"When I finished Middle School Readers I wanted to reverse time and relive sixth grade as a student in Nancy Allison's class. Allison takes us into her own unique brand of reading workshop, providing the finest road map for teachers. Ultimately, what Allison communicates is that to help students read fiction and nonfiction, to refine their knowledge of genre structure and reading strategies, we must engage in conversations with students that lead them to independence." Laura Robb, Author of Teaching Middle School Writers "Students need language arts classrooms where the shelves are filled with engaging fiction and nonfiction texts--and where their teacher's main responsibility is to support their growth as readers. They deserve to be respected and supported as they work their way through self-selected texts." Nancy Allison Nancy Allison shows how to provide the choice adolescents crave with the guidance they need-and she does this all with instructional and organizational strategies that make this infinitely manageable. In describing how to teach middle school students to read widely and well, Nancy presents: the daily routines of an effective reading workshop with ideas for developing a robust classroom library tips for cultivating independent readers and matching students to just-right books her unique brand of deskside conferences with examples of how they can be used to differentiate instruction and motivate disengaged readers strategies for teaching comprehension in fiction and nonfiction texts techniques for assessing and evaluating independent readers. Plus! A built-in study guide makes this an ideal book for professional book study.

Get the "big picture" of teaching reading in the middle school, including research, as well as the practical details you need to help every stydent become a better reader. Veteran teacher Laura Robb shares how to: teach reading strategies across the curriculum, present mini-lessons that deepen students' knowledge of how specific reading strategies work; help kids apply the strategies through guided practice; support struggling readers with a plan of action that improves their reading motivation; and much more.

A guide for families of all backgrounds to celebrate cultural heritage and embrace inclusivity in the home and beyond. Gone are the days when socially conscious parents felt comfortable teaching their children to merely tolerate others. Instead, they are looking for a way to authentically embrace the fullness of their diverse communities. A Place to Belong offers a path forward for families to honor their cultural heritage and champion diversity in the context of daily family life by: • Fostering open dialogue around discrimination, race, gender, disability, and class • Teaching “hard history” in an age-appropriate way • Curating a diverse selection of books and media choices in which children see themselves and people who are different • Celebrating cultural heritage through art, music, and poetry • Modeling activism and engaging in community service projects as a family Amber O’Neal Johnston, a homeschooling mother of four, shows parents of all backgrounds how to create a home environment where children feel secure in their own personhood and culture, enabling them to better understand and appreciate people who are racially and culturally different. A Place to Belong gives parents the tools to empower children to embrace their unique identities while feeling beautifully tethered to their global community.

The first book in the doggone awesome, howl-ariously illustrated, bestselling series from the creator of Middle School! Rafe Khatchadorian’s lovable dog Junior gets his chance to shine. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I've been waiting for ages to tell my story, and now it's finally happening! Being Rafe's dog isn't always easy, but it is always EXCITING! I've got so much to tell you about: How I protect the yard from birds, raccoons, squirrels, raccoons, mail carriers ... and did I mention RACCOONS? Sniffing pooch posteriors for the latest canine news. And the terrifying monster hiding in the hall closet: the vacuum cleaner! These were all the most paw-some parts of my doggie life -- until the evil Mrs. Stricker threatened to send me back to the pound if I didn't learn to behave. Now Rafe and I have to go to obedience school and win the trophy for Best Trained Dog . . . or else!

After her mother dies in 1975, ten-year-old Lemonade must live with her grandfather in a small town famous for Bigfoot sitings and soon becomes friends with Tobin, a quirky Bigfoot investigator.

With murder, court battles, and sensational newspaper headlines, the story of Lizzie Borden is compulsively readable and perfect for the Common Core. Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one. In a compelling, linear narrative, Miller takes readers along as she investigates a brutal crime: the August 4, 1892, murders of wealthy and prominent Andrew and Abby Borden. The accused? Mild-mannered and highly respected Lizzie Borden, daughter of Andrew and stepdaughter of Abby. Most of what is known about Lizzie’s arrest and subsequent trial (and acquittal) comes from sensationalized newspaper reports; as Miller sorts fact from fiction, and as a legal battle gets under way, a gripping portrait of a woman and a town emerges. With inserts featuring period photos and newspaper clippings—and, yes, images from the murder scene—readers will devour this nonfiction book that reads like fiction. A School Library Journal Best Best Book of the Year "Sure to be a hit with true crime fans everywhere." —School Library Journal, Starred

Meet Betty Bunny, a loveable handful nobunny can resist. From author Michael B. Kaplan, creator of Disney’s T.V. show Dog with a Blog, comes the debut picture book of the Betty Bunny series. It's a story about patience—seen through the eyes of a precocious preschooler. Betty Bunny is the youngest in her family of rabbits and she’s just discovering the important things in life, like chocolate cake. She declares, “I am going to marry chocolate cake” and takes a piece to school with her in her pocket. Mom values healthy eating and tells Betty Bunny she needs patience when it comes to dessert. But Betty Bunny doesn’t want patience, she wants chocolate cake! In this funny tribute to chocolate lovers (and picky eaters), Betty Bunny’s charming perspective on patience will be recognizable to anyone with a preschooler in their life.

This indispensable selection guide helps librarians, teachers, and patrons identify the best of the many books published each year for readers in middle school and junior high. Best Books for Middle School and Junior High Readers, Grades 6-9: Supplement to the Second Edition is perfect for helping teachers, parents, librarians, and young adults identify the books that will be most suitable for students' educational needs and provide enjoyable recreational reading. This up-to-date reading guide for middle school and junior high reading materials is a valuable resource for both collection development and creation of theme-related bibliographic lists. It covers nearly 2,000 titles published between 2009 and early 2011, the majority of which have been recommended by at least two reviewing journals. Entries provide annotations with succinct plot summaries, review citations, reading level, and essential bibliographic information such as price, ISBN, and number of pages. - Thematic, curriculum-oriented arrangement - Highlights available audio versions - Includes Lexile Framework measures where available - Contains author/illustrator, title, and subject/grade level indexes to offer additional access routes

Tests require a special kind of savvy, a kind of critical thinking and knowledge application that is not always a part of classroom reading experiences. Who better to teach you how to prepare your students for reading tests than someone who has written them? Charles Fuhrken has spent years working with several major testing companies and contributing to the reading assessments of various testing programs. What he' s learned about testing can help teachers who are interested in teaching effective reading strategies as well as preparing students for reading tests. What Every Middle School Teacher Needs to Know About Reading Tests (From Someone Who Has Written Them)' offers extensive, practical strategies to help students perform well on test day. This ready-to-use, easy-to-understand resource provides a wealth of information about reading tests, including high-quality preparation materials, samples of the most frequently assessed reading standards, and engaging core-reading activities. Charles takes the mystery out of reading tests; he explains how students can learn the language of tests and apply their knowledge of reading to standardized tests. In addition to providing information about reading tests that will help students feel prepared and confident on test day,' What Every Middle School Teacher Needs to Know About Reading Tests' provides a wealth of resources that can be incorporated into a teacher' s everyday reading work, including vocabulary development, literary techniques, interpretation, comprehension, and more.