While reading Debbie Miller's book, Reading with meaning, or viewing her Happy reading! video series, one wonders at Debbie's ability to orchestrate a buzzing classroom full of first-graders into a cooperative literacy community. The Joy of Conferring lets us focus in with Debbie and see what happens at the individual level as she conducts reading conferences with her students. About the author: Debbie Miller taught and learned from children in the...

Guided reading has long been recognized as a dynamic process that supports children's skills as readers in all genres, yet fiction accounts for over ninety percent of the texts we select for these small-group encounters. If children are to be empowered, life-long readers, who read for many different purposes, they need concentrated, small-group encounters with informational texts. In this series, Tony Stead works with third-grade teacher Lisa Elias...

Stepping up with literacy stations provides teachers in third grade and up a way to tap into the energy and excitement of this innovative management and learning system. This video takes viewers into diverse third and fifth grade classrooms, where Debbie Diller coaches and guides children and their teachers through the process of designing and implementing stations. While many of the components and topics of the intermediate literacy stations are...

In A day of words, fifth-grade teacher Max Brand demonstrates how he helps students search for, study, and celebrate words. Taped over the course of one day, we see distinct word instruction segments that Max has planned, along with many spontaneous teaching moments that occur for word work. Students learn more than just spelling skills or vocabulary knowledge; they become more naturally accomplished in their understanding and use of words in all...

Small groups are a crucial element of every teacher's reading program, and their importance only grows as teachers work with more diverse learners. Spotlight on small groups gives viewers an in-depth look at two reading groups led by master teacher and author Debbie Diller. Debbie leads the groups through a structured routine (introduction, guided practice, conferring, check-in, and more practice), demonstrating how to balance whole-group and differentiated...

This lively video invites you to join Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, authors of Strategies that work, in an middle years reading workshop where students engage in real-world literacy. In this classroom, kids use comprehension strategies to better understand what they read. They grapple with issues, information and ideas that provoke thinking and spur thoughtful conversation. Read, write and talk provides a framework for literacy, supporting readers...

First-grade teacher Debbie Miller chronicles her work teaching reading comprehension in her popular book Reading with Meaning. In this series, Debbie takes you beyond comprehension instruction, and shows how she sustains a thoughtful primary reading program that challenges and supports readers of all abilities and needs. How does Debbie create a learning environment that fosters such sophisticated talk around texts? How is comprehension instruction...

"Documentary of stunning breadth and beauty, transports viewers over nine countries and across 1,400 years of cultural history to reveal the astonishing riches of Muslim arts, crafts, and architecture. Exploring distant locations and many rare pieces of art, the film illuminates the history of a global culture, reflecting the Islamic world as it developed over centuries and as it is today."--Container.

Teachers of adolescents are under enormous pressure to cover more content in their disciplines, to make instruction more relevant to students, and to help students acquire the reading skills they need to succeed on standardized tests and beyond. In this video set, high school teacher Cris Tovani brings viewers into her school and classroom and shows how she and her colleagues are meeting the challenge of improving students' reading skills across the...

Literacy attendance is an alternative to the traditional attendance roll at the start of the day. Students have the option of sharing reading or writing activities from home when their name is called, and teachers gain insight into students' literacy behaviors in the home environment. The daily activity is scheduled for no more than ten minutes, and provides teachers with a wealth of insight into literacy learning beyond the classroom. About the author:...