Love & Literacy: A Practical Guide to Finding the Magic in Literature (Grades 5-12)

by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, Stephen Chiger

Overview

When our students enter middle and high school, the saying goes that they stop learning to read and start reading to learn.  Then why is literacy still a struggle for so many of our students?  The reality is that elementary school isn’t designed to prepare students for Othello and Song of Solomon: so what do we do?

Love and Literacy steps into the classrooms of extraordinary teachers who have guided students to the highest levels of literacy.  There is magic in their teaching, but that magic is replicable. It starts with a simple premise:  kids fall in love with texts when they understand them, and that understanding comes from the right knowledge and/or the right strategy at the right time.

Love and Literacy dissects the moves of successful teachers and schools and leaves you with the tools to make these your own:

• Research-based best practices in facilitating discourse, building curriculum, guiding student comprehension and analysis, creating a class culture where literacy thrives, and more
• Video clips of middle and high school teachers implementing these practices
• An online, print-ready Reading and Writing Handbook that places every tool at your fingertips to implement effectively
• Discussion questions for your own professional learning or book study group

Great reading is more than just liking books: it’s having the knowledge, skill, and desire to experience any text in all its fullness.  Love and Literacy guides you to create environments where students can build the will and wherewithal to truly fall in love with literacy. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781119751656
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	05/18/2021
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	284,867
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

PAUL BAMBRICK-SANTOYO is the Founder and Dean of the Leverage Leadership Institute and Chief Schools Officer for Uncommon Schools. He is author of several books, including Leverage Leadership 2.0, Driven by Data 2.0, Great Habits, Great Readers, and Get Better Faster.

STEPHEN CHIGER is a Director of Literacy for Uncommon Schools. Named 2015 Educator of the Year by the New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, Chiger taught high school English and journalism for more than a decade.

Table of Contents

Online Content xv

How to Access xv

Print-Ready Materials xv

Videos xvii

Acknowledgments xxiii

About the Authors xxvii

About Uncommon Schools xxix

Introduction: The Call to Love 1

The Moves Behind the Magic 5

A "Practical Guide": What You'll Find in the Book 5

Turning on the Light: See It, Name It, and Do It 6

See It: Videos and Work Samples 6

Name It: Core Ideas and One-Pagers 7

Do It: Materials to Make it Happen 9

Who should Use this Book and How? 11

Literacy as a Love Story 14

Part 1 What's My Dream for Kids? 15

1 Build a Complexity Curriculum 21

Defining the Dream 21

Defining Complexity 25

Curricular Complexity 30

Quantitative Complexity 36

Qualitative Complexity 38

Task Complexity 42

2 What Does It Mean to "Get It"? 49

Understanding Complex Texts 49

Build Background Knowledge 54

Read Everything for Claim 65

Read for Analysis 82

Part 1 Conclusion 99

Part 2 What Will I See When Students "Get It"? 105

3 Make It Visible 109

Set the Bar with an Exemplar 110

Teach Students to Talk to Their Texts 117

Generate a Written Response 127

4 Look for It 131

Make Independent Practice a Habit 131

Don't Just Circulate, Monitor 133

Pen in Hand-Give Quick Feedback 138

Collect Data on the Trend and Act on It 140

Part 2 Conclusion 143

Part 3 What Will I Hear When Students "Get It"? 147

5 Set the Stage for Discourse 151

Define Discourse 152

Get Ready to Listen 153

Find the Productive Struggle 154

Activate or Drop Knowledge 157

Launch the Discourse Cycle 164

Maximize Student Talk 170

6 Build Habits of Discourse 177

Build Habits of Discourse 101-Create Conversation 178

Build Habits of Discourse 201-Deepen Discourse 181

Stamp the Learning 192

Case Study: Putting It All Together 194

Part 3 Conclusion 205

Part 4 How Do I Build It? 209

7 How Do I Create a Culture Where Reading Thrives? 213

Expand their World: Read Broadly and Often 214

Call them Home: Remind Students of Reading's Gifts 216

Call them Home: Center Student Voice 226

8 How Do I Get Started? 239

Assess the State of Literacy in your Classroom 239

Start with the Highest Leverage Area 243

Make an Implementation Plan 245

Breaking It Down: The Rollout 249

Script the Rollout 252

Create a Year-Long Implementation Plan 260

9 Frequently Asked Questions 263

Part 4 Conclusion: There and Back Again 273

Closing: The Call to Love 277

Discussion Guide 279

Endnotes 283

Index 303