Readers gain a firm understanding of why they are teaching, who they are teaching, and what they are teaching, including essential elements of reading and traits of writing. Readers also learn how to teach literacy. This unique book helps teachers see the "big picture" and consistently implement what they know in the classroom. Organized into three sections covering the foundations of literacy, the components of literacy, and literacy assessment and instruction, the book gives readers important information on reading and writing in every chapter. It shows the connections with the Common Core State Standards and includes practical "Try This for Teaching" and "Try This for Professional Development" boxes that present ready-to-use activities and ideas for applying the book's concepts. Samples of teacher and student work further illuminate the concepts.

The Roadmap to Literacy Renewal of Literacy Edition is a reading, writing, and language arts program for Waldorf schools grades 1-3.

Developing Information Literacy Skills provides guidance and practice in the skills needed to find and use valid and appropriate sources for a research project. Anyone who does academic research at any level can benefit from ways to improve their information literacy skills. This text has been structured around the six critical elements of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education, contextualizing these elements by fitting them into the research and writing process. The book focuses on providing students with the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills needed to: (1) identify the conversation that exists around a topic, (2) clarify their own perspective on that topic, and (3) efficiently and effectively read and evaluate what others have said that can inform their perspective and research. The critical-thinking and problem-solving skills practiced here are good preparation for what students will encounter in their academic and professional lives. As an experienced writing instructor, the author has evaluated the final written products of hundreds of students who were trained through one-shot workshops and first-year introductory courses. She has applied that knowledge to create the tasks in this book so that students have the skills to successfully find, evaluate, and use sources and then produce a paper that incorporates valid research responsibly and effectively.

Literacy in the 21st century is about constructing and validating knowledge. Digital technologies have enabled the spread of all kinds of information, displacing traditional formats of usually more carefully curated information such as encyclopaedias and newspapers.

This exciting practical resource is full of immediately usable activities to help children develop their literacy skills and creative writing abilities. The 'story strand' technique begins with one simple picture and by adding others to form a sequence, shows children how to build narrative in an enjoyable, creative and systematic way. Story strand activities help children weave their thoughts into a coherent pattern and so become more skilful writers. The activities are sequenced to increase the creative and intellectual demands on pupils, and can also be used individually to highlight different aspects of the writing process such as: Exploring the varied meanings of certain words through association webs Moving from simple to more complex sentences Learning how to enrich writing using strong, vivid adjectives, verbs and adverbs Understanding how to use connectives more insightfully to give narrative a greater logical consistency Creating narrative refinements such as subplots, flashbacks and 'cliffhangers' out of basic plot sequences A 'thinking skills' agenda underpins each story strand game, and many promote speaking and listening skills by encouraging discussion and collaborative exploration of the images. Supported by a companion website that includes downloadable images from the book, colour images and worked examples for the 'story string idea', additional activities and games, as well as links to the National Curriculum.

What are the principles that every elementary teacher must learn in order to plan and adapt successful literacy instruction? This concise course text and practitioner resource brings together leading experts to explain the guiding ideas that underlie effective instructional practice. Each chapter reviews one or more key principles and highlights ways to apply them flexibly in diverse classrooms and across grade levels and content areas. Chapters cover core instructional topics (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension); high-quality learning environments; major issues such as assessment, differentiation, explicit instruction, equity, and culturally relevant pedagogy; and the importance of teachers’ reflective practice and lifelong learning.

Reporting the findings of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth, this book concisely summarises what is known from empirical research about the development of literacy in language-minority children and youth, including development, environment, instruction, and assessment.