Kylene Beers

Dear Teachers, This new edition of When Kids Can't Read--What Teachers Can Do, like the original edition, is based on my bedrock belief that reading, though not an innate ability for anyone, is a critical skill for all. Reading changes us. It changes the way we think, the way we see the world, the way we process information and dream new thoughts. It allows us to discover more about ourselves and the world around us so that we might become better versions of ourselves, so we might fully participate in our communities and our nation, so that we might flourish intellectually, emotionally, creatively, and socially as passionate and compassionate beings. And when we don't read, when kids can't read, all that is gone. We lose that ability to learn in this transformative way. We run the risk of being manipulated by others. We are diminished. And in that moment of being less, all around us might suffer, too. Our understanding of complex issues then becomes dependent on what someone else tells us. When kids can't read the result is far worse than lowered test scores. The result is an illiterate life. This new and updated second edition recognizes that helping kids who struggle with reading means knowing how to help kids with: Comprehension: literal and inferential meaning Word Work: phonics, fluency, spelling, and vocabulary Engagement: required and independent reading, relevance, and motivation When Kids Can't Read recounts my journey with one student who changed the course of my professional career, and it is your guidebook for your own journey with your students as you discover What Teachers Can Do. --Kylene Beers

In Forged by Reading, Beers and Probst reflect on the role of reading in a democratic society. It is a book that helps us to understand why creating independent readers and writers is critical to the health of our world. Beers and Probst argue that reading and writing are the tools of literacy. This is critical because the history of literacy has largely been about the suppression of that power and privilege. Written in 2020 against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the death of George Floyd and the ensuing emergence of the anti-racism protests, this is a book about literacy and the opportunity for change it offers to our society. This book examines the inequalities of our world through the lens of literacy. Rachel Clarke, Independent Reading Consultant

With their hallmark humour, Beers and Probst present a vision of what reading and what education across all the year groups could be. In particular, they share new strategies and ideas for helping classroom teachers create engagement and relevance, encourage responsive and responsible reading, deepen comprehension and develop lifelong reading habits. "An essential book for teachers looking to engage children deeply in the books they read. Beers and Probst show how to engage children in reading at a textual, intellectual and emotional level so they…respond to them personally and collectively and ultimately come to see their reading as a tool for shaping the world around them." Rachel Clarke, Independent Reading Consultant

Visit www.heinemann.com/ReadingNonfiction for special previews, videos, and more. Also available: Reading Nonfiction Student Bookmarks and Notice & Note/Reading Nonfiction Signpost Student Bookmarks "When students recognize that nonfiction ought to challenge us, ought to slow us down and make us think, then they're more likely to become close readers." That means we need to help them question texts, authors, and, ultimately, their own thinking. No matter the content area, with Reading Nonfiction's classroom-tested suggestions, you'll lead kids toward skillful and responsible disciplinary literacy. Picking up where their smash hit Notice & Note left off, Kylene Beers and Bob Probst write: "Fiction invites us into the writer's imagined world; nonfiction intrudes into ours and purports to tell us something about it." This crucial difference increases the responsibility of the nonfiction reader, so Kylene and Bob have developed interlocking scaffolds that every student can use to go beyond a superficial reading: 3 essential questions that set students up for closer, more attentive readings of nonfiction texts 5 Notice & Note nonfiction signposts that cue kids to apply the skills and processes that sophisticated readers use instinctively 7 proven strategies readers can use to clear up confusions when the text gets tough. We all know the value of helping students define nonfiction and understand its text structures. Reading Nonfiction goes the next crucial step--helping kids challenge the claims of nonfiction authors, be challenged by them, and skillfully and rigorously make up their mind about purported truths.

"Just as rigor does not reside in the barbell but in the act of lifting it, rigor in reading is not an attribute of a text but rather of a reader's behavior--engaged, observant, responsive, questioning, analytical. The close reading strategies in Notice and Note will help you cultivate those critical reading habits that will make your students more attentive, thoughtful, independent readers." --Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst Also available: Notice & Note/Reading Nonfiction Signpost Student Bookmarks Notice and Note Book Club Facebook Page In Notice and Note Kylene Beers and Bob Probst introduce 6 "signposts" that alert readers to significant moments in a work of literature and encourage students to read closely. Learning first to spot these signposts and then to question them, enables readers to explore the text, any text, finding evidence to support their interpretations. In short, these close reading strategies will help your students to notice and note. In this timely and practical guide Kylene and Bob: examine the new emphasis on text-dependent questions, rigor, text complexity, and what it means to be literate in the 21st century identify 6 signposts that help readers understand and respond to character development, conflict, point of view, and theme provide 6 text-dependent anchor questions that help readers take note and read more closely offer 6 Notice and Note model lessons, including text selections and teaching tools, that help you introduce each signpost to your students. Notice and Note will help create attentive readers who look closely at a text, interpret it responsibly, and reflect on what it means in their lives. It should help them become the responsive, rigorous, independent readers we not only want students to be but know our democracy demands. A new Notice and Note Literature Log offers students practice finding the signposts--with over-the-shoulder coaching from Kylene and Bob. Save with 5-packs.

Students’ backpacks bulge not just with oversize textbooks, but with paperbacks, graphic novels, street lit, and electronics such as iPods and handheld video games. This book is about unpacking those texts to explore previously unexamined assumptions regarding their usefulness to classroom learning. With a strong theoretical grounding and many practical examples, the authors speak to both skeptical instructors who favor traditional canonical literature and to technology enthusiasts who already use popular music or video in their classrooms. Each chapter includes teacher, administrator, media specialist, librarian, and student voices; classroom activities; adaptable lessons; and professional study-group questions.Bring It to Class features: A researched rationale for using pop culture in middle school and secondary classrooms as well as school libraries and media centers. Field-tested teaching approaches that will connect adolescents with school-based learning and motivate their literacy practices in and out of class. An easy-to-use format that includes classroom vignettes, sample lessons, and a glossary of key terms.

While many books decry the crisis in the schooling of African American children, they are often disconnected from the lived experiences and work of classroom teachers and principals. In Change Is Gonna Come, the authors look back to go forward, providing specific practices that K–12 literacy educators can use to transform their schools. The text addresses four major debates: the fight for access to literacy; supports and roadblocks to success; best practices, theories, and perspectives on teaching African American students; and the role of African American families in the literacy lives of their children. Throughout, the authors highlight the valuable lessons learned from the past and include real stories from their own diverse family histories and contemporary classrooms.

While many books decry the crisis in the schooling of African American children, they are often disconnected from the lived experiences and work of classroom teachers and principals. In Change Is Gonna Come, the authors look back to go forward, providing specific practices that K–12 literacy educators can use to transform their schools. The text addresses four major debates: the fight for access to literacy; supports and roadblocks to success; best practices, theories, and perspectives on teaching African American students; and the role of African American families in the literacy lives of their children. Throughout, the authors highlight the valuable lessons learned from the past and include real stories from their own diverse family histories and contemporary classrooms.