This book presents a research-supported framework for early literacy instruction that aligns with multi-tiered response-to-intervention (RTI) models. The book focuses on giving teachers a better understanding of literacy development and how to effectively support children as they begin to read and write. The authors' interactive strategies approach is designed around essential instructional goals related both to learning to identify words and to comprehending text. Detailed guidance is provided on ways to target these goals with K–2 students at risk for reading difficulties. Assessment and instructional strategies for whole-class, small-group, and one-to-one settings are discussed in depth. Numerous reproducible forms for documenting student learning are included.

Most children learn to read, irrespective of the method of instruction. Yet up to a fifth of children struggle with reading in their first few years at school. Unfortunately, those who struggle in the early years will continue to struggle throughout their school career. Yola Center offers a systematic, research-based guide to teaching reading in the first three years of school. Her aim is to ensure that teachers can work with at-risk or reluctant readers in the regular classroom as effectively as with children for whom reading seems to come naturally. Taking an analytic approach to reading, Beginning Reading shows how children can be moved through the key stages of early reading acquisition. Each chapter includes an overview of relevant research, practical classroom strategies and guidelines for lesson planning. Center adopts a balanced view of reading instruction, stressing the importance of phonological processes at the beginning of literacy instruction, as well as semantic and syntactic ones. This supports at risk children in regular classrooms, who are provided with the maximum opportunity to develop the accurate and fluent word recognition skills that are needed in order to extract meaning from print. 'At last! A book that combines an overview of recent research findings and their implications for the teaching of reading with sensible and practical suggestions for classroom teachers.' Morag Stuart, Professor in the Psychology of Reading, University of London 'This is an excellent book. It comprehensively reviews the research literature and shows how to apply it to the nuts and bolts of teaching reading in the first few years of school. It is a must-read for teachers.' Professor Tom Nicholson, University of Auckland, New Zealand 'This is the book that we have all been waiting for. It is the only book that I have seen that focuses on a theoretically sound approach to the teaching of reading with a focus on children who experience difficulties in the regular classroom.' Ruth Fielding-Barnsley, Queensland University of Technology 'It is indeed rare when a reading scientist can explain the intricacies of reading development, reading difficulties, and reading instruction with such clarity and comprehensiveness. Most importantly, Dr Center provides a masterful synthesis of the most current converging scientific evidence available that defines what research-based reading instruction is all about.' G. Reid Lyon, PhD, National Institutes of Health, USA

When you Read Like a Writer (RLW) you work to identify some of the choices the author made so that you can better understand how such choices might arise in your own writing. The idea is to carefully examine the things you read, looking at the writerly techniques in the text in order to decide if you might want to adopt similar (or the same) techniques in your writing. You are reading to learn about writing. Instead of reading for content or to better understand the ideas in the writing (which you will automatically do to some degree anyway), you are trying to understand how the piece of writing was put together by the author and what you can learn about writing by reading a particular text. As you read in this way, you think about how the choices the author made and the techniques that he/she used are influencing your own responses as a reader. What is it about the way this text is written that makes you feel and respond the way you do?

This book is the richest, most comprehensive guided reading resource available today and the first systematic offering of instructional support for guided reading adherents.

Discover the essential thinking tools you’ve been missing with The Great Mental Models series by Shane Parrish, New York Times bestselling author and the mind behind the acclaimed Farnam Street blog and “The Knowledge Project” podcast. This first book in the series is your guide to learning the crucial thinking tools nobody ever taught you. Time and time again, great thinkers such as Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett have credited their success to mental models–representations of how something works that can scale onto other fields. Mastering a small number of mental models enables you to rapidly grasp new information, identify patterns others miss, and avoid the common mistakes that hold people back. The Great Mental Models: Volume 1, General Thinking Concepts shows you how making a few tiny changes in the way you think can deliver big results. Drawing on examples from history, business, art, and science, this book details nine of the most versatile, all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making and productivity. This book will teach you how to: Avoid blind spots when looking at problems. Find non-obvious solutions. Anticipate and achieve desired outcomes. Play to your strengths, avoid your weaknesses, … and more. The Great Mental Models series demystifies once elusive concepts and illuminates rich knowledge that traditional education overlooks. This series is the most comprehensive and accessible guide on using mental models to better understand our world, solve problems, and gain an advantage.

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.

2013 Outstanding Book Award, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) Preparing Every Teacher to Reach English Learners presents a practical, flexible model for infusing English learner (EL) instruction into teacher education courses. The editors outline the key steps involved in this approach—winning faculty support, assessing needs, and developing capacity—and share strategies for avoiding pitfalls. The central chapters feature sample courses illustrating how EL content can be incorporated into standard courses (human development, learning disabilities, and social foundations) and across subject areas and topics (math, science, social science, physical education, and classroom management). Most preservice teacher candidates report that they feel unprepared to work with English learners. This practical, flexible model for infusing EL content into teacher education will provide an invaluable resource in shaping the next generation of teachers.