Here is the story of a Melissa Parkington, who longs to do something good -- and whose long and beautiful hair leads to the ultimate act of kindness and generosity. “Spectacular!” “Gorgeous!” “Fabulous!” These are some of the words people use to describe Melissa Parkington's hair, which is long, thick, and so shiny that it seems to sparkle. But Melissa Parkington would like to be known for more than her hair. Afterall, her hair isn't really an accomplishment. It just grows out of her head! Melissa wants to do something special, someting spectacular. But everything she tries doesn't seem to work out the way she plans. Then, one day, she discovers she can do something special — with her hair.

Whether used for thematic story times, program and curriculum planning, readers' advisory, or collection development, this updated edition of the well-known companion makes finding the right picture books for your library a breeze. Generations of savvy librarians and educators have relied on this detailed subject guide to children's picture books for all aspects of children's services, and this new edition does not disappoint. Covering more than 18,000 books published through 2017, it empowers users to identify current and classic titles on topics ranging from apples to zebras. Organized simply, with a subject guide that categorizes subjects by theme and topic and subject headings arranged alphabetically, this reference applies more than 1,200 intuitive (as opposed to formal catalog) subject terms to children's picture books, making it both a comprehensive and user-friendly resource that is accessible to parents and teachers as well as librarians. It can be used to identify titles to fill in gaps in library collections, to find books on particular topics for young readers, to help teachers locate titles to support lessons, or to design thematic programs and story times. Title and illustrator indexes, in addition to a bibliographic guide arranged alphabetically by author name, further extend access to titles.

Ever wished for comprehension lessons that get students where they need to be in reading? With Lessons and Units for Closer Reading: K-2 you get just that, 20 initial close reading, standards-based lessons and 80 follow-up comprehension skill lessons that expertly scaffold young readers. The lessons, arranged into 5 units of study, include 12 illustrated Active Reader Cards (printable in four-color!) Day–by-day how-to’s for initial and follow-up lessons 12 Formative Assessments with graphic support and options for oral and written tasks Performance criteria so you can adjust your instruction

The ability to comprehend and to respond meaningfully to text is a skill students need every day--not just on test day. That's a GREAT Answer! provides complete and ready-to-go support to help teachers get great answers to open-ended comprehension questions from the students who need help the most--elementary students, struggling older readers, and English language learners. In this revised second edition, Nancy Boyles now includes new Common Core State Standards-based objectives, step-by-step lesson sequences, collaborative tasks that link teaching to learning, insightful new teaching tips, updated and enhanced bibliographies, and student targets on the CD that specify how to meet each objective and answer a particular comprehension question. Her ready-to-go student scaffolds then break comprehension objectives into fifty-three specific, measurable, open-ended questions divided among four thinking strands. A chart shows the correlation between all objectives and the Common Core State Standards for comprehension--easily aligned to the literacy objectives of any state curriculum. Each open-ended question includes: a step-by-step lesson sequence; a template for a related oral collaborative task; teaching tips; a bibliography of fiction and nonfiction picture books aligned with the question; a template instructing students how to find key evidence for the objective before writing their response; an answer frame scaffold for initial response practice that helps students at any grade level organize and elaborate; and a target on the CD that specifies for students how to meet each objective and answer a particular comprehension question. The included CD provides all of the answer frames and targets for the open-ended questions, as well as rubrics, criteria charts, planners, and an extensive master bibliography that matches key fiction and nonfiction literature models with appropriate objectives. From setting a foundation with great standards, books, and instruction through guidelines for assessment, That's a GREAT Answer offers a (now more) complete, great answer for teachers who want to empower their students to respond well to open-ended questions.

Storybook characters and situations are perfect for launching discussions of social emotional learning—why not let them help? In picture books, well-loved characters deal with many of the same problems students face in their own lives. What better resource could there be for encouraging students to think about their actions and responses? Using classroom texts to start SEL conversations— during an interactive read- aloud or an extension of shared close- reading lessons— weaves social emotional learning organically into the fabric of an existing curriculum rather than adding a new block to the day. In a book perfect for a study group or for immediate use in the classroom, literacy educator Nancy Boyles connects the dots between the competencies identified by leaders in the SEL field with the rich content of children’s literature. More than 200 award- winning picture books are profiled along the way as she unpacks each SEL skill, sketches typical classroom situations in which teachers might not see that skill demonstrated, discusses what to look for in books that address it, and provides carefully crafted sets of questions to explore with students.

Introduction -- Great objectives -- Great books -- Great instruction -- Great discussions -- Great answers -- Forming a general understanding -- Developing an interpretation -- Connecting and reacting to text --Examining the content and structure of text.