Draws on critical and radical change theory to equip both aspiring and practicing library and teacher candidates with practical, research-based ideas for enacting critical literacy practices in middle grade libraries and classrooms. Genre Based Strategies to Promote Critical Literacy in Grades 4-8 provides strategies and lesson plans with additional resources and tools for school librarians and teachers to engage middle grade students in reading children's literature through a critical literacy lens. To be critically literate readers and thinkers, students must learn to question what they read, asking themselves who wrote the text, why the text was written, and how the text positions its readers and others. Teaching students how to read from a critical literacy stance is a timely and relevant practice in a world in which text is available instantly and on nearly any mobile device. In many cases, preparation programs for school librarians and teachers do not teach candidates how to incorporate critical literacy practices in library and classroom settings. This book provides both pre-service and in-service school librarians and teachers with that professional development and guidance for teaching critical literacy in children's literature courses.

"Teach critical thinking with book lists and strategies to use with different genres"--

In her new book, bestselling author and professional developer Carol Booth Olson and colleagues show teachers how to help young readers and writers construct meaning from and with texts. This practical resource offers a rich array of research-based teaching strategies, activities, and extended lessons focused on the “thinking tools” employed by experienced readers and writers. It shows teachers how to draw on the natural connections between reading and writing, and how cognitive strategies can be embedded into the teaching of narrative, informational, and argumentative texts. Including artifacts and written work produced by students across the grade levels, the authors connect the cognitive and affective domains for full student engagement. “This book seamlessly bridges the gap from research to everyday practice.... You get an extremely well-organized set of overarching instructional principles that are right for our era and brought to life through well-explained instructional guides and classroom activities.” —From the Foreword by Judith Langer, University at Albany, SUNY “I have always admired Carol Booth Olson’s work with secondary students and teachers. She now applies those essential principles and practices to elementary and middle school students. Bravo!” —P. David Pearson, professor emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

Income disparity for students in both K-12 and higher education settings has become increasingly apparent since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of these changes, impoverished students face a variety of challenges both internal and external. Educators must deepen their awareness of the obstacles students face beyond the classroom to support learning. Traditional literacy education must evolve to become culturally, linguistically, and socially relevant to bridge the gap between poverty and academic literacy opportunities. Poverty Impacts on Literacy Education develops a conceptual framework and pedagogical support for literacy education practices related to students in poverty. The research provides protocols supporting student success through explored connections between income disparity and literacy instruction. Covering topics such as food insecurity, integrated instruction, and the poverty narrative, this is an essential resource for administration in both K-12 and higher education settings, professors and teachers in literacy, curriculum directors, researchers, instructional facilitators, pre-service teachers, school counselors, teacher preparation programs, and students.

Perspectives and identity are typically reinforced at a young age, giving teachers the responsibility of selecting reading material that could potentially change how the child sees the world. This is the importance of sharing diverse literature with today’s children and young adults, which introduces them to texts that deal with religion, gender identities, racial identities, socioeconomic conditions, etc. Teachers and librarians play significant roles in placing diverse books in the hands of young readers. However, to achieve the goal of increasing young people’s access to diverse books, educators and librarians must receive quality instruction on this topic within their university preparation programs. The Handbook of Research on Teaching Diverse Youth Literature to Pre-Service Professionals is a comprehensive reference source that curates promising practices that teachers and librarians are currently applying to prepare aspiring teachers and librarians for sharing and teaching diverse youth literature. Given the importance of sharing diverse books with today’s young people, university educators must be aware of engaging and effective methods for teaching diverse literature to pre-service teachers and librarians. Covering topics such as syllabus development, diversity, social justice, and activity planning, this text is essential for university-level teacher educators, library educators who prepare pre-service teachers and librarians, university educators, faculty, adjunct instructors, researchers, and students.

The mission of higher education in the 21st century must focus on optimizing learning for all students. In a shift from prioritizing effective teaching to active learning, it is understood that computer-enhanced environments provide a variety of ways to reach a wide range of learners who have differing backgrounds, ages, learning needs, and expectations. Integrating technology into teaching assumes greater importance to improve the learning experience. Optimizing Higher Education Learning Through Activities and Assessments is a collection of innovative research that explores the link between effective course design and student engagement and optimizes learning and assessments in technology-enhanced environments and among diverse student populations. Its focus is on providing an understanding of the essential link between practices for effective “activities” and strategies for effective “assessments,” as well as providing examples of course designs aligned with assessments, positioning college educators both as leaders and followers in the cycle of lifelong learning. While highlighting a broad range of topics including collaborative teaching, active learning, and flipped classroom methods, this book is ideally designed for educators, curriculum developers, instructional designers, administrators, researchers, academicians, and students.

"We often talk about the importance of, and benefits of focused intentional teaching. Mary Howard is not only the champion of such instruction, but she coaches the rest of us, breaking it down so we can all do great work that truly matters." Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (the Sisters), authors of The Daily Five In this valuable resource for teachers, Mary Howard shares a step-by-step process for focusing on the literacy work that matters in any effective literacy design-including schools implementing the Common Core State Standards and an RTI model-to identify good work, to celebrate great work, and to accommodate high quality literacy practices. Throughout Good to Great Teaching, Mary describes spotlight teachers who will guide you through a process of evaluating, adjusting, and elevating your teaching. Personal reflection tools are included to help you alleviate anything that deters your efforts to accomplish what you already do well and move your teaching to even higher levels. Mary will take you into real classrooms where practical ideas rooted in best practice offer a clear understanding of what great work can feel like, look like, and sound like. As you work through this reflective process on your own or with colleagues, you will: build a common understanding of the quality of great work generate vision statements and overarching goals to guide your literacy design identify how to sustain great work to keep the momentum going. No matter where you are in your teaching career, the real key to great work is what you bring to the table. Let Mary lead you as you move from good to great teaching so you can focus on the literacy work that really matters.