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1) Catching Readers Before They Fall

We strongly believe in the power of effective early intervention that provides safety nets for readers who struggle...we would argue that the strongest safety net of all is the classroom teacher.
—Pat Johnson & Katie Keier

Regardless of your approach to literacy instruction, there will always be students who struggle. Meeting the needs of these students calls for a solid understanding of how kids learn to read combined with effective instructional strategies to help them develop their reading processes. Catching Readers Before They Fall guides classroom teachers, literacy coaches, and school leaders who are committed to finding ways to teach all students to read.

Starting with a foundation of reading process systems and the work of Lev Vygotsky and Marie Clay, authors Pat Johnson and Katie Keier tackle word-solving strategies, explain how struggling readers are especially supported by interactive read-aloud, and show how to identify and best teach emergent readers who lack early literacy behaviors and strategies.

Filled with vivid dialogue from diverse classrooms and practical examples, the book illustrates the importance of explicitly modeling comprehension strategies—especially inferring and summarizing. You'll find a host of assessment tools, answers to many common questions from parents about the teaching of reading and writing, and a free downloadable Study Guide with suggestions for discussion topics, group activities, and classroom follow-up.

We've just posted the entire book for preview online; pre-orders will start shipping later this month:

http://www.stenhouse.com/0781.asp?r=n185w

*Special for Newslinks subscribers*
Pre-order Catching Readers Before They Fall at stenhouse.com by March 15 and we'll waive the shipping charge (a $5 value!). Just enter the discount code NLS at the bottom of the "Summary" checkout screen.

Catching Readers Before They Fall
Supporting Readers Who Struggle, K-4
Pat Johnson and Katie Keier • 288 pp • $24.00 • Available now
http://www.stenhouse.com/0781.asp?r=n185w

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2) PD Corner: Question-Answer Relationships

Teaching students to apply the QAR strategy is much more effective than trying to teach to the test...students need access to a rich and full curriculum if we are going to narrow the literacy gap.
—Betty Hollas

It sounds alien. Where did QAR come from? Find out the rationale and research behind Question-Answer Relationships from Florida Online Reading Professional Development. This well-cited research review is followed by step-by-step plans for teaching, adapting, and assessing the strategy across grade levels:

http://forpd.ucf.edu/strategies/stratqar.html

Most students think all of the answers are in the text. Frustration mounts after reading and rereading because they can't find the answer, so they just pick one. Question-Answer Relationships can ease students' frustration and testing anxiety. Reading Quest provides a concise summary and offers clean printable organizers to make teaching the strategy easy:

http://www.readingquest.org/strat/qar.html

Question-Answer Relationships aren't just for reading and language arts. Intervention Central demonstrates how to apply the strategy in math class. Give student pairs or groups completed questions and have them verify the answer using QAR. Try it in your class or share the idea at your next team meeting:

http://www.stenhouse.com/rdmathqar.htm?r=n185w

Learn how to "operationalize" the QAR strategy in your classroom with Betty Hollas's book Question Answer Relationships: A Simple Taxonomy of Questions. Do you ask 40 to 60 low-level questions per hour? Dig in to the research on questioning uncovered in the first chapter:

http://www.stenhouse.com/4026.asp?r=n185w

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3) Encouraging bad writing

I tell [my students] it is a requirement in my class to produce a lot of bad writing. From bad writing, I tell them, the seeds of good writing will eventually grow. Bad writing is necessary before good writing emerges.
—Kelly Gallagher, from his book Teaching Adolescent Writers

Do your students struggle with first-draft writing? See how Kelly Gallagher encourages his students to overcome their fears in this recent "Quick Tip Tuesday" post on the Stenhouse Blog:

http://www.stenhouse.com/rdfirstdraft.htm?r=n185w

Stop by the Stenhouse Blog every Tuesday for a new Quick Tip, and enjoy a weekly poem—most recently children's poems—with our Poetry Friday feature. Sample past posts:

http://blog.stenhouse.com/archives/category/quick-tip-tuesday/

http://blog.stenhouse.com/archives/category/poetry-friday/

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4) See Stenhouse at ASCD in San Antonio this weekend

If you or a colleague will be attending the ASCD Annual Conference in San Antonio this weekend, be sure to plan time to shop at the Stenhouse booth (#1235) to take advantage of our 20% show discount, and enter our drawing for $1,000 worth of Stenhouse books and videos:

http://www.stenhouse.com/pdfs/ascd10drawing.pdf

Jeff Anderson, author of Everyday Editing and Craft of Grammar, will present "Transforming Writing Instruction" from 1:15-2:45pm on Sunday and appear at the Stenhouse booth at 3pm.

Exhibit hours are 9am-4pm Saturday & Sunday and 9am-1pm Monday.

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