With this updated document, IRA and NCTE reaffirm their position that the primary purpose of assessment must be to improve teaching and learning for all students. Eleven core standards are presented and explained, and a helpful glossary makes this document suitable not only for educators but for parents, policymakers, school board members, and other stakeholders. Case studies of large-scale national tests and smaller scale classroom assessments (particularly in the context of RTI, or Response to Intervention) are used to highlight how assessments in use today do or do not meet the standards.

What will students be asked to do when faced with the writing tasks on the Common Core State Standards assessments? What are the instructional shifts teachers will need to make so that students can understand and master them? Kelly Sassi and Anne Ruggles Gere unpack the PARCC and Smarter Balanced approaches to writing assessment, and provide effective strategies to help students develop as writers as well as prepare for the new writing tasks. Writing on Demand for the Common Core State Standard Assessments provides teachers with the principles of effective writing and then shows how to apply those principles to the Common Core assessments. Samples of performance tasks with student responses illustrate the importance of helping writers: analyze prompts, including those of Smarter Balanced and PARCC build reading skills that support text-dependent writing transfer writing strategies to science and social studies manage time in a digital space. Producing an effective piece of writing can be challenging in any timed writing context. Give your students the strategies they'll need to succeed on the Common Core State Standards writing assessments- and become better writers for life.

Unlock hidden writing skills in all learners through UDL! The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for writing are promising but are challenging to implement, especially for struggling students. Sally A. Spencer demonstrates the promise of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a framework for making the CCSS writing and language standards accessible to all kids. Educators who utilize these strategies will know: How to leverage the strengths of students to optimize writing instruction and overcome their weaknesses The ways UDL can minimize the roadblocks in CCSS implementation How to - and how not to - use technology to teach writing and language conventions

Mastering second grade reading and writing is fun and exciting with this book that combines language arts activities with puzzles and humor to lower the barriers to learning and build essential skills. Reading and writing are two of the most important building blocks for future learning, and Highlights(TM) brings Fun with a Purpose® into these essential activities for second graders. Our award-winning content blends reading and writing skills with puzzles, humor, and playful art, which makes learning exciting and fun. Second grade reading and writing skills such as phonics, word recognition, and key ideas will help students improve and will build confidence in the classroom.

Using a rich array of research-based practices, this book will help teachers improve the academic writing of English learners. It provides specific teaching strategies, activities, and extended lessons to develop EL students’ narrative, informational, and argumentative writing, emphasized in the Common Core State Standards. It also explores the challenges each of these genres pose for ELs and suggests ways to scaffold instruction to help students become confident and competent academic writers. Showcasing the work of exemplary school teachers who have devoted time and expertise to creating rich learning environments for the secondary classroom, Helping English Learners to Write includes artifacts and written work produced by students with varying levels of language proficiency as models of what students can accomplish. Each chapter begins with a brief overview and ends with a short summary of the key points. “These authors are at the very forefront of scientifically testing and validating instructional practices for improving the writing and reading of adolescents who are English learners. Why is their research so good? It is informed by years of experience in the classroom and working with hundreds of teachers across California. What a powerful combination. My advice: ingest, consider, and employ the strategies described here. Your students will become better writers if you do.” —From the Foreword by Steve Graham, Warner Professor of Educational Leadership & Innovation, Arizona State University “This book is a tour de force. It’s up-to-the-minute in offering what teachers and administrators need, and what parents want. With examples of classrooms in action, it incorporates what research tells us about effective teaching and learning, and what the Common Core Standards and related policy are demanding, into successful and engaging activities that the authors' extensive research shows works. Helping English Learners to Write is a must-read. You will dog ear many pages for future use.” —Judith A. Langer, Vincent O’Leary Distinguished Research Professor, Director, Center on English Learning & Achievement, University at Albany

Why you need a writing revolution in your classroom and how to lead it The Writing Revolution (TWR) provides a clear method of instruction that you can use no matter what subject or grade level you teach. The model, also known as The Hochman Method, has demonstrated, over and over, that it can turn weak writers into strong communicators by focusing on specific techniques that match their needs and by providing them with targeted feedback. Insurmountable as the challenges faced by many students may seem, The Writing Revolution can make a dramatic difference. And the method does more than improve writing skills. It also helps: Boost reading comprehension Improve organizational and study skills Enhance speaking abilities Develop analytical capabilities The Writing Revolution is as much a method of teaching content as it is a method of teaching writing. There's no separate writing block and no separate writing curriculum. Instead, teachers of all subjects adapt the TWR strategies and activities to their current curriculum and weave them into their content instruction. But perhaps what's most revolutionary about the TWR method is that it takes the mystery out of learning to write well. It breaks the writing process down into manageable chunks and then has students practice the chunks they need, repeatedly, while also learning content.

Sheymov had the most sensitive position of any KGB officer ever to defect to the West. Incognito for years, he now describes his life in the KGB, conflict with the system, and reveals how he escaped from the heart of Moscow with his wife and young daughter--a CIA coup that convinced the KGB he was dead. Photos.

Activities include lessons on the elements of narrative writing, figurative language, grammar, proofreading/editing skills, and ways to use technology.