Beyond Leveled Books Review

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(More customer reviews)Szymusiak and Sibberson do a great job hitting the needs of the transitional readers. There are so few resources that truly address the unique needs of kids in the transitional stage of becoming more capable readers. This book is very practical and easy to read. Their suggestions are easy to implement in a variety of settings. I highly suggest this book as a resource for all who teach kids how to read as compared to those who just teach reading!

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In the first edition of Beyond Leveled Books, Franki Sibberson and Karen Szymusiak, offered a much-needed perspective on moving transitional readers from the basic supports of leveling to independent book selection. Seven years later, drawing on their continued research and expanding roles as authors and literacy consultants, Franki and Karen, along with colleague Lisa Koch, present a new updated and expanded edition of this "useful and eye-opening book." [Education Reviews, 2001]In Beyond Leveled Books, Second Edition the authors provide even more resources to help teachers understand and meet the needs of transitional readers. The key topic of series books has been revised and enlarged, with charts outlining new series with the challenges they pose and supports readers need. New lessons have been added, and most chapters now include a related article from a literacy expert. Some of the contributors include Kathy Collins, Larry Swartz, and Mary Lee Hahn.The book also features an entirely new section covering grades K-1, that explores the uses and limitations of leveled texts in primary reading instruction. Among the highlights of this new section are ideas for how to organize your classroom library and a list of great books to use alongside leveled text in supporting new readers.Packed with examples of classroom instruction, sample mini-lessons, strategies for small-group instruction, assessment techniques, and student work, this new edition expands what was once a great little book that filled a gap for teachers in intermediate grades into an essential resource for independent reading instruction from grades K-5.--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles Review

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(More customer reviews)As a high school English teacher, one of my biggest challenges is the constant prodding of my students to take an active role in their reading. I've worked with a Literature Circle approach for several years, experimenting with different techniques, tweaking my daily lessons, and adding new strategies as I come across them. Now, with this book, Daniels and Steineke have blown me away. They have filled the book with dozens of practical ideas, from mini-lessons on short readings to using book choice in class. Even if you don't use a full Literature Circle approach, their research-based instructional strategies about harvesting techniques, discussion boosters, and even assessment ideas have re-energized my teaching approach. This is a practical, intelligent book that I see becoming a staple in my professional library. As they detail different strategies and their mini-lessons build on important reading strategies, a central thread is evident: a focus on student reflection of the reading-discussion process. I'm hooked. I recommend it to anyone who teaches English or anyone looking for ways to spice up the simple act of reading an article and talking about it in class. Buy the book. Give it to a fellow teacher. Buy another copy. It is worth it.

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Harvey Daniels' Literature Circles introduced tens of thousands of teachers to the power of student-led book discussions. Nancy Steineke's Reading and Writing Together showed how a teacher can nurture friendship and collaboration among young readers. Now, Daniels and Steineke team up to focus on one crucial element of the Literature Circle model; the short, teacher-directed lessons that begin, guide and follow-up every successful book club meeting.

Mini-lessons are the secret to book clubs that click. Each of these forty-five short, focused, and practical lessons includes Nancy and Harvey's actual classroom language and is formatted to help busy teachers with point-by-point answers to the questions they most frequently ask.
How can I:
steer my students toward deeper comprehension?
get kids interested in each others' ideas?
make sure kids choose just-right books?
help students schedule their reading and meeting time?
deal with kids who don't do the reading?
get kids to pay more attention to literary style and structure?
help special education and ELL students to participate actively in book clubs?
get kids to expand their repertoire of reading strategies?
make sure groups are on-task when I'm not looking over their shoulder?
introduce writing tools (including role sheets) that support student discussion?.
help shy or dominating members get the right amount of "airtime?"
give grades for book clubs without ruining the fun?
use scientific research to justify the classroom time I spend on literature circles?

Each mini-lesson spells out everything from the time and materials needed to word-by-word instructions for students. The authors even warn "what could go wrong," helping teachers to avoid predictable management problems. With abundant student examples, reproducible forms, photographs of kids in action, and recommended reading lists, Mini-lessons for Literature Circles helps you deepen student book discussions, create lifelong readers, and build a respectful classroom community.

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Giggles in the Middle: Caught'ya Grammar with a Giggle for Middle School (Caught'ya Grammar with a Giggle) (Caught'ya Grammar with a Giggle) Review

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(More customer reviews)I am "testing" this out with my class of gifted fourth-graders, and they love it! They enjoy getting to know a little bit more each day about the kids at Horribly Hard Middle School as well as dream about going to Magic Middle School. What surprised me most was the vocabulary piece. The words are well chosen and well placed. Often I find "challenging" vocabulary to just be wacky- words that we don't hear in our everyday lives. This book, however, keeps the students' interest regarding strong, usable vocabulary. They WANT to look the words up in the dictionary so they have a better understanding of the story, the puns involved, or just to be the one to get to read from the dictionary. We are only on day 16 of the program and I can already see results in the students' own writing.
Teacher's Request to Publisher: Please print a version of this in a binder or spiral format! The little paperback book is a bit hard to hold for reference while writing on the board and teaching the kids (but worth it!). I would pay for it again! :)

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Jane Bell Kiester, author of the popular Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle series, has adapted her effective and fun approach to meet the specific learning needs of middle-school students.
Giggles in the Middle gives middle-school teachers the perfect alternative to boring grammar books and dry lectures. With this flexible, proven approach to teaching grammar, usage, and mechanics (GUM) skills and vocabulary, everyone has fun while they learn skills in context.
You'll find: - One continuous story, "The Bizarre Mystery of Horribly Hard Middle School," divided into three parts, each with enough sentences for an entire school year. - Classroom-tested writing assignment suggestions, mini-lessons, and teaching tips. - "Almost midterm" and final exam tests for each grade, with teacher keys. - Easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions. - Complete vocabulary lists for words used in each part of the story. - For easy reference and duplication, a CD with the Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Guide; the complete, uninterrupted story in narrative form; the midterm and final exam tests; and the Caught'ya sentences.
Use Giggles in the Middle to improve writing and editing skills, raise test scores, engage students in leaning, and create classrooms filled with giggles!

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A Course in Language Teaching: Practice of Theory (Cambridge Teacher Training and Development) Review

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(More customer reviews)I used this coursebook during a TEFL course recently. I found Penny Ur's manual extremely disappointing. The chapters offer very little constructive information regarding the theory of language teaching. Ur's standard format is to list a few one line opinions on a subject and invite the reader to list the theories in order of usefulness or importance. Clearly the book is intended to facilitate group discussion and be used in conjunction with the teachers' manual which provides more concrete answers. However the manual itself does not provide much meaningful information regarding language teaching theory and when it came to applying the methods in my own teaching or writing papers on the subject, I frequently had to look at othe resources.

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This important course provides a comprehensive basic introduction to teaching languages, for use in pre-service or early experience settings. It can be used by groups of teachers working with a trainer, or as a self-study resource.The Trainee's Book provides all the tasks given in the main book but without background information, bibliographies, notes or solutions. It is suitable for those studying on a trainer-led course, where feedback is readily available.

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