Creative Ways to Teach Literacy


Book Description

Shortlisted for the UKLA Academic Book Award 2013! Covering the essential areas of practice, this book suggests ways to make your literacy teaching as creative and engaging as possible. Children get the most out of their learning when it is exciting, and this book offers great ideas for classroom practice, whilst making careful links to research. Sections advise on teaching narrative, poetry and non-fiction, and each chapter contains case studies and ideas to try out in practice. The authors cover a broad range of topics, including: - exploring traditional tales - writing from experience - using playground games as a foundation for literacy - performing poetry. Written for teachers working with children aged 3-11 years, this book gives you the opportunity to develop children′s literacy in enjoyable and interesting ways.




The Kinesthetic Classroom


Book Description

Drawing on cutting-edge research, this inspiring book shows how to integrate movement with classroom instruction, providing hundreds of activities that improve attention spans and student learning.




Teaching Reading in Small Groups


Book Description

Meet instructional challenges effectively and efficiently by uncovering hidden time for meeting individual students' needs. With small groups, you'll work closely with more children each day with her how-tos on using formative assessment to create groups from common needs; differentiating for individuals, even in a group; and enhancing Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction.




Creative Ways to Teach Literacy


Book Description

Shortlisted for the UKLA Academic Book Award 2013! Covering the essential areas of practice, this book suggests ways to make your literacy teaching as creative and engaging as possible. Children get the most out of their learning when it is exciting, and this book offers great ideas for classroom practice, whilst making careful links to research. Sections advise on teaching narrative, poetry and non-fiction, and each chapter contains case studies and ideas to try out in practice. The authors cover a broad range of topics, including: - exploring traditional tales - writing from experience - using playground games as a foundation for literacy - performing poetry. Written for teachers working with children aged 3-11 years, this book gives you the opportunity to develop children's literacy in enjoyable and interesting ways.




Why Comics?


Book Description

A New York Times Notable Book Filled with beautiful color art, dynamic storytelling, and insightful analysis, Hillary Chute reveals what makes one of the most critically acclaimed and popular art forms so unique and appealing, and how it got that way. “In her wonderful book, Hillary Chute suggests that we’re in a blooming, expanding era of the art… Chute’s often lovely, sensitive discussions of individual expression in independent comics seem so right and true.” — New York Times Book Review Over the past century, fans have elevated comics from the back pages of newspapers into one of our most celebrated forms of culture, from Fun Home, the Tony Award–winning musical based on Alison Bechdel’s groundbreaking graphic memoir, to the dozens of superhero films that are annual blockbusters worldwide. What is the essence of comics’ appeal? What does this art form do that others can’t? Whether you’ve read every comic you can get your hands on or you’re just starting your journey, Why Comics? has something for you. Author Hillary Chute chronicles comics culture, explaining underground comics (also known as “comix”) and graphic novels, analyzing their evolution, and offering fascinating portraits of the creative men and women behind them. Chute reveals why these works—a blend of concise words and striking visuals—are an extraordinarily powerful form of expression that stimulates us intellectually and emotionally. Focusing on ten major themes—disaster, superheroes, sex, the suburbs, cities, punk, illness and disability, girls, war, and queerness—Chute explains how comics get their messages across more effectively than any other form. “Why Disaster?” explores how comics are uniquely suited to convey the scale and disorientation of calamity, from Art Spiegelman’s representation of the Holocaust and 9/11 to Keiji Nakazawa’s focus on Hiroshima. “Why the Suburbs?” examines how the work of Chris Ware and Charles Burns illustrates the quiet joys and struggles of suburban existence; and “Why Punk?” delves into how comics inspire and reflect the punk movement’s DIY aesthetics—giving birth to a democratic medium increasingly embraced by some of today’s most significant artists. Featuring full-color reproductions of more than one hundred essential pages and panels, including some famous but never-before-reprinted images from comics legends, Why Comics? is an indispensable guide that offers a deep understanding of this influential art form and its masters.




Teaching Early Reading and Phonics


Book Description

Learning to read is an exciting and vital part of every child’s development. The new edition of this book continues to provide trainees and teachers with a broad understanding of teaching reading and phonics, and equip them with the skills necessary to face the reality of the early years classroom in order to meet the needs of individual children. With vital information on constructing relationships with young readers, and how to plan phonics within a rich, interactive and playful literacy pedagogy, the second edition now includes: A brand new chapter on babies and early reading More information on language acquisition and how children learn A discussion of children with SEN An appreciation for the rise of digital technologies in relation to reading Whether you′re training to become a teacher, or already working in the classroom this book is ideal for those who wish to embed the teaching of phonics into carefully selected high quality materials - particularly in children′s literature.




The Typewriter


Book Description

Using just nine words, the award-winning creator of Chalk takes readers on another unforgettable journey. When three children discover a typewriter on a carousel, they are transported on an adventure of their own creation--complete with a giant beach ball and a threatening crab. Stunning, richly colored artwork is paired with limited text so children can tell their own version of the story.




Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons


Book Description

A step-by-step program that shows parents, simply and clearly, how to teach their child to read in just 20 minutes a day.




A Long Walk to Water


Book Description

When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, 11-year-old Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in Sudan. By a Newbery Medal-winning author.




The Knowledge Gap


Book Description

The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.