The invaluable grade-by-grade guide (kindergarten—sixth) is designed to help parents and teachers select some of the best books for children. Books to Build On recommends: • for kindergartners, lively collections of poetry and stories, such as The Children’s Aesop, and imaginative alphabet books such as Bill Martin, Jr.’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Lucy Micklewait’s I Spy: An Alphabet in Art • for first graders, fine books on the fine arts, such as Ann Hayes’s Meet the Orchestra, the hands-on guide My First Music Book, and the thought-provoking Come Look with Me series of art books for children • for second graders, books that open doors to world cultures and history, such as Leonard Everett Fisher’s The Great Wall of China and Marcia Willaims’s humorous Greek Myths for Young Children • for third graders, books that bring to life the wonders of ancient Rome, such as Living in Ancient Rome, and fascinating books about astronomy, such as Seymour Simon’s Our Solar System • for fourth graders, engaging books on history, including Jean Fritz’s Shh! We're Writing the Constitution, and many books on Africa, including the stunningly illustrated story of Sundiata: Lion King of Mali • for fifth graders, a version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream that retains much of the original language but condenses the play for reading or performance by young students, and Michael McCurdy’s Escape from Slavery: The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass • for sixth graders, an eloquent retelling of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and the well-written American history series, A History of US . . . and many, many more!

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.

Provides advice for elementary teachers on collaborating with parents to enhance a child's educational experience.

Maximize your child’s potential in ways that extend beyond academics alone. Gain a clearer, more cohesive relationship with their teachers. A Teacher’s Inside Advice to Parents: How Children Thrive with Leadership, Love, Laughter, and Learning explains how to support and inspire all kids towards success and satisfaction. When parents and teachers share common goals and methods to meet a child’s essential needs, this wraparound effect flows seamlessly from home to school and back again. This affirming, practical parenting approach provides expert insight for connecting with the classroom and influencing your child in four fundamental aspects: Leadership supplies the appropriate guidelines and routines your child requires in order to feel a soothing sense of security, structure, and stability. Love offers the attention, encouragement, and acceptance that create a strong bond of trust and open communication between you and your child. Laughter adds the joy, excitement, and adventure that embolden and assist in your child’s personal exploration of creativity, purpose, and direction. Learning develops and reinforces your child’s knowledge, wisdom, and skills vital for a contributing, self-sufficient life. The Four Ls of Parenting directly lead to the cooperation, confidence, contentment, and capabilities parents and teachers both strive to foster in every child—all accomplished with increased efficacy and delight while nurturing and educating the kids they care about so deeply.

Brings together current research on adult book reading to children; chapter authors are eminent scholars from fields of reading and literacy, child language, speech pathology, and psychology, representing diverse perspectives.

The relationship between two teenage girls who become acquainted through letters intensifies as their correspondence reveals some of the terrible problems of their lives.

Grade level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, k, e, p, i, t.

“Instead of trusting kids with choices . . . many parents insist on micromanaging everything from homework to friendships. For these parents, Stixrud and Johnson have a simple message: Stop.” —NPR “This humane, thoughtful book turns the latest brain science into valuable practical advice for parents.” —Paul Tough, New York Times bestselling author of How Children Succeed A few years ago, Bill Stixrud and Ned Johnson started noticing the same problem from different angles: Even high-performing kids were coming to them acutely stressed and lacking motivation. Many complained they had no control over their lives. Some stumbled in high school or hit college and unraveled. Bill is a clinical neuropsychologist who helps kids gripped by anxiety or struggling to learn. Ned is a motivational coach who runs an elite tutoring service. Together they discovered that the best antidote to stress is to give kids more of a sense of control over their lives. But this doesn't mean giving up your authority as a parent. In this groundbreaking book they reveal how you can actively help your child to sculpt a brain that is resilient, and ready to take on new challenges. The Self-Driven Child offers a combination of cutting-edge brain science, the latest discoveries in behavioral therapy, and case studies drawn from the thousands of kids and teens Bill and Ned have helped over the years to teach you how to set your child on the real road to success. As parents, we can only drive our kids so far. At some point, they will have to take the wheel and map out their own path. But there is a lot you can do before then to help them tackle the road ahead with resilience and imagination.

Includes a CD filled with handouts and letters that teachers can personalize and send home to parents! Bruce Johnson offers a unique and much needed resource on practical ways to get parents involved in reading with their children! Making parents partners in their children's reading development can make all the difference in helping students to master reading and become avid readers. This book is an excellent resource for teachers to maximize the potential of parent involvement. The book is full of field-tested material that teachers can immediately use with parents of children from pre-school to middle school. Whether teachers are reaching out through a parent-teacher conference, sending material home to parents, or putting together a parent involvement workshop, this book will provide everything they need-all in a format that is easy for them to customize to meet the specific needs of their students and parents.