ORC Authors— Looking Back and Looking Ahead

In the coming school year, Adolescent Literacy In Perspective will continue to bring you exemplary articles by regional and national experts in their fields. A quick look at our new "browse archives by author" feature is a reminder of the wealth of knowledge that they've shared with readers these past four years. Many of our feature writers are also authors of professional texts that have been reviewed in "For Your Bookshelf". This month we spotlight a few of them again along with notes about their latest publications and materials to consider for either your own bookshelf or your school's professional library.

Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer's Workshop by Jeff Anderson (Stenhouse, Portland, ME, 2005)
In her foreword to this gem of a book, Vicki Spandel says that reading it is like having a conversation with a trusted coach. Anderson shares his own journey, starting with his stance as a "nongrammarian." Although he had been admonished as a young teacher to teach grammar and mechanics in context, he was struggling with how to do it effectively. Finding that his eighth graders facing high-stakes testing needed explicit instruction, he set out to discover ways to systematically merge grammar and mechanics with craft. Instead of using prepackaged editing programs, which often draw their examples from incorrect usage, he began to use powerful literature and the students' own good writing to do the teaching. He and his students became "sentence stalkers," looking for great ones. Throughout the book, Anderson provides a series of over thirty detailed lessons. His instructional strategies emphasize four key elements: (1) short bursts of daily instruction focusing on "high pay-off" grammar and mechanics rules during writer's workshop, (2) the use of high-quality mentor texts to teach grammar and mechanics in context, (3) visual scaffolds, including wall charts, and visual cues that can be pasted into writer's notebooks, and (4) regular, short routines, like "express-lane edits," that help students spot and correct errors automatically. Throughout the text, Anderson weaves in a strong research base for his practice.

The appendix features ready-to-use activities such as "Sentence Smack Down," visual scaffolds for sentence patterns, mini handbook pages, and several succinct lists, charts, and guides. A glossary of grammar, usage, and mechanics terms includes Anderson's own helpful mnemonic devices.

"Changing the prevailing negative attitude toward the teaching of grammar and mechanics is my mission," writes Anderson. This book, filled with humor, passion, practical advice, and actual classroom photos and vignettes, will do much to answer that need. [Review originally published in the May/June 2007 issue]

Jeff Anderson's new book is Everyday Editing: Inviting Students to Develop Skill and Craft in Writer's Workshop (Stenhouse, Portland, ME, 2007).

Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science, and Math: Practical Ways to Weave Comprehension Strategies into Your Content Area Teaching by Laura Robb (New York: Scholastic, 2003)
Laura Robb's first chapter is entitled "Rethinking Content Area Reading." Throughout her book, she guides readers on that journey, frequently inviting them to pause and reflect upon their own practices. She addresses the challenges to building a constructivist classroom where learning is an active process. Robb shows how to teach responsively by tuning in to students' strengths and weaknesses and then scaffolding instruction to support students as they learn. She proposes a three-part learning framework and provides abundant examples of key practices to use before, during, and after learning. Each strategy lesson contains the following components: "How It Helps You," "Purpose," "Materials," "Guidelines," and, finally, a detailed "Strategy Snapshot" drawn from an actual classroom. The easily accessible format includes pictures, text boxes that highlight tips and key information, and student work samples. Although Robb's rich model lessons are drawn from grades 3-8 classrooms, high school content-area teachers will find them easily adaptable. [Review originally published in the April 2007 issue]

Laura Robb has two new books coming out (both to be published by Scholastic). Differentiating Reading Instruction is slated for publication this month (November). Poems for Teaching in the Content Areas, written by J. Patrick Lewis with teaching ideas provided by Robb, is set to be published next month.

They Still Can't Spell? Understanding and Supporting Challenged Spellers in Middle and High School by Rebecca Bowers Sipe (Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH, 2005)
In her foreword to Rebecca Sipe's book, Kylene Beers says, "They Still Can't Spell? moves to the forefront something that, when taught correctly, can then move to the background of students' knowledge." Concerned about the spelling struggles of middle, high school, and college students, Sipe and a team of four teacher researchers conducted case studies for a full academic year. This book shares their findings and the implications for instruction. Sipe and her colleagues discovered that spelling difficulties contributed to a lack of self-efficacy for many students and impacted their sense of self as a reader and writer. After identifying four categories of challenged spellers, the researchers confronted the challenges in their classrooms by weaving spelling instruction into their reading and writing workshops. Sipe incorporates detailed descriptions of how they used personal spelling dictionaries and lists, reflection logs, mini-lessons, wordplay, and strategy instruction to help students take charge of their own spelling. Especially valuable are the actual student voices heard throughout the book.

In addition, a chapter on developing a schoolwide spelling policy offers guidance for creating consistent expectations and a climate for spelling growth across the curriculum. The twelve appendixes at the end of the book include a spelling history writing prompt, an error analysis chart, various student logs, helpful reference lists of words and rules, an annotated bibliography, and much more. [Review originally published in the March 2007 issue]

Rebecca Sipe has coauthored a new book with Tracy Rosewarne: Purposeful Writing: Genre Study in the Secondary Writing Workshop (Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH, 2006).

Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom by Rick Wormeli (Stenhouse, Portland, ME, 2006)
Rick Wormeli thoroughly addresses assessment and grading practices in differentiated middle and high school classrooms, but goes far beyond. He also offers an outstanding general guide for supporting colleagues as they move toward successful practices for differentiated teaching. Defining differentiation as "doing whatever it takes to maximize student learning at every turn, including giving them the tools to handle anything that is undifferentiated," his book helps establish a mind-set for basing instruction on formal and informal assessments. From how to focus on EEK (essential and enduring knowledge) or KUD (know, understand, able to do) when designing great assessments to how to create responsive gradebook and report card formats, this resource provides compelling insights and models. Wormeli helps the reader consider questionable currently popular grading practices, and he also identifies approaches to avoid. Wormeli's thoughtful discussions explore creating good test questions, developing substantive versus fluff assignments, tiering assessments, and establishing conditions for redoing work for full credit. A goal of differentiated instruction, according to Wormeli, is not to make learning easier for students, but to provide "the appropriate challenge that enables students to thrive." This book stimulates deep reflection and offers practical suggestions for making wise instructional decisions that will be fair to all students. A glossary of assessment and grading terms is included. [Review originally published in the February 2007 issue]

Rick Wormeli's new book is Differentiation: From Planning to Practice, Grades 6-12 (Stenhouse, Portland, ME, 2007).

A few other new books by our authors: Janet Allen has written a new book on vocabulary, Inside Words: Tools for Teaching Academic Vocabulary (Stenhouse, Portland ME, 2007). (If you wish, you can preview the book online.) Also Evangeline Newton, Nancy Padak, and Tim Rasinski have collaborated to create Evidence-Based Instruction in Reading: A Professional Development Guide to Vocabulary (Pearson Allyn & Bacon, Boston, 2007).

Sheila Cantlebary is a reading content specialist at the Ohio Resource Center. As a former teacher in Columbus Public Schools, she taught English, language arts, and reading (7-12), served as a K-12 English language arts coordinator, and was a teacher in the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow program. Her teaching experience also includes facilitating State Institute for Reading Instruction and English Language Arts Academy sessions.

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