Choosing appropriate words to express an idea is important to improve students' reading comprehension and writing composition skills. Vocabulary Ladders: Understanding Words Nuances provides second grade students with fun and engaging vocabulary activities to support word knowledge within reading and writing skills. This resource provides a framework to teach related words using a cluster approach that helps students learn many semantically related words at once. With this series, students will discuss differences between themed words, order words and explain their thinking, use words in context, and use words in writing.
Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D., is a Professor of Literacy Education at Kent State University. He is the author of several best-selling books and numerous articles on reading education, word study, and reading fluency. He is a popular and frequent presenter at reading and literacy conferences nationwide. His research is cited by the National Reading Panel in the development of Reading First.
Melissa Cheesman Smith, M.Ed., holds a master's degree in curriculum andinstruction and has been teaching for 15 years. She teaches elementaryfull time, teachers literacy classes for a university, presents atliteracy conferences, and facilitates professional development workshops