Synopses & Reviews
The TOOL for LITERACY you were waiting for!
Designed to help you scaffold your students’ reading and writing, Toolkit for Teachers of Literacy will be the resource you’ll turn to for teaching and assessing literacy!
Diane Nettles presents a hands-on collection of assessment tools and teaching strategies that classroom teachers will love using! Broken down into five parts for quick reference and ease of use, Toolkit for Teachers of Literacy takes the guesswork out of teaching literacy.
Take a look inside…
◊ Section I, Teaching Tools for Reading Instruction, a collection of strategies and tools for teaching, addresses early literacy assessments and ideas, strategies for learning story elements, nonfiction text organizers, comprehension strategies, and classroom management ideas.
◊ Section II, Rubrics for Analyzing Writing, features a set of writing rubrics correlated to benchmarks for grades one through eight and based on Vicki Spandel’s instructional “six traits model” of teaching writing.
◊ Section III, Reading Assessments for the Classroom Teacher, is a complete set of classroom reading assessments such as forms, charts, and complete instructions for administering all of the assessments, including the results from a running record notation.
◊ Section IV, Using Standards-Based Literacy Portfolios, features literacy portfolios organized around the most important components of reading recommended by the National Reading Panel, and outlined in No Child Left Behind: phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.
◊ Section V, Phonics Mini-Lessons: Understanding the Nature of Words, serves as a “refresher course in phonics” for pre-service and classroom teachers, with a set of 14 mini-lessons. Each lesson describes a phonetic element, using words pulled from children’s books.
Blackline Masters of many of the figures and forms described in the book are available online at www.ablongman.com/nettles1e and can be downloaded for immediate use in the classroom.
Meet the Author -
Diane Nettles is a professor at California University of Pennsylvania, teaching literacy courses in the Elementary Education/Early Childhood department. She has taught in various elementary grades, conducted numerous workshops for teachers, and has served as a local consultant on all facets of literacy instruction, classroom assessments, and children’s literature. Additionally, Dr. Nettles is involved in several university/school collaborative projects, and volunteers her time working with children and teachers in local elementary classrooms.
Also available by Diane Nettles:
Comprehensive Literacy Instruction in Today’s Diverse Classrooms: The Whole, the Parts, and the Heart,
Allyn & Bacon
How to Develop a Professional Portfolio: A Manual for Teachers, Fourth Edition (with Campbell, Cignetti, Melenyzer and Wyman), Allyn & Bacon
Portfolio and Performance Assessment in Teacher Education (with Campbell, Melenyzer and Wyman), Allyn & Bacon.
Synopsis
Designed to help you scaffold your students’ reading and writing, Toolkit for Teachers of Literacy will be the resource you’ll turn to for teaching and assessing literacy!
Diane Nettles presents a hands-on collection of assessment tools and teaching strategies that classroom teachers will love using! Broken down into five parts for quick reference and ease of use, Toolkit for Teachers of Literacy takes the guesswork out of teaching literacy.
Take a look inside…
◊ Section I, Teaching Tools for Reading Instruction, a collection of strategies and tools for teaching, addresses early literacy assessments and ideas, strategies for learning story elements, nonfiction text organizers, comprehension strategies, and classroom management ideas.
◊ Section II, Rubrics for Analyzing Writing, features a set of writing rubrics correlated to benchmarks for grades one through eight and based on Vicki Spandel’s instructional “six traits model” of teaching writing.
◊ Section III, Reading Assessments for the Classroom Teacher, is a complete set of classroom reading assessments such as forms, charts, and complete instructions for administering all of the assessments, including the results from a running record notation.
◊ Section IV, Using Standards-Based Literacy Portfolios, features literacy portfolios organized around the most important components of reading recommended by the National Reading Panel, and outlined in No Child Left Behind: phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.
◊ Section V, Phonics Mini-Lessons: Understanding the Nature of Words, serves as a “refresher course in phonics” for pre-service and classroom teachers, with a set of 14 mini-lessons. Each lesson describes a phonetic element, using words pulled from children’s books.
Blackline Masters of many of the figures and forms described in the book are available online at www.ablongman.com/nettles1e and can be downloaded for immediate use in the classroom.
About the Author
Diane Nettles began teaching elementary school in Tampa, Florida, in 1979. While teaching school, she earned her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of South Florida in 1987. She continued to teach fourth grade in Baltimore, and began her university teaching career at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. In 1989, Diane moved to the Pittsburgh area, where she has lived and worked for the past 16 years. She is a professor at California University of Pennsylvania, teaching literacy courses in the Elementary Education/Early Childhood department.
Additionally, Dr. Nettles has conducted numerous workshops for teachers and has served as a local consultant on all facets of literacy instruction, classroom assessments, and children’s literature. She is involved in several university/school collaborative projects, and volunteers her time working with children and teachers in local elementary classrooms.
Dr. Nettles coauthored two books, How to Develop a Professional Portfolio: A Manual for Teachers, and Portfolio and Performance in Teacher Education and is the author of Comprehensive Literacy Instruction in Today's Classrooms: The Whole, the Parts, and the Heart (all of Allyn & Bacon.)
Table of Contents
Introduction
Section One
Teaching Tools for Reading Instruction
Early Literacy Tools
Strategies for Facilitating Work with Story Elements
Strategies for Facilitating Work with Nonfiction Text
Classroom Management Techniques
Section Two
Rubrics for Analyzing Writing
First Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
Middle School
Section Three
Reading Assessments for the Classroom Teacher
Classroom Reading Mini-Assessments
Classroom Reading Assessments: The Complete Running Record
Section Four
Using Standards-Based Literacy Portfolios
How is a Standards-Based Literacy Portfolio Organized?
What Goes into the Standards-Based Portfolio?
Documenting Literacy Abilities
Fluency
Personal Reading
Writing
Section Five
Phonics Mini-Lessons: Understanding the Nature of Words
1: Consonants
2: Vowels
3: Y and Was Vowels
4: R-Controlled Vowels
5: Vowel Digraphs
6: Vowel Diphthongs
7: Schwa
8: Hard and Soft C and G
9: The CVC or Closed Syllable Pattern
10: The CVCe Pattern
11: The CVVC Pattern
12: The CV or Open Syllable Pattern
13: Syllabication Patterns
14: Words with Affixes
Answer Key to Self-Quizzes
References for Toolkit
Children’s References for Toolkit