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As the older woman, Ms Lillian, walks a steep hill to vote. While walking, she remembers the precipitous climb that those who preceded her made so that she could cast her ballot. The storyteller’s tone of the text and dramatic illustrations tell a powerful story.

Jelly Roll Morton became – to his grandmother’s horror – a musician in New Orleans, developing his own unique style of jazz. Rhythmic, rhyming language and swirling, color-saturated illustrations glimpse the life and work of this little known musician, perhaps inspiring readers to take a longer look at the artist and his work.

Her travels as the child in a wealthy family helped Jane realize that there were those much less well off. She moved into a home in a gritty part of Chicago where she opened Hull House to address the needs of those in poverty, likely the country’s first community center. Jane’s work in Chicago is described in fluid text and gentle, evocative illustrations presenting a portrait of the 19^th century.

Have you ever had an idea spark another notion? A waterwheel may have been one boy’s inspiration for what is ubiquitous at today’s carnivals and amusement parks: the Ferris wheel! George studied engineering and created the world’s first 6-story tall observation wheel which showcased at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair to the amazement of all. Realistic illustrations and lively text bring the man and his times to life.

Richly hued illustrations and an engaging text (that reads aloud well) present a brief look at the life of a girl who was well ahead of the 19^th century in which she lived. Ada’s mother left her husband, the philandering poet Lord Byron, moving to London. There she encouraged Ada’s passion for all things math, including developing algorithms for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, an early computer.

Three storylines — contemporary and mythic — intersect in this tale of a boy who is not comfortable with his culture or himself. This fresh, sometimes surprising, revealing novel is told in image and text. This graphic novel was the first of its format to win the Printz Award for best work of Young Adult Literature.

Black and Latino boys face persistent and devastating disparities in achievement when compared to their white counterparts. Schooling for Resilience investigates how seven newly formed schools, created specifically to serve boys of color, set out to address the broad array of academic and social problems faced by Black and Latino boys. Drawing on student and teacher surveys, focus groups, interviews, and classroom observations, the authors investigate how these schools were developed, what practices they employed, and how their students responded academically and socially. In particular, they focus on the theory of action that informed each school’s approach to educating Black and Latino boys and explore how choices about school structure and culture shaped students’ development and achievement. In doing so, the authors identify educational strategies that all schools can learn from.

 

Race continues to be a source of controversy and conflict in American society. For many of us it will continue to shape where we live, pray, go to school, and socialize. We cannot simply wish away the existence of race or racism, but we can take steps to lessen the ways in which the categories trap and confine us. Educators, who should be committed to helping young people realize their intellectual potential as they make their way toward adulthood, have a responsibility to help them find ways to expand identities related to race so that they can experience the fullest possibility of all that they may become. In this brutally honest — yet ultimately hopeful — book, Noguera examines the many facets of race in schools and society and reveals what it will take to improve outcomes for all students. From achievement gaps to immigration, Noguera offers a rich and compelling picture of a complex issue that affects all of us.

In this updated edition of the ASCD best-seller, Fisher and Frey dig deeper into the hows and whys of the gradual release of responsibility instructional framework. To gradually release responsibility is to equip students with what they need to be engaged and self-directed learners. On a day-to-day level, it means delivering lessons purposefully planned to incorporate four essential and interrelated instructional phases: (1) Focused Instruction: Preparing students for learning by establishing lesson purpose, modeling strategies and skills, thinking aloud, and noticing how students respond; (2) Guided Instruction: Strategically using prompts, cues, and questions to lead students to new understanding; (3) Collaborative Learning: Allowing students to consolidate their understanding through exploration, problem-solving, discussion, and thinking with their peers; and (4) Independent Learning: Requiring students to use the skills and knowledge they’ve acquired to create authentic products and ask new questions.

A must-have guide for any parent or teacher of a child struggling to learn to read, this essential resource begins by answering the question “What is Dyslexia?” The authors have masterfully selected and distilled the most significant research in the field to provide clear and detailed explanations of the : (1) widely accepted research-based definition of dyslexia; (2) identification and treatment of dyslexia at various stages of development; (3) emotional consequences of reading difficulties; (4) current research on the role of genetics and the brain; (5) essential elements of effective reading instruction; and (6) treatment options for the most severe cases of dyslexia and other reading problems.

Creative nonfiction — prose that fuses the conventions of reportage with the aesthetics of literature and the passion for self-expression — is emerging as one of the most important contemporary genres, one that captures the imagination and commitment of student writers. Creating Nonfiction provides everything students need to begin to understand and write creative nonfiction: an engaging rhetoric, an unsurpassed anthology, and a wealth of editorial features that inspire writing.

In this comprehensive guide, the authors explore the relationship between text, learner, and learning through discussion and rhetorical writing at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Prompt students to become the sophisticated readers, writers, and thinkers they need to be to achieve higher learning. Clearly defined strategies will drive discussion-based learning. Examine the hidden dangers of controlling classroom discourse, foster critical literacy through questioning and instructional routines, and encourage students to find meaning and cultivate thinking from expository texts, even the most challenging ones. Finally, because all students learn differently, you’ll explore new-media texts and the Web to accommodate learning differences among your students.

In clear and accessible language, Fisher and Frey explain that efforts to improve teaching only work when we see our classrooms as systems: every person and process impacts all the others, and seemingly small changes can have large effects on learning. This book is full of practical suggestions and tools that empower teachers to design the whole system including peer and student-teacher relationships, learning and assessment tasks, and classroom routines to lead to better learning. Identify strategies and tools to create clear learning targets, prepare effective lessons, and successfully assess instruction.

Fisher and Frey set the record straight about text-dependent questions. They demonstrate that text-dependent questions can address not only literal understanding but also understandings about what the text doesn’t say, how the text works, what the text means to and for the reader, how the text might be read in a specific discipline, and more. With specific prompts and concrete examples, Fisher and Frey show us how to use questioning as a central tool to address the Common Core State Standards.

Learn new ways to help middle and high school students develop the habits necessary to read closely, take good notes, then analyze what they have read from multiple sources and synthesize information into effective discussion and, ultimately, solid writing.

What it really means to “read closely.” Call it close reading, call it deep reading, call it analytic reading — call it what you like. The point is, it’s a level of understanding that students of any age can achieve with the right kind of instruction. In Rigorous Reading, Fisher and Frey articulate an instructional plan so clearly, and so squarely built on research, that teachers, schools, and districts need look no further. Also included are illustrative classroom video and an online Facilitator’s Guide.

Explore strategies for integrating the Common Core State Standards for English language arts for grades K-2 in this interdisciplinary resource, which focuses on areas of instruction, curriculum, assessment, and intervention. You’ll also learn how to implement the CCSS within the powerful PLC at Work process. Critical chapter-opening questions guide discussion and help you leverage the CCSS to optimize student learning.

Explore strategies for integrating the Common Core State Standards for English language arts for grades 3-5 in this interdisciplinary resource, which focuses on areas of instruction, curriculum, assessment, and intervention. You’ll also learn how to implement the CCSS within the powerful PLC at Work process. Critical chapter-opening questions guide discussion and help you leverage the CCSS to optimize student learning.

This handbook provides both composition students and instructors with the support they need to be successful. It provides the most balanced coverage of the writing process, grammar, research, and topics important to today’s students. Both respected teachers and authors, Troyka and Hesse give practical advice to students about the writing they will do in composition courses, in other classes, and in the world beyond. Offering instructors a full range of choices in handbooks, the Troyka/Hesse family of handbooks is available in a variety of formats, including Web-based and customized options, so instructors can select the handbook that best fits their course needs. The handbook is also accompanied by MyWritingLab, a valuable online tool featuring an online composing space, interactive eBook, integrated learning resources, and tutoring services.

Again and again the Common Core Standards state that students must read “proficiently and independently” but how do we achieve this when students are groaning about having to read demanding literature and looking for ways to pass the class without turning pages? The author shows middle and high school teachers how to create English classrooms where students care about living literate lives and develop into proficient independent readers. The book includes YA lit pairings with classic texts to aid comprehension, tips to motivate reluctant readers with immersion, encouragement, and small steps, and a study guide and guidelines for curriculum development.

Words Their Way with PreK-K is a hands-on, developmentally-driven approach to word study that illustrates how to integrate and teach phonics, vocabulary, and spelling skills to the youngest readers. Why word study with PreK and kindergarten students? Because the hands-on approach motivates them, keeps them engaged, and helps them built literacy skills. The word study approach as outlined by renowned Words Their Way authors is a developmentally-driven instructional method. It has always been extremely popular for this developmental approach, as well as its concrete methods for teaching children phonics, vocabulary, and spelling skills.

This bestselling book provides indispensable tools and strategies for explicit, systematic phonics instruction in K-3. Teachers learn effective ways to build students’ decoding skills by teaching letter-sound relationships, blending, word building, multisyllabic decoding, fluency, and more. The volume is packed with engaging classroom activities, many specific examples, and research-based explanations. It offers a complete phonics assessment and clear guidelines for sequencing instruction to give every student a strong foundation for reading. More than 30 reproducible forms and word lists are included in the appendices and a wealth of supplemental teaching resources can be accessed online.

Grasping the meaning of a text enables K-8 students to appreciate its language and structure through close reading, which in turn leads to deeper comprehension. This book explains the relationship between comprehension and close reading and offers step-by-step guidelines for teaching both of these key elements of literacy. Reproducible lessons are shared for eight engaging texts (excerpts from fiction, nonfiction, and poetry), complete with discussion tips, queries that scaffold comprehension, close reading activities, and connections to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The authors model lesson development and guide teachers in constructing their own lessons. Texts for 10 additional lessons are provided in the Appendix.