Back to the Books

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 (purchase separately) 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.

Chapters: Creating Opportunities for Choice, Fostering Analysis, Encouraging Student Voice, Requiring Revision, Setting High Expectations, Appendix: Resources

Ann Cook is Executive Director of the New York Performance Standards Consortium and Co-Director of Urban Academy, New York City. Phyllis Tashlik is Director of the Center for Inquiry in Teaching and Learning and a teacher at Urban Academy.