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1) Fostering independence in your primary writers

How do we honor the varied developmental stages of our youngest students while teaching necessary skills? When is the appropriate time to introduce writing conventions? And perhaps most important, how can we help primary students become independent writers?

Veteran teacher and author Jennifer Jacobson encourages teachers to set high expectations from the start, allow students to move through the writing process at their own pace, and steadily build independence. Her new book, No More "I'm Done!", provides a series of practices—setting up the classroom environment, establishing routines, and a whole year's worth of mini-lessons—that will give your students a vision of independence and the desire and confidence to achieve it.

No More "I'm Done!" will start shipping from our warehouse in late February, and you can preview the entire book (and pre-order) online now:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0784.asp?r=n183w

No More "I'm Done!"
Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades
Jennifer Jacobson • 176 pp • $19.00 • Available late February
http://www.stenhouse.com/0784.asp?r=n184

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2) Introducing the Stenhouse spring lineup

In addition to No More "I'm Done!", we are happy to announce the rest of our spring lineup of new books. Follow the links below for details and to pre-order on our Web site (full-book previews coming soon!):

Catching Readers Before They Fall: Supporting Readers Who Struggle, K-4
Pat Johnson and Katie Keier
272 pp • $24.00 • Available late March
http://www.stenhouse.com/0781.asp?r=n183w
Explains the complex integrated network of strategies that goes on in the minds of proficient readers, and offers prompts and lessons that teachers can use to help struggling readers use skills and strategies effectively.

Zeroing in on Number and Operations: Key Ideas and Common Misconceptions
(4-book series)
Linda Dacey and Anne Collins
Each: 64 pp spiral-bound flipchart • $15.00
Available late April
http://www.stenhouse.com/079W.asp?r=n183w
Organized into grade levels (1-2, 3-4, 5-6, & 7-8), each flipchart in this series provides 30 research-based, classroom-tested modules that zero in on the key mathematical strategies and concepts essential for those grades, while highlighting the importance of teacher language in skill development.

Pyrotechnics on the Page: Playful Craft That Sparks Writing
Ralph Fletcher
168 pp • $19.00 • Grades K-8 • Available late April
http://www.stenhouse.com/0783.asp?r=n183w
Demonstrates how playful craft can energize student writing and breathe new energy into the writing workshop. Includes an in-depth look at the kind of language play commonly used by writers, 24 new craft lessons, and an extensive bibliography of relevant mentor texts.

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3) PD Corner: Using short texts for strategic instruction

Rather than reading less with short texts, my students were reading more.
—Kim Campbell

High school English teacher Kelly Gallagher uses an "Article of the Week" to build background knowledge and practice strategic reading to improve comprehension. Students also use the articles to improve their own writing. Sometimes our biggest challenge is finding articles to use. Visit Kelly Gallagher's Web site to download the articles he's using in his classroom this year:

http://kellygallagher.org/resources/articles.html

And you can watch Kelly talk about the motivation for the assignment in this 3-minute clip from his DVD, Article of the Week:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0794.asp?r=n183w

Looking for short articles about current events organized by grade level? You might know Time for Kids as a classroom subscription, but you can also access their current events articles and magazines online. Find short articles organized with text features such as headings and subheadings to use for strategic instruction:

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/magazine

Do your readers draw conclusions from nonfiction, but struggle determining theme with paired texts? For a variety of short texts, visit Jim Burke's "Weekly Reader" resources. Annotated and organized by genre, find links to images, essays, poetry, and more. Create paired text strategy lessons or use as weekly practice pieces:

http://englishcompanion.com/classroom/weeklyReader.htm

Do you sell students short when you focus instruction and reading time on short texts? Kim Campbell doesn't think so, but she too struggled with the idea. Review her thinking about teaching literature with short texts in Chapter 1 of Less Is More:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0710.asp?r=n183w

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4) Summer institutes with Harvey, Miller, and Tovani

Join best-selling authors Stephanie Harvey (Strategies That Work), Debbie Miller (Reading with Meaning), and Cris Tovani
(I Read It, but I Don't Get It) at a three-day literacy institute, August 10-12 in North Carolina. Each morning features a keynote address by one of the authors and an interactive activity for all participants; breakout sessions by grade range in the afternoons provide ample time to delve deeply into literacy issues unique to each level. For details and registration info, download this flyer:

http://www.stenhouse.com/harveymillertovaniERG10.pdf

You can also catch Stephanie Harvey at one of her "Reading Is Thinking" institutes this summer in Chicago or New York. Highlights include an in-depth comprehension overview, inquiry circles and how they work, teaching with short text, and assessment:

Chicago (June 23-24)
http://www.stenhouse.com/RIT10Chicago.pdf
New York (July 27-28)
http://www.stenhouse.com/RIT10NewYork.pdf

Cris Tovani's three-day Rocky Mountain Reading Conference will be held in Denver, June 28-30. Topics include thinking strategies, making thinking visible, options for assessment, and progress monitoring & RTI:

http://www.stenhouse.com/RMRC10.pdf

And Debbie Miller will present two workshops—"Having At It: Creating Cultures of Thinking and Understanding" and "Thoughtful Choices: Showing Students How"—at the Georgia Conference on Teaching Writing and Reading, June 8-9 in Perry, Georgia:

http://www.dodgelearning.com/dynamic/perry.html
(Click on the "Brochure PDF" link; details on Debbie's sessions are on page 4.)

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5) There's still time to contribute your best teaching metaphor

Our Metaphors & Analogies Ning group is generating a lot of interesting instructional metaphors, ranging from mechanical (conveyor belts and elevators; flashlights vs. flood lights) to the handcrafted (patchwork vs. tapestry) to the athletic (NFL playoff brackets)—along with enlightening exchanges about how to use metaphors effectively in the classroom. And Rick Wormeli has chimed in on several discussion threads.

We've extended this event to Sunday (January 31) so there's still time to contribute a teaching metaphor for a chance to win a free copy of Metaphors & Analogies, or just check out the ongoing discussion:

http://stenhouse.ning.com/group/metaphorsandanalogies

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