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Differentiated instruction is the hallmark of good teaching. However, developing leveled materials and creating an organizational system to manage it all is an immense undertaking. In this comprehensive resource, veteran teacher and staff developer Margo Southall shares management tools along with hundreds of leveled activities that she has fine-tuned over the years. The result is an invaluable collection of research-based activities that enable teachers to match independent practice with students' needs in reading comprehension, fluency, word study, and writing. Moreover, Southall provides a workable framework that makes setting up the centers and tracking student progress simple. Includes dozens of planning sheets and record-keeping forms in addition to reproducible student pages. Meets Reading First and NCLB guidelines. For use with Grades K–3. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

decent lit. centers book
This book has some great and usable ideas.Somethe pages were a bit wordy for first grade and I was expecting a bit more from the book, but I did find a lot that I can add to my centers right away.

Unexpected
I was hoping to find more activities in the book that I could immediately copy and use.It was more of a specific organized plan for your centers.

A time saver
This book has so many open ended activites to use in centers that the possibilities are endless.The activities focus on three main areas-Comprehension, Fluency, and word study.What is really helpful is that there are activites at 3 different levels for all areas, which makes planning a breeze.I wish I had found this book years ago instead of wasting my time making file folder games,etc.Along with the three centers represented in this book I will have a writing and listening center--and I am set for the year!

Excellent resource!
Differentiated Literacy Centers is an outstanding and thorough resource that is based upon sound research.The structure of this book made it easy to read and to quickly find key elements: tips on organization and time management of centers, comprehension, fluency and word study activities, in addition to corresponding blackline masters.Options for planning are outlined in different frameworks.All questions that you may have are answered and the author includes a quick-glance summary for each area.I highly recommend this book! ... Read more

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Encourage Your Child to Love Reading

This book helps preschoolers discover how much fun it is to read. Trish Kuffner shows parents how to make fifty favorite picture books come alive for children by providing a variety of activities that tie into the themes, characters, and plots of the books:

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Your young child gets ready to read every minute of the day by interacting with you: his first and best teacher.

Make the most of those minutes with Anytime Reading Readiness at home, during chores, or in the car. You ll learn how to:

*Take advantage of the learn-through-play style of your preschool/kindergarten child.
*Match your child s reading readiness level with easy and engaging games and activities.
*Get the most out of reading a book out loud with your child.

Anytime Reading Readiness respects the reading readiness level of your child. Now you can integrate early literacy activities throughout your day without stress, fuss, or pushing your child.

Prepare your child to read any time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Even great for grandmas!
I highly recommend this book.I have use some of the exercises with my grandchildren while I am babysitting.We had so much fun together and I was helping them at the same time.Good feelings all around.

Cathy is a special lady with a wonderful God-given mission.Her wisdom and ideas can help all parents/grandparents and kids.

As I mentioned on my radio show, though, a word of caution.When playing rhyming games, pay attention to the word you start with and wear it could go.For instance, don't play a rhyming game with the word "truck" if you don't want a 4 yr old stomping around the house yelling a word you may not want to hear. (smile)

A "must-read" for every preschool parent!
This is a great book! As a former preschool teacher and now as a homeschool mother, it's a great resource for me! There are parts I would skim through b/c it was reiterating things that I already do and have done...but for someone who doesn't know where to start, it's got it all! The book is filled with tons of great tips and a LOT of great activities to do with your child! My son asked to do many of the activities over and over again! The book really follows my philosophies when it comes to early learning...children learn best by playing and interacting...not by being drilled with flash cards or workbooks!
[...]

Anytime Reading Readiness
Teaching your child to read can be a daunting task. It's the basis for their whole education and having that burden on you is scary! Whether you are a homeschooling family or not, teaching your child to read happens at home. If you're homeschooling, the entire process happens at home, but if your child attends school outside the home you still have to reinforce their reading skills together at home. Kids learn to read at a variety of ages. I have one that just learned to read at six years old, another that learned to read at 3, and John David is currently starting to read and he just turned five, Each child is different, but there are some universal things that we as parents can do to prepare our child for reading and get them ready to use these fundamental skills that will launch their whole educational career.

Maupin House just released a brand new book by Cathy Puett Miller called Anytime Reading Readiness that I couldn't wait to get a look at. When I received my review copy, I sat right down and began flipping the pages. What a great resource for preschool parents! This handbook is full of tips and activities to help you prepare your child for reading as early as three years old. This 77 page book features ways to know if your child is ready to read, ways to create a literacy-rich home, tips for starting the journey, 17 fun activities to do with your child, book lists, and even a rhyming "word families" list.

I really liked the ample space in the back of the book to take notes, and really appreciated the "Reading Readiness Road" guide. The "Reading Readiness Road" guide helps you chart the signs your child is showing as to whether they are ready to start reading or not. It's divided by age and skill, and is super easy to follow. The book lists in the back of the book are divided into sections like "Delightful Read-alouds" and "Books Perfect for Word Play". Each of the 17 activities outlined in the book are easy to do anytime and anywhere. They take just a few minutes and would be prefect to keep your child occupied during a doctor's office wait or in the cart at the grocery store and at the same time preparing them to read.

I am now teaching my third child to read, and I learned some great new techniques from this book. I was also reminded of the importance of a good read-aloud book as well as ways to make a literacy-rich home. In other words, have fun when reading aloud to your kids, and make sure that the children have books that are easily accessible and a comfortable space to cuddle up and read. We utilize a 30 minute reading time most nights. This serves two purposes: Encourages the kids to read as well as giving them a wind-down time before lights out. We also have what seems like a million children's books in our home. They are everywhere! But every time I try to weed out some to give away or donate (we do from time to time) I remind myself that the reason my children love books so much is that they are immersed in them daily. Having lots of books around is key!

There are so many ways to encourage your child to read. No more stressful reading sessions during school time! Anytime Reading Readiness teaches you exactly how preparing your child to read can be great fun for you and them.

Excellent book filled with fun activities
Reviewed by Kam Aures for [...] (12/09)

In the Introduction to "Anytime Reading Readiness- Fun and Easy Family Activities That Prepare Your Child to Read," author Cathy Puett Miller states that, "What this book will do is help you talk, listen, and read to your child in a way that actively promotes reading readiness without stress- and without pushing your child.It won't take much effort and the results will amaze you." (p. vii)

The book can be utilized starting when your child is a toddler by doing the simplest activities in it.The first chapter helps you to assess just where your child is at in terms of being ready to read.Chapter 2 provides tips on making your home reading-friendly.Chapters 3 and 4 look at the ideas of conversation and reading aloud.The remaining part of the book lists appropriate learning activities with the last chapter meant to be used in the year before your child attends Kindergarten.

I found the book to be well-organized and quite interesting.Reading is an important part of our daily routine and I am always on the lookout for new activities to do with my children to promote this.I have a three-year-old and a five-year-old and they both enjoyed the activities in the book as they are always up for playing a new game.I loved that they were having fun and learning at the same time.Although they are at different levels, they both enjoyed partaking in the games at the other's level.Even if my youngest couldn't quite master some of the skills, he had fun listening to his brother do it.Among the favorite activities were clapping/tapping patterns, syllable recognition, and the rhyming games.

At the end of the book there are very helpful lists provided that you can reference to find rhyming books, word play books, books that encourage conversation, and more.We have read many of the titles on the list but there are some that I will be looking for at my library the next time we visit.

It is said throughout the book that "Your preschooler learns best through play."(p.69) and I completely agree with that statement."Anytime Reading Readiness- Fun and Easy Family Activities That Prepare Your Child to Read" is a great book for any family with a toddler and/or preschooler as it provides stimulating activities that your child is certain to benefit from. ... Read more

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You'll appreciate these tools for parent participation in the learning process. Reproducible activity sheets based on quality children's books are designed as take-home assignments for children. Each sheet includes a book summary, discussion questions, and a list of engaging learning activities for adults and children that increase discussion, reading skills, and comprehension. ... Read more

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Help is here!

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At least 20% of today's children begin school lacking thephonological awareness skills they need to become successfulreaders. This book provides you with all the tools you need todetermine who these children are, pinpoint their deficiencies, andaddress their various needs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Just as expected
My book was shipped on time and was in the condition that the seller described.I would recommend!It contains the PAST test and lots of intervention activites which are vital in increasing phonological awareness!

Phonemic Awareness
This is a great book for a practitioner in the school system or preschool setting.As a school psychologist, this book is easy to read and use at work to get an idea where a child's phonemic awareness development is.I would recommend it as a quick tool for screening.The school district I work in uses it district wide in K-2.

Sounds In Action
There are a lot of good ideas for teaching phonological awareness skills to kindergarteners.However, I have gone to the index to look up 2-3 things and those items weren't found.I had to flip through the pages of the book to find what I was looking for.

Great shape
The book was in perfect condition, and I was thoroughly pleased with the timliness of the shipping. ... Read more

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101 Activities to Help Preschoolers Excel in Reading, Writing, and Speaking gives preschoolers valuable practice in reading, writing, and speaking skills by engaging them in a series of enjoyable activities. All of the activities address values important to children's growth and development: cooperation, friendship, respect for others' opinions, intergenerational closeness, generosity, and gratitude. ... Read more

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This is a beautifully illustrated collection of 276 reproducible phonics activities featuring verses and rhymed stories to help beginning readers master letter-sound connections. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

A must have for teachers and parents!
As an early childhood professional, this is one of my favorite activity resources. We hear so much about the importance of environmental print in building early literacy skills, and this book shows how to incorporate these types of experiences in meaningful ways into the daily life of the classroom.The book is laid out the way teachers think and plan, with chapters divided into the various learning centers of a typical early childhood classroom.There is also a very useful "Theme Connections" index that ties the various activities to popular pre-k and kindergarten theme units, making lesson planning a breeze.

The over 100 activity ideas included are simple, inexpensive, and wonderfully unique.The literacy learning objectives listed for each activity are a real help when trying to match specific activities to the different developmental levels and needs of the children in the group.And because these activities use everyday print items and recyclables that are so readily available, I have found it simple to adapt many of the activities to use with my own child at home.

What a gem!I recommend this resource for anyone who wants to help children see themselves as readers. ... Read more

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Kindergarten teachers will find in these pages the resources to bring children with highly disparate literacy skills to the world of print and enable them to master the skills that will make them lifelong readers.

With keen insight and compassion for these young learners and the teachers who start them on the path to literacy, author Lori Rog lays out the elements of an outstanding kindergarten program that combines print-rich play with carefully structured learning experiences. You'll explore developmentally appropriate practices, study what kindergarten children need to know, get an insider's glimpse of the exemplary classroom, and discover a wealth of strategies for successful literacy instruction in kindergarten. The final pages of the book invite you to reflect on the increasing diversity of students in your classrooms and on ways to honor and accommodate that diversity.

Use this book to create your own exemplary kindergarten program that respects the learning processes of your students and helps them reach their full potential.

The International Reading Association is the world's premier organization of literacy professionals. Our titles promote reading by providing professional development to continuously advance the quality of literacy instruction and research.

Research-based, classroom-tested, and peer-reviewed, IRA titles are among the highest quality tools that help literacy professionals do their jobs better.

Some of the many areas we publish in include:

-Comprehension
-Response To Intervention/Struggling Readers
-Early Literacy
-Adolescent Literacy
-Assessment
-Literacy Coaching
-Research And Policy ... Read more

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This unique resource helps educators spark young children's interest in learning the alphabet and develop beginning reading skills right from the beginning to the close of school. Included are over 500 ready-to-use individual and classroom activities designed to be used sequentially, from one month to the next, to build skills, relate reading to other curriculum areas, and foster children's enthusiasm for books and learning to read. All activities are organized into nine monthly sections, September through May/June, and include over 100 activity sheets. Each month includes a list of 10 picture books for daily reading, phonics and other basic skills instructions, "ABC Marching Band Letters" for learning letter-sound connections, reading links to holidays and special events, reading links to writing, math, social studies, science & health, author-of-the-month studies and activities, plus 10-13 illustrated reproducible activities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great book
I have only started reading this book and already I have so many new ideas for teaching the alphabet/phonics. It is great! A must for anyone teaching preschoolers to read. ... Read more

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This practical resource for building children’s vocabulary and comprehension skills provides word lists, literature selections, writing prompts, and suggestions for read-alouds and think-alouds. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A key pick for education libraries
Susan E. Israel's VOCABULARY LISTS AND ACTIVITIES FOR THE PREK-2 CLASSROOM surveys word lists, literature selections and teaching strategies for building young learner vocabulary and comprehension skills. From journal activities to read-aloud ideas, it's packed with plans. A key pick for education libraries. ... Read more

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School Stops for Summer. . . Learning Never Should!

Prevent summer learning loss with our award-winning, best-selling summer learning series! Summer Bridge ActivitiesTM: Bridging Grades Prekindergarten to Kindergarten reinforces essential skills across the curriculum and helps prepare children for kindergarten. With 12 weeks worth of activities, Summer Bridge ActivitiesTM is the perfect way to keep skills sharp all summer long!

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Teachers interested in transforming their traditional kindergartens into child-centred Whole Language classrooms now have a model for change. In this book, distinguished educators Shirley Raines and Robert Canady provide guidelines for developing a child- and experience-centred environment in which the acquisition and development of literacy are paramount. The authors demonstrate that by involving children in the world of play, cultural awareness and creative expression fuse with "emergent literacy". This practical volume includes an abundance of Whole Language activities within the classical content areas of reading, writing, science, art, music, and mathematics. It offers clear suggestions on how to interest children in books and print; how to structure groupwork to emphasize whole language philosophy; and how parents can reevaluate their roles to better understand and effect classroom change. In addition, each chapter contains examples of kindergartens where programmes have been implemented, and describes how changes were organized, as well as how the children reacted. The text is unique in that it links the statement from the National Association for the Education of Young Children on "Developmentally Appropriate Practices" with the proposition paper from the International Reading Association and six other professional organizations on recommendations for improvement of present practices in pre-first grade reading instruction. For those most concerned with early childhood and literacy education - childrens' teachers and their parents - this volume is a valuable tool. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Amazing!
I'm amazed at how good this book is.I only understood "learning to read" as sounding out and letter identification.I dismissed whole word identification, and had a bias that it is not "real" reading.Between this book (and the outdated but pertinent "How to teach your baby to read" by Glenn Doman)I'm in a far better place with teaching my toddler how to read.But this book isn't focused on "how" but rather that they already ARE readers and writers - just like one is already an artist, you don't start with boat-loads of constructive criticism about toddler's drawing, nor with the basics of form and function - it's about fun, and an extension of themselves and the learning that's taking place around them constantly.Learning/play is their default.

In our case, our 3 yr old son has been stating that he's "a writer" for a year now, and I've been saying, "No you aren't, you don't know how to read or write yet."And due to his curiosity, I've been introducing letters and phonics for months, playfully mind you, and it hasn't amounted to squat.The first time I introduce sight words (meaningful ones like, mama, papa, his name, best friend's name, our names, car, why, no, that type of thing - written large on index cards) it immediately clicked.I introduced them gradually and casually throughout the day when we were both in a good mood, and he could easily identify words the next day.He even spots his name on other things - after one session - whereas after several months of phonics and ABCs he couldn't recognize his own name.

But this really isn't the point of his book.They see kindergarteners within a range of reading and writing, that they already ARE readers and writers.Teachers acknowledge that they enter with skills, validating scribbles, fake letters and invented spelling AND sight words, such as logos.Another key is that reading & writing opportunities exist throughout the day and throughout the room - BUT the key is that they have many hours for free-play, punctuated with group/circle time.Examples from this classroom experience: the teacher will write (and therefore validate) their dictation of a group experience (such as a nature walk or puppet show) and have it up for them to read, but has the children write their own captions to their drawings, signs & instructions around the room, have paper available to use in their imaginative play (such as a writing pad for a waitress).There is no phonics drilling and no formal alphabet training - since the premise is that a word is the base unit of language & writing, not the letter (far too abstract for children this age). Teachers spend more time in conversation with the students (vs lecturing), modeling listening and proper grammar. Additionally, teachers use learning opportunities as they unfold, they also point out normal reading experiences such as actually reading recipes as they prepare the snack, reading the notes to parents to the children and letting them add on a sentence, and acknowledging that memorizing a book is a valid form of reading within the process of learning.
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Sue Kempton is a Star
All three of our kids had Sue Kempton as their kindergarten teacher (separately).Her skilled equanimity and maturity transferred to her classes in a very special way.All three kids have gone on to college and the middle child has decided to be an elementary school teacher and seems to have a real knack for this; she announced her goal when she was in Ms. Kempton's class and has quite recently used this book as part of her course work and reports being blown away by the insightful fullness and practicality of this book.

Childhood and Literacy Learning Can Coexist!
I had the opportunity to observe in Sue's room several years back and was struck by the wondrous balance she maintained as she honored and celebrated childhood while nurturing literacy learning.I have been watching and waiting for this book, doubtful she could ever capture the essence of her practice in words.Sue Kempton is a master teacher and she has proven to be a master of language, as this book is all that I had hoped it would be.This is a must read for kindergarten teachers mourning the loss of childhood under the NCLB mandates! Childhood and learning need not be opposite sides of a coin best left unspent.Please, please, do read this book and pass it on quickly. ... Read more