Go Teach Brilliantly

Transformative ideas from education’s thought leaders inspire our practice-packed books.

In every PD Essentials book, count on:

• The complex made simple
• The why, what, and how of great teaching, presented succinctly and visually
• Essential connections to content and practice

"We-Do" Writing:
Maximizing Practice to Develop Independent Writers Professional Development Book

Leah Mermelstein

 AVAILABLE MAY 2021 

Your writing lesson was well-modeled, clear, and engaging, but your students were still at a loss when it came time to write independently. Why? There’s a good chance your kids needed more time in the “We-Do” phase of the gradual release model. In this book, Leah shows you how to maximize practice and coaching to better prepare students to write meaningfully on their own. Through the use of uncomplicated structures and systems, she walks you through choosing the right level of support for various teacher goals and student needs. You will get guidance on how to:

• Identify the components of effective writing
• Use specific writing techniques or “sessions” in your daily planning
• Differentiate strategies by grade level and student development
• Improve classroom collaboration
• Build flexibility when responding to students in the moment

Some great writers are born, but many more are made. Allow We-Do Writing to help you nurture young writers by providing them with the skills and confidence to soar.

Meaningful Phonics and Word Study

Lesson Fix Ups for Impactful Teaching

Wiley Blevins

Finally, a book on phonics instruction that helps teachers know how to fix up common weaknesses in their curriculum and materials.

Expert Wiley Blevins has researched packaged programs, workshop settings, and phonics in a successful literacy classroom, and provides dozens of practical ideas to make teaching and learning have a greater impact. Learn to:

• Apply the latest scientific research on how we learn to read
• Harness the power of the 7 foundations of strong phonics instruction
• Tweak your scope and sequence so it contains built-in review and repetition
• Ensure that 50% of your daily phonics lessons are devoted to meaningful reading and writing
• And so much more!

Meaningful Phonics and Word Study  will help you implement explicit, systematic phonics—and make it engaging, active, and thought-provoking.

Meaningful Reading Assessment

Peter Afflerbach and Adria F. Klein

Instruction and assessment ought to be like two peas in a pod. In this practical guide, Peter Afflerbach, a foremost authority on developing effective assessments, teams up with literacy expert Adria Klein to show teachers how to become fluent in meaningful assessment routines. Highlights include:

• Purposeful formative assessment, self-assessment, and student learning goals
• Using tools that reveal reliable, relatable insights
• Knowing readers as people in order to instruct and engage
• Designing and mining daily routines to yield data
• Learning to analyze information, and sharing assessment results thoughtfully

Reading Fluency

Understand. Assess. Teach.

Jan Hasbrouck and Deborah Glaser

Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D., and Deborah Glaser, Ed.D., have written an accessible and thoughtful resource to help teachers understand the complex, essential, and often misunderstood skill of reading fluency. The authors:

• Define the complex skill of reading fluency
• Present an overview of current research
• Offer practical guidance for assessing and developing students’ fluency
• Include specific skill-development activities

In the companion Professional Learning Guide for Leaders, classroom teachers, specialists, and instructional leaders can go deeper into professional study using the tools provided.

Interactive Writing

Developing Readers Through Writing

C.C. Bates

Interactive writing is a powerful practice because it taps into reading and writing and shows children how literacy learning in one area supports another. With this remarkable book, Reading Recovery expert C.C. Bates breaks new ground by showing teachers how to make the link to reading far stronger for students throughout the school day. Teachers discover how to:

• Set up a literacy-rich environment and manage materials
• Engage in interactive writing in whole-group and small-group settings
• Use formative assessments to make in-the-moment decisions
• Teach concepts about print, alphabetic understanding, how words work, and fluency
• Integrate interactive writing across the content areas

Reflective Readers

The Power of Reader's Notebooks

S. Travis Crowder

Imagine the dreamy poet writing in a leather journal about falling leaves. Okay, now banish that thought because with this book, Travis Crowder disrupts those clichés and shares lessons and strategies that crackle with newness. Teachers in grade 5 and up learn to:

• Use Tweets and hashtags to teach students to write small bursts of reflection
• Model the ways a book sparks memory, emotion, conviction, and action
• Look for the tipping points in students’ reflection—and prompt them to dive deeper
• Embrace the idea that fiction and nonfiction authors want us to feel, so that as teachers we develop students’ comprehension by giving value to emotional connections

Schools Full of Readers

Tools for Teachers, Coaches, and Leaders to Support Students

Laura Robb and Evan Robb

Renowned educators Laura and Evan Robb wear their hats of teacher and principal to lay out a plan for how teachers, coaches, and administrators can increase reading volume in any school—no matter what. Highlights include:

• How to focus on the best of the best practices for instructional and independent reading
• Succeeding with streamlined shared leadership so meetings stay short and momentum stays strong
• Listen & Look-For Checklists that help coaches and administrators get more out of classroom visits and guide professional learning and self-reflection for teachers
• Using the 4 Bs—books, brains, budgets, and boldness—to find money, fill libraries, and bring about a reading revolution

Whole-Group Reading Instruction

Adria F. Klein and Peter Afflerbach

Planning and implementing a variety of whole-group reading experiences is no easy feat. With this practical book, teachers get the clear, assured guidance to pull off powerful instruction. Topics include:

• Best practices for read-alouds, shared reading, and mini-lessons
• How to assess to inform instruction, tailored to what is logical and doable in various whole-group settings
• Targeted support for English Learners, as well as suggestions for differentiation for special learning needs
• Suggestions for further reading and key references from reading research
• A glossary of relevant terms so that teams can discuss and develop a common language for collaboration

Small-Group Reading Instruction

Adria F. Klein, Barbara Andrews, and Peter Afflerbach

• Ideas for guided reading, strategic grouping, and close reading
• Strategies to implement best practices successfully in the classroom and monitor progress
• Targeted support for English Learners and suggestions for differentiation for special learning needs
• A glossary of relevant terms so that teams can discuss and develop a shared common language for collaboration

Conquering Dyslexia

A Guide to Early Detection and Intervention for Teachers and Families

Jan Hasbrouck

Dyslexia is no longer a mystery. MRI scans and other tools of neuroscience have advanced our understandings in the last decade. We now know what to do to help students become skilled, confident learners.

In Conquering Dyslexia, Dr. Hasbrouck shares the instructional approaches that work best for children who have this disorder, and the most current information for parents so they can advocate for their children and communicate with educators effectively.

This book addresses:

• • What is dyslexia?
  • How to identify it
  • Early diagnosis and intervention
  • Teaching students
  • Supporting English Learners

At the Reading Table: Striving Readers

Achieving Equity by Scaffolding Strengths

Nancy Akhavan

When teachers are clear in their intentions during small-group instruction, all children can achieve. With this first in a three-book series addressing small-group instruction, Nancy Akhavan shares the precise instructional scaffolds striving readers need, and helps teachers:

• Form groups in culturally sensitive ways
• Activate and build background knowledge
• Ensure students are reading for most of the small-group minutes
• Toggle between teaching and assessment during the sessions
• Use coaching language that develops comprehension and confidence

W I R E for Agency

Four Simple Moves That Transfer Learning

Jenn Hayhurst and Jill DeRosa

  Available March 2021  

When teachers cultivate children’s agency, students achieve. It’s that simple. In W I R E for Agency, two dynamic educators name four simple moves that lead to self-efficacy in students and to responsive teaching.

Teachers learn to:

• Use a framework of Watch, Intend, Reflect, and Engage as a daily tool in workshop or any literacy program
• Address all aspects of agency with concrete actions, including cultural responsiveness, self-regulation, engagement, and growth mindset
• Envision curricula and environments for student-centered learning
• Design collaborative learning experiences that give students practice with goal setting, taking action, and reflecting on progress

Writer's Workshop Made Simple: 7 Essentials for Every Classroom and Every Writer

Patty McGee

  Available Spring 2021  

Let’s face it—Writer’s Workshop has gotten distorted. It’s either bedecked and bedazzled by cutesy extras or done in a lockstep manner that hinders young writers’ natural processes. Teachers are thirsty for guidance, and in this book Patty McGee delivers a streamlined new vision. Each chapter brings us back to the heart of writing workshop while elevating practice with current writing research. Topics include:

• Simple, low-cost moves to build an environment where writers grow
• Tips for pruning that help teachers know what to trim and what to preserve from their current writing approach
• Strategies for building time for writing and writer-centered feedback
• A toolbox of strategies to support writers of all stripes
• Updated ways of using mentor texts

Classroom Management—
Elementary Schools, Early Learning

Routines for Flexible Grouping and Collaboration

Vicki Gibson

Vicki Gibson addresses the special management needs of both elementary and early learning classrooms in these highly readable, practical resources. Topics include:

• Age-appropriate routines and procedures
• Teaching students how to self-regulate and work cooperatively with peers
• Managing whole-group overviews and small-group differentiated instruction
• Using learning centers for collaborative practice, exploration, and discovery

Classroom Management—
Elementary Schools, Early Learning

Implementation for Leaders

Vicki Gibson

Gibson’s Implementation for Leaders Guides provide extensive support for coaches, administrators, and PD professionals as they help teachers deliver effective instruction in well-organized, orderly classrooms. Each guide addresses the specific needs of the grade range.

Classroom Management—Early Learning

Teacher's Handbook

Vicki Gibson

This companion Teacher’s Handbook helps you maximize classroom management implementation training, sharing multiple opportunities for coaches and presenters to include interactive activities in their training, and engaging teachers as they model effective management strategies.

Teaching Responsibility and Respectful Communication

Vicki Gibson

This indispensable guide helps educators and caregivers understand and model the effective behaviors critical to establishing respectful communication in school and at home. Readers will learn how to:

• Identify behavioral habits that need changing or replacing
• Use routines to establish respectful communication and collaboration
• Select age-appropriate choice options and consequences to teach decision-making
• Clarify expectations for performance in everyday experiences and unique situations
• Teach accountability for accepting consequences related to choices

Bonus!

SAVE 20% with Reader's Workshop Professional Learning Bundle!

Establish and enhance your workshop with the Reader’s Workshop Professional Learning Bundle from PD Essentials. This curated collection of professional books provides teachers and staff with exactly the insight and reinforcement they need for successful workshop implementation. Rely on this go-to bundle to:

• Cultivate students to be active readers and writers
• Understand how to bring phonics, word study, vocabulary, and grammar into your workshop
• Help students make crucial connections to content areas
• Develop a high degree of independence and transfer through a workshop model

Each bundle includes a FREE copy of Adria Klein’s Workshop Plus—written from a practitioner’s point of view for teachers at all levels of experience and packed with clear, usable advice.

Peter Afflerbach, Ph.D.

is Professor of Reading in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland. His research includes focus on reading comprehension strategies and processes, verbal reporting, reading in Internet and hypertext environments, and mindfulness.

Nancy Akhavan, Ph.D.

is a nationally known educator and author. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Fresno State, in California. Previously, she has served as an assistant superintendent, principal, coach, and EL teacher.

Barbara Andrews

has worked as a classroom teacher, ESL teacher, and district instructional facilitator. Barbara holds a B.A. in Education from Trinity University, an M.A. in Education from the University of Texas, and an M.A. in Reading from Texas Woman’s University.

C.C. Bates, Ph.D.

is an Associate Professor in Literacy Education at Clemson University in South Carolina, where she is the Director of the Reading Recovery and Early Literacy Center. C.C. has a Ph.D. from Georgia State University in Language and Literacy and is a former classroom teacher and reading interventionist.

Wiley Blevins, Ed.M.

is an early reading specialist who holds an Ed.M. from Harvard. He taught elementary school in both the United States and South America. Wiley has written and edited many phonics and reading materials, and is the author of numerous best-selling professional development books.

S. Travis Crowder

is a seventh grade teacher in North Carolina and an active member of ILA, NCTE, and many of other literacy organizations. He studied literature and language, specializing in British literature, at the University of North Carolina-Asheville.

Jill DeRosa

is a second grade teacher and a district lead teacher charged with providing professional development for her colleagues. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Long Island University, where she teaches preservice teachers. Jill has taught in both private and public school, with a focus in Grades K-3.

Vicki Gibson, Ph.D.

is a national consultant, author, speaker, and trainer. A former Kindergarten teacher and learning-disability specialist, she also started three of her own schools for children ages 2-12 years. Vicki earned her doctorate from Texas A&M University, where she served as a lecturer and adjunct professor for ten years.

Deborah Glaser, Ed.D.

received her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with specific focus on reading and school reform from Boise State University. She is an educational consultant and professional development provider with expertise in reading assessment.

Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D.

is an educational consultant, author, and researcher who earned her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Oregon, and completed her Ph.D. at Texas A&M University. Her research in areas of reading assessment, coaching, and second language learners has been published in numerous professional books and journals.

Jenn Hayhurst

is a creator and co-moderator of the influential weekly Twitter chat #G2Great with Mary Howard and Amy Brennan. She is a literacy coach with a focus on Grades K-3 and has worked as an Adjunct Professor for graduate students completing their practicum at Long Island University, Riverhead.

Adria F. Klein, Ph.D.

is a sought-after educational speaker, author, and expert in literacy instruction; author of children’s books; and director of a center focused on early literacy intervention at Saint Mary’s College of California.

Patty McGee, M.Ed.

is a New Jersey-based educator and literacy leader who envisions learning environments where teachers and students discover their true potential and power. Patty has received the Milken Educator Award (2002), and is a sought-after speaker at ILA, NCTE, ASCD, Learning Forward, and other national conferences.

Leah Mermelstein

Leah Mermelstein is a well-known expert and author on the teaching of writing, reading, and language development. She is a sought-after keynote speaker at national conferences, admired for her close study of students' writing and reading development. As a literacy consultant, she works closely with school districts, teachers, and students, helping develop and deliver quality and cohesive literacy instruction. She holds a Master's degree in Cultural Diversity and Curriculum Reform and aspires to ground all of her work in creating equitable access to children and families. She lives in New Jersey, with her young daughter.

Laura Robb

is the author of more than 35 books on reading and writing. She received NCTE’s Richard Halle W. Award for outstanding middle level educator, and mentors many emerging authors and teachers.

Evan Robb

is Principal of Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville, Virginia. Prior to this, he was an English teacher, department chair, assistant principal, and a junior high school principal. He has received the Horace Mann Educator of the Year Award in recognition of his leadership.