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| EPS
now offers Touchphonics! |
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We
are pleased to announce that Educators Publishing Service has
acquired Touchphonics Reading Systems—a multisensory, research-based
program for teaching reading to all types of learners.
 Touchphonics
was developed and tested at Brigham Young University and follows
guidelines established by the National Reading Panel and the Reading
Excellence Act. The program teaches literacy skills with color-coded
manipulatives called touch-units—three-dimensional letters
and letter combinations made of flexible textured plastic. These
allow students to employ visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and auditory
modalities while creating words and word patterns. The complete
Touchphonics program also includes magnetic tiles, cards, and decodable
storybooks.
For more information about the Touchphonics system, research base,
or for ordering information, click
here.
The
Writing Process: Helping Students Make Decisions
by John Savage, Professor Emeritus, Boston College |
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In
the past forty years, writing instruction has shifted its emphasis
from product to process (Smith, 2000). In today’s
classrooms, most instruction includes a multistep process model—a
series of strategies—to help students develop competency
as writers. This model involves three stages: prewriting, which
begins long before the student puts ideas on paper; writing, in
which students produce their very first drafts; and postwriting,
which includes editing, revising, and, ultimately, publication.
Prewriting
All
writers, whether composing a personal journal entry or a prize-winning
novel, face a series of decisions. The first involves deciding
on a topic. In Write to Learn (2000), novelist and writing
coach Donald Murray suggests that a good topic is one the writer
knows about, cares about, and can communicate about. Young students
often think that they have nothing to write about, though their
lives are full of adventures—and great writing topics. Introduce
literature such as A Snowy Day, Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, or Nothing Ever Happens on 90th
Street to the elementary classroom to help students discover
that the events of their everyday lives can make unique and interesting
stories.
| Click
this button to read the rest of this article and to download a
free PDF version. |
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Free
ready-to-use lessons for your classroom!
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The
Paragraph Book, Diane Tucker-LaPlount
Recommended for Grades 5–8
This new writing
series is specifically designed for the middle school LD
student. Reading specialist and educational therapist Dianne
Tucker-LaPlount presents highly specialized, step-by-step
instruction to build writing competency from the ground
up. The series provides instruction in the 4 basic writing
strands required in regular English and content area classes
and standards-based state tests. In Book 1, Writing the
How-To Paragraph, students learn to give clear instructions,
sequence events, and use correct formatting and mechanics
to write well-structured paragraphs and essays. The series
can be used with older or younger students, or any students
with special needs in language arts. |
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| Just
Write: An Elementary Writing Sourcebook, Elsie
S. Wilmerding, Alexandra S. Bigelow
Grades 2–3
Just
Write teaches the entire writing process from brainstorming
to publishing. First, students are encouraged to write freely
using colorful descriptions and creative word choices. Then
students polish their writing with correct capitalization,
punctuation, spelling, and formatting. Students learn to
revise and edit their writing and “publish”
their works. The Teacher’s Guides explain the writing
process, offer suggestions on integrating Just Write
into the curriculum, and provide a page-by-page list of
extension activities.
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View
the Just Write flyer
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Writing
Skills, Diana Hanbury King
Grades 4–12
The
Writing Skills series teaches the 8 major
forms of exposition in a series of logical steps. Students
gain practice in generating and expressing ideas, arguing
points, and supporting arguments. Writing Skills
builds sentence sense and paragraph skills, improves academic
writing, test-taking abilities, and recognizing and correcting
grammatical errors. The series facilitates direct instruction
in composition, grammar, and usage, and builds confident,
skillful writers.
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View
the Writing Skills flyer
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This
month’s free Lesson Packs are Graphic Organizers
and Story Maps for grades 1–3 and Expository
Writing Prompts for grades 4–6.
Graphic
Organizers and Story Maps
[9
page, 172kb Acrobat PDF File] |
Expository
Writing Prompts
[8
page, 356kb Acrobat PDF File] |
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Lesson
Packsare selections from popular EPS series,
grouped together by skill. They include teaching tips, alignments
with standards, and extensions for use in the classroom.
They are just one component of Lesson Logic, an online service
of EPS.
For more Lesson
Packs, visit www.lessonlogic.com
and sign up for a 30 day free trial! |
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