Mary Ehrenworth – författare

Are your students ready to become the engaged and informed citizens our democracy needs right now? Your classroom can be a place for them to experience what it means to live in community with others, to balance their own interests with those of the group, to challenge themselves to overcome differences, and to ask the questions that help them understand the crux of an issue.

Powerful reading and writing is fundamentally linked to civic education. The Civically Engaged Classroom is packed with practical guidance designed to support teachers in giving students the skills, knowledge, and tools to be active participants in society. Each chapter describes classroom structures, curricular possibilities, and specific lessons for teaching crucial civic virtues, including:

acknowledging identity, bias, and privilege

building background knowledge

close and critical reading and ethical research skills

composing nuanced stances in writing

building coalitions and engaging in activism.

The work of engaging young people isn’t about giving students a voice: they already have their own voices. The work is about teaching them to use those voices with power.

If you are an educator and are interested in joining a community of practice dedicated to preparing the citizens this world needs right now, then the Coalition of Civically Engaged Educators is for you! Visit https://www.civically-engaged.org to learn more.

In this lively, student-centered work, Dr. Mary Ehrenworth presents a complete curriculum for vocabulary acquisition, one that can be embedded as a separate component or taught inside of any reading curriculum in grades 3–6.

Your students will learn to collect and apply literary vocabulary. They will learn a repertoire of writing about reading strategies for deepening literary vocabulary, close reading, and literary conversations. They will dive into a study of etymology, cognates, and compound words, as well as a deep study of morphology. These word conscious learners—budding linguists—will become flexible word solvers and creators as they learn to collect and apply domain vocabulary and develop expertise in attending to varied and subtle context clues not only to acquire domain vocabulary, but to comprehend more complex nonfiction texts.

Teachers will appreciate the student-centered, affirming, and inclusive pedagogy, the attention to multilingualism, the focus on transfer and independence, the solid core of undergirding research, the room for immersion and inquiry, and the tremendous impact on reading comprehension and criticality as well as vocabulary.

With a thoughtful progression across Literary Vocabulary, Word Consciousness, and Domain Vocabulary, Ehrenworth offers dozens of use-tomorrow lessons designed to be easily replicated with multiple texts, in a variety of learning experiences. Specifically, Vocabulary Connections presents practical structures to help teachers develop replicable protocols for:

Grounded in both inquiry and direct instruction and supported with a variety of engaging visuals and instructional tips, Vocabulary Connections will quickly become a trusted resource you’ll want to return to for planning and instruction year after year.

In this lively, student-centered work, Dr. Mary Ehrenworth presents a complete curriculum for vocabulary acquisition, one that can be embedded as a separate component or taught inside of any reading curriculum in grades 3–6.

Your students will learn to collect and apply literary vocabulary. They will learn a repertoire of writing about reading strategies for deepening literary vocabulary, close reading, and literary conversations. They will dive into a study of etymology, cognates, and compound words, as well as a deep study of morphology. These word conscious learners—budding linguists—will become flexible word solvers and creators as they learn to collect and apply domain vocabulary and develop expertise in attending to varied and subtle context clues not only to acquire domain vocabulary, but to comprehend more complex nonfiction texts.

Teachers will appreciate the student-centered, affirming, and inclusive pedagogy, the attention to multilingualism, the focus on transfer and independence, the solid core of undergirding research, the room for immersion and inquiry, and the tremendous impact on reading comprehension and criticality as well as vocabulary.

With a thoughtful progression across Literary Vocabulary, Word Consciousness, and Domain Vocabulary, Ehrenworth offers dozens of use-tomorrow lessons designed to be easily replicated with multiple texts, in a variety of learning experiences. Specifically, Vocabulary Connections presents practical structures to help teachers develop replicable protocols for:

Grounded in both inquiry and direct instruction and supported with a variety of engaging visuals and instructional tips, Vocabulary Connections will quickly become a trusted resource you’ll want to return to for planning and instruction year after year.

There are innovative, beautiful, personal ways that AI can deepen reading instruction—and most teachers simply need to be introduced to them. When willingness to explore AI combines with the urge to empower readers, remarkable things become possible. AI and Reading Instruction is a practical guide that shows you how.

Drawing from years of classroom research and intensive professional development across grade-levels, Mary Ehrenworth and Philip Seyfried reveal what happens when teachers discover the opportunities hidden in moments of technological change: newcomers and multilingual learners participate fully in class discussions. Avid readers examine their thinking in exciting new ways. Teachers co-author learning tools and assessments that would have taken hours to create alone.

Whether you''re tech-phobic, tech-savvy but concerned about AI''s impact on teaching, or simply curious about where to start, this book offers practical entry points and clear demonstrations. You''ll learn to use large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini to rapidly generate learning tools and analyze reading data, and EdTech platforms like MagicSchool, SchoolAI, and Flint to create safe, contained chat rooms and simulations where students can interact with AI partners designed to your specifications.

Inside, you''ll find examples of research-based theoretical stances, practical tips, AI-student discussions, teacher-created chatbots, and co-created learning tools that show what this work looks like in practice. A companion website provides additional resources that will evolve as AI capabilities grow.

At a moment when students need deeper reading comprehension and critical thinking skills, this book demonstrates how thoughtful AI integration increases accessibility and equity for every reader in your classroom.

There are innovative, beautiful, personal ways that AI can deepen reading instruction—and most teachers simply need to be introduced to them. When willingness to explore AI combines with the urge to empower readers, remarkable things become possible. AI and Reading Instruction is a practical guide that shows you how.

Drawing from years of classroom research and intensive professional development across grade-levels, Mary Ehrenworth and Philip Seyfried reveal what happens when teachers discover the opportunities hidden in moments of technological change: newcomers and multilingual learners participate fully in class discussions. Avid readers examine their thinking in exciting new ways. Teachers co-author learning tools and assessments that would have taken hours to create alone.

Whether you''re tech-phobic, tech-savvy but concerned about AI''s impact on teaching, or simply curious about where to start, this book offers practical entry points and clear demonstrations. You''ll learn to use large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini to rapidly generate learning tools and analyze reading data, and EdTech platforms like MagicSchool, SchoolAI, and Flint to create safe, contained chat rooms and simulations where students can interact with AI partners designed to your specifications.

Inside, you''ll find examples of research-based theoretical stances, practical tips, AI-student discussions, teacher-created chatbots, and co-created learning tools that show what this work looks like in practice. A companion website provides additional resources that will evolve as AI capabilities grow.

At a moment when students need deeper reading comprehension and critical thinking skills, this book demonstrates how thoughtful AI integration increases accessibility and equity for every reader in your classroom.