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 Fiction Text Thin-Slicing Fiction Texts Picture Books and Wordless Books Short Story Collections Novels Graphic Novels Ways to Engage Students in Fiction 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 Lessons That Wake Up Writing About Reading 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: Finding What's True for Us in Texts and Life Teach Students to Have Meaningful Conversations Making Decisions Based on Student Conversations Effective Fiction Conversation Characteristics Moves for Analyzing Text in Diverse Ways Self-Reflection Questionnaire: Student Conversations What We Might Let Go of When Asking Students to Talk About Their Reading Authentic Fiction Discussions: An Action Plan Chapter 5: Decisions About Understanding Characters Why Understanding Characters Is So Important What Other Reading Skills Fit With Understanding Characters? What to Look for When Students Study Characters Thin-Slicing Students' Thinking About Characters Decide What to Teach Next Studying More Than One Character Harnessing the Power of Partnerships and Book Clubs Understanding Characters: An Action Plan Chapter 6: Decisions About Interpreting Themes Why Interpreting Themes Is Important What Other Reading Skills Fit With Interpreting Themes? What to Look for When Students Interpret Themes Decide What to Teach Next Interpreting Themes in Multiple Texts Interpreting Themes: An Action Plan Chapter 7: Becoming Confident and Intentional Decision Makers Appendices Appendix A. Fiction Book Rating System Appendix B. Some Favorite Fiction Texts Appendix C. Clipboard Notes: Reading Notebook Entries Appendix D. Clipboard Notes: Student Conversations Appendix E. Understanding Characters Appendix F. Clipboard Notes: Types of Thinking About Understanding Characters Appendix G. Interpreting Themes Appendix H. Clipboard Notes: Types of Thinking About Interpreting Themes 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's guidance, teachers can put the authors' next-step resources into action, learning to trust their instincts and students to provide them with information about the next steps that make the most sense for them. Teaching students to engage with and understand fiction becomes personal, purposeful, and a homegrown process that can be replicated from year to year and student to student.
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.