The BEST English Teaching Resources - On the Wish List 3/3

I love books, any book to do with teaching that could possibly provide some wisdom about learners, about school leadership, about literacy, reading comprehension, writing creatively, and critically, vocabulary improvement, poetry, film. You get the idea! 

Here are a few that I have been eyeing off:

1. 'Digital Games Literacy in Action' Catherine Beavis, Joanne O'Mara, Lisa McNeice $29.95 Published: 2012 EAN: 9 78 1743051 27 6 

http://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=981

Here is the blurb:

Digital Games: Literacy in action is the result of a wide-ranging investigation into the educational possibilities involved in young people's games. From their creation in the classroom to analysing games and the world of games as text, academics and teachers are now taking seriously the serious play of young people.

The contributors use the interaction between the theoretical frameworks of games as text and games as action to explore a wide of range of issues relevant to the teaching of English and literacy. These include understanding games as media texts, the place of digital culture in young people's lives, the narrative and visual design components of games, exploring concepts of role play and identity in games, the potential for games to engage disengaged students, and issues of gender and social interaction in game playing.

Sample Pages

2. '100 Ideas for Secondary Teachers Outstanding English Lessons' Angella Cooze, Mary Myatt $18.16 Published: 2014 EAN: 9 78 1408194 93 5 

http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/100-Ideas-for-Secondary-Teachers-Angella-Cooze/9781408194935

http://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=981

This is a text that I buy my Practicum Students, however, I haven't yet had a good look at the new edition! The old one is wonderful - it has lots of practical suggestions, have a peek here!

Here is the blurb:

100 IDEAS: QUICK - EASY - INSPIRED - OUTSTANDING No notice inspections are something every teacher now has to be prepared for. This accessible new book provides strategies to embed into your everyday teaching to ensure your English lessons are consistently outstanding every day, whether you are being observed or not. Dip in and pick an idea to use as a starter or develop a whole lesson plan from the practical, step-by-step activities included. The ideas will help your students develop strong foundation skills in spelling, punctuation, reading and writing as well as learning how to work together, listen to each other, give great presentations and tackle and analyse different types of text. But it's not all about work! There are strategies for inspiring in your class a love of literature and English by delving into a wide variety of texts - poetry, plays, novels, journalism and Shakespeare. There are also ideas to help you improve your teaching practice, tips on how to create the best learning environment for studying English and specific advice on how to cope with those dreaded Ofsted inspections.

Contents: 

Part 1: Setting the scene
Part 2: Ousted expectations
Part 3: Speaking and listening
Part 4: Reading
Part 5: Writing
Part 6: Fiction
Part 7: Non-Fiction
Part 8: Poetry
Part 9: Drama
Part 10: Spelling, punctuation and grammar.

3. 'An Ethic of Excellence' Ron Berger $25.69 Published: 2003 EAN:9 78 0325005 96 6

https://booko.com.au/9780325005966/An-Ethic-of-Excellence

I have been reading up on Ron Berger as he is speaking at a conference I am attending later in the year. I have read the sample pages from this text and it is evident that Berger is a genuine educator with a lot to offer the field. I love the idea of craftsmanship in terms of students' work in all subjects and that a focus on excellent and 'beautiful' work can empower students and lead to great improvements in their learning.

Here is the blurb:

Drawing from his own remarkable experience as a veteran classroom teacher (still in the classroom), Ron Berger gives us a vision of educational reform that transcends standards, curriculum, and instructional strategies. He argues for a paradigm shift - a schoolwide embrace of an "ethic of excellence." A master carpenter as well as a gifted teacher, Berger is guided by a craftsman's passion for quality, describing what's possible when teachers, students, and parents commit to nothing less than the best. But Berger's not just idealistic, he's realistic - he tells exactly how this can be done, from the blackboard to the blacktop to the school boardroom.

Sample Pages

4.  'Never Work Harder Than Your Students and Other Principles of Great Teaching' Robyn R. Jackson $26.95 Published: 2009 EAN: 978 1 4166 0757 1 http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/Never-Work-Harder-Than-Your-Students-and-Other-Principles-of-Great-Teaching.aspx

I found the link to this text in a blog on Pinterest. 

Here is the blurb:

If it ever feels like teaching is just too much hard work, here's a guide that helps you develop a more fluid and automatic way to respond to students and deliver great teaching experiences every time. Using a short set of basic principles and classroom examples that promote reflection, Robyn R. Jackson explains how to develop a master teacher mindset that ensures you 

1. Always know the right questions that lead students to deeper thinking, increased motivation, and more ownership of learning. 
2. Anticipate which areas of a lesson might give students trouble and correct misconceptions before they cause learning problems. 
3. Use effective feedback to show students what they still need to do to reach an objective. 
4. Organize your teaching knowledge into meaningful patterns that become the basis for your core teaching approach. 
5. Find out where you are on your own journey to becoming a master teacher, which steps you need to take to apply the principles of great teaching to your own practice, and how to advance to the next stage of your professional development. Lots of classroom tips, problem-solving advice, and tools to help you begin practicing the book's principles in your classroom right away.

Sample Pages

5. 'Guiding Readers and Writers Grades 3-6 : Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy' Irene Fountas and Gay-Su Pinnell $62.95 Published: 2000 EAN: 9780325003108 https://www.fivesenseseducation.com.au/shop-online/pearson-teacher-resources-online-and-seven-hills-store-only/guiding-readers-and-writers-

When I first saw this text at Five Senses Education I didn't realise it was aimed at Years 3 - 6. After reading the blurb and looking at the contents, I think many aspects would be applicable in a high school context, especially middle school.

Here is the blurb:

The product of many years of work with classroom teachers, Guiding Readers and Writers is one of the most comprehensive, authoritative guides available. It explores all the essential components of a quality literacy program in six separate sections:

• Breakthrough to Literacy: Fountas and Pinnell present the basic structure of the language/literacy program within a breakthrough framework that encompasses the building of community through language, word study, reading, writing, and the visual arts. The framework plays out as three "blocks," which can be interpreted as conceptual units as well as segments of time within the school day. Specific information on how to structure a reading and writing workshop is provided. A practical chapter on organising and managing the classroom will help you implement the principles in your own classroom.
• Independent Reading: It is essential for students to develop interests and tastes as readers, selecting books for themselves every day. Fountas and Pinnell devote four chapters to independent reading, exploring how to structure teaching, mini-lessons, conferences, groupshare, and ways to use response journals as part of a reading workshop. 
• Guided Reading: The chapters in this section provide detailed information on planning for guided reading, dynamic grouping for effective teaching, and selecting, introducing, and using leveled texts. Fountas and Pinnell describe characteristics of texts related to difficulty and ways to organise texts in your classroom and school. 
• Literature Study: This section of the book discusses how to make students’ experiences with literature as rich as possible. The authors offer specific suggestions for forming groups, guiding student choices, and establishing and teaching routines for literature discussion. A full chapter explores reader response and ways to help readers dig deep to uncover the meaning of texts. 
• Teaching for Comprehension and Word Analysis: This detailed look at the reading process explores both oral and silent reading, processes and behaviors related to comprehension, and ways to help students construct meaning. Included are twelve systems for sustaining the reading process and expanding meaning, plus discussions of the important areas of phonics, spelling, and vocabulary. 
• The Reading and Writing Connection: These chapters showcase the instructional contexts—poetry, writer’s notebooks, writer’s talks, genre, content literacy, and student research—that support students in connected reading and writing. An informative overview of the characteristics of fiction and nonfiction will help you teach students to read and write a variety of genre. What’s more, the authors suggest ways to help students learn the "genre" of testing and perform the kinds of reading and writing tasks that tests require. They also detail the continuous thoughtful assessment that guides all aspects of effective teaching. 
• A special feature appears at the end of each section, in which Fountas and Pinnell provide indispensable suggestions for working with struggling readers and writers.

The Study Guide provides an overview of the text, here is another extract.