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Classroom-tested lessons to help you strive for 100% engagement in your ELA classroom

For educators, it can be a constant challenge to keep students engaged and motivated in the classroom. With the rise of technology and shortened attention spans, we have to go beyond traditional teaching methods, especially in the English Language Arts (ELA) classroom where students may perceive reading and writing as tedious tasks.

100% Engagement: 33 Lessons to Promote Participation, Beat Boredom, and Deepen Learning in the ELA Classroom offers captivating and interactive lessons that will help students thrive in their ELA studies. Authors Brian Sztabnik and Susan Barber provide practical guidance and inspiration to make ELA learning more meaningful and enjoyable for students in Grades 6-12. The book’s 33 lessons are organized by genres including Poetry, Short Fiction, Novels & Dramas, and Writing and are adaptable to support different learning styles, ensuring that all students feel valued and engaged in the classroom. The lessons get students out of their seats, participating in discussion, collaborating, and working across mediums to build their literacy skills.

Providing tips and tricks to achieve 100% engagement, this book:

Fosters a classroom where student motivation is high, and interactions are based on mutual respect and appreciationChallenges learners to think critically and creatively by incorporating collaborative, cross-genre activitiesOffers adaptations to help teachers tailor the lessons based on their individual classroom needs, making it easier for all students to participate fullyOffers downloadable templates and handouts for easy implementation

100% Engagement is the ultimate toolkit for teachers looking to foster motivation, creativity, and active participation that deepens learning for every student in their ELA classroom.

Newly revised and updated throughout, this new Florida Edition has been specially developed to align with Florida’s new B.E.S.T. Standards.

What it really means to "read closely."

What could Fern Arable, Jay Gatsby, and Winston Churchill possibly have in common? They all need masterful teachers to help students revel in their complexity. And Nancy Frey and Doug Fisher are just the two mentors to help you make that happen. Call it close reading, call it deep reading, call it analytic reading—call it what you like. The point is, it's a level of understanding that students of any age can achieve with the right kind of instruction. In Rigorous Reading, Nancy and Doug articulate an instructional plan so clearly, and so squarely built on research, that teachers, schools, and districts need look no further.

The 5 Access Points Toward Proficiency, Purpose & Modeling:

Teachers think aloud to demonstrate critical thinking and how good readers always know why they are reading. Close & Scaffolded Reading Instruction: Teachers engage students in repeated readings and discussions, with text-dependent questions, prompts, and cues to help students delve into an author's ideas. Collaborative Conversations: Teachers orchestrate collaborative learning to get students in the habit of exercising their analytical thinking in the presence of their peers. An Independent Reading Staircase: Teachers artfully steer students to more challenging books, with strategic bursts of instruction and peer conferences to foster metacognitive awareness. Performance: Teachers offer feedback and assessments that help students demonstrate understanding of text in authentic ways and plan instruction based on student understanding.

There's more . . . Also included are illustrative classroom video clips available via QR codes—making Rigorous Reading the only resource a teacher, school, or district needs to seriously stretch students' capacity to read and comprehend text.

The science of reading meets the art of teaching readers  Do you have the knowledge and instructional ability to effectively teach foundational skills and to support students who show signs of reading difficulties? It is a tall order — and one that challenges many new and veteran teachers. How to Prevent Reading Difficulties, Grades PreK-3 builds on decades of evidence and years of experience to help teachers understand how the brain learns to read and how to apply that understanding to Tier 1 instruction. The book includes:  step-by-step descriptions of techniques for effectively teaching phonological awareness, spelling, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehensionspecific Tier 1 activities, routines, and frameworks that build and strengthen word recognition and language comprehensionlinks to video demonstrations and online resourcesclear, practical explanations of the science of reading, including the Eternal Triangle and the Simple View of Reading, to help teachers understand the fundamentals of the reading process, recognize how difficulties arise – and understand how to address themA book study guide is available on the Free Resources tab to provides group guidance on how to effectively teach foundational skills and to support students who show signs of reading difficulties. Author Mark Weakland brings new energy to teaching high-priority foundational skills. By blending the science of reading with the best instructional practices that lead to authentic reading—the ultimate goal of balanced literacy—teachers can prevent many reading difficulties in K-3 learners.

Streamline literacy learning with power-packed children’s booksTwo of the most common challenges educators face is lack of time and resources. In Mentor Texts That Multitask, Pam Koutrakos shows how to streamline literacy instruction by using a single mentor text to teach reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, speaking, and listening. When you integrate literacy instruction this way, concepts start to come together more clearly for children – and teachers save time and expense.This user-friendly resource is packed with ready-to-go lessons and tools to create, plan, and teach using multitasking texts. The lessons and accompanying ideas can jumpstart learning in the classroom by integrating and connecting literacy concepts in time-efficient ways. Resources include Full lessons centered on high-quality children’s literature to take the guesswork out of planningA DIY section to help teachers plan and teach lessons around other favorite textsDozens of student and classroom examples to show you what’s possiblePrintables available online to help with immediate implementation.Designed to help teachers build a more inclusive classroom library and instructional practice, this guide highlights texts that represent and celebrate a multitude of characters and topics.

Spark meaningful conversations about race, identity, and social justice in your classroom using read alouds as an entry point.

Students need to see themselves and their peers in the books they read, and to engage with varying viewpoints. How can educators create a safe and nurturing space that inspires young children to explore diversity and ask curious questions?

In Rebellious Read Alouds, author Vera Ahiyya—beloved by educators worldwide as The Tutu Teacher (@thetututeacher and @diversereads on Instagram)—empowers teachers to encourage classroom conversations about important and culturally relevant topics using daily read alouds as an entry point. Presenting a broad range of read aloud lessons around current, diverse picture books that can ignite deep conversations and learning about self, others, and the world, this wise and joyful guide prepares educators to tackle “hushed topics” with young children. It includes:

Booklists, tools, and recommendations for building an inclusive classroom library of titles written or illustrated by people in traditionally marginalized populations Tips and resources for facilitating diversity conversations in a way that’s developmentally appropriate — and meets ELA and social justice standards 45 complete lessons plans around children’s books, with prompts and recommended stopping points for conversation, and suggestions for inspiring discussion and scaffolding deep thinking Interviews with educators and parents who offer advice from their experience doing rebellious read alouds Suggestions for partnering with administration, parents, and colleagues on this important work

Spark the rebellious reader inside you and lead your students toward creating a more just and equitable world.

It can take a lifetime to eradicate a reader’s shame—or it can take one great teacher Shame-bound readers want someone to notice them. It’s true. But then what does a teacher do to help students? Justin Stygles found fresh answers in Gershen Kaufman’s seminal research on shame and applied it to his teaching. The results proved to him—and now us—that building relationships and taking deliberate actions to alleviate shame is crucial.With this remarkable book, Stygles shows us how to build an interpersonal bridge with students and make vulnerability okay. But make no mistake—disengaged readers need to feel competent before they fully buy in, and so the author packs the book with powerful instructional ideas. Learn to: Spot all the distress signals, including withdrawal, perfectionism, and compliance.Help students see that they are not permanently locked out of a reading lifeUse assessment instruments to note and celebrate incremental changePlan mini-units that develop skills in concert with engagementDesign small group experiences that are free of levels and other shame-inducing labelsPump up independent reading with scaffolding and sociabilityHarness writing about reading to convince students of their uniqueness.The shame factor is real. It’s time we meet it head on, with innovation and the best thinking from multiple research fields. I Hate Reading is the tool that does just that.

The joyful path from rich read-aloud experiences toward supporting young readers’ independence.

When young readers join their voices together in shared reading, their literacy skills and confidence soar. Shared reading surrounds students with the language of stories and the delight of learning in community.

In Shake Up Shared Reading, veteran teacher Maria Walther offers teachers a simple but robust scaffolding for moving from teacher-led demonstration of read aloud to student-led discovery of literacy skills—across the bridge of shared reading. This easily adaptable structure features short, targeted bursts of shared reading that are connected to and planned as a follow-up to a read-aloud experience. The resource includes:

Read-aloud experiences drawn from 50 recently published works of children’s literature from varied voices, that provide the foundation for the short, intensive shared reading interactions that follow. 100 short, laser-focused bursts of shared reading, two for each title, that invite students to dig deeper, with a precise aim in mind—perfect for a variety of learning contexts including virtual settings.   Key vocabulary, kid-friendly definitions, along with a Nudge Toward Independence section for each shared reading interaction help teachers connect shared reading to guided reading lessons and students’ independent literacy learning. A companion website offering reproducibles and a Learning Target Chart that gives an at-a-glance view of every read aloud learning target and shared reading focus, along related titles and additional links.

Let the power of a read aloud and shared reading lead your students to read, talk, ponder, and react on the way to becoming joyful, independent readers.

Small groups accelerate student reading growth

Elementary students need personal attention from a teacher and a connection with their peers to progress as readers. Small groups offer both! When you work with just a few kids at a time on skills specific to their assets and goals, you provide a safe, trusting environment that encourages students to challenge themselves.

Organized by developmental reading stages—emergent readers, early readers, transitional readers, and fluent readers—this timely handbook shows how to engage students where they are, regardless of grade level, and help them progress to the next stage.  You’ll learn how to assess student skills and needs, flexibly organize groups, plan and teach lessons, select appropriate texts, and differentiate instruction to give every reader a pathway to success. Features include:

· Phonics and phonological awareness, reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension strategies and tools   for each reading stage

· At-a-glance charts for assessing current skill level and identifying next instructional steps

· 70 downloadable teacher and student resources for planning and instructional use

· Dozens of easy adaptations for use in online learning

· Over 100 full-color photographs so you can see small groups in action

· Reflection prompts and guiding questions for personal and PLC use

Whatever your instructional setting, you and your students need the relationships that are best forged in small groups. With this book, you’ll be able to differentiate instruction in a way that’s manageable and sustainable – and build those relationships that help young readers achieve success.

“Upending deficit narrative of learning loss, combating broken approaches to racial equity, and wading deep into the contested waters of democratic principles of learning within today’s schools, Dr. Skerrett and Dr. Smagorinsky offer an accessible guidebook for making our classrooms sites of justice and joy. Perhaps most importantly, theirs is a book that reveals classroom practices as they really are--the voices of teachers are situated as co-authors in this important journey. I cannot think of a more timely or relevant book for English educators than Teaching Literacy in Troubled Times.”

— Antero Garcia, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University

Relevant instruction to move education forward instead of “back to normal”

Educators often bemoan the so-called learning gap that followed the upheaval to schooling in 2020, but the real learning gap will occur if the watershed events and social shifts of the early 2020s are not integrated into school instruction and learning. For today’s learning to be relevant to today’s students, it must reflect their lives and the true social worlds they inhabit. But how?

Teaching Literacy in Troubled Times empowers educators to engage students in critical thinking, literacy activities, and inquiry to investigate the personal and social issues of pressing importance to today’s middle and high school students. Six units of study, each co-authored by a teacher who road-tested the activities in their own classroom, guide teachers through the process of teaching literacy around the topics of identity, social inequity, global justice, empathy, racism and racial literacy, and conflicting ideas of patriotism. This urgent, timely guide to creating a relevant classroom includes:

Instructional methods, content knowledge, and learning activities for each unit that engage students in critical inquiry and social action. Insights and guidance from teachers who put the full unit plans in action with students. Reflection questions to help teachers envision the work in their own classrooms. Templates, rubrics, examples of student work, and other tools that help teachers to plan and implement activities that grow students’ capacity to understand and act in society.

Prime your students with the critical thinking, investigative, and communicative skills they need to connect themselves to broader social movements and create a new generation of educated changemakers.

“Afrika Afeni Mills’ book fills an important gap in the arena of diversity, equity and inclusion. Most books are focused on the needs of children of color, but she helps us understand why White students need to build their cultural competence if we are to truly have a society that is bias-free. If you’re a White educator or parent, this book will help you to let go of the things that no longer serve you, and to teach your students to embrace those things that will help create welcoming environments where all feel a sense of belonging.”

—Zaretta Hammond Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor

Equip your students—and yourself—to grapple with racial identity and crucial questions about race.

As antiracist educators, we strive to create learning environments where White-identifying students learn to shift from centering their own racial identity to recognizing the histories, perspectives, and experiences of others. How do we make that vision a reality?

In Open Windows, Open Minds, transformational educator Afrika Afeni Mills explores why racial identity work is crucial, especially for White-identifying students and teachers, and shows educators how to use literacy instruction to provide more windows to racial awareness, antiracist thinking, and pro-human action in the classroom. This roadmap for moving from intention to action includes:

Exercises that push educators to examine their own racial identity before facilitating antiracism work with students Prompts that lead educators from deep thinking to instructional planning and implementation Developmentally appropriate teaching strategies for guiding students toward understanding racial identity and engaging in action-oriented learning Tools and resources for navigating challenges, finding allies, and creating partnerships

Engaging in anti-bias, antiracist work requires actively thinking, doing, and evolving. Open windows to racial identity and awareness in your students and help create a more inclusive and equitable society.

Critical thinking and online reading need to go hand in hand—but they often don’t. Students click, swipe, and believe because they don’t know how to do otherwise. At times, so do we. And that’s a problem. Fighting Fake News combats this challenge by helping you model how to read, myth-bust, truth-test, and respond in ways that lead to wisdom rather than reactivity.

No matter what content you teach, the lessons showcased here provide engaging, collaborative reading and discussion experiences so students can:

Notice how teacher and peers read digital content, to be mindful of how various reading pathways influence perceptionIdentify the author background, the website sponsor, and other evidence that help set a piece in contextStress-test the facts by evaluating news sources, reading laterally, and other critical reading strategiesUse “Reader’s Rules of Notice” to learn to identify common rhetorical devices used to influence the readerBe aware of how for-profit social media platforms feed on our responses to narrow rather than widen our reading landscape

We are still in the wild west era of the digital age, scrambling to impart a safer, ethical framework for evaluating information. Thankfully, it distills to one mission: teach students (and ourselves) how to think critically, and we will forever have the tools to fight fake news.

Student Writers Go the Distance with a Strength-Training Approach

Good writers don’t wing it—they have a plethora of skills. They list, picture, circle, strategize and revise to make language come alive. They know what to use and when. Like ace athletes, they are highly trained, well-versed in the techniques found in this lively book.

Writing Workouts provides a method for instruction that gives students the fun they want and the targeted skill practice they need. Slinky paragraphs, pop-up poems, paint chip plotting, and many other activities get the serious business of teaching critical and creative writing done. Author Rebecca Harper shows you how to go about it systematically, so writing is tied to relevant lessons and writing standards. Help students learn to:

Hone skills in persuasive writing, argument, fiction, poetry, memoir and moreToggle between brief and multi-step writing tasks, to build stamina (and not hyperventilate when faced with complex compositions)Tap into auditory, visual, and kinesthetic, and digital components of craftingThink about word, sentence, and paragraph-level techniquesJump the high-jumps of research writing by getting good at each smaller leap

Students in middle school and high school often feel they are forever-sprinting toward a high-stakes writing task. With Writing Workouts, you help students crowd out stress with a strength-training approach to success.

Because high-level comprehension cannot be divorced from wide-ranging textsTo be literate is to think through multiple perspectives, exploring diverse texts, and using the power of story to give students the life skills to discuss just about anything with critical curiosity. Critical Comprehension transforms this vital work into an accessible, three-step lesson process.Using picture books, multimodal texts, and thoughtfully framed questions, each differentiated lesson expands students’ understanding of a text through:First read: the "movie read", during which the text is read without interruptionSecond read: The teacher poses questions that probe deeper meanings through interaction with the text to summarize, name and highlight issues, analyze and infer, to make more informed decisions about what to believe and what to question.Third read: Harnessing students’ curiosities, the class revisits the text to talk back to theme, symbols, central idea, or social, cultural, historical influences at work on author and audiencePopular media, classic novels, breaking news — the world’s content is ready for students to absorb. But are we ready to help them read it well? Equipped with this resource, the answer is, Yes, we are.

Teaching writing that is relevant to your students and their futures

What kind of writing do we do beyond school? It certainly isn’t the well-known  five-paragraph essay or tight iambic pentameter. In today’s workforce, the purpose of writing is to communicate complex ideas specific to career fields. Students need more than simply mastering academic writing, so Teaching Writing From Content Classroom to Career shows how to combine writing instruction teachers already share – language selection, tone, voice, audience, organization, and style – with meaningful writing tasks so students can connect classroom writing to the world of their work and their futures. Authors Maria C. Grant, Diane Lapp, and Marisol Thayre explain ways to show students how writing works in the world of work with

Ready-to-go lesson plans focused on relevant, world-of-work writing tasks and formatsAn overarching rubric of key skills as well as student-self-assessment rubrics to make instruction and implementation crystal clearDownloadable and reproducible tools for both students and teachers for ease of implementationExemplar mentor texts from the workplace in multiple disciplines that showcase writing’s essential connections to workforce readinessSuggestions for using AI to generate exemplar textsExamples of how to be a successful communicator who knows how and when to move in and out of different modes of language

Full of tools, resources, and strategies that are easy to implement and seamlessly overlay school writing curriculum, this book sets students on the path to academic and career success through writing.

Unleash the power of poetry to boost all academic writing

Student writing outcomes will transform if we invest more time in the genre we too often ignore: poetry! With Poetry Pauses, Brett Vogelsinger asserts that all good writing takes us to deeper places, whether it’s narrative, argument, informational, or verse. So why not use the palm-size examples of poems to develop students’ skills?

This book helps you to

Teach techniques such as using sound, pattern, imagery, grammatical structures, and dialogueSelect poems from the online companion website for read alouds and writing warm-upsReshape students’ attitudes about verse with contemporary spoken word and poems by today’s favorite poetsKnow how to tuck specific poems into any part of the writing process to build your students’ understanding of brainstorming, elaboration, paragraphing, argumentation, and more

No matter what students go on to do in life, being able to reach a broad audience with language that engages the whole mind is a gift. The resources here and online will stoke students’ logic and creativity immeasurably.

Teacher be nimble, teacher be quick—the routines in this book make phonics learning stick.

Author Wiley Blevins is renowned for changing the way educators think about teaching children to read, helping thousands of teachers implement effective phonics instruction. Now, Blevins gets us to think in powerful new ways about differentiating whole-class phonics lessons, so students at every skill level can engage. With Blevins’ trademark clarity, Differentiating Phonics Instruction for Maximum Impact provides:

High-impact routines that focus on the skills known to develop students’ literacy best.Differentiated application of these routines—with fun multi-modal games and variations—for students working on- below-, and above grade-level expectations, and for multilingual learnersGuidelines for creating skills-based small groups for more intensive work“Look-fors” for teachers and supervisors, to know when instruction is working or needs to be adjustedSeveral reproducible phonics and spelling assessments for placement, progress monitoring, and formative assessments to keep every learner growing as readers and writers.

Differentiation needs to be in the DNA of every instructional plan—so all students' skills progress every day. That’s a tall order, but with this resource, teachers discover that over time, doing the routines gives them a nimble, global sense of their learners and makes teaching more impactful and learning to read more joyful.

Ready-to-go English Language Development tasks that focus on students “doing the doing” of talking, reading, listening, and responding.

In recent years, the percentage of English Language Learners (ELLs) has increased in almost every state, so most teachers are faced with the challenge of teaching literacy to students acquiring English alongside English-speaking students. However, in many integrated learning situations, English Language Development (ELD) instruction is strikingly different than the teaching we provide students whose first language is English.

The Big Book of Tasks for English Language Development helps teachers meet that challenge head-on! Bestselling author and esteemed education consultant Nancy Akhavan shows that teaching multilingual learners requires changing our instruction to focus on practices that have high impact for students as they acquire language. Yet it’s not about doing more— it’s about doing smarter. It’s about having high expectations for all students and providing scaffolds to support students at all levels of English language proficiency as they learn and grow more confident. All the ready-to-go activities in the book

Center on active tasks where students do the thinking, talking, reading, and writing, with appropriate supportActivate the domains of language — listening, speaking, reading, and writing —  and recognize that these do not develop at the same rateHonor the continuum of language development and build on what students can doProvide teaching tools such as learning targets, suggestions for when to use a task, basic instructions and “teacher talk” for launching a task, and “Watch Fors and Work-Arounds” Focus on the linguistic assets multilingual learners bring to the classroom and provide opportunities to help them collaborate with peers

With Akhavan’s signature straight-forward, teacher-friendly style, this book offers an uplifting reminder that with the right teaching strategies, educators can support multilingual learners to achieve their full potential and thrive in their learning journeys.

Watch multilingual students excel with high-engagement reading lessons

Students acquiring English tend to bust every stereotype. The truth is, these learners come to school with linguistic assets, not deficits. They will excel with lively, just-right challenge lessons, and they thrive with opportunities to collaborate with peers. In this authoritative resource, bestselling author Nancy Akhavan shows teachers how to support students at the small-group table in acquiring English as well as developing as readers—simultaneously. Ready-to-go tools include:

Essential background on the five stages of language acquisition How-tos for differentiating instruction based on students’ levels of language proficiency as well as their reading proficiency Lesson sequences integrating oral language, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, word work, comprehension, and writing about reading Routines that augment talk about texts so multilingual learners can verbalize their knowledge and articulate thinking A companion website and multimodal scaffolds to support students across reading, writing, speaking, and listening

When we gather at the reading table, we have just twenty minutes—we need to make it count. Now we can.

Modernize grammar instruction with language lessons that inspire and engage students!Grammar and language instruction has long been, in the words of Brock Haussamen in Grammar Alive!, "the skunk at the garden party of the language arts" that turns many eager learners into disengaged participants. This type of disengagement, and resulting student struggles, have long been the norm, not the exception, when it comes to grammar and language lessons. But why? Why does grammar—something so relevant and essential that we use it in the creation of every syllable we say, write, or think—often end up as one of the dullest and most disconnected parts of the ELA classroom?Good Grammar: Joyful and Affirming Language Lessons That Work for More Students seeks to answer that question and to offer practical, on-the-ground solutions for making grammar and language instruction more accessible, practical, and connected to students’ reading, writing, and most importantly, the deep well of language knowledge they bring with them already.At the core of the book are six key practices for creating language instruction that comes across clearer, sticks better, transfers easier, and ultimately instills a love of language, all while teaching major grammatical concepts. Written by a practicing classroom teacher, this book offersReady-to-go lessons and a recommended sequenceExplanation of essential grammar and language concepts for teachers who need to refresh their own understanding of grammar and language topics and conceptsOver a hundred modern, engaging, wide-ranging, and diverse mentor text examplesSuggestions on how to introduce important linguistic concepts into secondary classes, including lessons about how language develops; how to define, examine, and celebrate dialects/familects/idiolects; and protocols for discussing concepts like code-meshing and "correctness"Examination of broader trends concerning what works and what doesn’t work in regards to grammar and language instruction, with a goal of giving teachers the tools they need to create their own grammar and language curriculum that engages, inspires, and transfers more easily into student writing and life beyond the classroom walls.The title—Good Grammar—seeks to remind us that grammar doesn’t have to be boring or feel punitive. Instead, it can be a force for good for more students, affirming who they are, honoring the language expertise they bring with them, and helping them to bring their unique voices to the page.

Read widely and read often - create a classroom environment where independent reading thrivesIndependent reading is more than just "drop everything and read" – it is a gateway to writing, critical thinking, discussion, and deeper learning. Author Jarred Amato, an accomplished middle and high school English teacher and founder of Project LIT Community, believes in the power of independent reading not only to turn around the reading attitudes of students but also to help them achieve huge gains in all areas of literacy, learning, and civic engagement.Many teachers have pushed aside independent reading in the time crunch to teach all the content and skills in the curriculum — or because of pressure to stay true to a traditional literary canon. Instead of looking at it as either/or, Just Read It shows teachers how to make independent reading "yes, and." Dr. Amato’s Read and WRAP (write, reflect, analyze, participate) framework helps teachers cultivate meaningful learning experiences with daily dedication of independent reading time, followed by writing, reflection, conversation, and community-building lessons and activities.With thoughtful, student-centered structures and strategies to sustain independent reading success, this bookProvides detailed insights on transforming the principles of access, choice, time, and community into actionsShows how to support student interests and varied reading levelsOffers ready-to-go activities to initiate Read and WRAP routines at the start of the school year, keep momentum going, and finish the year strong to ensure continued literacy growthDemonstrates how to leverage student feedback to fine-tune the Read and WRAP routinesDiscusses various options for incorporating independent and whole-class novels into the curriculumOffers a game plan to "level up" IR, including how to launch and lead a Project LIT chapterWe live in a time when choosing what we read is critically important, and this book offers all the tools teachers need to guide students along the path to true literacy. Just Read It is perfect for anyone who believes in the power of books to change students’ lives and nurture a life-long love for reading.

What would it mean to truly “get free” as an educator? How can we identify and challenge bias in our reading and writing curriculum and instruction? How can we support students in becoming empathetic, engaged individuals who can communicate with the world through reading and writing skills developed with compassion and critical thinking?

Answering these questions requires deep personal reflection and intentional daily practice — and it’s crucial today more than ever, when students are overwhelmed with misinformation and disinformation.

Drawn from decades of classroom experience and founded on the scholarship of social justice educators,Tricia Ebarvia provides a framework that can help teachers implement transformative, anti-bias literacy instruction in middle- and high school classrooms Get Free offers educators

Strategies for scaffolding literacy instruction in ways that center students’ identities and experiences, and help them develop a more inclusive understanding of literature and writingClassroom structures and routines that support critical listening and open, authentic conversation and writing responsesInvitations for teachers to re-examine curriculum and instructional practices, based on a deeper sense of who we are and what we bring to every reading and writing experience

To develop stronger reading, writing, and critical thinking skills, antibias literacy instruction is essential. This is the book for teachers, new and experienced, who know that classrooms can be transformative, liberatory spaces where students better understand themselves, others, and the world.

Imagine the possibilities if we could just get free…

Teach students the architecture beneath a successful story—and boost their reading comprehension and writing skills for a lifetime 

Writing instruction can sometimes seem scattershot, as teachers try to cover a galaxy of craft techniques, ideas, intentions, and genres. The possibilities are endless—and that’s the problem. In Text Structures from Picture Books, elementary and middle grade teachers tap into a well-ordered universe of inspiring and illustrative stories to help students frame their thinking and focus choices.

Using the bite-size format of picture books as a starting point, the authors share 50 low-prep, quick-access lessons to help you teach students seven concrete ways to respond to text in any genre. Through these lessons, students will be able to:

Generate their own writing, using a text structure harvested from the work of professional authors Retell a story, using the text structure from the story Generate reading responses, using structures that support clarity Analyze a story to construct thematic statements, capturing the author’s message and bigger themes Write about a theme or big idea demonstrating empathic and evidence-based interpretation Answer open-ended questions by selecting a technique that reflects the text and their engagement Experiment with author’s craft in their own writing

Based on master writing teacher Gretchen Bernabei’s instructional model, the lessons offer a lively, high-impact mix of reading aloud, discussion, modeling, student writing, and peer share. Plus, readers have access to a complete companion website full of text structure reproducibles, reading response prompts, additional lessons and extensions, students samples, and links to demo videos.

State tests are now assessing reading and writing together. And that’s a good thing—but we’ve got some catching up to do. Written for students beginning in second grade, Text Structures from Picture Books will help your students swiftly and surely become text-savvy readers and writers.

Unlock the transformative potential of read-aloud to joyfully strengthen essential literacy skills.In this eagerly anticipated follow-up to Maria Walther’s The Ramped-Up Read Aloud, discover 50 MORE read-aloud experiences designed to bolster students’ literacy development, ignite imagination, and enhance motivation.Backed by the latest research, this indispensable guide equips educators with the knowledge and tools to make read alouds a cornerstone of their teaching practice. More Ramped-Up Read Alouds includes lessons focused on foundational reading concepts like phonological awareness and decoding along with a new chapter on integrating literacy with STEAM.This must-have resource for K-5 teachers, librarians, schools, and districts goes beyond the basics. It empowers educators to elevate their read alouds, offering strategies to broaden students’ content knowledge, expand vocabulary, and boost listening comprehension. Each read-aloud experience features:Standards-based learning targetsKey vocabulary words with kid-friendly definitionsEffective questioning techniquesInnovative reading response ideasTargeted extension activities to enhance the experience for upper elementary learnersLooking to create joyful, enriching reading experiences that will lead to endless possibilities? Search no further! It’s time to make interactive read-aloud a non-negotiable part of the day—and watch learners soar!

Reclaim student attention with interval-based instruction

Struggling with student disengagement and dwindling attention spans in your classroom? You're not alone. To meet the needs of today’s learners, teachers must find ways to transform instruction into a more dynamic and engaging experience.

In The Attention Gap, author Michael McDowell tackles these urgent challenges head-on, proposing a new, actionable framework—the Interval Instruction Approach (IIA)—to reshape the rhythm of your classroom. Inspired by interval training and grounded in cognitive science, this approach alternates short bursts of direct instruction with immediate, active student practice to build focus, boost motivation, and make learning stick.

This book will help you:

Alternate your instructional routine between building the learner (metacognition, focus) and building the learning (academic content)Implement the five-step IIA approach of cognitive snacking, launch intervals, content intervals, pattern breaks, and cool-downsAccess real-world classroom examples, model lessons, and reproducible activities that can be implemented tomorrowApply research from the science of learning, attention science, and cognitive psychology to your daily practice

Discover how to create a classroom where all students can improve, not just in effort or engagement, but in actual growth. This innovative guide will help you invigorate your instruction, get you and your students working in tandem, and transform your classroom dynamics for lasting student success.

Teach your students to grasp the structure of narratives with this simple, yet powerful approach! 

Teaching text structure has never been easier or more engaging. Narrative Know-How: A Fresh Approach to Support Comprehension and Craft in the K–6 Classroom equips educators with innovative tools to help students understand the structure of stories, improving both their reading comprehension and their ability to craft compelling narratives. Through his unique Mood Structures strategy, Trevor Bryan offers a simple yet powerful way for students to connect with fiction and nonfiction texts alike. Whether you're aiming to boost engagement, make complex ideas more accessible, or bring joy back to your literacy lessons, this book delivers.

Designed to help young readers and writers thrive, this resource focuses on actionable strategies and practical lessons tested in real classrooms. Teachers will gain the tools they need to develop students’ narrative comprehension, improve written expression, and foster critical thinking skills.

Offering a fresh approach to comprehension and narrative writing, this research-backed book

Provides a proven instructional sequence that connects reading and writing to enable students to seamlessly build comprehension and composition skillsAddresses key narrative elements such as mood, symbolism, and themes in both reading and writing through 20 classroom-tested lessonsHelps students understand narrative principles with more than 20 extensive mentor texts examples and accompanying deconstructionsIncludes original illustrations from the award-winning author-illustrator, Jarrett Lerner, visual tools, graphic organizers and guided response sheets that enhance engagement and make the approach easy to access for every learner

Trevor Bryan’s groundbreaking instructional strategies make literacy instruction purposeful, practical, and fun. With Narrative Know-How, educators will inspire their students to think critically, write skillfully, and read with deeper insight.

Use Nonfiction Picture Books for Lively, High-Impact Lessons That Inspire Student Reading, Writing, and Response

Want to make an unbelievable story utterly irresistible to young readers?

Make sure the story’s true. Nonfiction, like poetry, can have a bad reputation for being boring, but in the hands of able picture book authors, it’s anything but. In Text Structures From Nonfiction Picture Books, elementary and middle grade teachers can channel the curiosity piqued from amazing true tales to help students further their reading comprehension and writing skills.

With the bite-sized format of nonfiction picture books as a starting point, this practical book shares over 40 low-prep, quick-access lessons to get students reading, writing, and responding to nonfiction texts with ease. The book provides a wealth of instruction, including:

Step-by-step lessons with multiple ways to use each picture book to prompt students’ writing and analysis of the textAn extensive list of nonfiction picture book titles organized by “books about people,” “books about places,” “books about things,” and "books about animals”Topics, text structures, and writer’s craft moves provided for each bookLessons that introduce kernel essays, truisms, and reading responseEmbedded terms, examples, and assignments to teach the vocabulary of writer’s craft including refrain, polysyndeton, antithesis, and more!

Based on master writing teacher Gretchen Bernabei’s instructional model, the lessons offer a lively, high-impact mix of reading aloud, discussion, modeling, student writing, and peer share. Plus, readers have access to a complete companion website full of text structure reproducibles, reading response prompts, additional lessons and extensions, student samples, and links to demo videos.

Combine research-backed literacy instruction with classroom routines that help students find reading success

As schools embrace the science of reading, implementing evidence-based literacy practices is a must! Yet it can be challenging for busy teachers to know exactly how to put research-based approaches and strategies to work in the classroom.

In The Lit Six: What Every Teacher Needs to Build an Evidence-Based Literacy Block, author Nancy Akhavan provides a framework that equips educators with the tools and strategies to build an effective, research-backed literacy block that engages students and fosters skilled readers and writers.The book shows teachers how to integrate six essential daily elements for their literacy block: (1) read alouds; (2) shared reading; (3) small group instruction; (4) writing; (5) language (including vocabulary and morphology); and (6) phonemic awareness, phonics, and word work.

Designed to address the practical challenges teachers face in aligning teaching practices with the latest science of reading research, this book provides actionable solutions to common questions like "What should I teach first?"and "How do I effectively organize my literacy block?" The Lit Six blends evidence-based daily reading instruction with student-centered approaches to help every learner thrive.

Written in Nancy Akhavan's signature straightforward and teacher-friendly style, this book offers

A Comprehensive Model: Discover how to integrate six essential components of a successful literacy block into your lessons.Practical Tools for Teachers: Access scaffolds, decision trees, graphic organizers, and detailed guides to jump-start implementation.Flexibility in Application: Learn how to apply research-driven practices that create the foundation for great literacy teaching and can be used alongside mandated curriculums to help you meet the needs of all learners in your classroom.Data-Driven Tips: Discover how to use classroom data to refine instruction and maximize student progress.

Rooted in decades of classroom experience and informed by the latest literacy research, this book is your guide to seamlessly blending the art and science of teaching. With The Lit Six, educators can design dynamic literacy blocks that not not align with the research but also respond to the unique needs of their students and foster literacy for all.

What it really means to “read closely.”

What could Fern Arable, Jay Gatsby, and Winston Churchill possibly have in common? They all need masterful teachers to help students revel in their complexity. And Nancy Frey and Doug Fisher are just the two mentors to help you make that happen.

Call it close reading, call it deep reading, call it analytic reading—call it what you like. The point is, it’s a level of understanding that students of any age can achieve with the right kind of instruction. In Rigorous Reading, Nancy and Doug articulate an instructional plan so clearly, and so squarely built on research, that teachers, schools, and districts need look no further.

The 5 Access Points Toward Proficiency

Purpose & Modeling: Teachers think aloud to demonstrate critical thinking and how good readers always know why they are reading. Close & Scaffolded Reading Instruction: Teachers engage students in repeated readings and discussions, with text-dependent questions, prompts, and cues to help students delve into an author’s ideas. Collaborative Conversations: Teachers orchestrate collaborative learning to get students in the habit of exercising their analytical thinking in the presence of their peers. An Independent Reading Staircase: Teachers artfully steer students to more challenging books, with strategic bursts of instruction and peer conferences to foster metacognitive awareness. Performance: Teachers offer feedback and assessments that help students demonstrate understanding of text in authentic ways and plan instruction based on student understanding.

There’s more . . .  Also included are illustrative classroom video clips available via QR codes along with an online Facilitator’s Guide with PowerPoints--making Rigorous Reading the only resource  a  teacher, school, or district needs to seriously stretch students’ capacity to read and comprehend text.

Sometimes a student’s best teacher is another student Just as the pressure for students to perform well on state assessments escalates ever higher, and the call to raise students’ achievement in narrative, opinion/argument , and informative/explanatory writing grows louder, Gretchen Bernabei and Judi Reimer publish Fun-Size Academic Writing for Serious Learning. If ever there were a book to answer every need, this is it. You see, Gretchen and Judi have been concerned about adolescents’ writing for years, and they have had amazing success using mentor texts by students to teach the ins and outs of writing in any genre. So with this book, they "hand over their file drawers" and provide you with 101 essays  written by students with one-page companion lessons that address text structure, imagery, dialogue, rhetorical devices, grammatical structures, textual blends--all the different tools that writers use. Organized into three major sections that align with the Common Core, STAAR, and other major state assessments, Fun-Size Academic Writing delivers succinct, powerhouse instruction on topics such as:  • How to choose a structure for argument, informational, or narrative writing• How to read a piece and extract thesis statement and main points• How to layer a wide range of details to support points• How to use rhetorical devices and grammatical constructions for effect • How to write from the point of view of a fictional character The essays—also available in reproducible form on the companion website--demonstrate something striking, something imitable, something concrete. They give students a bank of choices to call upon as they write. The lessons are short, practical, and full of variety. Collectively, these essays and lessons have the potential to move the needle on American students’ writing achievement once and for all. They show what has been done by students—and they reveal to you how your own students can do it, too.