Real Reading, Real Writing: Content-area strategies by 
Writing Across the Curriculum in Middle and High Schools by
This book lays the foundation of writing instruction with an explanation of the writing process, including classroom examples implemented throughout the curriculum. The levels of writing provide a common-sense way to approach evaluation and at the same time offer practice for writing.
The Theory and Practice of Grading Writing by
Explores grading strategies for English composition teachers that are consistent with modern discourse and pedagogical theories.
How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment and Grading by
What is a rubric? A rubric is a coherent set of criteria for student work that describes levels of performance quality. Sounds simple enough, right? Unfortunately, rubrics are commonly misunderstood and misused. The good news is that when rubrics are created and used correctly, they are strong tools that support and enhance classroom instruction and student learning. In this comprehensive guide, author Susan M. Brookhart identifies two essential components of effective rubrics: (1) criteria that relate to the learning (not the "tasks") that students are being asked to demonstrate and (2) clear descriptions of performance across a continuum of quality. She outlines the difference between various kinds of rubrics (for example, general versus task-specific, and analytic versus holistic), explains when using each type of rubric is appropriate, and highlights examples from all grade levels and assorted content areas. In addition, Brookhart addresses * Common misconceptions about rubrics; * Important differences between rubrics and other assessment tools such as checklists and rating scales, and when such alternatives can be useful; and * How to use rubrics for formative assessment and grading, including standards-based grading and report card grades. Intended for educators who are already familiar with rubrics as well as those who are not, this book is a complete resource for writing effective rubrics and for choosing wisely from among the many rubrics that are available on the Internet and from other sources. And it makes the case that rubrics, when used appropriately, can improve outcomes by helping teachers teach and helping students learn.
Use the library on-line catalog to locate books relevant to your topic.
Unless you know the title and/or author of the book you are looking for, research topics should be searched by Keyword to maximize the number of references for a topic. You can use more than one keyword at a time. For example, the search string "secondary instruction writing" yielded 18 results. Another search string, "teaching writing secondary" yielded 41 results. Many books will span elementary and secondary grade levels. Other books focus on "rhetoric" --the teaching of composition at both secondary and postsecondary levels. A subject search for "language arts" breaks down into 69 subcategories, including "Language Arts Secondary."
Breaking the Rules: Liberating Writers through Innovative Grammar Instruction by
Grammar doesn't have to be a stick-in-the-mud subject-stodgy, traditional, and rule bound. Open the pages of Ed Schuster's book and you'll find an energetic, untraditional, creative means of helping students become independent thinkers and more effective writers. Schuster acknowledges that there ARE bedrock rules of English syntax that should be honored, and offers lesson plans to show how these rules can be taught effectively, in ways that empower students and enable them to write with confidence, authority, and precision. He also examines the history of the other rules, the "myth rules" that are the legacy of traditional school grammar-taught for hundreds of years but infrequently followed outside of the classroom, as shown in numerous examples of the best contemporary writing. He devotes his book to better ways of teaching grammar, usage, writing, and punctuation by teaching the unbreakable rules in such a way that they stay taught debunking the "myth rules" that are commonly taught in class, but infrequently followed in practice trusting students' own intuitive sense of grammaticality appealing to the evidence of the work of his own and others' students and to the best contemporary writing. "Only look and connect" is the guiding principle of Schuster's book. Look at the results of your teaching; look at the facts of language; look at practices of our best writers, both student and professional; look to see which rules really rule. Then connect what you discover to your teaching practice.
Explaining English Grammar by
This book is designed to help teachers understand English grammar and explain it to their students. Each chapter focuses on a problematic area and offers exercises for students as well as teaching ideas.
Literacy and Computers by
Computers, this new collection of essays suggests, are transforming texts, language, and literacy itself. In easy-to-understand language, Literacy and Computers discusses computer-related issues within several larger contexts: the politics, social implications, and economics of literacy education; the roles of authors and readers; the nature of interpretation and subjectivity; and the ways in which human beings construct meaning. The first three parts of the volume examine -- how computers have become part of the classroom -- how electronic networks function as tools for reading, writing, and interpreting texts -- how hypertext, a specialized genre of computer programs, relates to traditional notions of textThe fourth part pulls together the multiple voices of the previous contributions and urges readers to venture beyond early studies of computers in composition classrooms. Addressed to novice and expert computer users alike, Literacy and Computers describes the possibilities -- and the difficulties -- posed by the new technologies.
Paving the Way in Reading and Writing: Strategies and activities to Support Struggling Students in Grades 6-12 by
offers secondary teachers from across the content areas a structured approach for motivating reluctant and disengaged students to tackle difficult reading and writing assignments and thus boost their potential for academic success. Drawing on relevant theory and research and the author's extensive experience as a teacher and teacher trainer, the book presents an arsenal of practical instructional strategiesalong with teacher-tested tools, techniques, and activities forhelping students improve their comprehension of informational andliterary text as well as strengthen their written communications.Activities combining reading and writing tasks are emphasized alongwith graphic exercises for engaging the more visually orientedstudents. The book also provides guidance on using the computer asa literacy tool and on improving students′ grammar, spelling, andresearch skills. In addition, it offers extensive listings ofweb-based instructional resources. <p><br /></p>
Can't find something you need? The interlibrary loan service can obtain the books or articles you are looking for.
Electronic Collaborators by
Two developments in recent years have converged to dramatically alter most conceptions of the teaching and learning process. First, technology has become increasingly interactive and distributed, such that individual learners have available the means to participate in incredibly complex networks of information, resources, and instruction. As these technological advancements facilitate interaction across classroom, university, and worldwide learning communities in both real-time and delayed formats, various instructional design and implementation problems spring forth. Second, the conventional teacher-centered model wherein knowledge is transmitted from the teacher to the learner is being replaced by social constructivist and learner-centered models of instruction. These new learner-centered models place emphasis on guiding and supporting students as they meaningfully construct their understanding of various cultures and communities. As a consequence of these developments, teachers need guidelines from educational researchers about integrating collaboration and communication tools into their classrooms. This volume presents research on such collaborative technology as it facilitates, augments, and redefines academic learning environments. The studies illustrate how schools, teachers, and students are discovering, employing, and modifying the numerous new computer conferencing and collaborating writing tasks and tools, and their effects on social interaction and resulting student learning. Documentation is given that will help teachers to make decisions that productively transform learning environments. Three key objectives underlie this volume: *to discover some of the electronic collaboration tools and formats currently employed by teachers in schools and universities and to situate these within a five-level taxonomy of computer conferencing and collaborative writing tools and approaches; *to examine some of the sociocultural learning variables embedded in the use of electronic collaborative tools and approaches; and *to participate in a dialogue about the importance of student electronic social interaction and dialogue from a sociocultural perspective. This is a must-read volume for all researchers, scholars, graduate students, and practitioners interested in such fields as sociocultural theory, process writing, cooperative learning, learner-centeredness, distance education, peer conferencing and tutoring, mentoring, electronic collaboration, problem- and project-based learning, collaborative writing, and educational reform.
