Best Ever Literacy Survival Tips: 72 Lessons You Can't Teach Without

by Lori D. Oczkus

Lori Oczkus' unique guide for busy teachers offers 12 practical articles on the hottest literacy topics including independent reading, grouping strategies, formative assessments, nonfiction, fluency, comprehension, and more! Research-based guidelines, classroom examples, and a Top 5 favorite lessons list for every chapter make this an essential reference to help you motivate students and improve literacy. Designed for professional development, Best Ever Literacy Survival Tips includes a study guide and discussion topics that are ideal to discuss at staff meetings or as part of a book club or professional learning community. 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 -Comprehension
-Response To Intervention/Struggling Readers
-Early Literacy
-Adolescent Literacy
-Assessment
-Literacy Coaching
-Research And Policy

Genres: Teaching

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2012

Reviews

[Stacey Bradley]

I know that this resource is somewhat older but I would say that it still stands as a very teacher friendly and useful resource. I would compare it to other staples such as Kyleen Beers - When Kids Can't Read or Chris Tovani's - I Read it But I Don't Get It, books. I think the checklists and bookmarks that can be copied at the end of the chapters would be good resources for teachers to use quickly and with many different types of texts. She provided early and middle years examples and the although the resources may be somewhat simple for a high school level, they are not made to look too primary and would be still be useful. If fact the simplicity of some of these resources is exactly why I think they could be very useful as sometimes we expect that students have basic comprehension skills when if fact they do not. Reminding students of these skills before expecting higher level analysis will often support students enough that they can first understand text which then allows them to reach grade level analysis expectations.

[Judy Desetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for Topeka Reading Council professional book group. We read two chapters every other week and then then a member from the group led a discussion over the material. We all enjoyed the book and learned lots of new things to take into the classroom to better the reading experiences for our students.

Great format. Easy to read and follow. Lots of great ideas that are easy to implement. Reinforcement of ideas I know but need to recommit to utilizing. Information is well researched and cited. The discussions we have had have been a valuable learning tool.

This is a valuable resource to have all teachers use as they implement Common Core; where every teacher is a reading teacher.

Saw the author at IRA Conf 2012 in Chicago and she was fabulous!

Our next professional read is Lori Oczkus book - Interactive Think-Aloud Lessons: 25 Surefire Ways to Engage Students and Improve Comprehension

[Kim Lanza · Rating 4 out of 5]

As soon as I saw Lori Oczkus was the author, I knew I needed to explore this book! Her book titled Guided Writing (2007) is one of my treasured texts on teaching writing.

I love the brevity yet rich content of this book. It combines theory/research and practical activities.

The 20 bookmarks for students and teachers to use are terrific!

The chapters can be used in isolation or as part of a PD series. Some chapters are more appropriate for elementary teachers but there are some that will work in middle school as well.

Having a professional development guide at the end of each chapter is terrific. The guides provide a format and content for PD sessions - making it easy for teachers to utilize without a lot of planning or an administrator.