"Lori Oczkus’s unique guide for busy teachers offers 12 practical chapters on the hottest literacy topics including independent reading, grouping strategies, formative assessments, nonfiction, fluency, comprehension, and more! Research-based guidelines, classroom examples, and a “Top 5 “ favorite lessons list for every chapter make this an essential reference to help you motivate students and improve literacy. Designed for professional development, Best Ever Literacy Survival Tips includes a study guide and discussion topics that are ideal to discuss at staff meetings or as part of a book club or professional learning community."--pub. desc.

In the decade since the first edition of The Literacy Coach's Survival Guide, education has changed considerably. One thing that has not changed is Cathy Toll's leadership in the field. Drawing on her vast experience with thousands of coaches across the world, Toll maintains her practical approach and conversational style while expanding the wealth of insights and strategies that she shares. The extensive revisions in this second edition reflect Toll's refinement of her approach to coaching as well as her response to the challenges that coaches face today. It guides new and experienced coaches through important topics, such as the following: Effecting change Working with teacher partners individually and in teams Communicating well in coaching conversations Dealing with difficult situations Coaching around special initiatives, such as the CCSS and RTI

How parents and educators can teach kids to love reading in the digital age Everyone agrees that reading is important, but kids today tend to lose interest in reading before adolescence. In Raising Kids Who Read, bestselling author and psychology professor Daniel T. Willingham explains this phenomenon and provides practical solutions for engendering a love of reading that lasts into adulthood. Like Willingham's much-lauded previous work, Why Don't Students Like School?, this new book combines evidence-based analysis with engaging, insightful recommendations for the future. Intellectually rich argumentation is woven seamlessly with entertaining current cultural references, examples, and steps for taking action to encourage reading. The three key elements for reading enthusiasm—decoding, comprehension, and motivation—are explained in depth in Raising Kids Who Read. Teachers and parents alike will appreciate the practical orientation toward supporting these three elements from birth through adolescence. Most books on the topic focus on early childhood, but Willingham understands that kids' needs change as they grow older, and the science-based approach in Raising Kids Who Read applies to kids of all ages. A practical perspective on teaching reading from bestselling author and K-12 education expert Daniel T. Willingham Research-based, concrete suggestions to aid teachers and parents in promoting reading as a hobby Age-specific tips for developing decoding ability, comprehension, and motivation in kids from birth through adolescence Information on helping kids with dyslexia and encouraging reading in the digital age Debunking the myths about reading education, Raising Kids Who Read will empower you to share the joy of reading with kids from preschool through high school.

Literacy Assessment and Instructional Strategies prepares literacy educators to conduct reading and writing assessments and develop appropriate corrective literacy strategies for use with their grade K–5 students. Connecting Common Core Literacy Learning Standards to effective strategies and creative activities, the book includes authentic literacy assessments and formal evaluations to support reading teaching in the elementary classroom. Initial chapters discuss literacy assessment and evaluation, data-driven instruction, high-stakes testing, and instructional shifts in teaching reading, while later chapters focus on the latest instructional and assessment shifts, including pre-assessing literacy knowledge bases, using informational texts for vocabulary development, and close reading of text. Written by reading practitioners and researchers, this book is a must-have for novices as well as for veteran classroom teachers who want to stay on top of changing literacy trends.

The best-selling First Year Teacher's Survival Kit gives new teachers a wide variety of tested strategies, activities, and tools for creating a positive and dynamic learning environment while meeting the challenges of each school day. Packed with valuable tips, the book helps new teachers with everything from becoming effective team players and connecting with students to handling behavior problems and working within diverse classrooms. The new edition is fully revised and updated to cover changes in the K-12 classroom over the past five years. Updates to the second edition include: • New ways teachers can meet the professional development requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act • Entirely new section on helping struggling readers, to address the declining literacy rate among today’s students • Expanded coverage of helpful technology solutions for the classroom • Expanded information on teaching English Language Learners • Greater coverage of the issues/challenges facing elementary teachers • More emphasis on how to reach and teach students of poverty • Updated study techniques that have proven successful with at-risk students • Tips on working effectively within a non-traditional school year schedule • The latest strategies for using graphic organizers • More emphasis on setting goals to help students to succeed • More information on intervening with students who are capable but choose not to work • Updated information on teachers’ rights and responsibilities regarding discipline issues • Fully revised Resources appendix including the latest educational Web sites and software

The strategies and materials presented here provide the best of whole language and phonics instruction for setting up an appropriate, well-paced reading program that meets the needs of individual students, small groups, or the entire class, grades K-8. For quick and easy access, the Kit is organized into eight sections and includes such practical information as: * Over 80 stimulating hands-on games and activity sheets to build students' skills in letter-name knowledge, sight word recognition, word structure, and more. * Up-to-date information and materials for teaching reading to students with special needs * Comprehensive lists of fiction and nonfiction trade books that reinforce the learning of essential reading skills

This thriller challenges five children to survive after they are marooned on a desert island. They must face killer komodo dragons, sharks and modern-day pirates. The ex-SAS author includes ten top tips for survival in tropical conditions.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A special 25th anniversary edition of the beloved book that has changed millions of lives with the story of an unforgettable friendship, the timeless wisdom of older generations, and healing lessons on loss and grief—featuring a new afterword by the author “A wonderful book, a story of the heart told by a writer with soul.”—Los Angeles Times “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was his college professor Morrie Schwartz. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger? Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live. “The truth is, Mitch,” he said, “once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie’s lasting gift with the world.

Escape “Zombie Scrum” and Get Real Value from Agile! “Professional Scrum and Zombie Scrum are mortal enemies in eternal combat. If you relax your guard, Zombie Scrum comes back. This guide helps you stay on your guard, providing very practical tips for identifying when you have become a Zombie and how to stop this from happening. A must-have for any Zombie Scrum hunter.” --Dave West, CEO, Scrum.org “Barry, Christiaan, and Johannes have done a magnificent job of accumulating successful experiences and sharing their inspiring stories in this very practical book. They don't shy away from telling it like it is, which is why their proposals are always as useful as they are grounded in reality.” --Henri Lipmanowicz, cofounder, Liberating Structures Millions of professionals use Scrum. It is the #1 approach to agile software development in the world. Even so, by some estimates, over 70% of Scrum adoptions fall flat. Developers find themselves using “Zombie Scrum” processes that look like Scrum, but are slow, lifeless, and joyless. Scrum is just not working for them. Zombie Scrum Survival Guide reveals why Scrum runs aground and shows how to supercharge your Scrum outcomes, while having a lot more fun along the way. Humorous, visual, and extremely relatable, it offers practical approaches, exercises, and tools for escaping Zombie Scrum. Even if you are surrounded by skeptics, this book will be the antidote to help you build more of what users need, ship faster, improve more continuously, interact more successfully in any team, and feel a whole lot better about what you are doing. Suddenly, one day soon, you will remember: that is why we adopted Scrum in the first place! Learn how Zombie Scrum infects you, why it spreads, and how to inoculate yourself Get closer to your stakeholders, and wake up to their understanding of value Discover why Zombie teams can't learn, and what to do about it Clear away the specific obstacles to real continuous improvement Make self-managed teams real so people can behave like humans, not Zombies Zombie Scrum Survival Guide is for Scrum Masters, Scrum practitioners, Agile coaches and leaders, and everyone who wants to transform the promises of Scrum into reality. Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.

This book is about reading: how to assess it, how to teach it and how to build teacher capacity to do both of those things well.