Top Ten Must Have Books
[Top Ten Must Have
Books] [Patricia Cunningham &
Four Blocks Books]
[Phonics ~ Phonemic
Awareness ~ Spelling] [Writing &
Writer's Workshop]
[Reading ~ Guided
Reading ~ Reader's Workshop]
[Integrated Curriculum
& Balanced Literacy] [Marvelous Math
Books]
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Thanks for visiting the KinderKorner Bookstore!
This page has my Top Ten Must Have books on it.
The following pages have other books organized by topic.
Guided
Reading: Good First Teaching for All Children
by Gay Su Pinnell and Irene C. Fountas
I've practically worn out my copy of this terrific book on developing
a guided reading program. Contains great information on creating
a set of leveled books (with wonderful indexes of hundreds of pre-leveled
books sorted by both level and title for easy reference), setting up a
school bookroom, how to take a Running Record, managing your classroom
during guided reading (or "what are the rest of the kids doing?"), creating
Literacy Centers, and more! Great for Four Blocks teachers, too.
Literacy
at the Crossroads
Critical
Thinking About Reading, Writing,
and
Other Teaching Dilemnas
by Regie Routman ~ from Heinemann
Another book that has taken changed the way I teach.
Routman asserts that teachers can no longer remain silent as the
campaign for "back to basics" teaching grows stronger. So much of
the criticism is based on misconceptions about what constitutes good teaching
-- here is a book that clarifies, offers suggestions, and provides the
impetus to make a difference.
Should be required reading for all teachers, regardless of grade
level or subject taught ... there's so much here to learn from!
And
With a Light Touch:
Learning
About Reading, Writing, and Teaching With First Graders
by Carol Avery and Donald Graves
This is the first book I purchased on setting up and implementing
a Writer's Workshop. I heard Avery speak at the Whole Language Umbrella
Conference several years ago, and I couldn't wait to try out her techniques
in my own classroom. This is a terrific book on how to create
an integrated-curriculum classroom, where children are immersed in meaningful
tasks while learning to read and write. Inspirational, easy to use,
delightful to read, and grounded in literacy research. Highly recommended!
Joyful
Learning: A Whole Language Kindergarten
by Bobbi Fisher (1991)
Although the term Whole Language is no longer politically correct
(it's been replaced by Balanced Literacy, and I think the two are fairly
interchangeble), this is an outstanding and inspirational book! Fisher
describes her kindergarten classroom and how it evolved into an integrated
curriculum environment. I've used this book for many years in creating
a classroom with developmentally-appropriate activities. All early
childhood educators should own this book.
Classrooms
That Work: They Can All Read and Write
by Patricia Cunningham & Richard L. Allington
Cunningham's best book to date on how to design a language arts
program to meet the needs of ALL your students. With her latest tried-and-true
research-based methods, Cunningham and co-author Allington give you advice
straight from the classroom.
Phonics
They Use : Words for Reading and Writing
by Patricia Cunningham
This is my favorite book for working
with Word Walls and teaching phonics in a fun and easy fashion. This
book will tell you everything you need to know for the Working With Words
block of the 4 Blocks method. Another book provided to every primary
teacher in my district, and one that I keep on my reading table for easy
reference. A must-have for 4 Blocks teachers and anyone who wants
to accelerate reading, writing, and spelling in their classroom!
Easy
Lessons for Teaching Word Families:
Hands-On
Lessons That Build Phonemic Awareness, Phonics,
Spelling,
Reading, and Writing Skills
by Judy Lynch (Scholastic, December 1998 ~ 128 pages)
This wonderful new book is getting LOTS of use in my classroom right
now!
I found it the first week of March, and have been using it 3 days
a week since then. Lynch's book is the perfect accompaniment to Cunningham's
Making
Words and the lessons are easy to follow and build upon
each other in a systematic fashion that appeals to kids and teachers, using
word families and high frequency words.
Highly recommended!
The
Scholastic Integrated Language Arts Resource Book:
Complete,
Thematic, Cross-Curricular
by Valerie Schiffer Danoff
An oustanding book for designing an Integrated Literacy program
across the curriculum for emergent readers. This book has it all,
and you'll use it all year long as you plan themes, create centers, plan
daily calendar and daily letter activities, create interactive pocket charts,
set up a productive writer's workshop, and so much more. This is
a definite *must have* book for new teachers as well as experienced teachers
looking for new ways to tie it all together.
30% off Scholastic's price
Thematic
Units for Kindergarten
by Kristen Schlosser
Units include Alphabet, Food, Eggs, Bears, Halloween, Thanksgiving,
Fall, Zoo, Clothes, Spring, Transportation, Weather, Babies, Valentine's
Day, Winter, and more! From the author of the wonderful pocket chart
book, Building
Literacy With Interactive Charts: A Practical Guide for Creating 75 Engaging
Charts from Songs, Poems, and Fingerplays. A must-have
book for any kindergarten or first grade teacher looking for integrated
curriculum and good activities for centers.
Mosaic
of Thought ~ Teaching Comprehension in a Reader's Workshop
by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmermann
(Heinemann 1997)
This was the first selection for our online
professional reading group, and it's a thrilling book to read and use,
regardless of the grade you teach. Using Keene's suggestions, you'll
guide your students in making connections between what they're currently
reading, things they've read in the past, their personal experiences, and
their knowledge of the world at large. By discussing literature,
you'll model how to create sensory images, ask questions, draw inferences,
determine what's important, synthesize ideas, and solve problems, and soon
your students will be doing it themselves. Sound too simple?
I put Keene's methods into use in my classroom as I read each chapter,
and my kids became extremely excited about the connections they were making!
These techniques merge seamlessly into your Guided Reading, Shared Reading,
Independent Reading, and Literacy Circle programs, modeling and encouraging
students to think for themselves and share their thoughts with other students.
Their conversations will surprise you after a few short weeks with this
book. Great for 4 Blocks classrooms and others.
Looking for more ideas?
My bookstore pages have lots of information on how I use various materials in my classroom, and on activities you can do with your students. The thematic pages are complete unit resources, with lots of poems, songs, and links on each page. Make yourself comfortable and take a look around!
Choose from the categories below.
Underlined subjects are links, the
other ones are coming soon!
