Reading to Learn: Lessons from Exemplary Fourth-Grade Classrooms - Softcover

Allington PhD, Richard L.; Johnston PhD, Peter H.; Johnston, Peter H.; Allington, Richard L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1572307625 ISBN 13: 9781572307629

Publisher: The Guilford Press, 2002

Synopsis

Fourth-graders around the country face new, high-stakes standardized tests, drawing increased attention to the need for effective literacy instruction in the upper-elementary grades. This essential book goes beyond political catch-phrases to examine what actually works in the fourth-grade classroom. After reviewing current research on upper-elementary reading instruction, the book takes readers directly into the classrooms of six highly successful teachers. Like the previously published Learning to Read, which focused on the first grade, Reading to Learn offers a rare view of the techniques and strategies good teachers use to engage students, help them develop as thoughtful readers and writers, and bolster self-directed learning and literate conversation. Bringing to life the complexities of day-to-day work with diverse students, the book provides inspiration and practical ideas for any teacher in the upper-elementary grades.

About this title

About the Author

Richard L. Allington, PhD, is the Irving and Rose Fien Professor of Education at the University of Florida, where he continues the study of exemplary elementary teaching.

Peter H. Johnston, PhD, is a Professor in the Reading Department at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and a senior researcher for the National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

I. What Do We Know and Need to Know about Good Fourth-Grade Teaching?
1. Teaching Fourth Grade in the 21st Century
2. What Do We Know about Effective Fourth-Grade Teachers

II. What Do Good Fourth-Grade Classrooms Look and Feel Like?
3. Inquiry and Good Conversation: "I Learn a Lot from Them"
Peter H. Johnston and Joan Backer
4. "Responsibility and Respect for Themselves and for Whatever It Is
They're Doing": Learning to Be Literate in an Inclusive Classroom
Gay Ivey
5. "Focus on the Real and Make Sure It Connects to Kids' Lives"
Ruth Wharton-McDonald and June Williamson
6. "We Learn from Each Other": Collaboration and Community
in a Bilingual Classroom
Jeni Pollack Day
7. A Caring, Responsible Learning Community
Peter H. Johnston and Mary Ellen Quinlan
8. "I Want Students Who Are Thinkers"
Peter H. Johnston, Tracey Bennett, and John Cronin

III. What Have We Learned about Good Fourth-Grade Teaching?
9. Integrated Instruction in Fourth-Grade Classrooms
10. Literate Achievements in Fourth Grade
11. The Nature of Good Fourth-Grade Teaching

Shifting the Focus of the Reading Debate: A Cautionary Afterword
Gerald G. Duffy

Appendix. Achievement Growth on Standardized Reading Tests
References
Children's Publications Cited
Index

Edition details

• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1572307625
• ISBN 13: 9781572307629
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 254