College professors often inform their students of the importance of professional development and the need for lifelong learning. They extol the virtues of professional organizations such as the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English so they can stay informed about current practices and research findings, as well as be part of the professional conversation. As part of staying connected and abreast of the latest information in the areas of literacy, those same professors may remind their students that their learning and reading should not end once they have received a teaching certificate but should continue throughout their teaching career and beyond in an effort to stave off complacency and find new ways to remake their classrooms. Reading professional books, at least one each year, is one way to insure they examine their practice and breathe new life into their teaching. This week’s book reviews from members of the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group focus on recently-published professional books.

Barnhouse, Dorothy. (2014). Readers Front & Center: Helping all Students Engage With Complex Texts. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Although the texts used in teachers’ classrooms matter a great deal, so do the students in those classrooms. Acknowledging the disconnect between the increasingly complex texts teachers must use and their students’ abilities to navigate those texts, the author provides clear tips about individual, small group, and whole group reading instruction that is sure to help teachers figure out ways to address their students’ needs. She even encourages teachers to find ways to listen to their readers and how they work through a text. Each chapter contains a useful tool box with information on planning and implementing strategies. For the practical-minded, Barnhouse also includes charts that enable young readers to note how books work and trace their thinking as readers. With six chapters focusing on reacting in smarter ways, including Noticing Smarter, and Deciding Smarter, steps that occur before the actual teaching, followed by pedagogy chapters,  “Teaching Smarter: Noticing and Naming,” “Teaching Smarter: Stepping Students Up to Do More Complex Thinking in Independent Reading,” “Teaching Smarter: Stepping Students Up to Do More Complex Thinking in Small Groups,” and “Teaching Smarter: Stepping Students Up to Do More Complex Thinking in Read-Aloud and Shared Reading,” the book offers tips for helping students grapple with challenging texts.

—Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Duffy, Gerald G. (2014). Explaining Reading: A Resource for Explicit Teaching of the Common Core Standards. (Third Ed.)  New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Some books on reading are treasured and simply never go out of style. This is one of those reading resources teachers have come to trust because it makes reading instruction less mysterious and more skill set to be taught to students. With a special focus on students in grades K-8 who struggle with reading, the book contains 30 explicit reading instruction examples linked to the English language arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Since the tasks described in the text are authentic, teachers should be able to apply the author’s suggestions readily as they model instruction for students and differentiate their instruction. This updated edition contains new or revised teaching examples and explores close text reading. There are five chapters discussing comprehension and what the author calls foundational principles, but most of the book is dedicated to examples that show teachers how to align their instruction with the CCSS. For instance, Example one focuses on Reading for Key Details (Key Ideas and Details—RL Standard 1). Clear, concise, and highly useable, this resource is a goldmine of helpful teaching ideas.

—Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Ganske, Kathy (Ed.). (2014). Write Now! Empowering Writers in Today’s K-6 Classroom. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

In this edited book divided into three sections and ten chapters, several authorities on reading and writing share practical tips that will help beginning and struggling writers in grades K-6 feel more comfortable as they learn to write.  Supported by research, the techniques are based on practices that have been found effective in classrooms. There are chapters about how to teach students writing basics and encourage them to write about what they are reading as well as how to address the requirements of the Common Core State Standards. With selections on how to use mentor texts, writing workshop, argumentative writing, persuasive writing, and four chapters on how to excite budding writers, this book offers plenty of new writing strategies while revisiting some tried and true ones. For teachers looking for different approaches, the chapters on digital writing and multigenre writing may be just what they need to reinvigorate themselves and their own writing instruction. It’s possible that the book may even awaken a need to write in the teachers who read it.

—Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Lent, ReLeah Cossett, & Gilmore, Barry. (2013). Common Core CPR: What About the Adolescents Who Struggle…Or Just Don’t Care? Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE/Corwin Literacy.

With seven chapters brimming with practical ideas and conversation about how to reach reluctant or disengaged teen readers, this book is a wake-up call distinguishing fantasy from reality. While it would be satisfying if all of the nation’s high school graduates emerged with diplomas and the ability to read and analyze complex texts, that is not the case. Instead, the authors point out more than a million students fail to graduate from high school each year. That number doesn’t take into account the other disenchanted teens who lost interest in reading years earlier. The authors identify what they like about the CCSS and then show teachers ways to incorporate strategies that will reach those reluctant readers and turn them into readers who are engaged with texts and ideas. Fully aware that change takes time and that teaching is work, the authors will convince readers to look for opportunities to find that one moment, that one assignment or that one book that may change a student’s life, leaving him/her excited about what is being learning. The authors suggest choice and relevance are particularly important when teachers are making assignments and that teachers must use thoughtful questioning as they model what close reading is. This refreshing book does exactly what its title purports—providing CPR for the legions of teachers and students overwhelmed by the Common Core.

—Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

McLaughlin, Maureen, & Overturf, Brenda J. (2013). The Common Core:  Graphic Organizers for Teaching K‒12 Students to Meet the Reading Standards. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

The authors of The Common Core: Teaching K–5 Students to Meet the Reading Standards (International Reading Association, 2013) and The Common Core: Teaching Students in Grades 6–12 to Meet the Reading Standards (International Reading Association, 2013) were particularly interested in helping students learn how to think through the Common Core State Standards.  As part of their exploration of those standards, the authors created graphic organizers for use in their teaching. Available only as a PDF e-book, this helpful resource provides 40 organizers aligned with the Common Core College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards. The frameworks are also connected to several Common Core English Language Arts State Standards for all grades and can.be adapted for use in various primary grades. Teachers can use the graphic organizers to work with their students on topics such as essential story elements and informational text structures. The authors strongly suggest that teachers provide explicit instruction in how to use the graphic organizers, explaining how each one works and modelling its use. Once familiar with the book and its resources, teachers will find themselves using it on a daily basis.

—Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Rami, Meenoo. (2014). Thrive: Five Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching. Portsmouth, MH: Heinemann.

Most new teachers enter the profession brimming with enthusiasm and determination to make a difference in their students’ lives. Armed with newly-acquired teaching certificates as well as pedagogical skills and knowledge, they can’t wait to teach reading, writing, mathematics, and science. But often their first year(s) of teaching are challenging, making them question their fitness to teach or whether they should stay in the profession. The author has been in exactly that point during her teaching career, often feeling overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of students she was expected to teach, her isolation from colleagues, and unsureness about whether her teaching was having a positive impact on her students. But instead of fleeing the profession or suffering silently, this English teacher took actions that would make her teaching and herself thrive. Drawing from her own involvement in professional communities, she suggests finding a mentor, joining and building a network, insuring that your work challenges you intellectually, listening to what you have to say, and empowering your students. These are also the titles of the book’s five chapters, all of which contain advice, personal vignettes from the author, and teacher stories from those who are still in the classroom. The book is written in a lively, engaging fashion, easily drawing in and retaining readers in search of positive ruminations on teaching, this much-maligned profession. Not only will the book revive your teaching, but it just may make your days in the classroom more joyful.

—Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Scoggin, Jennifer. (2014). Be Fabulous: The Reading Teacher's Guide to Reclaiming Your Happiness in the Classroom. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

It’s no secret that teaching is not an easy profession. Many teachers leave the profession once they realize that there are so many skills that students need to master and that they are expected to teach. But teaching those skills is often not enough to satisfy teachers who want to do more than just prepare their students for college or a job. While those skills and goals may be important, teaching also involved creating community by sharing one’s identity as a teacher and a reader. The author, who blogs on “It’s Not All Flowers and Sausages,” shares teaching stories that remind readers of the reasons they decided to become teachers as well as effective literacy practices that will bring some of the delights of teaching back into their lives. It isn’t easy to teach new skills or something as complex as reading to youngsters. In conversational fashion with examples along the way, the author encourages readers to come up with their own reading instruction philosophy and then use authentic and relevant assessments. She also firmly suggests that teachers work to create relationships with students and colleagues and insure that their classroom space encourages the best from them and their students.  Especially enlightening is Chapter 7 “Let's Get Fabulous: Why We Need to Take Back Control over Our Teaching” since it empowers teachers, something this profession sorely needs. Reading this book with its seven chapters, all starting with “Let’s Get,” followed by “Real” or even “Physical” in Olivia Newton-John fashion, will not only remind readers just how fabulous they are as individuals, but also serve as a celebration of all that is so fabulous in their own teaching and within their own classrooms.

—Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Serravalo, Jennifer. (2013). The Literacy Teacher’s Playbook, Grades 3-6. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Data seems to be everywhere these days, driving classroom instruction and affecting teaching on a daily basis. Sadly, that data and assessments often used today are frequently misused and misunderstood. In four chapters the author shows teachers how to avoid drowning in assessments and use assessments helpful to them. She explains how to collect and analyze useful data as well as how to synthesize the data from various sources, and then develop instructional plans for students based on those assessments. Since following students’ progress is essential to instruction that helps students meet their targeted goals, the book also provides ways to monitor progress. Additionally, to alleviate teachers’ anxieties about how to use the assessment materials they have collected, the author provides two assessment packets from students with different needs. By examining the downloadable data, teachers can follow the author’s suggestions about how to use what is provided to inform their instruction. These examples allow teachers to build confidence in their own abilities to collect and use data in their own classrooms. In some respects, teachers are no different from sports coaches who rely heavily on their own playbooks to figure out their next playing or coaching strategies.

—Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Shannon, Patrick. (2013). Closer Readings of the Common Core. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

In this edited book of nine short chapters, the author has invited literacy experts to ask and answer some tough questions about the Common Core. Not only do they look at the history and content of these standards, but they also explore their possible impact on today’s teachers, students, and classrooms. As with any change or reform movement, there are certain underlying assumptions, and the authors actually consider those assumptions about students and how they learn that have informed the CCSS. Perhaps most important of all, the authors examine their possible impact on education in this nation, predicting how it is likely to affect schooling in the future. The chapters are thoughtful and somewhat provocative and provide teachers with the information they need to make informed decisions about their own classrooms and students. Readers may find the chapters “Common Core Children,” “Texts and Teens: Separate and Unequal,” and “When Standards Means Standardization” particularly compelling, but all of the chapters provide material over which to mull.

—Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Smith, Michael W., Appleman, Deborah, & Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. (2014). Uncommon Core. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE/Corwin Literacy.

It’s no surprise “Common Core” seems to permeate conversations in faculty lounges and seep through the pages of just about every recently-published text on teaching. It is also not surprising that there is much disagreement and misinterpretation of those Standards. With seven chapters, including a unit on “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” that illustrates the authors’ precepts about the Standards, the book addresses some of the misunderstandings surrounding what has been called “Standards-aligned” instruction, and tries to get to the heart of the Standards. After critiquing some of the exemplar lessons provided for teachers by others with little regard to research from the past two decades, the authors provide helpful research-based teaching student-friendly suggestions, including the use of prereading activities can help students meet the strategic and conceptual demands of texts, strategy instruction that encourages careful and critical text analysis, and inquiry units with questions sure to inspire classroom discussion and critical thinking. Practical, thoughtful, and well written, this book is a much needed addition to the tsunami of words and assumptions swirling around the CCSS. It breathes fresh air into the already-stale conversation about those Standards and their impact on today’s classrooms. Teachers who only have time for one book on this topic should certainly choose this one.

—Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman<

These reviews are submitted by members of the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Reading Today Online.