Heather Rader's motto for life is stay curious. In Side By Side, she explores one of her greatest curiosities: What does change look like in schools when it is a true collaboration between teachers and their mentors? Heather takes you into classrooms where she works as a literacy coach and guide, presenting challenges from two perspectives - the teacher's and the coach's. Because Heather lives in both worlds, respect abounds in these classroom vignettes. With humor and compassion, she demonstrates there is an alternative to inflexible mandates and curriculum implemented in a rush. Relationships between teachers and school leaders based on trust, open communication, and analysis of real students at work lead to achievement that endures. These relationships also take time to build, with many creative compromises along the way.Side By Side is organized as a series of paired essays on specific themes. Teachers and literacy specialists or coaches might use the pieces in study groups and team meetings to discuss everything from integrating writing into science programs, to dealing with sarcastic colleagues. The brief essays are also an ideal length for reading aloud in professional development sessions. Heather Rader is an instructional coach for the North Thurston Public Schools in Washington and a senior editor at Choice Literacy. She has taught in Korea, at a private school, and as a homeschooling mom and a teacher-librarian, but most of her years have been spent teaching elementary students in public schools. In 2010, Heather was named Regional Teacher of the Year by the state of Washington. She has presented at numerous state, regional, and national conferences.

Side by Side Short Takes on Best Practices for Teachers and Literacy Leaders

Heather Rader

Choice Literacy

Between individual lessons and big units of study lies the joy of planning. Franki Sibberson takes you into her process of designing short sequences of lessons (known as cycles) around key areas of study including how characters develop in literature, nonfiction reading in the age of the Internet, and understanding increasingly sophisticated themes in novels and picture books. Franki shares guiding questions for planning, sample cycles, and the thinking behind the books she selects for minilessons. There is much delight in moving between what you know about your students and what you know about teaching, and designing lessons accordingly. That’s what the joy of planning is all about.

The Joy of Planning: Designing Minilesson Cycles in Grades 3-6

Sibberson, Franki

Education & Teaching

Join the Club! takes you into Katie Doherty Czerwinski’s remarkable sixth-grade classroom, where students choose their own texts for discussion in book clubs with classmates. But don’t worry – this isn’t one of those books with unicorns and hearts dancing in the margins, where you will only read about cooperative students reading above grade level and discussing books with an eloquence far beyond their years. Katie shares the nitty gritty details of building conversation skills from day one with her urban students, many of whom are English language learners and come from impoverished homes. She discusses the challenges of assessing book clubs, when much of the work is done outside her presence. Katie shares her own struggles with book clubs that are floundering, and students who can’t or won’t read the assigned texts. Most importantly, she demonstrates with practical examples why the collaborative and conversation skills fostered through book clubs are essential literacy learning in middle schools. Join the Club! includes text suggestions, sample minilessons, student response guides, and assessment forms. Practical, research-based, and humorous, Join the Club! is a succinct guide to middle school book clubs that packs a powerful punch.

Join the Club!

Czerwinski, Katie Doherty

Schools & Teaching

Rethinking Intervention captures beautifully the tensions and breakthroughs of teachers and literacy specialists working together to help struggling readers. Teachers in grades 3-6 need help in adapting instruction for challenging students in normal classroom settings, and specialists need strategies for meeting the needs of these children within classroom communities. The educators in Rethinking Intervention all work under the constraints of too much pressure, too little time, and too few resources. They share a sense of urgency in reaching readers who are up against the clock, and need to catch up to their peers before it is too late. Rethinking Intervention is rich in strategies, practical examples, and the wisdom of an author who has spent decades as a teacher, specialist, and literacy coach in public schools. Every technique included here is field-tested, and every story is true. There are no easy answers and quick fixes in this book, but you’ll still leave inspired to reach out to students and colleagues in new ways.

Rethinking Intervention: Supporting Struggling Readers and Writers in Grades 3-6 Classrooms

Frost, Shari

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Choice Literacy publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Choice Literacy

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Choice Literacy publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Side by Side Short Takes on Best Practices for Teachers and Literacy Leaders

The Joy of Planning: Designing Minilesson Cycles in Grades 3-6

Join the Club!

Rethinking Intervention: Supporting Struggling Readers and Writers in Grades 3-6 Classrooms