While on summer vacation, five-year-old Emily thinks she sees a whale in her garden pond and writes to her teacher, Mr. Blueberry, to ask for advice on how to care for it.

A young girl and her teacher correspond about the whale she has discovered in her pond.

Guides teachers through a variety of projects, samples, and classroom anecdotes that demonstrate how teachers can help students become more effective writers of good nonfiction.

Preschool teachers and early childhood professionals know that storybook reading is important, but they may not know how to maximize its benefits for later reading achievement. This indispensable guide presents research-based techniques for using reading aloud to intentionally and systematically build children's knowledge of print. Simple yet powerful strategies are provided for teaching preschoolers about book and print organization, print meaning, letters, and words, all while sharing engaging, commercially available books. Appendices include a detailed book list and 60 reproducibles that feature activities and prompts keyed to each text.

Literacy Lessons, K-8 enables teachers to meet IRA and McRel standards with a broad spectrum of instructional techniques that address all areas of the language arts: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing. The book includes lesson plans and activities as well as projects that will engage and motivate students. Students will also learn how to find information on a topic they are interested in and how to incorporate their own experiences into activities that meet standards. Busy teachers will also find: - Quick and inexpensive means of creating costumes and props for storytelling - Ideas to tempt families to engage in storytelling at home - References to K-8 literature to link instruction with authentic text - Differentiation techniques for ELLs as well as for students who are working above or below grade-level expectations Teachers are always looking for materials that make their job easier, and this book provides everything needed to teach literacy lessons effectively.

"Describing effective, creative strategies for talking with students in ways that enhance literacy learning, this book offers a window into the classrooms of four exemplary teachers. Principles of productive classroom discussions are illustrated with detailed case examples. The book shows how--and explains why--"real talk" can enhance student engagement, foster critical thinking, promote mastery of literacy concepts, and instill a lasting love of reading. It offers ideas for selecting children's literature and fitting a range of interactive literacy activities into the school day. The authors draw on current knowledge about the connections between oral language and literacy development across the elementary grades"-- Provided by publisher.

Another winner from prolific author, Nancy Polette, this title focuses on setting the stage for 200 popular picture book read-alouds. Similar to her LU book for the intermediate-grade audience, 300 Junior Novel Anticipation Guides, this book introduces picture books to preschool and primary grade students by encouraging them to think about how they or someone in their group can relate to what is happening in the story. Each of the 200 titles is described on a reproducible page that features a short introductory book talk and 10 questions to give to students. Another winner from prolific author, Nancy Polette, this title focuses on setting the stage for 200 popular picture book read-alouds. Similar to her book for the intermediate grade audience, 300 Junior Novel Anticipation Guides, this book introduces picture books to preschool and primary grade students by encouraging them to think about how they or someone in their group can relate to what is happening in the story. Each of the 200 titles is described on a reproducible page that features a short introductory book talk and 10 questions to give to students. Students are encouraged to use the page to find someone in the group who has climbed a tree (The Alphabet Tree), has broken a dish (And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon), has been bothered by a bully (Wemberly Worried) or has been teased by someone else(Chrysanthemum). The lessons can be adapted for nonreaders by using the pages as group read aloud activities. Librarians will also find this a great tool for icebreaker activities in staff development settings. Titles covered range from award winners, to fairy tales, to classics.