essential reading for anyone concerned with helping children to read and write.

By breaking words down into chunks of meaning that can be analyzed as complete units rather than as strings of individual letters, children are better able to make sense of the often contradictory spelling and reading rules of English. As a result, their enjoyment of learning about words increases, and their literacy skills improve. Written by leading researchers for trainee teachers, practising teachers and interested parents, this highly accessible and innovative book provides sound, evidence-based advice and materials that can be used to help teach children about morphemes, and highlights the beneficial effects of this approach.

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.