More Than 100 Ways to Learner-Centered Literacy

"New and veteran teachers who embrace learner-centered literacy will find this material useful, practical, and inexpensive." —Gayle Simoneaux, Teacher Mimosa Park Elementary School, Luling, LA "The book features an easy-to-understand format with lots of ways to incorporate literacy development into the classroom." —Debbie Smith, Teacher Lady's Island Elementary School, Beaufort, SC Use research-based, student-centered strategies to nurture thoughtful, lifelong readers!  This updated edition of More Than 50 Ways to Learner-Centered Literacy provides a user-friendly collection of methods and strategies for delivering effective literacy instruction. The authors include more than 100 practical techniques that are grounded in a constructivist, learner-centered approach and demonstrate how to develop:  A rich environment that fosters vocabulary and reading skills Student interaction through strategies like Buddy Studies, Partner Biographies, and Story-Map Trios Fluency and comprehension by using predictable text, innovations on text, and more Student assessments through observations, anecdotal records, and open-ended questions Aligned with National Reading Panel recommendations, this resource includes inventive ideas from master teachers to promote continuous improvement in literacy teaching and learning.

Table of Contents:
Publisher′s Acknowledgments About the Authors Introduction Section 1. Designing a Literate Environment Learning Language by Using It #1 Labels, Labels, Everywhere #2 Where in the Room Is It? #3 Wordstrings #4 String ‘Em Up #5 Hang-Ups #6 Shoe Bag Classification #7 Word Ribbons #8 Class Mailbox #9 Message Center #10 Personal Word Banks Building on Students’ Experiences #11 Classroom Libraries #12 Mainly Menus #13 Taking Off With Advertising Flyers #14 Weekly Words #15 The Living Bulletin Board Establishing Literacy Work Stations #16 Work Station Rules #17 The Key to Knowledge #18 Housekeeping #19 Introducing the Writing Work Station Section 2. Orchestrating Student Interaction Buddy Studies: Learning in Pairs #20 Turn to Your Neighbor and . . . #21 Level of Learning Reading Partners #22 Learning Partners #23 Paired Verbal Fluency #24 Learning Partner Biographies #25 Summary Pairs #26 The King and Queen of Questions Structuring Small Groups #27 Story Map Trios #28 Get the Point #29 Peer Revision: Learning Together #30 Peer Editing: Sharing Glows and Grows Reading Conference: Flexible Student Grouping #31 Establishing the Climate #32 Student Preparation #33 Temperature Checking #34 Developing the Format #35 Flexible Groupings #36 One-on-One Section 3. Developing Fluent Comprehension Developing Skills by Increasing Fluency #37 Choosing and Using Predictable Text #38 Innovations on Text #39 Toot! Toot! #40 Radio Reading #41 Say It Like the Character #42 Reader’s Theater #43 Partners Predict #44 Opin #45 Word Splash #46 Say Something Extending the Reading Experience #47 Figures of Speech #48 Create a Comic #49 Finding Common Ground Integrating Instruction #50 Student-Selected Theme Topics #51 Civic Projects #52 Imagine If You Were ... Section 4. Nurturing Lifelong Learners Routines for Reading to, With, and by Children #53 Read-Alouds #54 Familiarity Breeds Confidence #55 We Are Readers: A Class Record #56 Sustained Silent Reading #57 Guided Reading Writing Centers: Reading/Writing Connection #58 Readers/Writers Workshop #59 Purposeful Tasks #60 Published and Unpublished Work #61 Paths to Publication Building a Community of Learners #62 Literature Clubs #63 Join the Chorus #64 Mine, Yours, and Ours #65 Writing Autobiographies Section 5. Assessing Student Growth Kid-Watching in the Classroom #66 Anecdotal Records #67 A Nifty Notebook #68 Sticky Helpers #69 Individual Student Checklists #70 Class Checklists #71 Historical Checklists #72 Interviews #73 Open-Ended Questions Student Portfolios #74 Crate ‘Em Up! #75 Bulky Bundles #76 Portfolio Contents #78 Portfolio-Prompted Planning #79 Entry Slips #80 Autobiographies of Work #81 Biographies of Work Exhibitions and Performance Tasks #81 Building in Authenticity #82 Anchors and Archetypes #83 Developing a Rubric #84 Exciting Exhibitions Section 6. Leading Learning-Focused Conversations: Strategies for Professional Development Crafting the Container: Starting, Structuring, and Sustaining Thinking #85 Simple Stem Completions #86 T-chart Opposites #87 3-2-1 #88 Mindful Memorandum #89 Brainstorm and Pass #90 Problem-Solving Partnerships #91 Going Graphic Learning-Focused Consultation #92 An Idea Menu #93 Make Your Thinking Transparent #94 Patterned Response: What, Why, How #95 The Big Idea #96 Categorically Speaking #97 Sharing Causal Theories Inviting Thinking: A Sampler of Questions for Literacy Coaching #98 Questions for Planning #99 Questions for Reflecting #100 Questions to Stimulate Discussion #101 Metaphor and Invention Resources Index