Foreword Acknowledgments A Quick-Start Guide for Easy Access Chapter 1: Each Classroom Moment Is an Instructional Decision Acting Without a Script: Embracing Our Role as Improvisers Answering the "What Next?" Question Intentional Teaching: Decision Making With Students at the Center Self-Reflection Questionnaire: What Type of Decision Maker Are You? Decision-Making Styles Three Common Teaching Habits Let Students Be Your Guide Getting Started: An Action Plan Chapter 2: Decisions About Book Selection Making a Choice to Read Aloud a Nonfiction Text Narrative Nonfiction Persuasive Nonfiction Expository Nonfiction Mash-Ups 5 Ways to Engage Students in Nonfiction Read Alouds Chapter 3: Decisions About Reading Notebooks Why We Really Use Writing as a Tool for Understanding Current Reality: Why Students Write About Reading in School Writing About Reading: An Important Tool for Readers and Their Teachers How to Collect Thinking in Notebook Entries Self-Reflection Questionnaire: Reading Notebooks What We Might Let Go of When Asking Students to Write About Reading Reading Notebooks: An Action Plan Chapter 4: Decisions About Discussion The Benefits: Making Meaning in Texts and Our Lives Teach Students to Have Meaningful Conversations Making Decisions Based on Student Conversations Effective Nonfiction Conversation Characteristics What We Might Let Go of When Asking Students to Talk About Their Reading Self-Reflection Questionnaire: Student Conversations Authentic Conversations: An Action Plan Chapter 5: Decisions About Synthesizing Information What Is Synthesis? Why Is Synthesis So Important? What Other Reading Skills Fit With Synthesis? What to Look for When Students Synthesize Information Thin-Slicing Students' Synthesis Thinking Decide What to Teach Next: Focus on Three Main Choices Synthesis Across Texts Synthesizing Information: An Action Plan Chapter 6: Decisions About Understanding Perspectives What Is Perspective? Why Is Understanding Perspectives Important? What Other Reading Skills Fit With Understanding Perspectives? What to Look for When Understanding Perspective Decide What to Teach Next Reflecting With Students: How Understanding Perspectives Helps Us Understanding Perspectives: An Action Plan Chapter 7: Becoming Confident and Intentional Decision Makers Appendices Appendix A. Nonfiction Book Rating System Appendix B. Some Favorite Nonfiction Texts Appendix C. Clipboard Notes: Reading Notebook Entries Appendix D. Clipboard Notes: Student Conversations Appendix E. Synthesizing Nonfiction Texts Appendix F. Clipboard Notes: Types of Thinking About Synthesizing Information Appendix G. Understanding Perspectives in Nonfiction Appendix H. Clipboard Notes: Types of Thinking About Understanding Perspectives References Index
The authors take the guesswork out of determining students' needs with a moment-to-moment guide focused on the decisions that make the biggest impact on readers' skill development. With this book teachers will learn to trust their instincts and their students to provide information about the next steps that make the most sense for them. Teaching students to engage with and understand nonfiction becomes personal, purposeful, and a homegrown process that can be replicated from year to year.
Gravity Goldberg is an international educational consultant and author of eight books on teaching. Mindsets & Moves (Corwin Literacy, 2015) put her on the world stage with its practical ways to cultivate student agency, leading to speaking engagements and foreign translations of her work. She has almost 20 years of teaching experience, including positions as a science teacher, reading specialist, third grade teacher, special educator, literacy coach, staff developer, assistant professor, educational consultant, and yoga teacher. Gravity holds a B.A. and M.Ed. from Boston College and a doctorate in education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the founding director of Gravity Goldberg, LLC, a team that provides side-by-side coaching for teachers. Renee Houser is a lifelong educator, literacy consultant, and co-author of the series What Do I Teach Readers Tomorrow? Her entire career has been dedicated to supporting students and teachers. She taught in New York City public schools, worked as a staff member at the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, and holds graduate degrees from Old Dominion University and Fordham University. In 2019, she founded Read. Write. Think. with Renee where she serves as an educational thinking partner for schools around the country. In this role, she is able to facilitate collaborative professional learning opportunities, create relevant resources for educators, and be a champion for student success.