Unpacking Complexity in Informational Texts : principles and practices for grades 2-8 by
To acquire content knowledge through reading, students must understand the complex components and diverse purposes of informational texts, as emphasized in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This practical book illuminates the ways in which a text's purpose, structure, details, connective language, and construction of themes combine to create meaning. Classroom-tested instructional recommendations and "kid-friendly" explanations guide teachers in helping students to identify and understand the role of these elements in different types of informational texts. Numerous student work samples, excerpts from exemplary books and articles, and a Study Guide with discussion questions and activities for professional learning add to the book's utility.
Building Comprehension in Every Classroom : instruction with literature, informational texts, and basal programs by
This text presents a practical model and specific unit- and lesson-planning ideas for enhancing students' reading comprehension in any 2-8 classroom. The authors provide innovative suggestions that help teachers construct a comprehension curriculum organized around literature, informational texts, or a core reading program.
Reading Wellness: lessons in independence and proficiency by
When teachers talk about what they want for students, "a love for reading" is inevitably near the top of the list. Even as they work to ensure students' continuing progress as readers, what ignites passion more than anything is the chance to instill confidence, curiosity, and joy in students. In Reading Wellness, Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris will remind you why you became a teacher in the first place. They want children and teachers to thrive as readers, to feel the deep satisfaction that comes with meaningful encounters with texts. They define reading wellness as "weaving together all the facets of our reading lives . . . so that we can be our best reading selves." Readers read for relaxation, for information, and for aesthetic experience, discovering favorite books and authors and learning to choose texts. For this to happen, teachers must teach in ways that create energy and enthusiasm for reading, even as they teach to required standards. Built around a framework of four intentions--alignment, balance, sustainability, and joy--Reading Wellness offers teachers a series of lessons that help children read closely and carefully while still honoring their interests, passions, and agency as readers. The lessons here, which have been field-tested in grades 1-5, are interconnected and empower classroom communities, are filled with anecdotes and insights, and are practical, sustainable, and frequently joyful. Reading Wellness encourages each teacher to shape these ideas in ways that support personal ideals and goals while nurturing a love of reading and a passion for lifelong learning.
Reading Across Multiple Texts in the Common Core Classroom, K ?-5 by 
Teaching with Text-Based Questions: helping students analyze nonfiction and visual texts by
Help your students navigate complex texts in history/social studies and English language arts! This book shows you how to use a key tool--text-based questions--to build students' literacy and critical thinking skills and meet the Common Core State Standards. You'll learn how to ask text-based questions about different types of nonfiction and visual texts, including primary and secondary sources, maps, charts, and paintings. You'll also get ideas for teaching students to examine point of view, write analytical responses, compare texts, cite textual evidence, and pose their own high-level questions. The book is filled with examples that you can use immediately or modify as needed. Each chapter ends with a reflection section to help you adapt the ideas to your own classroom. What's Inside: Helpful information on teaching different types of nonfiction texts, including literary nonfiction, informational texts, primary and secondary sources, and visual texts Ideas for locating primary sources Questions students should ask about every text Techniques for soliciting higher-order questions from students Ways to get students to think critically about the relationships between texts Strategies to help students integrate information from different types of sources, a skill that will help students respond to performance tasks on the PARCC and SBAC assessments and DBQs on AP exams Tips for teaching students to write good responses to text-based questions, including how to cite sources and incorporate point of view Ideas for using rubrics and peer grading to evaluate students' responses Connections to the informational reading standards of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts for grades 3-12 and of the Common Core State Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects