This guide shows parents how to combine story reading, phonics, and writing to help their children develop into skilled and motivated readers. The guide discusses how to prepare children for reading success; how to use children's literature to promote learning and enjoyment; why combining book experiences and phonics is better than using either approach alone; ways to use writing to enhance children's reading progress; why reading aloud is important; and which books to use and where to find them. Chapters in the guide are: (1) "The 'Great Debate'"; (2) "Acquiring Language and Learning To Read"; (3) "Early Readers: What Can They Teach Us?"; (4) "What Works? One Successful Program"; (5) "Using 'Real Books' in Your Program"; (6) "Preparing for Formal Lessons"; (7) "Book Reading and Strategy Development"; (8) "Learning about Letters, Sounds, and Words"; (9) "Story Writing in the Reading Lesson"; and (10) "Putting It All Together: A Sample Lesson." Contains 79 references. Appendixes present a 600-item bibliography of children's trade books; a special note for Christian educators; and advice on establishing a tutoring project. (RS)

Weekly lesson plan pages for six different subjects. Records for each of four 10-week quarters can be read on facing pages. Plus helpful tips for substitute teachers. 8-1/2" x 11". Spiral-bound.

Doing homework becomes a thing of the past! Meet the D Squad, a foursome of fifth graders at the Grand Canyon School made up of a geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a slacker. They are bound together by one very big secret: the homework machine. Because the machine, code-named Belch, is doing their homework for them, they start spending a lot of time together, attracting a lot of attention. And attention is exactly what you don't want when you are keeping a secret. Before long, things start to get out of control, and Belch becomes much more powerful than they ever imagined. Now the kids are in a race against their own creation, and the loser could end up in jail...or worse!

Pleading with her dad to push the swing higher and higher, a little girl wonders just how high she has gone and compares her journey to fantastical feats, like venturing higher than a mountain or shooting straight into space!

Gertrude LaRue receives typewritten and paw-written letters from her dog Ike, entreating her to let him leave the Igor Brotweiler Canine Academy and come back home.

For ten years and in two classic books, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell have described how to analyze the characteristics of texts and select just-right books to use for guided reading instruction. Now, for the first time, all of their thinking and research has been updated and brought together into Leveled Books, K-8 to form the ultimate guide to choosing and using books from kindergarten through middle school. Fountas and Pinnell take you through every aspect of leveled books, describing how to select and use them for different purposes in your literacy program and offering prototype descriptions of fiction and nonfiction books at each level. They share advice on: the role of leveled books in reading instruction, analyzing the characteristics of fiction and nonfiction texts, using benchmark books to assess instructional levels for guided reading, selecting books for both guided and independent reading, organizing high-quality classroom libraries, acquiring books and writing proposals to fund classroom-library purchases, creating a school book room. In addition, Fountas and Pinnell explain the leveling process in detail so that you can tentatively level any appropriate book that you want to use in your instruction. Best of all, Leveled Books, K-8 is one half of a new duo of resources that will change how you look at leveled books. Its companion-www.FountasandPinnellLeveledBooks.com-is a searchable and frequently updated website that includes more than 18,000 titles. With Leveled Books, K-8 you'll know how and why to choose books for your readers, and with www.FountasandPinnellLeveledBooks.com, you'll have the ideal tool at your fingertips for finding appropriate books for guided reading. Book jacket.

Whose fur isn't really white? Who usually gives birth to twins? Who's the biggest bear in the world? The Polar Bear! Full of fascinating information, this book explores the world of the polar bear on land and under water. Get ready to be wooed by adorable baby cubs and impressed by majestic adult bears captured in stunning photographs by renowned wildlife photographer Mark Newman.