This book approaches English instruction through the lens of “fi gured worlds,” which recognizes and spotlights how students are actively engaged in constructing their own school, peer group, extracurricular, and community worlds. Teachers’ ability not only to engage with students’ experiences and interests in and outside of school but also to build connections between students’ worlds and their teaching is essential for promoting student agency, engagement, and meaningful learning. Beach and Caraballo provide an accessible framework for working with students to use critical discourse, narratives, media, genres, and more to support their identity development through addressing topics that are meaningful for them— their families, social issues, virtual worlds, and more. Through extensive activities and examples of students writing about their participation in these worlds, this text allows educators to recognize how students’ experiences in the classroom aff ect and shape their identities and to connect such an understanding to successful classroom practice. With chapters featuring eff ective instructional activities, this book is necessary reading for ELA methods courses and for all English teachers.

This book approaches English instruction through the lens of figured worlds, which recognizes and spotlights how students are actively engaged in constructing their own school, peer group, extracurricular, and community worlds. Teachers' ability to not only to engage with students' experiences and interests in and outside of school, but also to build connections between students' worlds and their teaching, is essential for promoting student agency, engagement, and meaningful learning. Beach and Caraballo provide an accessible framework for working with students to use critical discourse, narratives, media, genres and more to support their identity development through addressing topics that are meaningful for students--their families, social issues, virtual worlds, and more. Through extensive activities and examples of students writing about their participation in these worlds, this text allows educators to recognize how students' experiences in the classroom affect and shape their identities, and connect such an understanding to successful classroom practice. With chapters featuring effective instructional activities, this book is necessary reading for ELA methods courses and for all pre-service English teachers.

This book approaches English instruction through the lens of figured worlds, which recognizes and spotlights how students are actively engaged in constructing their own school, peer group, extracurricular, and community worlds. Teachers' ability to not only to engage with students' experiences and interests in and outside of school, but also to build connections between students' worlds and their teaching, is essential for promoting student agency, engagement, and meaningful learning. Beach and Caraballo provide an accessible framework for working with students to use critical discourse, narratives, media, genres and more to support their identity development through addressing topics that are meaningful for students--their families, social issues, virtual worlds, and more. Through extensive activities and examples of students writing about their participation in these worlds, this text allows educators to recognize how students' experiences in the classroom affect and shape their identities, and connect such an understanding to successful classroom practice. With chapters featuring effective instructional activities, this book is necessary reading for ELA methods courses and for all pre-service English teachers.

′The text is clear and accessible and gives a fascinating overview of how drawing can help children to learn and understand the thinking of others...It is highly recommended for all students and practitioners interested in understanding more about how children express their ideas and theories about the world′ - Early Years Update ′This book is an invaluable resource for anyone who recognises the potential of ′drawing′ as an essential element for developing thinking and learning in the Primary Classroom...and a ′must read′ for those who are sceptical!....This is a fascinating read that invokes a variety of feelings including a sense of wonder and curiosity about the many facets of drawing, which leaves you with a thirst to try out more and explore ways of releasing the untapped potential of ′drawing′ in your own classroom′ - thinkingclassroom.co.uk Children use drawing as a means through which they create, develop, communicate and record their thoughts and ideas. Whether it′s to play, or to express feelings and meaning, drawing enables them to learn about the world, explore their imaginations, and to invent and present new ideas. With an extensive background in teaching and researching children′s uses of drawing, Gill Hope describes the ways in which multiple forms of drawing are used by Primary school children. She explains why it should be actively promoted as a means of supporting thinking and learning across a wide range of subject areas, and provides practical support for teachers. Demonstrating the importance of drawing, and combining a thematic approach with practical guidance, this informative and enjoyable book: - widens teachers′ understanding of the multiple uses of drawing; - shows how children can be guided to use it to support thinking and learning; - explores the range of applications in which drawing can be used across all areas of the curriculum; - looks to the future and at the ever increasing importance of graphic literacy. Providing a fresh insight into the uses of drawing as a powerful tool which supports children′s thinking and learning, this book will be of interest to everyone involved in the development of children′s capabilities, including teachers, student teachers and teaching assistants.

A clear approach to a drawing in grades one through eight in Waldorf Schools, or in any schools, is long overdue and here at last! Packed with color and black and white drawings, with clear, stepwise ways to build competence in drawing skills and inspiring the same competence in students, this book on drawing will give you confidence and methods for practicing. There is nothing that can underscore a teacher's authority in the eyes of children as sound drawing techniques.Elizabeth Auer provides effective and clear instructions, creative ideas for drawings, and specific approaches to utilizing different media. "Learning about the World through Drawing" is a "must have" for any teacher or anyone wishing to learn how to draw, how to practice, what materials to use while learning, and techniques toward mastery! It is a rich resource and compendium of drawing wisdom.

"Although there are a few other titles related to project based learning in ELA, they are no books that focus specifically on the ways that the design principles of project based learning, universal design for learning, and social and emotional learning can be used to anchor an ELA curriculum and the learning experiences that students engage in throughout the school year. Other PBL books focus almost exclusively on implementing and designing PBL Projects, whereas this book centers around a set of design principles that can be used to teach existing projects (which we share), to create new ones, or to create authentic learning experiences that are project enhanced. Our book brings PBL to life through classroom vignettes and teacher and student voices. Whether you are new to PBL or a PBL veteran, this book provides classroom resources that facilitate customization to educator's unique instructional contexts. We share ideas for developing teacher communities that hold a space for collaborating around PBL practices and that revitalize teachers and teaching"--