Core Ready Lesson Sets for Grades 3-5: A Staircase to Standards Success for English Language Arts, The Shape of Story: Yesterday and Today

by Pam Allyn

The Shape of Story-Yesterday and Today is a book for teachers, administrative leaders, literacy coaches, ELL specialists, special educators, media specialists, reading teachers, content area teachers, professors and students of education. In it they are provided with all the lessons to turn the Common Core State Standards into meaningful instruction and learning in narrative literacy-a rich day-to-day, step-by-step guide on how to implement the Common Core State Standards and how to ensure that all students are Core Ready. Included are rich, dynamic lesson sets, each with complete step by step reading and writing lessons, as well as highlights for speaking, listening, and language use. Through these lesson sets, readers gain an understanding of the unique structure, craft, and terminology associated with each genre with an emphasis on classic and contemporary literature as outlined in the Common Core State Standards.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2013

About the author

PAM ALLYN is the author of an inspirational and practical book for parents, teachers, and caregivers entitled What to Read When , which was published by Penguin in April 2009.

Her first professional book, The Complete 4: How to Teach Reading and Writing Through Daily Lessons, Monthly Units and Yearlong Calendars , was published by Scholastic in November 2007. This groundbreaking book was recently followed by Pam’s series of grade level books chock-full with day to day lessons called The Complete Year published by Scholastic in 2008 and co-authored with her LitLife colleagues.

Pam is the Executive Director of LitLife, a nationally recognized organization specializing in transformative school improvement through literacy education. She is also the Executive Director of LitWorld, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to bringing quality education to the world’s most vulnerable children.

She is the Founding Director of Books for Boys. For nine years, this program has been acclaimed for its innovative efforts on behalf of at-risk boys, and its work is replicated in other foster care agencies. Pam also spearheads an initiative called “The Family Story Power Project” which brings literacy rich curriculum to families and children.

Pam is the recipient of the James Patterson Page Turner Award for excellence in bringing literacy to underserved populations. She has also received a Disney Points of Light Foundation Award for her work bringing books and literacy to children. In May 2007 The Children's Village, the nation’s largest residential treatment center for foster care children presented Pam with its Legacy of Service Award for her tireless efforts to bring the magic of books and reading to children.

She is a motivational speaker for audiences of teachers, administrators, librarians and parents. She has been featured on The Today Show. Prior to founding LitLife, she was the Director of Funded Projects at the Columbia University Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.

Pam is on the Advisory Board of the Dream Charter School in Harlem, the Leadership Council of Global Action for Children, the Advisory Board of the Amherst College Center for Community Engagement and the English Language Arts Scope and Sequence Advisory Group for the New York City Department of Education.

Reviews

[Jim Laughlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not worth the paper it's printed on. The information provided here is what most good teachers have been doing for years, but the author, a soi-disant "world renowned literacy expert," has wrapped it in the Common Core mantle in an attempt to give it a new legitimacy in the 21st century. In addition, the format and design of this are not user friendly.