A hilarious companion to I Wanna Iguana. Ever since their baby sister came along, Alex has been forced to share a room with his little brother, Ethan, and it's a nightmare. Ethan always breaks stuff, snores like a walrus, and sticks crayons up his nose. No hardworking, well-behaved, practically grown-up boy like Alex should have to put up with that! Writing letters to his mom convinced her to let him get his pet iguana, so Alex puts pencil to paper again, this time determined to get his own room. Though all of his powers of persuasion can't get his dad to expand the house, he does come through with a fun alternative to give Alex some space of his own.

This remarkable book shows teachers how to inspire students to learn to write and write to learn. Committed to the premise that all students can learn to write with appropriate teaching, modelling, and practice, it argues that reading and writing go hand in hand. Through reading, writing and the inevitable discussions that follow, students learn from the experiences of others, open their minds to many possibilities, gain a glimpse into new worlds, make connections to their lives, and reflect on their own choices and learning. This practical book shows you how to use freewriting and powerful mentor texts to create classrooms where students enjoy putting pencil to paper and taking the necessary risks to grow and flourish as writers.

Whether used for thematic story times, program and curriculum planning, readers' advisory, or collection development, this updated edition of the well-known companion makes finding the right picture books for your library a breeze. Generations of savvy librarians and educators have relied on this detailed subject guide to children's picture books for all aspects of children's services, and this new edition does not disappoint. Covering more than 18,000 books published through 2017, it empowers users to identify current and classic titles on topics ranging from apples to zebras. Organized simply, with a subject guide that categorizes subjects by theme and topic and subject headings arranged alphabetically, this reference applies more than 1,200 intuitive (as opposed to formal catalog) subject terms to children's picture books, making it both a comprehensive and user-friendly resource that is accessible to parents and teachers as well as librarians. It can be used to identify titles to fill in gaps in library collections, to find books on particular topics for young readers, to help teachers locate titles to support lessons, or to design thematic programs and story times. Title and illustrator indexes, in addition to a bibliographic guide arranged alphabetically by author name, further extend access to titles.

This practical book is full of quick and easy-to-use lessons that promote meaningful writing practice. Teachers will find strategies organized alphabetically and in a consistent format that will inspire students to plan, develop, and share their writing. The lessons allow teachers to choose what they need to meet the diverse needs of students in grades one through eight. Each independent lesson guides students through the writing process with information about a writing form, along with suggested literature sources. Tips throughout the book will help students successfully write to narrate, to inform, to entertain, to persuade, to respond, and to enjoy.

Reissue of ILA bestseller. To become truly college and career ready, students need to be able to communicate effectively in writing, and teachers need to be confident and prepared to teach writing in ways that motivate, encourage, and challenge students to higher levels. In this practical volume, a stellar group of researchers and classroom educators come together to provide instructional strategies that can increase student engagement and motivation to write. Write Now! empowers K–6 classroom teachers to make key instructional decisions that benefit all learners. This user-friendly e-book includes practical tips, strategies, techniques, and concrete examples to help expand the writing expertise of both typical and challenged learners. Contributors: Rose Cappelli, Amber B. Chambers, Lynne R. Dorfman, Kathy Ganske, Matt Glover, Steve Graham, Dana L. Grisham, Karen R. Harris, Julia D. Houston, Jon-Philip Imbrenda, Carol Jago, Karen A. Pelekis, Carole C. Phillips, Timothy Shanahan, Linda Smetana, Michael W. Smith, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Thomas DeVere Wolsey “Writing fluently and with cohesion is essential for all young children to master because it is a gateway skill for higher learning. Ganske’s approach makes the most of current research on writing and makes it instantly applicable to the classroom.” —Nancy Frey, San Diego State University

This insightful book offers a modern take on the time-honored tradition of developmentally appropriate, child-centered, constructivist philosophy of instruction: Teaching children one at a time, yet all at once. The book provides a comprehensive road map to teaching that supports student engagement, child development, classroom environment, grouping and organization, authentic literacy instruction, and culturally informed practices. Through a series of practical chapter essays and examples, the authors push back against scripted curricula and "one-size-fits-all" school initiatives, offering instead rich examples and guiding questions to bring you closer to an authentic teaching approach that honors students and their learning. Designed for early childhood through third-grade teachers, principals, administrators, and pre-service students, Constructivist Teaching by Heart is essential reading for professional development, peer discussions, university coursework, individual study, and everyone on the journey to making children the heart of their classrooms.

This classroom resource provides teachers with a strong foundation in the elements of persuasive writing. In the 21st century classroom, the skills and strategies required to effectively evaluate and compose opinions has never been greater. This book discusses why teaching persuasive writing is relevant and beneficial to the target age groups, and includes resources to help grades K-2 students examine multiple views on a topic and write their own informed, effective opinions and arguments. Persuasive writing provides students with an avenue to examine a topic, develop informed views, express their opinions, and defend their ideas with logical, evidence-based reasoning. This resource takes a unique approach to the topic of teaching persuasive writing with an effective combination of tips, strategies, and resources. With mentor texts, student writing samples, rubrics, lesson plans, and questions to assess professional growth at the end of each section, teachers will learn why persuasive writing is so important in today's classrooms, and how to tackle the challenge of teaching it. This book includes: 21 persuasive writing strategies; 10 lesson plans; student writing samples; mentor texts; anchor charts.

Mediocre writers borrow. Great writers steal. --T.S. EliotWriting thieves read widely, dive deeply into texts, and steal bits and pieces from great texts as models for their own writing. Author Ruth Culham admits to being a writing thief'sand she wants you and your students to become writing thieves, too! In The Writing Thief: Using Mentor Texts to Teach the Craft of Writing, Culham demonstrates a major part of good writing instruction is finding the right mentor texts to share with students. Within this book, you'll discover more than 90 excellent mentor texts, along with straight-forward activities that incorporate the traits of writing across informational, narrative, and argument modes. Chapters also include brief essays from beloved writing thieves such as Lester Laminack, David L. Harrison, Lisa Yee, Nicola Davies, Ralph Fletcher, Toni Buzzeo, Lola Schaefer, and Kate Messner, detailing the reading that has influenced their own writing. Culham's renowned easy-going style and friendly tone make this a book you'll turn to again and again as you coach your students to reach their full potential as deep, thoughtful readers and great writers. There's a writing thief in each of us when we learn how to read with a writer's eye!

Writing nonfiction is a key skill that students will need throughout their school lives, and beyond. This remarkable book is designed to help teachers develop a writing program that will enable their students to harness all of their Nonfiction Writing Powers: to Describe, to Instruct, to Compare, to Persuade, to Explain, and to Report. It illustrates ways to encourage students to write because they have something to say, and to recognize that writing well means considering intent and purpose, and choosing the best form of expression. Ideal for teaching writing in the content areas, the book includes guidance on linking writing forms to Science, Social Studies, and other subject areas.

Encourage kindergarten students to build their reading comprehension and word study skills using daily practice activities. Great for after school, intervention, or homework, teachers and parents can help students gain regular practice through these quick, diagnostic-based activities that are correlated to College and Career Readiness and other state standards. Both fiction and nonfiction reading passages are provided as well as data-driven assessment tips and digital versions of the assessment analysis tools and activities. With these easy-to-use activities, kindergarteners will boost their reading skills in a hurry!