In this book, grammar expert Sean Ruday shows you how to apply the principles of inquiry-based learning to improve your grammar instruction. Grammar often gets relegated to worksheets or rote tasks, but with this volume you’ll find a wealth of strategies and tools for making grammar instruction engaging and meaningful. Designed for middle- and high-school ELA teachers, this book covers all aspects of grammar instruction through an asset-based approach and includes many methods, ideas, and takeaways for instruction. Featuring real-world examples of student work and a sample lesson plan, this is an essential resource for teachers who wish to enliven instruction and teach grammar effectively.

Grammar Toolkit Lesson Plans for Middle School: Mentor Text-Based Grammar Lessons for the Middle School English Classroom contains detailed grammar lesson plans for teachers in grades six, seven, and eight. The lesson plans in this book incorporate the research-based best practices of grammar instruction. They present grammatical concepts in the context of effective writing through the use of mentor texts. These mentor text examples, which students read from a writer’s perspective, deepen students’ metacognition of the importance of these concepts and help them see the elements of grammar as tools for strong writing that authors use strategically to make their work as strong as possible. The thorough plans in this book are designed to help teachers put the best practices of grammar instruction into action in their teaching in concrete, practitioner-oriented ways that are informed by key research findings on the teaching of grammar. The ideas, examples, and instructional suggestions in this book will give teachers the necessary resources to incorporate mentor-text-based grammar lessons that develop students’ metacognition of the tools of effective grammar and communication.

This practical and engaging book will help you learn how to teach literature with an inquiry-based approach. Inquiry-based literature instruction is an effective method to facilitate student engagement, motivation, and understanding in middle and high school English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. Easy-to-implement and adaptable for many types of texts, this method encourages students to make authentic connections between texts, their lives, and real-world issues. In this classroom-ready resource, Ruday and Caprino walk through this instructional approach to demonstrate how using essential questions and a variety of texts will engage students in thought-provoking inquiry and promote meaningful learning. This book features: Three inquiry-based units applicable for middle and high school ELA and English classrooms. A range of models of what inquiry-based literature instruction looks like in practice. A chapter on culturally responsive teaching and supporting English Language Learners (ELLs). Guides, templates, and resource lists to help you plan your own inquiry-based literature teaching. Throughout the book Ruday and Caprino share a wealth of insights and resources to support you when putting inquiry-based instruction into practice.

Many literacy experts believe close reading has the power to create strong, independent readers, but what does that really mean, and how does it work in the classroom? This book is your must-have guide to getting started! It provides step-by-step strategies and scaffolds for teaching close reading and improving students’ comprehension of complex texts. You will learn how to teach close reading based on text type, how to accelerate learning through increasingly challenging texts in both print and digital media, how to use close reading as a springboard for close talks and close writes, and how to support your students to move forward confidently with a repertoire of tools to employ as they navigate complex text in their daily lives. Special Features: A clear explanation of what text complexity really means and how it varies by student An easy-to-use framework for creating a close reading lesson that builds student reading stamina Scaffolds to help students at all ability levels to do a close reading Close reading strategies for a variety of literary and informational genres Ideas for strengthening reading through targeting comprehension skills, including analyzing text structure and evaluating arguments Suggestions for helping students read with increasing levels of rigor Techniques for how to lessen student technology distractions and dig deeper into digital text Guidelines and procedures for close talks – purposeful, focused discussions about text Procedures for close writes that vary based on genre and student ability level Recommendations to ensure students have the close reading skills to be effective readers in and out of the classroom In addition, each chapter includes study guide questions to help you apply the ideas in the book to your own classroom. With this practical book, you will have all the tools you need to make close reading a reality!

Author Thomas McCann invites readers to rethink their approach to teaching writing by capitalizing on students’ instinctive desire to talk. Drawing on extensive classroom research, he shows teachers how to craft class discussions that build students’ skills of analysis, problem-solving, and argumentation as a means of improving student writing. McCann demonstrates how authentic discussions immerse learners in practices that become important when they write. Chapters feature portraits of teachers at work, including transcripts that reveal patterns of talk across a set of lessons. Interviews with the teachers and samples of student writing afford readers a deeper understanding of process. Students also report on how classroom discussions supported their effort to produce persuasive, argument-driven essays. Book Features: A focus on “the thinking behind the practice,” as opposed to a collection of lesson ideas. Connections to important elements from the Common Core State Standards, especially arguments writing. Examples of students at work with examples of the writing that emerges from their discussions. Portraits of skilled teachers as they promote inquiry and sequence and facilitate discussions. Appendices with problem-based scenarios, interview questions for students and teachers, samples of debatable cases in the news, and more. “In this important book, Tom McCann has given us not only the admonition to change, but the details about what effective change must be and what it looks like, evidence that it works effectively, and details about how to bring it to pass.” —From the Foreword by George Hillocks, Jr., Professor Emeritus, Department of English, University of Chicago. “For a professional book to have an impact on the field, it needs to address a perceived need. Writing arguments for Common Core performance assessments is a HUGE need right now that this book helps address.” —Carol Jago, associate director, California Reading and Literature Project, UCLA.

This resource covers reading and writing practices, science standards, and sample lessons to help educators successfully integrate literacy and science instruction in any classroom.

In this practical and accessible book, you’ll learn how to create equitable and meaningful assessments in your instruction through an inquiry-based approach. Ruday and Caprino reimagine what asset-based literacy assessments can be and what they look like in practice by understanding that effective, asset-based literacy assessments must center on students: they must incorporate students’ unique perspectives, ideas, and experiences in meaningful and relevant ways. Instead of using assessments that focus on identifying what students don’t know, the practices presented in this book provide authentic opportunities for students to use what they do know to demonstrate their knowledge of important literacy concepts. The book is organized into three easy-to-use parts that cover: Key concepts of asset-based assessment Specific ways that these practices can be put into action Putting it all together in your own education context. A great resource for busy teachers, this book features a guide for teachers to use during professional development book studies and ready-to-implement templates when applying the assessment practices described in the book.

Improve student achievement on daily assignments, unit assessments, and standardized tests!This book clearly defines performance-based assessments (PBAs) and walks teachers and administrators through the vocabulary, concepts, and practices for conducting an assessment process that is fully integrated with the daily curriculum and can produce significantly improved student performance. The author provides a template for recording assessment data, demonstrates how to create rubrics for teacher/student use, and offers standards-based examples featuring classroom teachers' insights. Readers will discover how to use PBAs to implement: Preassessments to collect baseline data Formative assessments that yield progress-monitoring data Summative assessments for culminating data that is easy-to-use

Teaching in remote, distance, and hybrid environments can be overwhelming and confusing and poses many challenges for novice and veteran teachers alike. This book guides teachers through the best practices of English language arts (ELA) instruction and helps them reflect on ways to apply those practices in remote learning and envision future instruction that draws from the most useful aspects of educational innovations. Understanding that remote teaching looks different in each subject, Ruday and Cassidy identify methods specifically designed for middle and high school ELA classrooms. Designed for use in remote, hybrid, and hyflex environments with synchronous or asynchronous learning, this resource gives teachers a toolbox of research-backed recommendations, ideas, examples, and practices for teaching in unpredictable and new environments. Ruday and Cassidy address essential topics, including writing, grammar, and reading instruction; assessment; differentiation; culturally relevant teaching; family engagement and communication; technology; professional self-care; and more. Teachers will come away with ready-to-implement strategies and insights for high-quality instruction that can be adapted to any kind of remote learning environment.

Design effective CCSS-aligned lessons for secondary students If you want to revamp your secondary English Language Arts curriculum to reflect the Common Core State Standards, this book is the perfect resource. The authors move the implementation of the CCSS for ELA from the abstract to the concrete by providing adaptable, exemplar lesson plans in each of the CCSS strands: reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language. Each lesson template includes: Intended grade level band, timeline, and the type of student writing involved Connections to supporting theory, including the Backward Design model Variations to differentiate the lesson for diverse student populations Ways to link the lesson to technology and service learning Reproducible handouts The lesson narratives also give tips for incorporating technology into lessons and connecting them to enduring theorists in education (Dewey, Bloom, and Gardner). The final section offers collaboration strategies for connecting via technology to colleagues beyond the school building and working together on CCSS-based ELA lessons. This practical, easy-to-use guide will help you navigate the most efficient route to creating standards-based lessons that optimize student learning.