Classroom Practice

In his workshops with teachers over the years, Patrick Allen has encountered a long list of “counterfeit beliefs” about the process of conferring with students, including such comments as: “I don’t have time. I don’t know what questions to ask, It’s too hard, I don’t know what to write in my notes, I don’t even take notes, I don’t know how to go deep. .  .” In Conferring: The Keystone of Reader’s Workshop, Allen argues that the benefits of conferring are well-worth the effort of learning to do it well. And then he sets out to show teachers how to overcome all of their perceived obstacles, and make the somewhat intangible aspect of conferring tangible.

Just as the keystone—a symmetrical, wedge-shaped stone at the center of an arch—forms the foundation of a structure, conferring lays the groundwork for effective reading instruction. Allen defines the word confer as a verb “meaning to consult together, compare opinions, or carry on a conversation.” Conferences with students are purposeful conversations that scaffold reading comprehension strategies that guide the reader’s progress, and ultimately, through the gradual release of responsibility, create independent readers. 

Allen begins by explaining what conferring is and what it’s not, and then unpacks the essential components of the process: intimacy (the social context of conferring); rigor (the cognitive context); and inquiry (the analytical context). He  explores the guiding principles of conferring—including goal setting, instruction points, listening, rapport, challenges, and  teacher learning—and provides questions that lead teachers through the reader’s conference from start to finish.

Too often, new teachers enter the profession excited to make a difference in the lives of children only to find themselves disillusioned and overwhelmed with the expectations of the classroom. In A Sense of Belonging, Jennifer Allen shares her stories and journey in creating an infrastructure of support for new teachers within her school district.

A Sense of Belonging provides research-based, practical ideas on how to support new teachers while honoring the innovation, idealism, and optimistic enthusiasm that they bring to the classroom. From supporting new teachers early in the year with administering and analyzing literacy assessments, through using student work to guide instruction, to offering ongoing help with curriculum planning, Jennifer shares strategies on:

• Fostering relationships with new teachers, starting before school even begins
• Creating learning environments for new teachers to be reflective practitioners
• Coaching new teachers in their classrooms and providing opportunities for them to observe their peers in action
• Supporting new teachers beyond their first year through gradual release of support over their first several years in the classroom
• Facilitating professional development opportunities where new and veteran teachers learn alongside one another

Allen believes, and her book demonstrates, that when schools embrace, encourage, and celebrate the work of new teachers, they establish a supportive environment that fosters excellence and improves retention.

Take two to four kids, give them a basket of books that go together in some way, and then provide time for them to read, think, and talk together about their ideas, their questions, their wonderings. That's the simple recipe for a reading club, and Kathy Collins demonstrates the powerful results in her new book, Reading for Real. She writes, "The reading clubs I describe are a formal structure providing students with time to read and talk about books with a high level of engagement, purpose, and joy."

Just as adults join clubs to share and talk about common interests, reading clubs allow kids to immerse themselves in topics and ideas they care about -- whether it's turtles, fairy tales, a beloved author, a favorite new series, or the desire to get better at reading aloud to a baby brother or sister. While they are reading and talking about their interests and passions, students in reading clubs are also orchestrating all of the reading skills and strategies they've learned and applying them in real-life ways.

The book offers step-by-step support for implementing these classroom reading clubs, including:specific suggestions for planning cycles of reading clubs;detailed charts with a variety of teaching ideas that can be implemented immediately;ideas for mini-lessons and examples of reading conferences to support students as they learn strategies and hone their reading and discussion skills;suggestions for differentiating instruction; support for launching and fostering reading partnerships across the year;appendixes with examples of note-taking sheets and sample planning guides for several kinds of reading clubs.

While Kathy presents ideas for implementing reading clubs during reading workshop in a balanced literacy framework, the information she provides will be helpful for any teacher who wants to foster the joy of reading by offering students support and opportunities to read for authentic purposes and to have conversations about topics that interest and engage them. After all, we don't just want kids to learn to read, we want them to love to read.

What do we know about literature circles now that we didn't understand eight or ten years ago? What new resources and procedures can help teachers organize their classroom book clubs better? What are the most common pitfalls in implementing student-led discussion groups? And getting beyond the basics, what do mature or "advanced" literature circles look like?

In this thoroughly revised and expanded guide, you will find new strategies, structures, tools, and stories that show you how to launch and manage literature circles effectively. Advanced variations are explored and include alternatives to role sheets and flexible new guidelines for their use.

The second edition includes:

With detailed examples provided by twenty practicing teachers, Harvey Daniels offers practical and concrete suggestions for each aspect of book club management and proven solutions for problems that arise.

Brad Buhrow and Anne Garcia are primary teachers in a diverse school in Boulder, Colorado. In Ladybugs, Tornadoes and Swirling Galaxies, you will see how they blend comprehension instruction and ELL best practices to explore inquiry as a literacy pathway for English language learners.

As teachers and students engage in learning science and social studies content they also discover multiple ways to make meaning. The book is full of photographs of student artwork—including a color insert—that reveals the children's inquiry process, and demonstrates the important role of art as a sign system in ELL literacy and language acquisition.

Brad and Anne provide explicit detail on the process they use as they move step-by-step with students from personal narrative through the independent inquiry process. They also discuss use of the Gradual Release Model, authentic assessment, and bilingual identities.

Appendices in Spanish and English help to round out this informative and charming resource.

When we open the gates to nonfiction inquiry, we open our thinking and expect the unexpected, making reading discoveries, research discoveries, and writing discoveries on our way. Nonfiction Matters offers teachers the tools to help students explore nonfiction and dig deep to reach more complete understanding of the real world and report these insights in a compelling manner.

Stephanie Harvey shows how students can read expository text, engage in research, and write authentic nonfiction that is captivating, visual, and full of voice. The inquiry projects she describes require in-depth learning: topic selection, question development, research exploration, reading for content, organization, synthesis, writing to convey meaning, and presenting findings—all skills that develop independent thinkers who know how to make decisions, solve problems, and apply their knowledge insightfully.

Full of practical suggestions to help you bring nonfiction into your curriculum, Nonfiction Matters:presents strategies for understanding expository text and conducting meaningful research;offers ideas for organizing and writing accurate, effective nonfiction from idea to finished presentation;advances the importance of teacher modeling and guided practice in instructional delivery;provides a list of inquiry tools and resources—both print and electronic;suggests ways to facilitate project-based learning and assess the projects as they develop;includes bibliographies of nonfiction children's books by subject and genre and lists of recommended magazines.

Why is nonfiction almost a guaranteed success? The key to teaching with nonfiction is passion, for children are passionate inquirers, and nonfiction fuels their curiosity and their demand for knowledge and understanding of the world.

Students aren't the only ones bullying in schools. Teachers, principals, and parents bully too. Together they create a bullying culture that strikes at the heart of effective learning and teaching. A bullying culture harms everyone it touches—targets, student bystanders, teachers, parents, and even society at large.

To eradicate bullying, the school community must first acknowledge its existence in all forms. This timely book explores the background and issues related not just to student-on-student bullying but to all forms of bullying found in schools. It then goes on to illustrate how schools can devise—and enforce—a policy that works. This indispensable guide offers an anti-bullying blueprint that explains how to:recognize a systemic culture of bullying;neutralize the power imbalance that enables bullies;create an environment free of sexual, racial, and cultural stereotyping;use cooperative learning to foster respect for differences;empower students through positive reinforcement; counteract the “blame the victim” mentality.