With a view to understanding and reflecting upon the form that initial literacy practices take, this paper seeks to analyse how seven teachers in early childhood education in Spain introduce the teaching of reading and writing. A multiple-case study has been conducted; the data were gathered by video-recording the sessions (a total of 105 hours).…

Literacy educator Beverly Tyner presents plans for small-group instruction that addresses elementary students' six developmental stages of reading and writing: emergent, beginning, fledgling, transitional, fluent, and independent. To help teachers support students' literacy development, this book also provides: (1) Characteristics of readers and…

Early encounters with environmental print, words, and other graphic symbols found in children's surroundings are among their first concrete exposures to written language. These experiences: (1) provide an introduction to making meaning of abstract symbols; and (2) offer children their first opportunity to make sense of the world through print. As…

"Debates in English Teaching" explores the major issues all English teachers encounter in their daily professional lives. It engages with established and contemporary debates, promotes and supports critical reflection and aims to stimulate both novice and experienced teachers to reach informed judgements and argue their point of view with deeper…

This hands-on guide shows elementary school teachers how to create multilingual classroom communities that support every learner's success in reading, writing, and general literacy development. The author provides a practical overview of key ideas and techniques and describes specific literacy activities that lead to vocabulary and oral English…

When asked to discuss their middle school language arts classes, talented eighth graders identified concerns and made suggestions for their teachers. Students voiced desire for choices in selecting reading materials, writing topics and genre. They preferred having extended periods of time to engage in reading and writing activities, rather than…

This practical, teacher-friendly book provides indispensable guidance for implementing research-based reading instruction that is responsive to students' diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Structured around the "big five" core topics of an effective reading program--phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension--the…

Each morning the first-graders are excited about applying their learning in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, art, oral language, and the social-emotional realm. The children are reporters, observing, documenting their work in small notebooks, discussing it, and reporting on it weekly in the class newspaper. To help teachers adapt…

Teaching students the intelligent behaviors they need to succeed in school and later in life is much easier when you have this collection of stories and observations from teachers who have used the principles of ASCD's book "Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind" in their classrooms. Through these first-hand accounts, learn how the habits of…

In "Effective Literacy Coaching: Building Expertise and a Culture of Literacy," literacy experts Shari Frost, Roberta Buhle, and Camille Blachowicz provide more than 50 practical activities designed to help K-12 literacy professionals: (1) Assess the current literacy program; (2) Plan changes that will foster a culture of literacy; (3) Collaborate…

Presents instructional strategies that integrate syntax instruction with literacy instruction, while maintaining the integrity of language and the literacy process. Discusses using authentic texts and keeping the literacy process whole, manipulating sentence structures in context, and revising linguistic priorities. (SR)

This booklet contains 25 classroom-ready, literacy-building activities that can also serve as a starting point for teachers to develop their own activities. The metacognitive aspects of the exercises encourage students to reflect on what they did and what they learned and to discuss what they got out of the exercises. The activities share the…

Describes several ways in which the newspaper is a useful resource for teaching reading skills and for allowing students to model just about all types of writing. (SR)

Examines the assumptions that underlie critical reading and critical literacy. Argues that there are fundamental philosophical distinctions between liberal-humanist critical reading and critical literacy, and demonstrates why educators need to acknowledge and understand these differences. Suggests that practices associated with critical literacy…

Considers how to teach children to become proficient readers and writers in combination with teaching them to appreciate the "art form" of language. Argues that it is unrealistic to expect teachers with pressing responsibilities to regard children's literature as sacred texts--art forms that are too fragile to be transgressed upon by instructional…