Discover new, practical methods for teaching literacy skills in your early childhood classroom. Has teaching early literacy skills become a stumbling block to getting your preschool students kindergarten ready? Break out of the tired “letter of the week” routine and learn how to transform your lessons with fun and effective techniques. Teach Smarter: Literacy Strategies for Early Childhood Teachers will equip teachers to infuse every aspect of their teaching with exciting hands-on literacy teaching methods that engage students and help them build authentic connections with books, so that 100% of their students will have a strong literacy foundation and will be fully prepared for success in kindergarten and beyond. Respected author Vanessa Levin, veteran early childhood educator and author of the “Pre-K Pages” blog, breaks down the research and translates it into realistic, actionable steps you can take to improve your teaching. Features specific examples of teaching techniques and activities that engage students in hands-on, experiential learning during circle time, centers, and small groups. Offers a simple, four-step system for teaching literacy skills, based on the foundational principles of early literacy teaching Demonstrates how to build your confidence in your ability to get 100% of your students ready for kindergarten, long before the end of the school year Understand the problems with traditional literacy teaching and identify gaps in your current teaching practice with this valuable resource.

"The book's lessons are organized by topic and include oral storytelling, drawing, writing words, assessment, introducing booklets, and moving writers forward. Based on the authors' work in urban kindergarten and first-grade classes, the essence and structure of many of the lessons lend themselves to adaptation through fifth grade."--Jacket.

The best-selling book of easy-to-implement classroom lessons from the world’s premier educational system—now available in paperback. Finland shocked the world when its fifteen-year-olds scored highest on the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a set of tests evaluating critical-thinking skills in math, science, and reading. That was in 2001; even today, this tiny Nordic nation continues to amaze. How does Finnish education—with short school days, light homework loads, and little standardized testing—produce students who match the PISA scores of other nations with more traditional “work ethic” standards? When Timothy Walker started teaching fifth graders at a Helsinki public school, he began a search for the secrets behind the successes of Finland’s education system. Highlighting specific strategies that support joyful K–12 classrooms and can be integrated with U.S. educational standards, this book, available in paperback for the first time, gathers what he learned and shows how any teacher can implement many of Finland's best practices. A new foreword by the author addresses the urgent questions of teaching, and living, in these pandemic times.

Written in a very reader-friendly style, the book is a practical introduction for parents and teachers to bilingualism. Straightforward and realistic answers are given to a comprehensive set of frequently asked questions about bilingualism and bilingual education. Areas covered include family, language, culture, identity, reading , writing, schooling and issues. In the third edition, there is new or more detailed consideration of: • Moving between countries, cultural adaptation • Identity issues • One parent - one language (OPOL) families • Pre schools / kindergartens / nursery schools • Helping with homework • Dyslexia • Language scaffolding • Multilingualism and trilingualism; trilingual families • Adoption • WWW links, articles and books for further reading

This book is the fourth volume in the six-part series Theory to Practice: Educational Psychology for Teachers and Teaching. The objective of most other volumes in this series is to help instructors apply and model fundamental principles of learning, assessment, motivation, and development in preparing their students for the diverse, multidimensional, uncertain, and socially-embedded classrooms in which these future educators will teach. This volume is a strong compliment to others in the series as it prepares readers to be better positioned to advocate for principles of psychology in their programs and departments, and to prepare preservice teachers to do likewise in the K-12 classrooms they will soon guide. Even more, this volume will help instructors in shaping pre-service teachers to be stronger advocates for their own students. This volume is organized around two themes: (1) Advocating for principles and practices of educational psychology, and (2) advocating for students. These themes go hand-in-hand. While advocating for educational psychology principles and evidence- based practices in their schools, teachers also are called upon to advocate for and empower historically marginalized groups of students. Topics in Part I include development of intercultural competency, implementation of professional learning communities, culturalizing the curriculum, journalistic learning, incorporation of inquiry learning, and universal design. Topics in Part II include supporting student self-advocacy, creating an allyship with LGBTQ+ students, advocating for victims of bullying, and supporting students with mental health needs.