Book Club Plus! a Literacy Framework for the Primary Grades

by Taffy E. Raphael, Kathy Highfield, Susan Florio-Ruane

This highly-anticipated addition to the Book Club series builds on solid methodology and 10 years of classroom research. Book Club Plus! presents a framework for instruction that allows primary-grade teachers to achieve important goals:

meeting the dual obligations of literacy instruction-letting children work in meaningful ways with texts that are both age- and reading-level appropriate

including substantive content in a literacy curriculum to make learning to read not just a process, but an exploration of ideas and content

organizing all literacy activities and routines in the classroom to make reading, writing, and talking support one another as children learn

building a classroom environment that meets the needs of all learners within a coherent organizational framework

meeting state and district standards while promoting a love of reading and learning

Book Club Plus! A Literacy Framework for Primary Grades addresses each of these goals and presents the research and practices behind them. It also offers practical advice on adapting Book Club Plus! to any primary-grade classroom in any school district. Introductory chapters cover such topics as content and curriculum, writing, talk in the classroom, assessment and classroom management. Other resources include sample lesson plans and schedules, theme-based unit guides, detailed book lists and book synopses, assessment resources, and reproducibles.

Author Biography:

Taffy E. Raphael, Ph.D., is a member of the Curriculum & Instruction faculty in Literacy Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, teaching courses related to methods of instruction, teacher research, and related topics. Prior to joining the UIC faculty, Dr. Raphael has taught and conducted research at the University of Utah, Michigan State University, and Oakland University. Dr. Raphael's work in teacher education was recognized by her receipt of the Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award from the International Reading Association, May, 1997. Dr. Raphael's research has focused on Question Answer Relationships and strategy instruction in writing, and, for the past decade, Book Club, a literature-based reading program. Throughout these research projects, she has studied teacher learning and professional development through teacher study groups. She has published in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Research in the Teaching of English, The Reading Teacher, and Language Arts. She has co-authored and edited several books on literacy instruction, including The Book Club Connection: Literacy Learning and Classroom Talk (Teachers College Press, 1997), Book Club: A literature-based Curriculum (Small Planet Communications 1997, 2002) and Book Club for Middle School (Small Planet Communications, 2001); and Literature-Based Instruction: Reshaping the Curriculum (Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc., 1998). She is co-author of Super QAR for Testwise Students published by Wright Group (2002). She has served as National Reading Conference Board member, treasurer and president, as well as on the editorial board of Journal of Literacy Research, Reading Research Quarterly, Language Arts, and the review board for The Reading Teacher. She was selected for the International Reading Association Reading Hall of Fame in 2002.

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Laura Meili · Rating 5 out of 5]

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