Books published by publisher Octopus/Heinemann

Topics such as race, gender, politics, religion, and sexuality are part of our students' lives, yet when these subjects are brought up at school teachers often struggle with how to respond. How do we create learning conditions where kids can ask the questions they want to ask, muddle through how to say the things they are thinking, and have tough conversations? How can we be proactive and take steps to engaging in the types of conversations where risk is high but the payoff could be even greater? Being the Change is based on the idea that people can develop skills and habits to serve them in the comprehension of social issues. Sara K. Ahmed identifies and unpacks the skills of social comprehension, providing teachers with tools and activities that help students make sense of themselves and the world as they navigate relevant topics in today's society. Each chapter includes clear, transferrable lessons and practical strategies that help students learn about a targeted social comprehension concept. From exploring identity and diversity to understanding and addressing biases and microaggressions, Sara demonstrates how to address real issues honestly in the classroom while honoring and empowering students. Dealing with social issues is uncomfortable and often messy, but you can build habitats of trust where kids and adults can make their thinking visible and cultivate empathy; where expression, identity, and social literacy matter. There is no magic formula for making the world a better place. It happens in the moments we embrace discomfort and have candid conversations. **** "I am convinced that every class of kids I work with is filled with change agents who will make this world the one we teach toward. I believe that my students will carry the work of doing right by this world into their own lives. I'll bet you believe this about your kids, too." -Sara K. Ahmed

I am so pleased that this book is going to be out in the professional conversation, especially in a time when science teaching and the understandings about our world that come about because of it get pushed aside. - Katie Wood Ray Author of About the Authors Questions, Claims, and Evidence presents a new approach to science teaching that engages students fully by linking literacy and inquiry. With it you'll replace the lab reports of traditional science teaching with the writing of scientists searching for answers. And in the process, you and your students may well discover that you enjoy and learn from science time more than ever. Step by step Questions, Claims, and Evidence immerses students in scientific inquiry and writing. It transforms experiments from following directions and making notes into chances to pose and answer questions that interest students. Its approach helps you: increase students' interest in science by showing students how to ask good questions and design their own experiments to answer them improve their analysis skills by giving them tools to make and support scientific claims boost their science writing by offering meaningful opportunities to argue for, reflect on, and summarize their findings. But Questions, Claims, and Evidence doesn't only support student learning. It improves your science teaching by: broadening your professional knowledge with the latest research and theory providing self-evaluation tools for monitoring your performance answering frequently asked questions about the Questions, Claims, and Evidence approach. Try something new that will motivate your students and improve their writing abilities. Read Questions, Claims, and Evidence, and don't be surprised if your students agree with this fifth grader's sentiment: “I love the way that we do science now because I learn more and I get to do more. I actually feel like I am smart.”

Titles in the Pets' Guides series teach young readers how to care responsibly for their chosen pet. However, in a unique spin, each book is written from the point of view of one of the animals themselves, thus also allowing the books to be used to teach perspective. In this book, Kitty the Cat reveals how readers should go about choosing a pet cat, what supplies they will need, how to make a new cat feel at home, and how to properly care for a pet cat, including feeding, exercising, and house training. Text in the book is accompanied by clear, labeled photographs to further reinforce key concepts.

The Freeman's bestselling ESL Teaching: Principles for Success has long been a cornerstone text for research-based second language teaching methods and practices. The completely updated edition, with important contributions from coauthors Mary Soto and Ann Ebe, builds on foundational methodology for ESL teaching with the very latest understandings of what researchers, national and state departments of education, education associations and school districts across the country say constitutes best practices for emergent bilingual students. Written to support both mainstream and ESL/bilingual teachers, ESL Teaching, Revised Edition features: - a description of early ESL teaching methods along with current content-based methods, including CALLA, SIOP, GLAD, and QTEL - seven best-practice principles for supporting the academic success of English learners - classroom examples with a broad range of types of students and settings that illustrate how teachers have brought these principles to life - updated references and reviews of language teaching research. A classic foundational text, ESL Teaching: Principles for Success explains second language education methods in a comprehensible way and offers practical implementation strategies that work in any classroom. This text serves as a handbook for teacher educators, teachers, and administrators.

In this book, Slinky the Snake reveals how readers should go about choosing a pet snake, what supplies they will need, how to make a new snake feel at home, and how to properly care for a pet snake, including feeding, exercising, and keeping a snake vivarium clean. Text is accompanied by clear, labeled photographs to further reinforce key concepts, and the use of an animal narrator also allows the book to be used to teach perspective.

As an English teacher, Kate Roberts has seen the power of whole-class novels to build community in her classroom. But she's also seen too many kids struggle too much to read them - and consequently, check out of reading altogether. Kate's had better success getting kids to actually read - and enjoy it - when they choose their own books within a workshop model. "And yet," she says, "missed my whole-class novels." In A Novel Approach, Kate takes a deep dive into the troubles and triumphs of both whole-class novels and independent reading and arrives at a persuasive conclusion: we can find a student-centered, balanced approach to teaching reading. Kate offers a practical framework for creating units that join both teaching methods together and helps you: Identify the skills your students need to learn Choose whole-class texts that will be most relevant to your kids Map out the timing of a unit and the strategies you'll teach Meet individual needs while teaching whole novels Guide students to choice books and book clubs that build on the skills being taught Above all, Kate's plan emphasizes teaching reading skills and strategies over the books themselves. "By making sure that our classes are structured in a way that really sees students and strives to meet their needs," she argues, "we can keep reaching for the dream of a class where no student is unmoved, no reader unchanged by the end of the year."

Because everything is an argument "In this book, we'll argue that you can teach the writing of argument so that students will not only exceed the Common Core State Standards, but also be prepared for a future as students and citizens." Michael Smith, Jeffrey Wilhelm, and James Fredricksen The Common Core State Standards are an argument that "students' ability to write sound arguments on substantive topics and issues . . . is critical to college and career readiness." This book is an argument. Oh, Yeah?! will persuade you that it is an ideal resource for helping you teach argument writing to adolescents. And not just any arguments, but the kinds of substantive ones the real-world demands. "We believe," write Michael Smith, Jeffrey Wilhelm, and James Fredricksen, "that instruction directed to improve student performance on standards-based assessments MUST be the most powerful and engaging instruction we can possibly offer." To that end they fill Oh, Yeah?! with proven lessons for writing, reading, and discussing arguments that you can use right now. In addition, they provide ideas for how to create instructional contexts that maximize the power of those lessons through a compelling framework that will help you create your own lessons and units in the future. Life may be a series of arguments, but your decision about how to teach argument writing needn't be complicated. Trust Smith, Wilhelm, and Fredricksen, use Oh, Yeah?! in your classroom, and give students an argument for meeting-and exceeding-the Common Core standards.

How do we know about the thousands of people who marched in campaigns for civil rights for African Americans in the 1960s? Where did they march and what happened to them? This book shows how we know about the marchers and their experiences from primary and other sources. It includes information on some historical detective work that has taken place, using documentary and oral evidence, that has enabled historians to piece together the fascinating story of the civil rights marches.

A study guide is available for this title. Click here to download (PDF, 117KB). This is the time to think boldly about adolescent literacy. So much of what we know about adolescents and their learning has changed in the last decade, and since then both the world of education and the world at large have become very different places. Adolescent Literacy convenes a conversation among today's most important educational thinkers and practitioners to address crucial advances in research on adolescent learning, to assess which of our current practices meets the challenges of the twenty-first century, and to discover transformative ideas and methods that turn the promise of education into instructional practice. In Adolescent Literacy renowned educators Kylene Beers, Bob Probst, and Linda Rief lead twenty-eight of the most important and widely read educators across the country in a conversation about where we are in the teaching of literacy to adolescents and how best to move forward. From researchers to classroom teachers, from long-treasured voices to important new members of the education community, Adolescent Literacy includes the thoughts of central figures in the field today. Adolescent Literacy discusses the most provocative issues of our time, including: English language learners struggling readers technology in the classroom multimodal literacy compelling writing instruction teaching in a "flat world" young adult literature. Each of its chapters builds on the previous to create a unified story of adolescent literacy that will help all middle and secondary teachers and administrators envision literacy instruction in exciting new ways. In addition Adolescent Literacy'sassessment rubrics for teachers, administrators, and staff developers make it an ideal resource for schoolwide and districtwide professional development, while its accompanying study guide is perfect for small-group discussions. Now is indeed the time to create a powerful vision of how to teach adolescents. The research on their learning has reached a critical mass, modern technology has allowed them to engage in a far wider range of literate behaviors than ever before, and their world has become increasingly connected, increasingly competitive, and increasingly polarized. Read Adolescent Literacy, consider the thoughts of leading educators, and join a conversation about what it means to teach and learn in this dynamic new environment. And do it soon, because the need to turn education's promise into classroom practice has never been more urgent.