Sit down with Christopher Lehman as he shares the strategies he has used to make research reading and writing real and motivating for students. Chris draws on his experience with the Reading and Writing Project and as co-author of Pathways to the Common Core to help you tailor your instruction to your students' needs, get to the heart of the Common Core State Standards, and, most importantly, challenge your students to become driven, inquisitive thinkers who can meet the demands of school and life in the 21st century.

Energize and organize your writing life by tapping your fundamental motivators.

"Love brings us in close, leads us to study the details of a thing, and asks us to return again and again. These are the motivations and ideas that built this book." -Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts You and your students will fall for close reading. In Falling in Love with Close Reading, Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts show us that it can be rigorous, meaningful, and joyous. You'll empower students to not only analyze texts but to admire the craft of a beloved book, study favorite songs and videogames, and challenge peers in evidence-based discussions. Chris and Kate start with a powerful three-step close-reading ritual that students can apply to any text. Then they lay out practical, engaging lessons that not only guide students to independence in reading texts closely but also help them transfer this critical, analytical skill to media and even the lives they lead. Responsive to students' needs and field-tested in classrooms, these lessons include: strategies for close reading narratives, informational texts, and arguments suggestions for differentiation sample charts and student work from real classrooms connections to the Common Core State Standards a focus on viewing media and life in this same careful way. "We see the ritual of close reading not just as a method of doing the academic work of looking closely at text-evidence, word choice, and structure," write Chris and Kate, "but as an opportunity to bring those practices together to empower our students to see the subtle messages in texts and in their lives." Read Falling in Love with Close Reading and discover that the benefits and joy of close reading don't have to stop at the edge of the page. Read a sample from the book to learn more about Chris and Kate's close-reading ritual for students and for an annotated text that shows how it works.

Middle schoolers can be the masters of disengagement. Recognizing that all students, adept and struggling writers alike, lose steam at times and need a revitalizing jump start, Christopher Lehman offers effective, developmentally-appropriate fixes for addressing situations that frequently sidetrack or distract adolescent writers. Organized as a practical on-the-go teaching reference, the first four chapters offer strategies for counteracting commonplace situations that can regularly spring up and disengage middle school writers such as: writers who seem to have an almost "allergic" reaction to the writing process writers who "cannot possibly find anything to write about" writers who "talk, talk, talk the writing time away" writers who need constant approval before moving on. The final chapter offers an inquiry-based study guide that supports teachers in collaborating on and customizing strategies for reviving the disengaged writers in their learning communities. A Quick Guide to Reviving Disengaged Writers is part of the Workshop Help Desk series. About the Workshop Help Desk series The Workshop Help Desk series is designed for teachers who believe in workshop teaching and who have already rolled up their sleeves enough to have encountered the predictable challenges. If you've struggled to get around quickly enough to help all your students, if you've wondered how to tweak your teaching to make it more effective and lasting, if you've needed to adapt your teaching for English learners, if you've struggled to teach grammar or nonfiction writing or test prep...if you've faced these and other specific, pressing challenges, then this series is for you. Provided in a compact 5" x 7" format, the Workshop Help Desk series offers pocket-sized professional development. For a comprehensive overview of the Units of Study in Opinion/Argument, Information, and Narrative series, including sample minilessons, sample videos, videos, frequently asked questions and more, visit UnitsofStudy.com.

A never-before published look at the many possibilities of social game development As one of the few entrepreneurs in the world with expertise building both social media and games, author Jon Radoff brings a one-of-a-kind perspective to this unique book. He shows that games are more than a profitable form of entertainment?the techniques of social games can be used to enhance the quality of online applications, social media and a wide range of other consumer and business experiences. With this book, you?ll explore how social games can be put to work for any business and examine why they work at all. The first part of explains what makes games fun, while the second part reviews the process and details of game design. Looks at how games are the basis for many everyday functions and explains how techniques of social games can be used by businesses as money-making tools Drills down the process of game design while focusing on the design, analysis, and creation of games Features screen shots, diagrams and explanations to illuminate key concepts, accessible to anyone regardless of game playing or design experience Reviews what works and what doesn?t using a range of real-world scenarios as examples Author Jon Radoff has a unique blend of experiences creating games, Internet-based social media, and Web technology. Game On is not playing around. Discover how social media games make money?and how you can enhance your business using games.

"Chock full of great ideas and easy to use! Whether you are a novice teacher or an established pro, there is a great deal of worthwhile information in this book. It′s obvious that the author has spent most of his life in the classroom. The strategies he offers meet the needs of any teacher." —Al Diver, Principal Grosse Pointe South High School, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI Proven ideas to keep all students attentive and motivated while learning! This handy guide is a fun, creative collection of practical strategies that teachers of all grade levels can use to stimulate, invigorate, and re-energize learners whenever they need a "brain break." Each section presents specific activities and engaging techniques to capture and maintain students′ attention. These state-changing activities use movement, games, groups, and adjustments to the classroom environment to help students refocus, be creative, and learn more effectively. The author provides techniques based on brain research to: Keep the learning environment fresh Help students focus on the task at hand Stimulate students′ brains in the middle of a lesson Build a sense of community, teamwork, and rapport in the classroom Classroom Activators illustrates how simple changes can transform the energy level in your classroom, keep students engaged, and improve learning outcomes.

From the New York Times bestselling authors of Sprint comes “a unique and engaging read about a proven habit framework [that] readers can apply to each day” (Insider, Best Books to Form New Habits). “If you want to achieve more (without going nuts), read this book.”—Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit Nobody ever looked at an empty calendar and said, "The best way to spend this time is by cramming it full of meetings!" or got to work in the morning and thought, Today I'll spend hours on Facebook! Yet that's exactly what we do. Why? In a world where information refreshes endlessly and the workday feels like a race to react to other people's priorities faster, frazzled and distracted has become our default position. But what if the exhaustion of constant busyness wasn't mandatory? What if you could step off the hamster wheel and start taking control of your time and attention? That's what this book is about. As creators of Google Ventures' renowned "design sprint," Jake and John have helped hundreds of teams solve important problems by changing how they work. Building on the success of these sprints and their experience designing ubiquitous tech products from Gmail to YouTube, they spent years experimenting with their own habits and routines, looking for ways to help people optimize their energy, focus, and time. Now they've packaged the most effective tactics into a four-step daily framework that anyone can use to systematically design their days. Make Time is not a one-size-fits-all formula. Instead, it offers a customizable menu of bite-size tips and strategies that can be tailored to individual habits and lifestyles. Make Time isn't about productivity, or checking off more to-dos. Nor does it propose unrealistic solutions like throwing out your smartphone or swearing off social media. Making time isn't about radically overhauling your lifestyle; it's about making small shifts in your environment to liberate yourself from constant busyness and distraction. A must-read for anyone who has ever thought, If only there were more hours in the day..., Make Time will help you stop passively reacting to the demands of the modern world and start intentionally making time for the things that matter.