"Up the Ladder Reading: Nonfiction is for upper-grade readers-and teachers-who are new to the norms and culture of reading workshop, and for readers who would benefit from foundational instruction in the skills of reading nonfiction. By instilling strong habits and routines, this unit will support students in taking charge of their own reading lives and reading nonfiction with curiosity and engagement as they learn deeply about the world around them"--

"This book is for teachers who are getting started using a workshop approach to reading or writing, or both, and who have one or both of the Units of Study in Reading, and Units of Study in Writing"--

Originally published as part of the bestselling series: Units of study in opinion/argument, information, and narrative writing [Grades K-8].

"I''m convinced that Howard Gardner was right when he suggested that all leaders need chances to retreat to the mountains. I hope this book gives you metaphorical mountains. I hope that Leading Wellallows you to step back from the hurly burly of school leadership, to see far horizons, to breathe a new kind of air, and to return home with new energy and vision. And more than that, I hope the book helps you give the teachers and children in your care their own metaphorical mountains; because in the end, good leaders create leaders." -Lucy Calkins In Leading Well: Building Schoolwide Excellence in Reading and Writing, Lucy Calkins draws on the transformative work that she and her colleagues at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project have done in partnership with school leaders over the last thirty years. Travel to any corner of this country, inquire about the schools that are winning acclaim for their joyous and rigorous schoolwide literacy work, and you''re apt to find yourself hearing about the results of the remarkable community of practice that has taken root around reading and writing workshop instruction. This book, like the work of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project itself, is deeply research-based and principled, while also absolutely practical and real-world tested. Leading Well will provide you with the inspiration and energy you need to rally your teachers to outgrow their own best teaching practices and tackle predictable challenges. Additionally, Leading Well will remind you that you are part of a vibrant community of practice. You''ll learn not only from Lucy Calkins and from contributing authors, Mary Ehrenworth and Laurie Pessah, but also from talented, tenacious, and imaginative school leaders who are creating new horizons for the world of education. Topics addressed include: Planning for Literacy Reform Supporting teachers in implementing reading and writing workshops Tapping the insight and talents of teachers, and rallying key individuals to join your cabinet of literacy leaders Honing your vision for reform and communicating it to the whole school Leading through influence rather than compliance Lifting the Level of Teaching Defining the goals for your teachers and the priorities for students Establishing the structures and culture that support these goals and priorities Protecting independent reading and writing time for students and planning time for teachers Identifying ways to coach and nurture teachers'' skills in the specific methods of instruction of the Units of Study Supporting teachers'' continuing professional development Building Structures across the School and Community Setting up feedback cycles through instructional rounds and targeted conversations Putting in place rituals and traditions to support your school community''s unique character Addressing resistance with radical candor and learning from it Staying the course while integrating new initiatives Engaging parents and building your own professional learning community The book is for school leaders who''ve invited their teachers to join them in the exhilarating work of adopting a dynamic, rigorous, student-centered language arts curriculum. It is for school leaders who have taken on the challenge of transforming their whole school into a place where everyone''s potential, for learning and for growth, is sky high.

"The start of first grade is a time for dusting off the skills and habits that children learned during kindergarten. In the first unit, Building Good Reading Habits, you'll reinforce children's learning from kindergarten, and you'll establish ability-based partnerships that tap into the social power of peers working together to help each other become more strategic as readers. The second unit, Learning About the World: Reading Nonfiction, taps into children's natural curiosity as they explore nonfiction, while you teach comprehension strategies, word solving, vocabulary, fluency, and author's craft. The third unit, Readers Have Big Jobs to Do: Fluency, Phonics, and Comprehension, focuses on the reading process to set children up to read increasingly complex texts. The last unit of first grade, Meeting Characters and Learning Lessons: A Study of Story Elements, spotlights story elements and the skills that are foundational to literal and inferential comprehension, including empathy, imagination, envisioning, prediction, character study, and interpretation"--provided by publisher.

"The new Units of study in phonics provide a lean and concise instructional pathway in phonics that is realistic and doable, and that taps into kids' skills and energy for tackling the fabulous challenge of learning to read and write, introduce high-leverage phonics concepts and strategies in a way that keeps pace with students' reading and writing and helps them understand when, how, and why they can use phonics to read and write, offer delightfully fun and engaging storylines, classroom mascots, songs, chants, rhymes, and games to help students fall head over heels in love with phonics and to create a joyous community of learners, align with state-of-the-art reading and writing workshops for a coherent approach in which terminology, tools, rituals, and methods are shared in ways that benefit both teachers and kids."--provided by publisher.

"An outstanding publication on the latest developments in writing instruction."--Language Arts

"In second grade, children move from a "little-kid" focus on print to a "big-kid" focus on meaning. The first unit, Second-Grade Reading Growth Spurt, teaches children to take charge of their reading, drawing on everything they know to figure out hard words, understand author's craft, and build big ideas about the books they read. Children learn that books can be their teachers in the second unit, Becoming Experts: Reading Nonfiction, in which they learn more about familiar topics and grow understanding of new topics while working on word solving, vocabulary development, and comparing and contrasting information across texts. In the third unit, Bigger Books Mean Amping Up Reading Power, children learn strategies to build three foundational reading skills--fluency, understanding figurative language, and comprehension. In the final unit for second grade, Series Book Clubs, children work within book clubs to study author's craft to understand ways authors use word choice, figurative language, punctuation, and even patterns to construct a series and evoke feelings in readers"--Pearson.com.