The new standards were written to address the harsh realities for poor performance of American students across all grades levels, k-12. According to NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) data, more than 60% of our students in grades 4, 8, and 12 are not proficient readers and the United States is one of the lowest performing in mathematics. The statistics are even more staggering for our children who live in poverty, students with disabilities and English Language Learners. The new standards have sent a clear message: all students must be engaged deeper learning. This deeper level of understanding and comprehension is communicated through a more sophisticated and independent level of applied literacy skills. In this book, some of our leading educators envision the standards as a vehicle to provide more rigorous instruction and illustrate how teachers are uniquely qualified to determine the most effective methods for developing students' skills and close the achievement gap.

The new standards were written to address the harsh realities for poor performance of American students across all grades levels, k-12. According to NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) data, more than 60% of our students in grades 4, 8, and 12 are not proficient readers and the United States is one of the lowest performing in mathematics. The statistics are even more staggering for our children who live in poverty, students with disabilities and English Language Learners. The new standards have sent a clear message: all students must be engaged deeper learning. This deeper level of understanding and comprehension is communicated through a more sophisticated and independent level of applied literacy skills. In this book, some of our leading educators envision the standards as a vehicle to provide more rigorous instruction and illustrate how teachers are uniquely qualified to determine the most effective methods for developing students' skills and close the achievement gap.

When students are in elementary school, a teacher who has expertise in teaching the fundamentals of reading instructs them. At the middle and high school level that stops - and the timing could not be worse. The literacy demands increase exponentially, yet typically schools do not teach adolescents how to successfully read the increasingly difficult materials they encounter throughout their day. As the rigor increases in their classes, student coping skills become less effective. Consequently, the achievement gap becomes wider and more difficult to close during the adolescent years. When it comes time to prescribe an intervention, middle and high school teachers are hitting a wall. Decoding and comprehension materials are often presented at an elementary level. The students feel bad enough that they struggle with reading; assigned 'baby work' increases the stigma. This book addresses the need for 6-12 teachers to have appropriate literacy intervention materials to use with struggling adolescent readers. This book will also help teachers learn how to support any adolescent reader-struggling or not-when they encounter challenging text. The book features two strands: decoding and comprehension. Each strand contains lessons, materials, a difficulty dial, tips for implementation and student samples.

Resources and guidance for the journey of Common Core implementation In this age of the Common Core State Standards, all content area teachers must integrate literacy standards into their curriculum. If you re like most content area educators, you re feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thought of addressing all the new standards, or you might just need a little extra help. In this hands-on resource, Common Core literacy expert Katherine McKnight offers secondary teachers a clear understanding of what literacy looks like in math, science, and technical subjects. McKnight gives educators proven teaching techniques that help develop literacy skills in students. She also offers a wealth of practical strategies and ready-to-use activities that content area teachers can integrate seamlessly. Included are Ideas for implementing the literacy requirements of the Common Core across content areas A selection of activities that support literacy skills and build content knowledge in math, science, and technology classrooms An easy-to-use Difficulty Dial that indicates the complexity of each activity Robust student samples that bring the activities to life across a variety of grade levels and subjects Common Core Literacy for Math, Science, and Technical Subjects is designed for practicality. With bonus web downloads, a literacy resource guide, and countless ideas for deepening content knowledge, this book provides excellent support for rigorous Common Core implementation. Praise for Common Core Literacy for Math, Science, and Technical Subjects A realist with an incisive wit, Katie s robust pedagogy and trenchant analysis inspire all of us to incorporate the CCSS meaningfully in specific content areas. For her gifted writing, let alone her substantive and easy-to-implement ideas, this is a godsend for content area teachers. Move it to the top of the priority reading stack. Rick Wormeli, veteran educator, author, and teacher trainer McKnight eloquently dispels much of the mythology surrounding the new standards, and explains how to help students find success. You ll find this engaging book your go-to resource for implementing the Common Core. Richard M. Cash, Ed.D., educational consultant; author, Advancing Differentiation: Thinking and Learning for the 21st Century

Tap into the power of graphic organizers for classroom success

Veteran educator and NCTE trainer Katherine McKnight shows how students can use graphic organizers as an important tool to organize new information. Providing a visual representation that uses symbols to express ideas, concepts, and convey meaning, graphic organizers help to depict relationships between facts, terms, and ideas. The author demonstrates how graphic organizers have proven to be a powerful teaching and learning strategy.Includes 100 graphic organizers-more than any comparable bookIncluded graphic organizers can be used before-, during-, and after-learning activities across the content areasContains easy-to-follow instructions for teachers on how to use and adapt the book's graphic organizersOffers strategies for teachers to create their own graphic organizers for different grade levels

The author Katherine McKnight is a noted literacy educator.

When students are in elementary school, a teacher who has expertise in teaching the fundamentals of reading instructs them. At the middle and high school level that stops - and the timing could not be worse. The literacy demands increase exponentially, yet typically schools do not teach adolescents how to successfully read the increasingly difficult materials they encounter throughout their day. As the rigor increases in their classes, student coping skills become less effective. Consequently, the achievement gap becomes wider and more difficult to close during the adolescent years. When it comes time to prescribe an intervention, middle and high school teachers are hitting a wall. Decoding and comprehension materials are often presented at an elementary level. The students feel bad enough that they struggle with reading; assigned 'baby work' increases the stigma. This book addresses the need for 6-12 teachers to have appropriate literacy intervention materials to use with struggling adolescent readers. This book will also help teachers learn how to support any adolescent reader-struggling or not-when they encounter challenging text. The book features two strands: decoding and comprehension. Each strand contains lessons, materials, a difficulty dial, tips for implementation and student samples.

"Teaching the Classics in the Inclusive Classroom" offers teachers a practical resource for helping students in grades 6-12 connect to and appreciate classic literary works. The book is filled with high-interest and engaging exercises that work with a variety of learners (with a particular emphasis on students with special needs), utilizing "pre-reading," "during reading," and "after reading" activities. Many of these exercises help to strengthen reading comprehension while other activities are specifically designed to reinforce vocabulary skills, as these apply to selected classic texts. Using these exercises and techniques to teach the classics will help your students appreciate literature and become better critical thinkers, writers, and readers.