Books
The Teacher’s Toolkit for Independent Reading
With the Teacher’s Toolkit for Independent Reading, teachers will have everything they need to prepare, model, track, and manage effective, student-centered conferring sessions with confidence.
Included in the Teacher’s Toolkit for Independent Reading
Teaching Materials
Supporting Independent Readers: 25 Answers to Your Most Frequently Asked Questions About Conferring professional book, Grades 3–5
Grade-level specific Your Everyday Guide for Conferring, Grade 3, 4, or 5
Teacher’s Reading Notebook, Grades 3–5
Teaching Texts booklet, Grade 3, 4, or 5
Conferring Organizer and Management System
3-ring binder with 32 rewritable tabs and 5-pocket accordion storage area for the professional book, Your Everyday Guide to Conferring, Grade 3, 4 or 5 and Teaching Texts booklet, Grade 3, 4, or 5.
Teacher sticky notes
Student sticky notes
Convenient zippered binder pouch for storing sticky notes and pens
Companion Website Access
Videos: 20–30 videos for sustained professional development and learning
Video Viewing Guide
Downloadable tools from the grade-level Your Everyday Guide for Conferring, Grade 3, 4, or 5 and professional book
FAQ
Developed by authors and educators Gravity Goldberg and Renée Houser, each grade-level specific Teacher’s Toolkit for Independent Reading for grades 3–5 provides an all-in-one conferring system to help teachers:
Access ready-to-use teaching texts, a curriculum guide with grade-level specifics for teaching with focus, and tools to engage students in their individual reading process and progress.
Learn and model essential independent reading skills for their students.
Build the confidence to focus on responsive, personalized discussions with students.
Organize and easily access teaching materials and student progress notes in one place.
Gain ready access to expert conferring advice provided in the professional book, online videos, and Facebook Community.
“Tools help us step into our roles as professionals because they become a part of our identity – think about how different Clark Kent acts when he has his cape on. Tools bolster our confidence because they help us feel prepared for what might happen.”
What Do I Teach Readers Tomorrow?
Discover how to move your readers forward with in-class, actionable formative assessment. Authors Renee Houser and Gravity Goldberg provide a proven, 4-step process―lean in, listen to what readers say, look at what they write, and assess where they need to go next.
Next-step resources for whole-class, small-group, and one-on-one instruction, including:
Reproducible Clipboard Notes pages for quick assessments
More than 30 lessons to get you started
Tips for what to look for and listen for in reading notebook entries and conversations about books
Sample classroom conversations
Online video clips of Renee and Gravity teaching and debriefing
Streamline formative assessment for readers in just minutes a day. With What Do I Teach Readers Tomorrow? learn how to move your students forward in their reading with this 4-step process—lean in, listen to students’ talk about books, look at their writing about reading, and then make teaching decisions based on what they’ve conquered and what challenges they need to take on next.
This practical approach shows you how to notice when readers are doing mostly literal, “right there” on the page thinking; when they are doing “over-time” synthesizing across a text; and when they are ready to kick into high gear and connect ideas across texts and real word themes.
Strategies for deepening the three most prevalent types of thinking about characters: Right-Now Thinking (on the page), Over-Time Thinking (across a picture book, a chapter, or a novel), or Refining Thinking (nuanced connections across text and life themes)
Strategies for deepening the three most useful types of thinking—frames, patterns, lessons learned—about themes
“These books exemplify the intersection of excellent scholarship and practical application for teachers in the field. They beautifully illustrate those essential metacognitive processes in a progression, and this helps teachers see how instructional decisions become instructional moves that translate into high cognitive demand learning experiences for students. This series an invaluable teaching tool for those who want to implement authentic Balanced Literacy experiences for their students.”
