New Titles

Next Steps with Academic Conversations

New ideas for improving learning with classroom talk

Conversation was not invented to help people choose right answers on tests. It evolved to solve problems, build ideas, build relationships, and understand others and the world. Yet despite its power to grow minds and hearts, effective conversations are still too scarce in our schools.

Jeff shared his initial vision for classroom conversations in his 2011 book, Academic Conversations. In this follow-up book, Next Steps with Academic Conversations, he builds on those original ideas by offering

• an updated synthesis of conversation work across disciplines and grade levels,
• highlights of the most recent classroom-based research and theory on classroom conversation,
• answers to questions that have emerged during this work with teachers and administrators, and
• new classroom strategies and practices for fostering and assessing classroom conversations.

This resource is the product of his extensive research, co-teaching, and collaborating with a wide range of educators. It was written for busy teachers who want a practical guide for strengthening the quality and quantity of productive conversations in their lessons.

Available now — Order today!

Author(s): Jeff Zwiers

Pages: 0
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781625312990

Price: $42.95

Little Readers, Big Thinkers

Teaching close reading in the primary grades

This manageable approach to close reading will help you harness the big thinking in your young learners' inquisitive minds. The book showcases ways that close reading can teach even the youngest students new ways to enjoy texts, think about them critically, and share that thinking with peers and adults. Little Readers, Big Thinkers offers a trove of  valuable insights:

• What close reading is (and is not)
• How to encourage students to “read like detectives”
• Ways to weave close reading practices into your lessons
• How to cultivate real reading, organic thinking, and deep conversations
• Which books invite amazing learning and thinking experiences

With this book as your guide, close reading will become your students’ stepping stone to a lifelong love of reading.

Available now — Order today!

Author(s): Amy Stewart

Pages: 168
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781625312129

Price: $37.95

Word by Word

101 ways to inspire and engage students by building vocabulary, improving spelling, and enriching reading, writing, and learning

Discover key strategies for making words the core of classroom instruction and engagement. Literacy guru Larry Swartz offers novel ways to expand students’ interest in and facility with words and word power — day by day, word by word. This practical resource is designed to help students discover why words matter as they build vocabulary; gain confidence to spell new and difficult words; develop word recognition and process un-
familiar words when reading; increase understanding of words in the content areas; inquire about word meanings and derivations; play with and celebrate words and language; and much more!

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Author(s): Larry Swartz

Pages: 160
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781551383385

Price: $24.95
Price: $21.95 (eBook)
Price: $34.95 (Paper + eBook)

Teaching Well

How healthy, empowered teachers lead to thriving, successful classrooms

How can teachers balance the needs of busy overwhelming classrooms with the needs of their own health and well-being? This remarkable book shows you hwow embracing a healthy lifestyle is not only beneficial for teachers, but for students, classrooms, and schools, too. It suggests that teachers can reduce the amount of time they work outside the classroom and still be a motivated and engaged teacher. Promoting a healthy work–life balance for teachers, the book explores how to avoid burnout while still creating an effective learning community in your classroom. The conversational tone of the book, along with a wealth of anecdotal examples, will make this highly readable resource an invaluable guide for every educator.

On Twitter: #teachingwell

Available now — Order today!

 

Author(s): Lisa Bush

Pages: 116
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781551383378

Price: $24.95
Price: $21.95 (eBook)
Price: $34.95 (Paper + eBook)

From Curiosity to Deep Learning

Personal digital inquiry in grades K-5

Discover the powerful learning that results when you integrate purposeful technology into a classroom culture that values curiosity and deep learning. The centrepiece of this practical guide is Personal Digital Inquiry (PDI), a framework developed by Julie Coiro and implemented in classrooms by her co-authors, Elizabeth Dobler and Karen Pelekis. Clear detailed examples offer ideas for K-5 teachers and school librarians to support their teaching.

• Personal emphasizes the significance of the personal relationship between teachers and students, and the role that students have in the learning process.
• Digital reflects the important role that digital texts and tools have come to play in both learning and teaching with inquiry.
• Inquiry lies at the core of PDI, because learners grow and change with opportunities to identify problems, generate personal wonderings, and engage in collaborative dialogue, making learning relevant and lasting.

From Curiosity to Deep Learning shows you how to integrate inquiry with a range of digital tools and resources that will create a dynamic classroom for both you and your students.

Available now — Order today!

Author(s): Julie Coiro and Elizabeth Dobler and Karen Pelekis

Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781625311566

Price: $44.95

Super Spellers Starter Sets




Author(s): Mark Weakland

Pages: 254
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781625312716

Price: $39.95

Brain Words

How the science of reading informs teaching

With the concise and readable BrainWords, you will learn how children’s brains develop as they become readers and discover ways you can take concrete steps to promote this critical developmental passage. Introducing their original, research-based framework of “brain words”—dictionaries in the brain where students store and automatically access sounds, spellings, and meanings—the authors offer a wealth of information that will transform your thinking and practice:

• Up-to-date knowledge about reading and neurological circuitry, including evidence that spelling is at the core of the reading brain
• Tools to recognize what works, what doesn’t, and why
• Practical classroom activities for daily teaching and student assessment
• Insights about what brain research tells us about whole language and phonics-first movements
• Deepened understanding of dyslexia through the enhanced lens of brain science

With the insights and strategies of BrainWords, you can meet your students where they are and ensure that more of them read well, think well, and write well.

Available now — Order today!

Author(s): J Richard Gentry and Gene P Ouellette

Pages: 176
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781625312730

Price: $40.95

Art of Comprehension, The

Exploring visual texts to foster comprehension, conversation, and confidence

In The Art of Comprehension, Trevor A. Bryan introduces his signature method for enhancing students’ understanding and thinking about all texts — both written and visual. By using what he calls “access lenses” (such as faces, body language, sound/silence) you can create a more student-centered classroom. 

• Discover inventive ways to prompt students to notice, think about, and synthesize visuals — using the same observation and comprehension skills they can bring to reading and writing.
• Learn how to unravel layers of meaning in picture books, chapter books, artwork, poetry, and informational text.
• Explore the book’s eclectic collection of art and illustration, by acclaimed illustrator Peter H. Reynolds, 19th century masters, and more. 

Bryan’s approach allows all students to engage meaningfully with texts and join the classroom conversation. With this comes the greatest reward of all: confidence and independence for all kinds of learners.

On Twitter: #artofcomprehension

Available now — Order today!

Author(s): Trevor A. Bryan

Pages: 168
Publication Date: 2018
ISBN: 9781625311689

Price: $39.95

CAFE Book, Expanded Second Edition, The

Engaging all students in daily literacy assessment and instruction

Teachers are learners too, and for the past ten years, Gail Boushey and Allison Behne have been working with hundreds of teachers and students nationwide, gaining insight into best practices for reading instruction. Using those insights, they developed The CAFE Book, Expanded Second Edition to help teachers apply what their research has shown—that reading instruction is not about the setting, the basal, or the book level. Rather, effective reading instruction is based on what that student needs in that moment.

The CAFE Book, Expanded Second Edition builds on the same research-based, student-centered foundations as the original, but now includes

• A new process of planning data-driven instruction using the Seven Steps from Assessment to Instruction;
•  The Instruction Protocol—a framework to guide your instruction and planning;
• Significant resources to help with lesson planning, assessment, goal setting, and parent involvement;
• A revised CAFE menu and a checklist of skills for emerging readers;
• New and improved forms for both the online conferring notebook and a pencil/paper notebook to support more effective conferring with students;
• The addition of CAFE’s Essential Elements, a resource to guide your understanding of student-focused instruction;
• And new and revised Ready Reference Guides that include when to teach the strategy, options differentiating instruction, and partner strategies.

The CAFE Book, Expanded Second Edition gives you a variety of tools to structure your literacy block and create an environment where your students are engaged readers and writers with resources that set them up for success. This CAFE system is all you need to support, guide, and coach your students toward the strategies that will move them forward.

Coming in November 2019 — Pre-Order today!

Author(s): Gail Boushey and Allison Behne

Pages: 0
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781625312792

Price: $44.95

Fostering Mindfulness

Building skills that students need to manage their attention, emotions, and behavior in classrooms and beyond

An essential guide to mindfulness activities and strategies that help students cultivate the skills they need for self-regulation, stress management, and learning. Simple activities and practices throughout the book are designed to strengthen areas of the brain that allow students to better manage their attention, emotions, and behavior in the classroom and beyond. Child-friendly language is used to explain mindfulness, physiology, and brain science.

This practical book shows you how to incorporate mindfulness in your classroom practice in just minutes a day, and includes definitions, teaching tips, and activities for

• making mindful breathing a core foundational practice
• using the five senses as anchors for mindfulness
• helping students recognize, name, and manage their feelings
• exploring the connection between body and mind through movement
• incorporating practices that encourage students to focus their attention in the present moment
• creating and using a Peace Corner in the classroom that is devoted to self-regulation and self-care
• developing habits of mind that are central to resilience

This comprehensive resource offers step-by-step instructions, scripts, activity sheets, ready-to-use templates, and scientific insights. Based on extensive classroom experience, this highly readable book includes stories from teachers who successfully incorporate mindfulness in their classroom practice.

Ideal for new and experienced teachers, Fostering Mindfulness is committed to building skills that nurture attention, cognitive and emotional development, and overall well-being.

Available now — Order today!

 

 

Author(s): Shelley Murphy

Pages: 168
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781551383408

Price: $24.95
Price: $21.95 (eBook)
Price: $34.95 (Paper + eBook)

Invitations to Play

Using play to build literacy skills in young learners

Our youngest learners thrive when their learning environment is one that celebrates curiosity, exploration, and imagination. This comprehensive resource sets the stage for play-based learning that will help children build a strong literacy foundation, as well as successfully negotiate the choices they make in real life.

A perfect blend of theory and instruction, Invitations to Play offers background and strategies for you to explore all aspects of playful learning. It shows you how to

• incorporate digital literacy — choose and use apps that will access children’s imaginary worlds and promote creative collaboration
• use music to develop sensory and collaborative learning — create music play centres that include making instruments from household items
• build on student home languages and ideas — guide children into English knowledge through social and collaborative interactions
• nurture multiple literacies — innovative ways to use play as scaffolding for later explorations in literacy

Invitations to Play gives new and experienced teachers a road map to involve and engage their young students in all forms of literacy learning.

Available now — Order today!

Author(s): Anne Burke

Pages: 128
Publication Date: 2018
ISBN: 9781551383361

Price: $24.95
Price: $21.95 (eBook)
Price: $34.95 (Paper + eBook)

How and Wow of Teaching, The

Quick ideas for mastering any classroom situation effectively, efficiently, and enthusiastically

Teachers succeed when they grow, develop, and strive to maintain excitement and wonder: the WOW of learning. This book examines a wide variety of daily tasks, from delivering engaging lessons to nurturing life skills. Throughout the book, simple steps for instruction are explained, along with suggestions for fun-filled activities and games. Practical and hands-on, the book offers tricks, techniques, and original ideas for excellent classroom instruction in all subject areas. It demonstrates how the WOW factor will help teachers remain motivated as they enrich the classroom learning experience for students.

Available now — Order today!

 

 

Author(s): Kathy Paterson

Pages: 160
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781551383422

Price: $24.95

Start with Joy

Designing literacy learning for student happiness

Start with Joy argues that happiness must be as much of a priority in teaching as proficiency or achievement. When teachers intentionally design curriculum with joy at its heart, learning becomes more meaningful and memorable. The book links what we know from the science of happiness with what we know about effective literacy instruction. By examining characters in the books they read, children develop empathy for others and come to understand that we all struggle and we all love. When given a choice about what to write, children express hopes, fears, and reactions to life’s experiences. Literacy learning is full of opportunities for students to learn tools to live a happy life.

This book honors the adventure that learning is meant to be. By infusing school days with happiness, teachers can support children as they become stronger readers, writers, and thinkers, while also helping them learn that strength comes from challenge, and joy comes from leading a purposeful life.

Available now — Order today!

Author(s): Katie Egan Cunningham

Pages: 0
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781625312839

Price: $42.95

Open Middle Math

Problems that unlock student thinking, grades 6-12

Imagine that you assign a math problem and your students, instead of getting discouraged after not solving it on the first attempt, start working harder—as if on a quest to figure out the answer. They talk to each other and enthusiastically share their discoveries. What could possibly make this fantastic scenario come true? The answer is: the Open Middle math problems and strategies in this book.

Open Middle Math by Robert Kaplinsky gives middle and high school teachers the problems and planning guidance that will encourage students to see mathematics in an entirely different light. These challenging and rewarding Open Middle math problems will help you see your students build genuine conceptual understanding, perseverance, and creativity. With these practical and intuitive strategies, extensive resources, and Robert’s own stories about his journey learning to use Open Middle math problems successfully, you will be able to support, challenge, and motivate all your students.

Coming in November 2019 — Pre-order today!

Author(s): Robert Kaplinsky

Pages: 0
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781625311740

Price: $35.95

Freewriting with Purpose

Simple classroom techniques for to help students make connections, think critically, and construct meaning

In freewriting, we write continuously: we begin with a prompt and keep our pen or pencil moving throughout the entire duration. We do not stop to question or censor ourselves; we do not concern ourselves with spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or grammar; we do not let critical thoughts creep into our freewriting time. The book shows teachers how to use freewriting to help kids write well and more, regardless of grade level, subject, time of day, or time of year. It is not a difficult process to implement and yet it makes a significant difference in teacher attitudes, student confidence, and, ultimately, student writing abilities.

Available now — Order today!

Author(s): Karen Filewych

Pages: 144
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781551383392

Price: $24.95
Price: $21.95 (eBook)
Price: $34.95 (Paper + eBook)