Category: Reading

The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Reader

Igniting passion in someone, especially an adolescent, is no small task. Throughout Passionate Readers Pernille Ripp takes on the task of describing how we might create conditions in which students feel a deep interest and desire to read, writes educator Claire Stein.

Reading Comprehension One Step at a Time

Stambaugh and VanTassel-Baska focus on purposeful planning, finding stories to engage young readers, and discovering ways to use readings to get the most impactful writing from students while increasing their overall comprehension, says teacher Erin Corrigan-Smith.

Helping Striving Readers Become Thriving Readers

To reach the student who hasn’t made that essential positive connection with reading, you can do no better than apply the ideas detailed by Stephanie Harvey and Annie Ward in From Striving to Thriving. Reviewer Linda Biondi recommends having a box of tissues handy.

Understanding & Using Reading Assessment

The wonderful thing about teaching is there’s always more to learn. History teacher Michael DiClemente has been looking into reading (which his students do lots of). Peter Afflerbach’s Understanding and Using Reading Assessment has him rethinking his classroom practice.

200+ Lives to Explore in Picture Books

Picture book biographies can help students understand others’ perspectives and problem solving strategies. Teacher Joanne Bell recommends Deskins and Dorr’s take on aligning these science, social studies, and arts biographies to national content standards.

Use Think Alouds to Foster Strategic Readers

Teacher think alouds should not be spur of the moment but carefully planned events built around specific objectives and your thoughtful analysis of the text in question. Molly Ness’s 3-step process will fully prepare you to wow your students, says reviewer Linda Biondi.

No More Fake Reading: Create Joyful Readers

Berit Gordon offers a step-by-step plan for playing catch up with students who are not regular readers and therefore do not have the reading skills or the knowledge base to feel anything but overwhelmed and bored by classic literature, says classics teacher Kelley Pujol.

Help Every Child Identify As a Passionate Reader

Teachers will want to keep Pernille Ripp’s Passionate Readers as a “forever resource,” says former reading teacher Mary Langer Thompson. This practical book, full of bold ideas and ready-made resources, centers on helping students become life-long lovers of reading.

Differentiated Fiction and Nonfiction Lessons

This resource-rich book of comprehensive lessons is great for teachers who want to challenge 4th and 5th graders or for middle school educators looking for a way to bridge the gap from where students are to where they need to be, says ELA teacher Erin Corrigan-Smith.

Helping Kids Rediscover the Power of Reading

In Disrupting Thinking, Kylene Beers and Robert Probst argue that educators must help students become empowered readers who read out of personal desire, not just for school work. The authors’ well supported argument uses a “Book-Head-Heart” framework, says Kevin Hodgson.