More Primary Literacy Centers provides all the information you need to easily implement literacy centers in your classroom or build upon an established, balanced literacy program that will generate more meaningful reading and writing experiences. For those just beginning to use literacy centers, this guide offers clear yet comprehensive instructions, ready-to-use lesson plans and center activities, reproducible charts, and time-saving tips for seamlessly building centers into your language arts curriculum. Susan and Mellissa show you how to set up literature-based centers for reading, literature response, writing, poetry, listening, and word work that are effective and easily maintained. If you are a literacy center veteran who needs to revive and transform your centers into focused places of learning where students of all levels apply, practice, and master standards-based skills and strategies, this follow-up companion to Primary Literacy Centers is the perfect refresher course, complete with all-new lessons and activities. More Primary Literacy Centers includes whole-class lesson plans, suggested center materials and templates, organizational strategies, and other classroom-tested ideas that will save you time and help both emergent and fluent readers experience success.
Susan Nations is an author, national literacy consultant, conference presenter and Literacy Coach in the Sarasota County Public Schools. She is the co-author of Primary Literacy Centers: Making Reading and Writing STICK!, More Primary Literacy Centers, and So Much Stuff, So Little Space: Creating and Managing the Learner-Centered Classroom. She has also written many teacher's guides for Weekly Reader Early Learning Library.
In addition to her site-based job, Susan is highly requested to speak and present at local, state, and national conferences. Most recently, she has presented for the Florida Reading Association Conference, The International Reading Association National Conference and the Staff Development for Educators (SDE) National Conferences. She also provides customized literacy training for schools and districts around the United States.
As a Literacy Coach at Gocio Elementary School in the Sarasota County School System, she currently works with students and teachers in K-5 at the school site to implement and improve literacy instruction. She conducts model lessons in classrooms and arranges for staff development to help meet literacy needs at Gocio. She also helps facilitate professional book study groups on her campus and throughout the district. Susan was the Sarasota County 2004-2005 Teacher of the Year.
Susan lives in Sarasota with her husband Don and their four sons.
Mellissa Alonso is an assistant principal in Hillsborough County, Florida, where she was formerly a district resource teacher for elementary reading and language arts, writing and delivering literacy training for more than 5,000 teachers. She received the Celebrate Literacy Award from the Hillsborough County Council of the International Reading Association, honoring her contributions to literacy. Mellissa also was named Teacher of the Year for her county in 2005.
Mellissa and Susan Nation
