First Published in 2008. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Engage your students with Literature Circles! This book will show you how to prepare your students to lead their own active, focused discussion in small groups. Give your students the tools to engage with books and with each other. You can even incorporate film versions of classic texts into discussion.

Here are the detailed strategies teachers need to introduce and use literature circles: implementation, management, organization, and assessments. The book also includes extension activities and dozens of reproducible masters. Activities are correlated to McREL s Standards.

Presents advice for teachers on making classroom book discussions successful, covering such topics as choosing books, grouping students, using writing, assessing participation and comprehension, and supporting students who struggle with reading.

In Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids' Brains and What Schools Can Do About It, veteran educator and brain expert Eric Jensen takes an unflinching look at how poverty hurts children, families, and communities across the United States and demonstrates how schools can improve the academic achievement and life readiness of economically disadvantaged students. Jensen argues that although chronic exposure to poverty can result in detrimental changes to the brain, the brain's very ability to adapt from experience means that poor children can also experience emotional, social, and academic success. A brain that is susceptible to adverse environmental effects is equally susceptible to the positive effects of rich, balanced learning environments and caring relationships that build students' resilience, self-esteem, and character. Drawing from research, experience, and real school success stories, Teaching with Poverty in Mind reveals * What poverty is and how it affects students in school; * What drives change both at the macro level (within schools and districts) and at the micro level (inside a student's brain); * Effective strategies from those who have succeeded and ways to replicate those best practices at your own school; and * How to engage the resources necessary to make change happen. Too often, we talk about change while maintaining a culture of excuses. We can do better. Although no magic bullet can offset the grave challenges faced daily by disadvantaged children, this timely resource shines a spotlight on what matters most, providing an inspiring and practical guide for enriching the minds and lives of all your students.

Revised ed. of: Comprehension & collaboration.

This updated edition of a 1990 classic advocates the use of real books in a classroom context that places children's enjoyment and interpretation of literature at the center. New material includes a foreword by Shelley Harwayne and tributes to the book's influence by Stephanie Harvey, Lester Laminack, Frank Serafini, and Mary Glover. In addition to illuminating the powerful components of a literature-based reading program, the authors provide a number of assessment tools. For use with Grades 2- 6.