Text Complexity: Stretching Readers with Texts and Tasks – Second Edition

When it comes to choosing texts for the classroom, educators have a lot of questions. Should we be looking at levels, lexiles or other readability criteria? Do we limit kids to “just-right” books? How can we scaffold instruction to help struggling readers access age- and grade-appropriate material? This book has answers! The authors cover quantitative…

Teaching Beginning Writers

In this book, the authors share background information on how writing develops, and a research base for three key elements: handwriting, spelling and composition. The following chapters provide practical classroom advice for teaching all three, including several chapters dedicated to genre-specific writing instruction: book reviews (opinion), narratives and description, and how those progress from K-2….

Syntax: Knowledge to Practice

This book, from the Literacy How Professional Learning Series, covers relevant research, knowledge that educators need, activities, assessment and information on selecting and using texts to support syntax instruction in the classroom. Classroom educators from K-3 and those who provide intervention for older learners would benefit from this book, which is also informative professional development…

Reading For Life: High Quality Literacy Instruction For All

In Reading For Life, author Lyn Stone holds nothing back when sharing research and best practices for literacy instruction, and outlining why some past beliefs and practices have to go for the sake of our students and their reading and writing development. Section 1 covers structured literacy components such as oral language, phonological awareness, phonics,…

Next STEPS in Literacy Instruction: Connecting Assessments to Effective Interventions

This book is a fantastic resource aligning closely with much of the new Ontario Language Curriculum and reinforcing how assessment can inform our instruction and interventions in order to best help students succeed in literacy. It’s valuable learning for classroom educators, those working in coaching/consulting roles and those in special education. While targeting skills typically…

10 Success Factors for Literacy Intervention: Getting Results with MTSS in Elementary Schools

This excellent, reader-friendly book helps bring the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework to life in the area of literacy, with 10 success factors to help elementary schools get results with MTSS. Success factors include “Group by Skill Deficit”, “Monitor Progress with an Appropriate Assessment”, “Use Intervention Time Wisely” and “Invest in Professional Development”. This…

Thinking Reading: What Every Secondary Teacher Needs to Know About Reading

This reader-friendly book, written by two educators, provides great background and professional learning related to reading development, and particularly how it applies in the older grades. While the title includes the word « secondary », junior and intermediate teachers in Ontario could all benefit from reading this book. Information includes how we learn to read and misconceptions…

Literacy Foundations for English Learners: A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence-Based Instruction

This title is a must-read for any educators working with multilingual learners (MLLs) of all ages, referred to in the book as English Learners (ELs). It affirms the necessity of a structured literacy approach for these students, while adding in the extra layers of support that may also be beneficial (e.g., comparing English and home…

Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy

Bringing together theory, research, and practice to dismantle Anti-Black Linguistic Racism and white linguistic supremacy, this book provides ethnographic snapshots of how Black students navigate and negotiate their linguistic and racial identities across multiple contexts. By highlighting the counterstories of Black students, Baker-Bell demonstrates how traditional approaches to language education do not account for the…