Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning / Edition 1

by Mike Schmoker

Overview

Bestselling author Mike Schmoker describes a plan for radically improving student learning that is built on three core elements: a focused and coherent curriculum (what we teach); clear, prioritized lessons (how we teach); and purposeful reading and writing, or authentic literacy.

With this "less is more" philosophy, educators can help students learn content at a deeper level, develop greater critical thinking skills, and discover more clearly how content-area concepts affect their lives and the world around them. Both a call to action and a blueprint for creating more effective classrooms, Focus: Elevating the Essentials for Radically Improved Student Learning will challenge your assumptions about schooling and show how educators who have embraced this approach quickly achieved spectacular results.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416611301
Publisher:	Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development
Publication date:	11/21/2011
Series:	Leadership & Learning Center Series
Pages:	229
Sales rank:	1,068,349
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Mike Schmoker, Ed.D., is a former teacher, administrator and coach. He is the author of several best-selling books, one of which was a finalist for "book of the year" by the Association of Education Publishers. He has authored dozens of articles for educational journals, newspapers, and TIME magazine. In an Education Week survey of national educational leaders, he was identified as among the best sources of practical "nuts and bolts . . . advice, wisdom and insight" on effective school improvement strategies. Dr. Schmoker is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award by the National Association of Secondary School Principals for his publications and presentations. As a much sought-after presenter, Dr. Schmoker delivers keynotes and consults internationally including throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, China, and Jordan.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Section I First Things First: What We Teach, How We Teach-and Literacy

Chapter 1 The Importance of Simplicity, Clarity, and Priority 9

Chapter 2 What We Teach 25

Chapter 3 How We Teach 50

Section II Curriculum, Instruction, and Literacy in the Content Areas

Chapter 4 English Language Arts Made Simple 93

A Brief Note on Textbooks 128

Chapter 5 Social Studies with Reading and Writing at the Core 131

Chapter 6 Redefining Inquiry in Science 163

Chapter 7 Making Math Meaningful 194

Conclusion: This Time, Let's Do It 217

References 219

Index 229

About the Author 237

What People are Saying About This

Gerald Graff

Mike Schmoker gets it right in this trenchant diagnosis of why American schools are failing: Even when the teachers are all good, the school curriculum is a poorly organized clutter that diffuses students' attention rather than focusing it on the essentials they need to learn to be college-ready. Schmoker's book itself is a model of how to cut through the curricular clutter in precisely the way schools need to do.

John Hattie

Schmoker has lit a fire in this book to make clear that there are right ways, across all curricula domains, to promote the acquisition of knowledge, deeper understanding, greater curiosity, and fun in learning.

Sam Wineburg

This is a brave, powerful book, brimming with good ideas and plainspoken common sense. Forswearing the fads of the day, Schmoker reminds us of what the sales force of "new and improved" professional development wants us to forget: We already know what good teaching looks like—and we've known it for a while. The real question is: Do we have the will to make it happen? This powerful book shows us the way