This highly readable handbook synthesizes the best research on K-8 literacy instruction and distills key implications for classroom practice. Noted contributors provide clear recommendations for creating effective, motivating classroom environments; teaching core components of literacy; integrating literacy with content-area instruction; and building a schoolwide literacy program that helps all students succeed. Helpful figures, tables, resource lists, reflection questions, and concrete examples from real classrooms make the book an ideal tool for teacher training and professional development. Numerous reproducible worksheets and checklists can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.
About the Author: Barbara M. Taylor, EdD, is Professor Emerita of Literacy Education at the University of Minnesota, where she is also founder and past director of the Minnesota Center for Reading Research. A member of the Reading Hall of Fame, she is a recipient of the Oscar S. Causey Award from the National Reading Conference (NRC, now the Literacy Research Association) and the Albert J. Harris Award and the Outstanding Teacher Educator Award from the International Reading Association (IRA). Dr. Taylor's research interests include reading comprehension and high-level talk and writing about text, elementary schoolwide reading improvement, early reading intervention, and the elements of effective instruction that contribute to children's success in reading. She has published numerous books, book chapters, and journal articles.

Nell K. Duke, EdD, is Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture and an affiliate of the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan. She is a recipient of honors including early career awards from the American Educational Research Association and the NRC, the Dina Feitelson Research Award from the IRA, and the Promising Researcher Award from the National Council of Teachers of English. Dr. Duke's research interests include the development of informational reading and writing in young children, comprehension development and instruction in early schooling, and issues of equity in literacy education. She is coauthor or coeditor of several books and has published numerous journal articles.