Phyllis Tashlik

Teachers everywhere are tired of literacy strategies that seem to inhibit rather than support student engagement in reading, writing, talking, and thinking. They’ve learned that overly scripted materials fail to prepare students for the challenge of a college option and, what’s worse, result in kids turning off to learning. Back to the Books offers new ways to think about creating a culture of literacy in your school. Both the book and DVD follow seasoned teachers and examine the strategies they’ve used to engage students in the excitement of both making texts meaningful and creating their own texts. The DVD features extensive classroom footage and interviews with teens that demonstrate ways to create a literacy culture in your school—a culture that encourages adolescents to read, write, and think critically about books.

This resource offers the basics to help you set up and maintain a successful service-learning program in your school. The book answers questions that teachers and administrators might have about the nuts and bolts of the program and includes an array of ideas for school-wide discussions and activities that focus on the importance of serving the community. The DVD follows students as they attend a series of diverse sites in New York City, including a pre-K classroom, a museum, a kitchen in a homeless shelter, and an activist group that recycles bicycles for shipment to Third World countries. Book features include: strategies to help you match student interests and talents; sample midterm and final evaluation forms; lists of sample sites appropriate for teenagers; and, suggestions for discussion groups about community service.

This classroom-based resource explores how both teachers and students learn the skills of discussion in content areas across the disciplines. Student reflections and teacher talk provide lively examples of how discussion plays a pivotal role in inquiry-based classrooms, developing students’ basic skills of critical analysis and helping them become lifelong learners, able to confront and research any topic. ContentsIntroduction1.;What Do We Mean by Discussion?2.;Why This Film?3.;What is the Difference Between Information-Based and Discussion-Based Teaching?4.;How Are Classes Organized Around Discussion5.;What Techniques and Tools Develop and Support Discussion?6.;How Can Students Be Prepared for Discussion?7.;How Can Teachers Be Prepared to Lead Discussion?8.;What Are the Particular Difficulties of Teaching a Discussion-Based Class?