From Struggling Students to Successful Writers in 7 Easy Steps


Book Description

This is Volume 2. This companion volume is based on the instructional approach found in Volume 1. This second volume spotlights student examples, using these 7 easy steps, in writing narrative essays, essays explaining stories, and a persuasive essay. The students who wrote these essays experienced success in writing. Struggling students? They were! Looking forward in their continued success? They are! Celebrate each step of the way? We did! This instructional approach enables them, and many others, to feel positive as they make progress in developing their writing skills. Along with gaining confidence, students find renewed excitement in learning. With these 7 easy steps the words, "I can't write" turns into "Yes, I can!" This simplified way of writing can help all students in all educational settings.




Write Like this


Book Description

If you want to learn how to shoot a basketball, you begin by carefully observing someone who knows how to shoot a basketball. If you want to be a writer, you begin by carefully observing the work of accomplished writers. Recognizing the importance that modeling plays in the learning process, high school English teacher Kelly Gallagher shares how he gets his students to stand next to and pay close attention to model writers, and how doing so elevates his students' writing abilities. Write Like This is built around a central premise: if students are to grow as writers, they need to read good writing, they need to study good writing, and, most important, they need to emulate good writers. In Write Like This, Kelly emphasizes real-world writing purposes, the kind of writing he wants his students to be doing twenty years from now. Each chapter focuses on a specific discourse: express and reflect, inform and explain, evaluate and judge, inquire and explore, analyze and interpret, and take a stand/propose a solution. In teaching these lessons, Kelly provides mentor texts (professional samples as well as models he has written in front of his students), student writing samples, and numerous assignments and strategies proven to elevate student writing. By helping teachers bring effective modeling practices into their classrooms, Write Like This enables students to become better adolescent writers. More important, the practices found in this book will help our students develop the writing skills they will need to become adult writers in the real world.




Motivating Struggling Learners


Book Description

Every day, teachers face the challenge of motivating struggling learners. In this must-have book, Barbara R. Blackburn, author of the bestseller Rigor Is Not a Four-Letter Word, shares how you can finally solve this problem and make your classroom a rigorous place where all students want to succeed. You’ll learn practical strategies for... understanding extrinsic and intrinsic motivation; building a trusting relationship with students; using praise and positive feedback effectively; empowering students and helping them own their learning; moving students toward a growth mindset; communicating high expectations for students; engaging all students in your lessons; scaffolding so all students will want to improve; helping students be resilient and not fear failure; and celebrating diverse groups of students. Each chapter is filled with a variety of examples and tools that you can use immediately. Bonus: Many of the tools are also available as free eResources on our website, www.routledge.com/9781138792432, so you can easily download and print them for classroom use.




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.




Flash Feedback [Grades 6-12]


Book Description

Beat burnout with time-saving best practices for feedback For ELA teachers, the danger of burnout is all too real. Inundated with seemingly insurmountable piles of papers to read, respond to, and grade, many teachers often find themselves struggling to balance differentiated, individualized feedback with the one resource they are already overextended on—time. Matthew Johnson offers classroom-tested solutions that not only alleviate the feedback-burnout cycle, but also lead to significant growth for students. These time-saving strategies built on best practices for feedback help to improve relationships, ignite motivation, and increase student ownership of learning. Flash Feedback also takes teachers to the next level of strategic feedback by sharing: How to craft effective, efficient, and more memorable feedback Strategies for scaffolding students through the meta-cognitive work necessary for real revision A plan for how to create a culture of feedback, including lessons for how to train students in meaningful peer response Downloadable online tools for teacher and student use Moving beyond the theory of working smarter, not harder, Flash Feedback works deeper by developing practices for teacher efficiency that also boost effectiveness by increasing students’ self-efficacy, improving the clarity of our messages, and ultimately creating a classroom centered around meaningful feedback.




Literacy Assessment and Instructional Strategies


Book Description

Literacy Assessment and Instructional Strategies by Kathy B. Grant, Sandra E. Golden, and Nance S. Wilson prepares literacy educators to conduct reading and writing assessments and develop appropriate corrective literacy strategies for use with their grade K–5 students. Connecting Common Core Literacy Learning Standards to effective strategies and creative activities, the book includes authentic literacy assessments and formal evaluations to support reading teaching in the elementary classroom. Initial chapters discuss literacy assessment and evaluation, data-driven instruction, high-stakes testing, and instructional shifts in teaching reading. Subsequent chapters focus on the latest instructional and assessment shifts, including pre-assessing literacy knowledge bases, using informational texts for vocabulary development, and close reading of text. Written by reading practitioners and researchers, this book is a must-have for novices as well as for veteran classroom teachers who want to stay on top of changing literacy trends.




Graphic Organizers That Help Struggling Students, Grades K - 3


Book Description

"The graphic organizers in this book are designed to provide additional learning reinforcement for students of all abilities and learning styles, including students with special needs"--Back cover.




How to Get a Literary Agent


Book Description

Written by a top literary agent who gives writers an insider's view of how to find and work with an agent throughout the process of getting published. Includes: -- How to know that you're ready for an agent -- 7 ways to find an agent -- Writing a cover letter that grabs attention -- What to do with an agent once you've got one -- What you can expect and what you'd better not hope for -- Making sure this is the right agent for you -- Congratulations, now you have an agent AND an editor -- How to avoid the 7 worst pitfalls for aspiring writers -- And much, much more. In today's highly competitive publishing industry, literary agents are more important than ever. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, reference or children's books, here is everything you need to know about using an agent to launch and sustain your literary career.a




The Library Media Specialist In the Writing Process


Book Description

Collaborate with classroom teachers on strategies to teach the writing process in the K–12 library and classroom. This well-organized and easy-to-follow resource is all you need to teach your students to write well. Includes reproducible posters and lessons to use immediately. This book explains the writing process, offers collaborative curriculum connections, and includes a treasure trove of teacher/librarian collaborative writing lessons.




6 Steps to Success in Teaching with Technology


Book Description

A technological tidal wave has arrived at today's schools, revolutionizing how teachers teach and students learn. Computers, cell phones, digital whiteboards, student response systems, projectors, the Internet, I-pods, software, and e-mail are all available to front-line teachers and students. Utilizing these new tools is rewarding for educators and empowering for students. If you're a teacher who wants to incorporate technology in your classroom, then 6 Steps to Success in Teaching with Technology will show you how. Award-winning teacher Lucas Kent experienced first hand the joy and excitement of using these amazing tools with his students. In his easy-to-follow guide, Lucas lays down a path for even the most non-technology inclined teacher to follow. His six simple steps include: Understand Why Adapt Plan Do Your Homework Implement Effectively Keep Up to Date Kent also includes helpful tips, his own classroom experiences, and a glossary of teaching with technology terms to help you begin this new and exciting process. Let's face it-our world is changing. It's time to learn, adapt, and embrace teaching with technology!