Literature-Based Reading Activities : Engaging Students with Literary and Informational Text

Pre-service and in-service teachers get practical help and exciting classroom activities for ensuring all students’ successful interactions with literature.

Teachers turn to this brief, inexpensive, yet invaluable resource for its numerous exciting, classroom-tested activities for ensuring students’ successful interactions with literature. The unique discussions of the theoretical and research bases supporting all of the activities set the book apart from others in the field, as do the variety of grade levels and genres covered; the adaptability to a wide range of texts; and the guidelines that show readers how to be effective decision-makers as they plan literature instruction for the culturally, linguistically, and academically diverse K–8 students in today’s classrooms.

Throughout the book and in the examples, the authors show the importance of sharing multicultural literature and informational trade books. The activities are appropriate for the full range of learners in the classroom, and attention is given to supporting the language development of English Learners through numerous activities that provide scaffolds for meaning making, promote social interaction centered on literature, and engage students in authentic discussions about literature.

This edition includes updated information about sharing literature in the context of today’s classrooms, new activities for supporting students’ interactions with literature, and numerous new examples of children’s literature, many of them recent award winners.

Literature-Based Reading Activities: Engaging Students with Literary and Informational Text is the ideal resource for pre-service and in-service teachers looking for practical help and exciting classroom activities for ensuring all students have successful interactions with literature. Brief and inexpensive, it is widely appreciated for its numerous activities, unique discussions of the theoretical and research bases supporting all of the activities, and the variety of grade levels and genres covered. The activities are useful with a wide range of texts, and the guidelines show readers how to be effective decision makers as they plan literature instruction for the culturally, linguistically, and academically diverse K–8 students in today’s classrooms.

This new edition includes:

• Updated information about sharing literature in the context of today’s classrooms.
• New activities for supporting students’ interactions with literature.
• Numerous new examples of children’s literature, many of them recent award winners.
• Updated discussions of research on recent studies and major reports.
• A new feature, Take Five! (or Take Ten!).
• Ideas and suggestions for using literature in the content areas.
• 11 new activities for expanding teachers’ repertoires for engaging students with literature,
• Increased attention to using technology to support students’ interactions with and responses to literature,
• More than 80 new examples of exceptional literature,
• A list of websites of recommended literature, including positive, authentic examples of literature for diverse populations.