Fifty years have passed since Miss Elizabeth was a girl, but she still remembers Willie Rudd, the black housekeeper who helped raise her. She remembers the feel of sitting in Willie Rudd's lap while the housekeeper sang to her. And she remembers how Willie Rudd scrubbed the floor on her hands and knees. What would Miss Elizabeth say to Willie Rudd if she were alive today? She decides to write her a letter telling her how things would be different. Now Willie Rudd would come in the front door -- not the back. She would ride in the fornt of the bus with Miss Elizabeth, and they could sit together at the movies. The two of them would have a wonderful time. And in her heartfelt letter, Miss Elizabeth has the chance to tell Willie Rudd something she never told her while she was alive -- that she loved her.

Strategies and activities to develop an effective reading workshop program.

The ability to comprehend and to respond meaningfully to text is a skill students need every day--not just on test day. That's a GREAT Answer! provides complete and ready-to-go support to help teachers get great answers to open-ended comprehension questions from the students who need help the most--elementary students, struggling older readers, and English language learners. In this revised second edition, Nancy Boyles now includes new Common Core State Standards-based objectives, step-by-step lesson sequences, collaborative tasks that link teaching to learning, insightful new teaching tips, updated and enhanced bibliographies, and student targets on the CD that specify how to meet each objective and answer a particular comprehension question. Her ready-to-go student scaffolds then break comprehension objectives into fifty-three specific, measurable, open-ended questions divided among four thinking strands. A chart shows the correlation between all objectives and the Common Core State Standards for comprehension--easily aligned to the literacy objectives of any state curriculum. Each open-ended question includes: a step-by-step lesson sequence; a template for a related oral collaborative task; teaching tips; a bibliography of fiction and nonfiction picture books aligned with the question; a template instructing students how to find key evidence for the objective before writing their response; an answer frame scaffold for initial response practice that helps students at any grade level organize and elaborate; and a target on the CD that specifies for students how to meet each objective and answer a particular comprehension question. The included CD provides all of the answer frames and targets for the open-ended questions, as well as rubrics, criteria charts, planners, and an extensive master bibliography that matches key fiction and nonfiction literature models with appropriate objectives. From setting a foundation with great standards, books, and instruction through guidelines for assessment, That's a GREAT Answer offers a (now more) complete, great answer for teachers who want to empower their students to respond well to open-ended questions.

This guide provides a single-source, comprehensive listing of a fascinating and helpful group of books-picture books for older readers. A multitude of ideas about how to use them in the classroom supplements this list of carefully selected quality fiction and nonfiction books that focuses on universal themes, appeals to all ages, addresses important issues, and is accessible to multiple learning styles. Picture books aren't just for the very young. Innovative educators and parents have used them for years with readers of all ages and reading levels, knowing that students comprehend more from the visual-verbal connections these books offer. They are great tools for teaching visual literacy and writing skills; are effective with reluctant readers, ESL students, and those reading below grade level; and can easily be used to support various curriculum. This guide provides a single-source, comprehensive listing of a fascinating and helpful group of books and a multitude of ideas about how to use them in the classroom. The authors have carefully selected quality fiction and nonfiction that focus on universal themes, appeal to all ages, treat important issues, and are accessible to multiple learning styles.

A girl reflects on Christmas at her grandparent's home in the country, with its fresh-cut tree, handmade ornaments, gifts from Santa, and special church services.

Despite his mother's warning not to wander, Small Green Snake wiggles away to investigate the new sound from across the garden wall.

Make use of a detailed plan and ready-to-use lessons for teaching appeal terms and Book Hook writing to students. Getting Beyond "Interesting": Teaching Students the Vocabulary of Appeal to Discuss Their Reading is a practical application book that gives librarians all the tools they need to implement the teaching of both appeal terms and Book Hook writing and sharing. When students know how to write Book Hooks and have access to an easy-to-use system for allowing students to share Book Hooks, the result is greatly increased reading through the power of peer recommendations. This book not only supplies a detailed plan for teaching appeal terms and Book Hook writing, but it also provides two extensive appendices containing all the black line masters and forms needed to implement these lessons. As a result, practitioners will be able to enhance their students' reading culture through increased sharing of reading—and most importantly, by empowering students with the ability to clearly define their reading preferences.

Close . . . Closer . . . Closest! Close Reading. Not in a very long while has a term been freighted with so much responsibility to lead every student to a great future of college and career readiness. Finally, here’s a book that tunes out all of the hubbub and gets down to the business of showing how exactly to “get close reading right.” Chapter by chapter, Nancy Boyles delivers astoundingly practical ideas on how to Connect close reading with other instructional practices Select rich texts and plan for initial close reading lessons Deliver initial and follow-up close reading lessons Coordinate comprehension strategies and close reading