Describes a purposeful classroom structure that relies on four phases. Included with the description of each phase are practical strategies that help teachers use this approach, plus tips on how to differentiate instruction, make effective use of class time, and plan backwards from learning objectives.

In this updated 2nd edition of the ASCD best-seller, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey dig deeper into the hows and whys of the gradual release of responsibility instructional framework. To gradually release responsibility is to equip students with what they need to be engaged and self-directed learners. On a day-to-day level, it means delivering lessons purposefully planned to incorporate four essential and interrelated instructional phases: Focused Instruction: Preparing students for learning by establishing lesson purpose, modeling strategies and skills, thinking aloud, and noticing how students respond. Guided Instruction: Strategically using prompts, cues, and questions to lead students to new understanding. Collaborative Learning: Allowing students to consolidate their understanding through exploration, problem-solving, discussion, and thinking with their peers. Independent Learning: Requiring students to use the skills and knowledge they've acquired to create authentic products and ask new questions. The authors explore each phase, using real-life examples from a variety of disciplines. You'll find tips and tools for classroom implementation, including checklists for planning and assessment; advice on feedback, homework, group work, differentiated instruction, and blended learning; answers to frequently asked questions; and examples that align to Common Core State Standards. No matter what grade level or subject you teach, Better Learning Through Structured Teaching is your essential guide to helping students expand their capacity for successful and long-lasting learning.

You know the challenges. In your Title I school you have students who are already at risk. Imagine what could happen if you could catch them up, forestall learning issues before they are entrenched, put them on equal footing with their peers. Nancy Akhavan has done it--in school after school. In Teaching Writing in a Title I School she shows you how to craft a rich literacy world where all your students thrive. "The first step you can take is to teach them to write. Really. Teaching children to write well is the key to helping them express themselves. It's also a scaffold to guide their thinking and understanding. It just might solve your teaching problems. You can ensure that all children learn, and you can close the achievement gap." Nancy's guidance is as practical as it is effective. Her carefully crafted planning tools, lessons, and graphic organizers make writing workshop fit seamlessly into your day. Her classroom workshop routines promote student engagement and provide focus. You'll learn how to organize units of study using the lessons from your existing writing program. State standards and meaningful assessment suddenly become manageable. You'll also find effective intervention activities for students who struggle and tips for teaching English learners to write. This book is a must-have resource for teaching to engage all your students, ensure learning, and effectively intervene when students need it. With its companion, Teaching Reading in a Title I School, individual teachers, teachers studying together in professional learning communities, and preservice teachers will find the tools they need to build literacy instruction that guides all their students to high achievement.

From deep and ongoing experiences in all aspects of school life, Larner presents an authentic description of both the broad picture and the specific steps leading to ongoing classroom and school improvement.

For Elementary Reading Methods courses. This comprehensive and balanced look at literacy practice has long been one of the most popular reading methods texts available. The text begins by introducing seven principles for comprehensive reading instruction, and then explains the theoretical foundations of teaching reading. Part I builds on those foundations with specific methods in Part II, and then in Part III it describes how to create a variety of learning centers, and how to plan developmentally appropriate reading curriculum for students in both K-3 and 4-8 classrooms, chapters 12 and 13 provide a continuum of knowledge by describing classroon organization and curriculum for grades 4-6 and 6-8.

"Teaching Children to Read" has always been well known for its comprehensive look at literacy instruction. This streamlined edition of that text has been developed to provide readers a brief version that offers essential information about reading instruction based on research that aligns with No Child Left Behind directives. The focus of this book is how to teach phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and ongoing classroom assessment. Special features include: A theory chapter to ground literacy background knowledge. An infusion of the most current research available to inform practice and all five No Child Left Behind initiatives regarding phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. A newly organized assessment chapter presenting four purposes of assessment as identified by Reading First legislation, including outcome assessment; screening instruments; diagnostic assessment tools; and ongoing, progress-monitoring assessments.