Artfully Teaching Reading with Project-Based Learning: Literacy Lessons for the Elementary Classroom

This book connects evidence-based approaches with project-based learning so that you can help your students develop their literacy skills in engaging and authentic ways.

There are so many real-world scenarios that can be used in classrooms, such as newscasts, podcasts, and movie-making, all of which require skills that can be taught discretely and explicitly so that students can accomplish the goals of each project. This book takes the research in reading and translates it into structured projects that you can integrate into your lesson plans. Once the research is described, the authors list the skills necessary to complete the project and the ways that these skills can be taught in structured and explicit ways, many of which are embedded in the project itself. Each chapter contextualizes the skills within the Active View of Reading. Then, step-by-step instructions are given on how to complete the project. Each chapter includes an example activity and lesson plan that you can incorporate into your teaching immediately.

Through the integration of the science of reading and project-based learning, this is a key resource for elementary school reading teachers. With the strategies and ideas outlined in this book, you can see how evidence-based instruction can be fun and connected to authentic experiences.

Chase Young is Professor in Literacy at Sam Houston State University, USA, and is an established scholar in reading fluency and literacy interventions. He has published widely and earned international recognition for advancing evidence-based literacy practices.

Seth A. Parsons is Professor in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University, USA. He has spent 20 years in education exploring how to enhance students’ literacy motivation.

Allison Ward Parsons is Associate Professor in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University, USA. As a former elementary teacher and now a literacy researcher and teacher educator, she has spent her career focused on how classroom tasks influence students’ motivation and learning.