Re-envisioning the Literacy Block: A Guide to Maximizing Instruction in Grades K-8

How do you ensure you’re using literacy instruction effectively to meet the needs of all of your students? In this book from Diana and Betsy Sisson, you’ll learn an innovative approach to using the literacy block in a gradual release model that allows you to provide grade-appropriate teaching as well as meaningful, individualized instruction to close the academic gaps of struggling learners and offer accelerated experiences for advanced students.

What’s Inside

·Part I of the book lays out the authors’ framework for the Core Block.

·Part II explains how to use the re-envisioned block to integrate the core components of word study, vocabulary development, strategic reading instruction, writers’ craft, and expanded reading opportunities,,

·Part III reveals how to use differentiation, project-based learning, and assessment to prepare students for new literacy demands.

·The appendix provides literacy block schedules, tools for phonics development and morphology study, and correlations to the Common Core.

Each chapter includes practical tools and examples, as well as "In Action" boxes show how the ideas look in an authentic classroom.

Diana Sisson and Betsy Sisson are international literacy consultants focusing on professional development and school improvement. They also serve as adjunct professors in the fields of teacher preparation, curriculum and instruction, research in literacy, and special educational programming.