Game Changer!


Book Description

Miller and Sharp provide the game-changing tools and information teachers and administrators need to dramatically increase children's access to and engagement with books.




Speaking, Reading, and Writing in Children With Language Learning Disabilities


Book Description

The ability to use language in more literate ways has always been a central outcome of education. Today, however, "being literate" requires more than functional literacy, the recognition of printed words as meaningful. It requires the knowledge of how to use language as a tool for analyzing, synthesizing, and integrating what is heard or read in order to arrive at new interpretations. Specialists in education, cognitive psychology, learning disabilities, communication sciences and disorders, and other fields have studied the language learning problems of school age children from their own perspectives. All have tended to emphasize either the oral language component or phonemic awareness. The major influence of phonemic awareness on learning to read and spell is well-researched, but it is not the only relevant focus for efforts in intervention and instruction. An issue is that applications are usually the products of a single discipline or profession, and few integrate an understanding of phonemic awareness with an understanding of the ways in which oral language comprehension and expression support reading, writing, and spelling. Thus, what we have learned about language remains disconnected from what we have learned about literacy; interrelationships between language and literacy are not appreciated; and educational services for students with language and learning disabilities are fragmented as a result. This unique book, a multidisciplinary collaboration, bridges research, practice, and the development of new technologies. It offers the first comprehensive and integrated overview of the multiple factors involved in language learning from late preschool through post high school that must be considered if problems are to be effectively addressed. Practitioners, researchers, and students professionally concerned with these problems will find the book an invaluable resource.




Promoting Reading for Pleasure in the Primary School


Book Description

Winner of the UKLA Author Award 2009 ′Lockwood has written a useful, supportive book which will help teachers and librarians...He describes the background and summarises the research and then proposes thoroughly practical programmes′ - Carousel ′Michael Lockwood has produced an excellent, practical overview and analysis of what works in the primary school to promote reading for pleasure....Lockwood′s work is grounded and valuable to those who need it most - teachers in the classroom working hard to engender a love of reading′ - English Drama Media ′This book is first class. It puts the matter very clearly and succinctly, and presents a great deal of evidence to support the argument that pleasure is not a frivolous extra, but the very heart and essence of what reading is about. It also gives readers plenty of ideas for carrying the principle into the classroom, and for justifying it...This is an excellent piece of work, which I hope will find a place on every staffroom bookshelf.′ - Philip Pullman English primary school children are less likely to read for pleasure than their counterparts in many other countries. This practical and focused book discusses the background to this situation and looks at how government initiatives have tried to address it. Drawing on the author′s own research project in order to identify good practice in promoting reading for enjoyment, the book presents specific activities which teachers can use to develop their own whole school and classroom practice, enabling them to put the fun back into reading. Each chapter features case-study material and provides examples of planning from schools that have successfully created thriving reading cultures through schemes such as reading assemblies, book clubs, library loyalty cards, school book evenings and quizzes. There is also an extensive, annotated list of print and internet-based resources. Topics covered include: - Becoming a reading for pleasure school - Promoting a love of reading in the early years - Developing reading enjoyment in the later primary years - Getting boys reading Promoting Reading for Pleasure in the Primary School is written for all those involved in education who would like to see as many children as possible develop a love of reading. It will be particularly relevant for primary teachers, teaching assistants, trainee teachers, advisers and consultants, as well as teacher educators and researchers.




Good Books Matter


Book Description

Based on extensive research on the features that make children's books appealing and appropriate, this valuable teacher resource offers guidance on selecting books, strategies for specific grade levels, suggestions for extension, and tips for assessment. This teacher-friendly book is organized around the major genres — traditional literature, picture books, nonfiction, poetry, and multicultural texts — that will inspire young readers. Throughout the book, teachers will find suggestions for using literature to implement shared reading, reading aloud, and response strategies with emergent, developing, and independent readers. This comprehensive book is rooted in the belief that educators must consider and offer a wide range of choice to ensure that students read "good" books. It argues that the choices children make about what they read should be governed by their interests and desire to learn; not by a grade or reading level.




The Teacher's Guide to Understanding and Supporting Children with Literacy Difficulties In The Classroom


Book Description

Why do some children experience literacy difficulties? How can I identify a child with reading and writing challenges? What is the best way to support them in a classroom context? 1 in 8 children will experience some kind of reading difficulty, and while you as a class teacher are not expected to formally assess children or deliver specialist interventions, a good understanding of literacy challenges is crucial for providing optimum educational support. This guide demystifies and disentangles different types of literacy difficulty and explains how they can impact the child's day-to-day classroom functioning and general school life. Chapters include: how to identify children that are struggling; how to work with SpLD teachers and parents so they can be maximally supported; the co-occurrence of literacy difficulties with other learning difficulties such as with maths and attention problems,; alongside practical tips to support each child's learning. Strongly grounded in up-to-date theory and research, this is a perfect companion for classroom teachers of all age levels.













Children's Literacy Practices and Preferences


Book Description

Over the past few decades there have been intense debates in education surrounding children’s literacy achievement and ways to promote reading, particularly that of boys. The Harry Potter book series has been received enthusiastically by very many children, boys and girls alike, but has also been constructed in popular and media discourses as a children’s, particularly a boys’, literacy saviour. Children’s Literacy Practices and Preferences: Harry Potter and Beyond provides empirical evidence of young people’s reported literacy practices and views on reading, and of how they see how the Harry Potter series as having impacted their own literacy. The volume explores and debunks some of the myths surrounding Harry Potter and literacy, and contextualizes these within children’s wider reading.




Handbook of Children and the Media


Book Description

Cyber-bullying, sexting, and the effects that violent video games have on children are widely discussed and debated. With a renowned international group of researchers and scholars, the Second Edition of the Handbook of Children and the Media covers these topics, is updated with cutting-edge research, and includes comprehensive analysis of the field for students and scholars. This revision examines the social and cognitive effects of new media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Skype, iPads, and cell phones, and how children are using this new technology. This book summarizes the latest research on children and the media and suggests directions for future research. This book also attempts to provide students with a deliberate examination of how children use, enjoy, learn from, and are advantaged or disadvantaged by regular exposure to television, new technologies, and other electronic media.