Text Structures From Picture Books Grades 2 8

Text Structures From Picture Books [Grades 2-8]

Teach students the architecture beneath a successful story—and boost their reading comprehension and writing skills for a lifetime Writing instruction can sometimes seem scattershot, as teachers try to cover a galaxy of craft techniques, ideas, intentions, and genres. The possibilities are endless—and that’s the problem. In Text Structures from Picture Books, elementary and middle grade teachers tap into a well-ordered universe of inspiring and illustrative stories to help students frame their thinking and focus choices. Using the bite-size format of picture books as a starting point, the authors share 50 low-prep, quick-access lessons to help you teach students seven concrete ways to respond to text in any genre. Through these lessons, students will be able to: Generate their own writing, using a text structure harvested from the work of professional authors Retell a story, using the text structure from the story Generate reading responses, using structures that support clarity Analyze a story to construct thematic statements, capturing the author’s message and bigger themes Write about a theme or big idea demonstrating empathic and evidence-based interpretation Answer open-ended questions by selecting a technique that reflects the text and their engagement Experiment with author’s craft in their own writing Based on master writing teacher Gretchen Bernabei’s instructional model, the lessons offer a lively, high-impact mix of reading aloud, discussion, modeling, student writing, and peer share. Plus, readers have access to a complete companion website full of text structure reproducibles, reading response prompts, additional lessons and extensions, students samples, and links to demo videos. State tests are now assessing reading and writing together. And that’s a good thing—but we’ve got some catching up to do. Written for students beginning in second grade, Text Structures from Picture Books will help your students swiftly and surely become text-savvy readers and writers.

Annual Summary of Investigations Relating to Reading

Leveled Books (K-8)

For ten years and in two classic books, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell have described how to analyze the characteristics of texts and select just-right books to use for guided reading instruction. Now, for the first time, all of their thinking and research has been updated and brought together into Leveled Books, K-8 to form the ultimate guide to choosing and using books from kindergarten through middle school. Fountas and Pinnell take you through every aspect of leveled books, describing how to select and use them for different purposes in your literacy program and offering prototype descriptions of fiction and nonfiction books at each level. They share advice on: the role of leveled books in reading instruction, analyzing the characteristics of fiction and nonfiction texts, using benchmark books to assess instructional levels for guided reading, selecting books for both guided and independent reading, organizing high-quality classroom libraries, acquiring books and writing proposals to fund classroom-library purchases, creating a school book room. In addition, Fountas and Pinnell explain the leveling process in detail so that you can tentatively level any appropriate book that you want to use in your instruction. Best of all, Leveled Books, K-8 is one half of a new duo of resources that will change how you look at leveled books. Its companion-www.FountasandPinnellLeveledBooks.com-is a searchable and frequently updated website that includes more than 18,000 titles. With Leveled Books, K-8 you'll know how and why to choose books for your readers, and with www.FountasandPinnellLeveledBooks.com, you'll have the ideal tool at your fingertips for finding appropriate books for guided reading. Book jacket.