A Quick Guide to Teaching Reading Through Fantasy Novels, 5-8


Book Description

Supporting dreams of fabulous escape and transformation, fantasy literature can be especially compelling for adolescents. Mary Ehrenworth offers a unit of study that harnesses the power of this expansive and poignant genre to lure even reluctant readers into reading epic novels with passion and stamina. Adhering to reading workshop principles and the classic session architecture honed by Lucy Calkins in the Units of Study series, this unit of study begins by launching the kids into fantasy book clubs that foster literary conversations. After exploring ways to read with deep comprehension and to synthesize across pages, students learn to develop thematic understandings. During the course of this unit, students likewise explore where their novels fit within the larger literary tradition. Throughout the unit, students read several books-tackling at least one series, and sometimes moving across series. (This unit of study is drawn from Constructing Curriculum in the Units of Study for Teaching Reading series.) A Quick Guide to Teaching Reading Through Fantasy Novels is part of the Workshop Help Desk series. About the Workshop Help Desk series The Workshop Help Desk series is designed for teachers who believe in workshop teaching and who have already rolled up their sleeves enough to have encountered the predictable challenges. If you've struggled to get around quickly enough to help all your students, if you've wondered how to tweak your teaching to make it more effective and lasting, if you've needed to adapt your teaching for English learners, if you've struggled to teach grammar or nonfiction writing or test prep...if you've faced these and other specific, pressing challenges, then this series is for you. Provided in a compact 5" x 7" format, the Workshop Help Desk series offers pocket-sized professional development. For a comprehensive overview of the Units of Study in Opinion/Argument, Information, and Narrative series, including sample minilessons, sample videos, videos, frequently asked questions and more, visit UnitsofStudy.com.




The Thief of Always


Book Description

Mr. Hood's Holiday House has stood for a thousand years, welcoming countless children into its embrace. It is a place of miracles, a blissful rounds of treats and seasons, where every childhood whim may be satisfied... There is a price to be paid, of course, but young Harvey Swick, bored with his life and beguiled by Mr. Hood's wonders, does not stop to consider the consequences. It is only when the House shows it's darker face — when Harvey discovers the pitiful creatures that dwell in its shadows — that he comes to doubt Mr. Hood's philanthropy. The House and its mysterious architect are not about to release their captive without a battle, however. Mr. Hood has ambitious for his new guest, for Harvey's soul burns brighter than any soul he has encountered in a thousand years...




A Quick Guide to Reviving Disengaged Writers, 5-8


Book Description

Middle schoolers can be the masters of disengagement. Recognizing that all students, adept and struggling writers alike, lose steam at times and need a revitalizing jump start, Christopher Lehman offers effective, developmentally-appropriate fixes for addressing situations that frequently sidetrack or distract adolescent writers. Organized as a practical on-the-go teaching reference, the first four chapters offer strategies for counteracting commonplace situations that can regularly spring up and disengage middle school writers such as: writers who seem to have an almost "allergic" reaction to the writing process writers who "cannot possibly find anything to write about" writers who "talk, talk, talk the writing time away" writers who need constant approval before moving on. The final chapter offers an inquiry-based study guide that supports teachers in collaborating on and customizing strategies for reviving the disengaged writers in their learning communities. A Quick Guide to Reviving Disengaged Writers is part of the Workshop Help Desk series. About the Workshop Help Desk series The Workshop Help Desk series is designed for teachers who believe in workshop teaching and who have already rolled up their sleeves enough to have encountered the predictable challenges. If you've struggled to get around quickly enough to help all your students, if you've wondered how to tweak your teaching to make it more effective and lasting, if you've needed to adapt your teaching for English learners, if you've struggled to teach grammar or nonfiction writing or test prep...if you've faced these and other specific, pressing challenges, then this series is for you. Provided in a compact 5" x 7" format, the Workshop Help Desk series offers pocket-sized professional development. For a comprehensive overview of the Units of Study in Opinion/Argument, Information, and Narrative series, including sample minilessons, sample videos, videos, frequently asked questions and more, visit UnitsofStudy.com.




A Quick Guide to Getting Started with Units of Study, K-8


Book Description

"This book is for teachers who are getting started using a workshop approach to reading or writing, or both, and who have one or both of the Units of Study in Reading, and Units of Study in Writing"--




Dear Mr. Henshaw


Book Description

Newbery Medal Winner * Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children * ALA Notable Children’s Book Beverly Cleary’s timeless Newbery Medal-winning book explores difficult topics like divorce, insecurity, and bullying through the thoughts and emotions of a sixth-grade boy as he writes to his favorite author, Boyd Henshaw. After his parents separate, Leigh Botts moves to a new town with his mother. Struggling to make friends and deal with his anger toward his absent father, Leigh loses himself in a class assignment in which he must write to his favorite author. When Mr. Henshaw responds, the two form an unexpected friendship that will change Leigh’s life forever. From the beloved author of the Henry Huggins, Ramona Quimby, and Ralph S. Mouse series comes an epistolary novel about how to navigate and heal from life’s growing pains.




Fantasy Book Clubs


Book Description




Passionate Readers


Book Description

How do we inspire students to love reading and discovery? In Passionate Readers: The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, classroom teacher, author, and speaker Pernille Ripp reveals the five keys to creating a passionate reading environment. You’ll learn how to... Use your own reading identity to create powerful reading experiences for all students Empower your students and their reading experience by focusing on your physical classroom environment Create and maintain an enticing, well-organized, easy-to-use classroom library; Build a learning community filled with choice and student ownership; and Guide students to further develop their own reading identity to cement them as life-long, invested readers. Throughout the book, Pernille opens up about her own trials and errors as a teacher and what she’s learned along the way. She also shares a wide variety of practical tools that you can use in your own classroom, including a reader profile sheet, conferring sheet, classroom library letter to parents, and much more. These tools are available in the book and as eResources to help you build your own classroom of passionate readers.




Teaching Reading in Middle School


Book Description

Get the "big picture" of teaching reading in the middle school, including research, as well as the practical details you need to help every stydent become a better reader. Veteran teacher Laura Robb shares how to: teach reading strategies across the curriculum, present mini-lessons that deepen students' knowledge of how specific reading strategies work; help kids apply the strategies through guided practice; support struggling readers with a plan of action that improves their reading motivation; and much more.




The Giver


Book Description

The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. This movie tie-in edition features cover art from the movie and exclusive Q&A with members of the cast, including Taylor Swift, Brenton Thwaites and Cameron Monaghan.




The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire #1)


Book Description

A thrilling new series soars above the competition and redefines middle-grade fantasy fiction for a new generation!The seven dragon tribes have been at war for generations, locked in an endless battle over an ancient, lost treasure. A secret movement called the Talons of Peace is determined to bring an end to the fighting, with the help of a prophecy -- a foretelling that calls for great sacrifice.Five dragonets are collected to fulfill the prophecy, raised in a hidden cave and enlisted, against their will, to end the terrible war.But not every dragonet wants a destiny. And when the select five escape their underground captors to look for their original homes, what has been unleashed on the dragon world may be far more than the revolutionary planners intended . . .