The authors provide tools, tips, and examples for teaching vocabulary in this complementary companion to Bringing words to life.

Hundreds of thousands of teachers have used this highly practical guide to help K–12 students enlarge their vocabulary and get involved in noticing, understanding, and using new words. Grounded in research, the book explains how to select words for instruction, introduce their meanings, and create engaging learning activities that promote both word knowledge and reading comprehension. The authors are trusted experts who draw on extensive experience in diverse classrooms and schools. Sample lessons and vignettes, children's literature suggestions, "Your Turn" learning activities, and a Study Guide for teachers enhance the book's utility as a classroom resource, professional development tool, or course text. The Study Guide can also be downloaded and printed for ease of use (www.guilford.com/beck-studyguide). New to This Edition *Reflects over a decade of advances in research-based vocabulary instruction. *Chapters on vocabulary and writing; assessment; and differentiating instruction for struggling readers and English language learners, including coverage of response to intervention (RTI). *Expanded discussions of content-area vocabulary and multiple-meaning words. *Many additional examples showing what robust instruction looks like in action. *Appendix with a useful menu of instructional activities. See also the authors' Creating Robust Vocabulary: Frequently Asked Questions and Extended Examples, which includes specific instructional sequences for different grade ranges, as well as Making Sense of Phonics, Second Edition: The Hows and Whys, by Isabel L. Beck and Mark E. Beck, an invaluable resource for K–3.

This highly regarded work brings together prominent authorities on vocabulary teaching and learning to provide a comprehensive yet concise guide to effective instruction. The book showcases practical ways to teach specific vocabulary words and word-learning strategies and create engaging, word-rich classrooms. Instructional activities and games for diverse learners are brought to life with detailed examples. Drawing on the most rigorous research available, the editors and contributors distill what PreK-8 teachers need to know and do to support all students' ongoing vocabulary growth and enjoyment of reading. New to This Edition*Reflects the latest research and instructional practices.*New section (five chapters) on pressing current issues in the field: assessment, authentic reading experiences, English language learners, uses of multimedia tools, and the vocabularies of narrative and informational texts.*Contributor panel expanded with additional leading researchers.

Bringing Words to Life has enlivened the classrooms of hundreds of thousands of teachers. Responding to readers' success stories, practical questions, and requests for extended examples, this ideal volume builds on the groundbreaking work of Bringing Words to Life. The authors present additional tools, tips, and detailed explanations of such questions as which words to teach, when and how to teach them, and how to adapt instruction for English language learners. They provide specific instructional sequences, including assessments, for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, as well as interactive lesson planning resources. Invaluable appendices feature engaging classroom activities and a comprehensive list of children's books and stories with suggested vocabulary for study. See also the authors' Bringing Words to Life, Second Edition: Robust Vocabulary Instruction, the authoritative guide to research-based vocabulary instruction, as well as Making Sense of Phonics, Second Edition: The Hows and Whys, by Isabel L. Beck and Mark E. Beck, an invaluable resource for K-3.

Vocabulary development is essential for learning, but conventional vocabulary assessments lack the range and flexibility to support K–12 classroom teachers in making instructional decisions. Drawing on linguistics, educational psychology, and educational measurement, this book offers a fresh perspective on word learning and describes powerful, precise assessment strategies. Guidelines are presented for selecting which words to teach, evaluating the depth and richness of students' word knowledge and their ability to apply it in complex contexts, designing effective instructional practices, and using technology to create adaptive and scalable assessments. User-friendly features include sample test items, classroom examples, a glossary, and suggested print and online resources.

This bestselling book provides indispensable tools and strategies for explicit, systematic phonics instruction in K-3. Teachers learn effective ways to build students' decoding skills by teaching letter-sound relationships, blending, word building, multisyllabic decoding, fluency, and more. The volume is packed with engaging classroom activities, many specific examples, and research-based explanations. It offers a complete phonics assessment and clear guidelines for sequencing instruction to give every student a strong foundation for reading. More than 30 reproducible forms and word lists are included in the appendices; the companion website features a wealth of supplemental teaching resources. New to This Edition *Six additional chapters covering key topics, including assessment, phonemic awareness, orthography, and automaticity. *A complete phonics assessment with administering and scoring guidelines. *Companion website with rich supplemental resources, including word/syllable cards, assessment tools, and illustrated stories featuring target words, which teachers can project or print for classroom use. *More classroom examples and "Your Turn" activities, plus expanded word lists. See also Bringing Words to Life, Second Edition: Robust Vocabulary Instruction and Creating Robust Vocabulary: Frequently Asked Questions and Extended Examples, by Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan, which provide essential tools for K-12 vocabulary instruction.

This practical K–12 teacher resource explains the "whats," "whys," and "how-tos" of using Questioning the Author (QtA), a powerful approach for enhancing reading comprehension and engagement. Thorough yet concise, the book shows how to plan lessons using both narrative and expository texts, formulate open-ended Queries, and guide class discussions around them. The authors discuss how QtA has evolved over many years of classroom application and include innovative ideas for integrating vocabulary instruction and writing prompts into QtA lessons. Also provided are steps for gradually transitioning from teacher-led instruction to independent reading. The book features extended examples of teachers implementing QtA, as well as four complete texts that can be downloaded and printed for classroom use.

Grasping the meaning of a text enables K-8 students to appreciate its language and structure through close reading, which in turn leads to deeper comprehension. This book explains the relationship between comprehension and close reading and offers step-by-step guidelines for teaching both of these key elements of literacy. Reproducible lessons are shared for eight engaging texts (excerpts from fiction, nonfiction, and poetry), complete with discussion tips, queries that scaffold comprehension, close reading activities, and connections to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The authors model lesson development and guide teachers in constructing their own lessons. Ten additional text selections are provided in the Appendix. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print all 18 texts in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

A teacher presents strategies for helping students in grades 4-12 retain vocabulary knowledge, discussing such topics as concept knowledge, word and structural analysis, context as a text support, lasting and meaningful word learning, and using reading as the key vocabulary teaching tool.

The New York Times bestselling true story of an all-American girl and a boy from Zimbabwe and the letter that changed both of their lives forever. It started as an assignment... Everyone in Caitlin's class wrote to an unknown student somewhere in a distant place. Martin was lucky to even receive a pen-pal letter. There were only ten letters, and fifty kids in his class. But he was the top student, so he got the first one. That letter was the beginning of a correspondence that spanned six years and changed two lives. In this compelling dual memoir, Caitlin and Martin recount how they became best friends—and better people—through their long-distance exchange. Their story will inspire you to look beyond your own life and wonder about the world at large and your place in it.