All of us in education can find opportunities to interrupt the status quo that allows inequities to go unchallenged. In "Teaching for Racial Equity: Becoming Interrupters," authors Tonya Perry, Steven Zemelman, and Katy Smith show us the way. Using Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz's Racial Literacy Development framework, the authors demonstrate how…

In "Teachers as Decision Makers: Responsive Guided Reading Instruction," Robin Griffith draws on years of research and countless interactions with students and teachers to present a framework of instructional decision making centered on the readers we work with, the books we share with them, and the instructional objectives we guide them…

In "Intentional from the Start: Guiding Emergent Readers in Small Groups," Carolyn Helmers and Susan Vincent take a concentrated look at the often-underestimated reading and writing work that occurs during the emergent reading stages of literacy development (PreA-D) and the seemingly simplistic books we use to teach them in small-group…

In "Text Sets in Action: Pathways through Content Area Literacy," Mary Ann Cappiello and Erika Thulin Dawes reveal how text sets can prompt serious thinking far more effectively than a textbook or any single text. As the authors explain, exploring many texts leads teachers and learners to 'think more deeply, empathize more fully, and…

From phonological processing to brain research to orthographic mapping to self-teaching hypothesis, "Shifting the Balance" cuts through the rhetoric (and the sciencey science) to offer readers a practical guide to decision-making about beginning reading instruction. The authors honor the balanced literacy perspective while highlighting…

Once upon a time, nonfiction books for children routinely included concise, stodgy writing. Most of the books were text heavy, with just a few scattered images decorating, rather than enhancing, the content and meaning. But nonfiction has changed dramatically over the last two decades, evolving into a new breed of visually dynamic, engaging texts…

Many teachers use traditional counting and shape books in math class. But what would happen if we approached any story with a math lens? How might mathematizing children's literature give learners space to ask their own questions and make connections between stories, their lives, and the world around them? These are the questions Allison Hintz and…

Ask teachers about their biggest challenges in elementary and middle school, and many will cite the teaching of writing. It is often difficult for students find the joy, discovery, and satisfaction writing can yield. Published programs abound, focusing on the study of genres, and students learn to emulate professional writers. What Lisa Eickholdt…

"The Comprehensive Intervention Model: Fostering Self-Regulated Readers Through Responsive Teaching" by Linda Dorn, Carla Soffos, and Adria Klein introduces educators to an innovative intervention model that puts theory to practice then gives that practice a framework. When implemented with fidelity, the framework has the potential to…

"Layers of Learning" explores read-aloud strategies designed to enhance your reading and writing standards by capitalizing on the way literature can impact caring communities. With over 200 picture-book suggestions, author JoEllen McCarthy introduces the Heartprint Framework, which demonstrates how you can layer literacy and life lessons…

Math coach, Kassia Omohundro Wedekind, and literacy coach, Christy Hermann Thompson, have spent years comparing notes on how to build effective classroom communities across the content areas. "How," they wondered, "can we lay the groundwork for classroom conversations that are less teacher-directed and more conducive to…

"The Literacy Workshop" is a first-of-its-kind resource that offers a practical process for creating an integrated literacy workshop using demonstration lessons that align with current curriculum standards. By weaving together the common threads of literacy learning, you can increase the time your students spend engaged in authentic…

In "Why Do I Have to Read This?" Cris Tovani shares her best secrets, lessons learned from big fails, and her most effective literacy and planning strategies that hook these hard to get learners. You will meet many of Cris's students inside this book. As she describes some of her favorites, you may even recognize a few of your own. You…

Using the guiding principles from Peter Johnston's best-selling professional resources, "Choice Words" and "Opening Minds," Peter and six colleagues began a journey to create just such classrooms-environments in which children meaningfully engage with each other through reading, writing, making, and discussing books. In…

With the concise and readable "Brain Words," 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…