Use these fun, easy-to-use activities to tackle the most challenging aspect of reading! "Finally, someone has written a practical book filled with easy-to-read comprehension strategies. I will definitely use this book with teachers in my district to teach about and review comprehension strategies. The section on 'How Can We Learn More' is also fantastic. Thank you, Kathleen Jonson." --Hazel Brauer, Literacy Coordinator Jefferson Elementary School District, Daly City, CA "This book is a comprehensive, well-organized guide to teaching reading comprehension. The clear, consistent layout of the lesson plans makes it easy for the teacher to locate and implement appropriate lessons quickly. The examples are very helpful and the templates allow a teacher to begin lessons immediately. The wide variety of lesson plans makes this guide truly useful for all grade levels." --Myra Gamble, Reading Specialist Spring Valley School, Millbrae, CA Comprehension is the final goal of reading, but because it involves several cognitive processes, it remains the most difficult facet of reading development to teach. Based on the recommendations of the National Reading Panel Report, 60 Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension in Grades K-8 provides teachers with a ready-to-use toolkit of tried-and-true learning strategies designed to actively engage students in cognitive processes, including predicting, visualizing, making inferences, monitoring, synthesizing, and summarizing. Developed as specific instructional procedures with clearly delineated steps for implementation, these entertaining activities are effective in all types of classrooms. Each of the 60 strategies in the book includes: Grade-level recommendations Goals for each strategy Step-by-step instructions Graphics and examples of student work Directions for modifying strategies for different grade levels Literary expert Kathleen Feeney Jonson has created an exciting resource to help educators teach the most difficult piece of the reading process: comprehension. Offering a rare combination of fun and function, these strategies are sure to get students to listen, laugh, and most important, to learn.
"Very practical and user-friendly . . ." --Linda R. Kroll, Professor Department of Education, Mills College Build student-centered learning into your standards-based curriculum and lesson plans! Educators expect learners to solve problems, think critically, communicate effectively, and collaborate well. These complex processes require young learners to engage in active learning and to understand that their own experience is the foundation for new learning. They also require teachers to move from the traditional role of "sage on the stage" to the new role of "guide on the side." Constructivist Learning Design offers teachers a six-step framework for lesson planning and assessment: Situation: develop goals, tasks, and curriculum standards Grouping: group students and materials, and use cooperative learning Bridge: recall prior knowledge using students' cognitive maps, skills, values, motivation, and expectations Task: use higher-level thinking skills and problem-based learning Exhibit: arrange student portfolios and work samples Reflection: synthesize critical thinking and knowledge With clear classroom applications and ready-to-use planning templates, this research-based resource guides teachers through the complex process of aligning constructivist learning events with standards-based curriculum. Engage students in tasks, help them think for themselves, and support them in making meaning of their learning!
Could your staff meetings use a zap of energy? Do you want more participation and less reluctance when you gather your team together? Good teachers know that fun, emotion, meaningful connections, and high expectations drive learning and committed attention to a task. This sourcebook overflows with strategies, activities, and resources designed to bring these all-important qualities into the faculty meeting. Teacher leaders will discover the keys to improved collaboration, teamwork, and productivity - and new tools to improve group processes. By modeling best practice at staff meetings, leaders also give their teachers new engagement tools that they can put directly to use in their classrooms. The authors demonstrate how to reduce the "chore" factor of meetings by: / Lightening the atmosphere with creative approaches / Starting with purpose-focused theme music and other energizers / Building relationships within the team that transform the school culture / Overcoming barriers to productivity / Rewarding and appreciating staff in innovative ways / Closing the meeting with a bang--and a plan As the energy from your staff meetings ripples through the school, every teacher and classroom will experience the motivation and focus that you create!
Lessons to Prepare Your Students for Standardized Assessments and for Life
Enhance your students' writing skills and boost their scores on standardized writing tests! In today's high-stakes environment, standardized test scores not only gauge student performance, but are also linked to a school's status and the funding it receives. This helpful resource provides educators with a classroom-tested writing curriculum that has proven to boost student scores on standardized writing tests while helping them develop skills for lifelong writing success. The authors offer structured, day-to-day lesson plans linked to national standards; easy-to-use writing tools; and carefully crafted, unscripted lessons that cover a scope and follow a sequence that aims for student success. This curriculum is designed to help you: Become a confident writing teacher Prepare your students for all practical applications of writing Provide students with the analytical tools and skills they need to succeed on standardized writing tests Accommodate students' strengths and weaknesses Create confident readers and writers of your most reluctant students Your students need more than writing prompts and grammar lessons to ensure they will have lifelong writing success. Finally--a way for teachers to provide quality writing instruction that allows them to meet testing demands on time and with confidence!
Help teachers move past the grind of daily survival to the fulfillment of career-long professional development! Imagine someone telling you that, within three years, your new teachers would leave the profession for which they trained so hard. That's what is happening to 30% of today's promising new teachers who are not given the mentoring, ......
Enrich the quality of teaching and learning in your school with meaningful teacher evaluations! Effective teacher evaluation is at the core of improving the quality and value of education and principals bear the responsibility of implementing a teacher evaluation program that helps develop highly qualified teachers and promotes high academic standards. In their easy-to-use handbook, evaluation experts Kenneth D. Peterson and Catherine A. Peterson offer a fresh, innovative look into teacher evaluation methods, focusing on three central areas: 1) increasing the amount of objective data, 2) increasing teacher involvement, and 3) increasing the technical and sociological quality of the evaluation process. This excellent resource provides specific "how-to" methods to help principals: Use the best objective evidence available Put the teacher at the center of the process Use multiple data sources Use data sources which vary by individual teacher Incorporate student achievement data Inspire ongoing teacher reflection and analysis Use the specific strategies and best practices in this practical guide to help inspire quality teaching and high academic achievement!
Fully integrate your school's support community and watch achievement levels and morale soar! Many principals feel they lack the personnel necessary to raise student achievement to mandated levels. Yet, as school leaders seek to improve educational outcomes, one of the most underutilized groups remains student support professionals-the counselors, social workers, and nurses already on site. Karen Seashore Louis and Molly F. Gordon offer a practical approach to creating a fully integrated student support community that contributes to increasing achievement levels. Incorporating research and practical strategies into a broader paradigm of leadership, they offer directives for implementing reform initiatives and rigorously assessing their effectiveness. Bridging theory and practice, this book provides: An examination of emerging models linking student support programs and academic achievement Guidelines and resources for overcoming barriers to reform Exercises and suggestions to help start the change process Case studies of principals who have successfully integrated their student support services An expanded comprehensive support model (CSP) that considers the multi-professional nature of student support activities Reorganizing existing resources is the most efficient path to school reform. Rather than limiting the counselor or social worker's role, use it to form a comprehensive support program to help improve school achievement!
Help teachers move past the grind of daily survival to the fulfillment of career-long professional development! Imagine someone telling you that, within three years, your new teachers would leave the profession for which they trained so hard. That's what is happening to 30% of today's promising new teachers who are not given the mentoring, ......
This is a practical guide to establishing technology in the primary school curriculum. Concrete tools are provided, such as a sample technology plan, related Web sites, and a glosary of technical terms.
