This teacher-friendly book, Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement by Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, and Christopher Lehman, helps us understand what the ELA CCSS really say and how to bring them to life in classes, writes reviewer Julie DeMicco.
In The Literacy Cookbook: A Practical Guide to Effective Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening Instruction, Sarah Tantillo’s banquet of tasty recipes for good literacy instruction are also a helpful ELA Common Core resource, says reviewer Linda Biondi.
This book about creative approaches to assessment, Authentic Assessment: Active, Engaging Product and Performance Measures, is clearly written for both teachers and students, says reviewer Tracey Muise. Sandra Schurr’s book provides many ready to implement ideas.
Reviewer Catharine Pierce says the well organized fun found in Shelley S. Connell’s Family Science Night: Fun Tips, Activities, and Ideas can enrich after-school clubs and classroom teaching.
Penny Kittle, says Kevin Hodgson, offers an ode to the power of reading to expand our intellects and a guide to encouraging our most reluctant readers in Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina and Passion in Adolescent Readers.
Teaching Argument Writing: Supporting Claims with Relevant Evidence and Clear Reasoning is not a portable guide, says reviewer Jaime Greene, but a book that “did help me begin to wrap my brain around what quality argument in the classroom sounds and looks like.”
Book Reviews / Differentiation / Prior Knowledge
by MiddleWeb · Published 01/10/2013 · Last modified 11/11/2023
Whether you want to differentiate or just learn more about building prior knowledge, Jill Spencer’s book, Ten Differentiation Strategies for Building Prior Knowledge, is a helpful quick read, says reviewer Lucille Schauer.
Book Reviews / Student Led Conferences
by MiddleWeb · Published 01/07/2013 · Last modified 11/22/2019
Student-led conferences should be more than feel-good experiences for students and parents. Fostering Student Accountability Through Student Led Conferences helped Laura Collander make SLCs matter in her classroom.
Book Reviews / Personal Learning Networks
by MiddleWeb · Published 01/03/2013 · Last modified 11/15/2019
Although the authors of Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education favor transformation over more pragmatic ed reforms, reviewer Nicole Miller found this book about PLNs “informative, useful, and beneficial.”
Book Reviews / Teaching Research Skills
by MiddleWeb · Published 12/31/2012 · Last modified 11/14/2019
Energize Research Reading and Writing: Fresh Strategies that Spark Interest, Develop Independence, and Meet Key Common Core Standards, Grades 4-8, a book championing the idea that middle grades students should do more authentic research, “comes not a moment too soon,” says ELA teacher Ariel Sacks.
