In this book, two seasoned teachers show how to set reading goals, assess students to ensure goals are being met, and carry out instruction. Stressing that there are many ways to determine where students are and just as many ways to determine where to take them, they give teachers the tools to make that journey. They open with overview chapters on reading workshop and “the first six weeks” and move to detailed chapters on independent reading, read-aloud, whole-class instruction, small-group instruction, and conferences. In short, they provide a model for assessment-informed instruction.

Day-to-Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop: Making Informed Instructional Decisions in Grades 3–6

Education & Teaching

Szymusiak, Karen

Sibberson, Franki

Schools & Teaching

Scholastic Professional

Provides guidance on meeting the needs of transitional readers who have moved beyond leveled books, and supplies instructional tools that can be used to aid students in becoming independent, strategic readers.

Beyond Leveled Books

Routledge

Franki Sibberson's fourth- and fifth-grade students use binders to organize their weekly news magazines in a compilation for use throughout the year. In this classroom vignette, the students use these magazines collected and organized over many weeks as part of their social studies curriculum considering the legal system. After the classroom sequence, Franki and Karen Szymusiak, an elementary principal, discuss the many natural curriculum extensions that come from having an assortment of current short text at every student's fingertips for skimming, sorting, and classifying throughout the year.

Making the Most of News Magazines (DVD)

Stenhouse Publishers

In the first edition of Beyond Leveled Books, Franki Sibberson and Karen Szymusiak, offered a much-needed perspective on moving transitional readers from the basic supports of leveling to independent book selection. Seven years later, drawing on their continued research and expanding roles as authors and literacy consultants, Franki and Karen, along with colleague Lisa Koch, present a new updated and expanded edition of this "useful and eye-opening book." [Education Reviews, 2001]
In Beyond Leveled Books, Second Edition the authors provide even more resources to help teachers understand and meet the needs of transitional readers. The key topic of series books has been revised and enlarged, with charts outlining new series with the challenges they pose and supports readers need. New lessons have been added, and most chapters now include a related article from a literacy expert. Some of the contributors include Kathy Collins, Larry Swartz, and Mary Lee Hahn.
The book also features an entirely new section covering grades K-1, that explores the uses and limitations of leveled texts in primary reading instruction. Among the highlights of this new section are ideas for how to organize your classroom library and a list of great books to use alongside leveled text in supporting new readers.
Packed with examples of classroom instruction, sample mini-lessons, strategies for small-group instruction, assessment techniques, and student work, this new edition expands what was once a great little book that filled a gap for teachers in intermediate grades into an essential resource for independent reading instruction from grades K-5.

Koch, Lisa

Foreword by Colby Sharp In the decade since the first edition of Still Learning to Read was published, the prevalence of testing and the Common Core State Standards have changed what is expected of both teachers and students. The new edition of Still Learning to Read focuses on the needs of students in grades 3–6 in all aspects of reading workshop, including reading workshop, read-aloud, classroom design, digital tools, fiction, nonfiction, and close reading. The book stays true to its original beliefs of slowing down and knowing our readers, but it also takes into account the sense of urgency that changing times and standards impose on classrooms. This edition examines current trends in literacy, includes a new section on intentional instructional planning, and provides expanded examples of mini-lessons and routines that promote deeper thinking about learning. It also includes a brand new chapter on scaffolding for reading nonfiction and showcases the authors’ latest thinking on close reading and text complexity. Online videos provide glimpses into classrooms as students make book choices, work in small groups, and discuss their reading notebooks. Expanded and updated book lists, recommendations for digital tools, lesson cycles, and sections specifically written for school leaders round out this foundational resource.

Still Learning to Read

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Szymusiak, Karen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Szymusiak, Karen

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Szymusiak, Karen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Day-to-Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop: Making Informed Instructional Decisions in Grades 3–6

Beyond Leveled Books

Making the Most of News Magazines (DVD)

Beyond Leveled Books

Still Learning to Read