Simple Starts: Making the Move to a Reader-Centered Classroom

“You can do this!
You can help kids fall in love with reading.
You can fill your classroom with piles of amazing books kids will be itching to get their hands on.
You can find stretches of time every single day during which kids read books they care about.
You can observe, respond, and interact with your readers in powerful and meaningful ways.
You can make it happen, starting today.”
―Kari Yates

You don’t become an amazing reading teacher all at once. Someone shows you where to begin. Someone who has taught every kind of reader and coached teachers just like you. Someone like Kari Yates. Simple Starts is Kari’s getting-started guide to creating the reading classroom of your dreams―and your students’. Teacher to teacher, she distills research and best practice into essentials that help you:

• Engage readers with books they’ll love
• Provide kids the time for reading and discussion
• Nurture independence through choice
• Guide students’ growth and yours by asking “What’s next?”

Conversational, practical, and inspirational, Simple Starts is filled with teaching strategies, quick reflection charts, example anchor charts, and teacher know-how from thirty years in classrooms and schools.

“What’s next is simple,” writes Kari Yates. “You don’t have to know everything about books or reading. You just need to follow a few simple steps.” With Kari and Simple Starts you’ll do it. So come on in! Your kids are counting on you, and it’s time to bravely begin.

Kari Yates is the author of the Heinemann title Simple Starts. She has dedicated her professional life to helping readers and their teachers take the small steps necessary for success. Her start came as an elementary teacher and led her to become a reading interventionist, a special education teacher, and a principal. She is now a program manager for literacy and English Learners, helping teachers and administrators plan for amazing literacy instruction. Visit her at SimplyInspiredTeaching.com and connect with her @Kari_Yates.