Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding

Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding

by Stephanie Harvey

Since its publication in 2000, Strategies That Work has become an indispensable resource for teachers who want to explicitly teach thinking strategies so that students become engaged, thoughtful, independent readers. In this revised and expanded edition, Stephanie and Anne have added twenty completely new comprehension lessons, extending the scope of the book and exploring the central role that activating... (more)

The Meaning of Everything

The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary

by Simon Winchester

From the best-selling author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, and Krakatoa comes a truly wonderful celebration of the English language and of its unrivaled treasure house, the Oxford English Dictionary. Writing with marvelous brio, Winchester first serves up a lightning history of the English language--"so vast, so sprawling, so wonderfully unwieldy"--and pays homage to the great... (more)

Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them

Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them

by Francine Prose

Long before there were creative-writing workshops and degrees, how did aspiring writers learn to write? By reading the work of their predecessors and contemporaries, says Francine Prose. In Reading Like a Writer , Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters. She reads the work of the very best writers&#8212Dostoyevsky, Flaubert, Kafka, Austen,... (more)

Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide

by Ralph Fletcher, JoAnn Portalupi

In clear language, Fletcher and Portalupi explain the simple principles that underlie the writing workshop and explore the major components that make it work.

I Read It, but I Don't Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers

I Read It, but I Don't Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers

by Cris Tovani

I Read It, but I Don't Get It is a practical, engaging account of how teachers can help adolescents develop new reading comprehension skills. Cris Tovani is an accomplished teacher and staff developer who writes with verve and humor about the challenges of working with students at all levels of achievement—from those who have mastered the art of "fake reading" to college-bound juniors and seniors who struggle... (more)

Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12

Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12

by Kelly Gallagher

Do your students often struggle with difficult novels and other challenging texts? Do they think one reading of a work is more than enough? Do they primarily comprehend at a surface-level, and are they frequently unwilling or unable to discover the deeper meaning found in multi-layered works? Do you feel that you are doing more work teaching the novel than they are reading it? Building on twenty years of teaching... (more)

A Beginning, a Muddle, and an End: The Right Way to Write Writing

A Beginning, a Muddle, and an End: The Right Way to Write Writing

by Avi

Avon the snail and Edward the ant are back for another funny--and philosophical--adventure. This time, Avon has decided he wants to be a writer, only to discover that writing is way more difficult than he ever imagined. He finally gets the word Something written down, but there's a problem: What to write next? Luckily, his friend Edward is there to advise. Brimming with wit, wisdom, and humor, this... (more)

Reading Reasons: Motivational Mini-Lessons for Middle and High School

Reading Reasons: Motivational Mini-Lessons for Middle and High School

by Kelly Gallagher

"Why should I read?" Can your students answer that question? Do they have trouble seeing the importance that reading may have in their lives? Are they lacking motivation, both in academic and recreational reading? Do you think you can effectively teach reading strategies if students don't understand the benefits of literacy? In Reading Reasons, Kelly Gallagher offers a series of mini-lessons specifically... (more)

The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades 3-8: A Guide toTeaching

The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades 3-8: A Guide toTeaching

by Gay Su Pinnell

Over their influential careers, Gay Su Pinnell and Irene Fountas have closely examined the literacy learning of thousands of students in the upper elementary and middle grades. In The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades 3 - 8, and its companion volume for grades K - 2, they combine everything they have learned about the development readers, writers, and language users to create a comprehensive curriculum... (more)

Teaching Adolescent Writers

by Kelly Gallagher

In an increasingly demanding world of literacy, it has become critical that students know how to write effectively. From the requirements of standardized tests to those of the wired workplace, the ability to write well, once a luxury, has become a necessity. Many students are leaving school without the necessary writing practice and skills needed to compete in a complex and fast-moving Information Age. Unless we... (more)

Papers, Papers, Papers: An English Teacher's Survival Guide

Papers, Papers, Papers: An English Teacher's Survival Guide

by Carol Jago

You're reading as fast as you can, but the pile of unread essays grows taller and taller. Guilt mounts. Students want to know when their papers will come back. Grading begins consuming all your energy, your weekends, your life. Grading papers is a fact of life, especially in English classrooms, and the paper load is a leading cause of teacher burnout. Fortunately, Carol Jago's here to help, and in Papers,... (more)

Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12

Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12

by Cris Tovani

“Do I really have to teach reading?” This is the question many teachers of adolescents are asking, wondering how they can possibly add a new element to an already overloaded curriculum. And most are finding that the answer is “yes.” If they want their students to learn complex new concepts in different disciplines, they often have to help their students become better readers. Building on the experiences gained in... (more)

Writing on Demand: Best Practices and Strategies for Success

Writing on Demand: Best Practices and Strategies for Success

by Anne Ruggles Gere

Research and experience show that writers need three things: ownership of the form and subject of their writing; feedback from other writers; and time to draft and revise. Yet the harsh and confusing reality of today's college-entrance and state-mandated examinations-or any test with an essay component-is that students, trained in writing workshops, go on the clock to compose a paper on an assigned topic, in a... (more)

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

by Phyllis Haddox, Elaine Bruner, Siegfried Engelmann

* Is your child halfway through first grade and still unable to read? * Is your preschooler bored with coloring and ready for reading? * Are you worried that your child will become lost in overcrowded classrooms? * Did you know that early readers hold an advantage over their peers throughout school? * Do you want to help your child read, but are afraid you'll do something wrong? SRAs DISTAR® is the most... (more)

Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing (4th Edition)

Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing (4th Edition)

by Patricia M. Cunningham

This text is an invaluable resource for any new teacher or veteran teacher in search of new ideas as this latest edition is packed with new activities and strategies for teaching reading.

Merry-Go-Round (World of Language)

by Ruth Heller

With humor, style, and succinct, admirable precision, Heller summarizes everything most people will ever need to know about this particular area of grammarA treasure. -- Kirkus Reviews Its lush, exuberant, full-color artwork will grab kids' attention, even if they're sitting at the back of the classroom. -- Booklist Her subject, made interesting by a rhyming text and brilliantly colored picture, will appeal to... (more)

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

by Lynn Truss

A panda walked into a cafe. He ordered a sandwich, ate it, then pulled out a gun and shot the waiter. 'Why?' groaned the injured man. The panda shrugged, tossed him a badly punctuated wildlife manual and walked out. And sure enough, when the waiter consulted the book, he found an explanation. 'Panda,' ran the entry for his assailant. 'Large black and white mammal native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.' We see... (more)

How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines

How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines

by Thomas C. Foster

What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey?. Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface -- a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character -- and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you. In this practical and amusing... (more)

The Professor and the Madman

A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

by Simon Winchester

The Professor and the Madman , masterfully researched and eloquently written, is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary -- and literary history. The compilation of the OED began in 1857, it was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led... (more)

Fred Jones Tools for Teaching

by Fredric H. Jones

In Tools for Teaching, Dr. Jones describes the skills by which exceptional teachers make the classroom a place of success and enjoyment for both themselves and their students. Tools for Teaching integrates the management of discipline, instruction and motivation into a system that allows you to reduce the stress of teaching by preventing most management headaches. Dr. Jones helps you reduce student disruptions,... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: language arts

by Stephanie Harvey

The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary

by Simon Winchester

by Francine Prose

by Ralph Fletcher, JoAnn Portalupi

by Cris Tovani

by Kelly Gallagher

by Avi

by Kelly Gallagher

by Gay Su Pinnell

by Kelly Gallagher

by Carol Jago

by Cris Tovani

by Anne Ruggles Gere

by Phyllis Haddox, Elaine Bruner, Siegfried Engelmann

by Patricia M. Cunningham

by Ruth Heller

The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

by Lynn Truss

by Thomas C. Foster

A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

by Simon Winchester

by Fredric H. Jones