Reading Without Limits E-Book

Maddie Witter

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 484

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Imagine a classroom where all students are engaged in highly rigorous and fun learning every single day. That classroom can be yours starting tomorrow. You don't have to be a reading specialist to pick up this book. Anyone who wants to dramatically improve reading achievement will find helpful suggestions. You might be a third grade teacher whose students have mastered decoding, and you are ready to build their comprehension. Or you might be a high school science teacher whose students aren't yet reading on level with deep critical thinking. This book is for you. It doesn't matter whether you are a public, charter, private, or alternative education teacher: the Reading Without Limits program works in each one. Along with hundreds of ready-to-use teaching strategies, Reading Without Limits comes with a supplemental website where teachers can download even more resources for free! Reading Without Limits is the first book offered in the KIPP Educator Series. KIPP, or the Knowledge is Power Program, began in 1994. As of Fall 2012, there are 125 KIPP schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia serving nearly 40,000 students climbing the mountain to and through college.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Praise for Reading Without Limits

Title Page

Copyright

Series Page

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

THE PURPOSE OF READING WITHOUT LIMITS

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

MEET OUR STUDENTS

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction: What Is Reading Without Limits?

READING WITHOUT LIMITS OVERVIEW

CHOICE READING

SHARED READING

GUIDED READING

READING WITHOUT LIMITS' VALUES

READING WITHOUT LIMITS TEACHER CHECKLIST

Part 1: Launching Lifelong Readers

Chapter 1: Finding Students' Reading Levels: Why Trying to Bench Press 150 Pounds Doesn't Make Me Stronger

DETERMINE A STUDENT'S READING LEVEL BY USING A RUNNING RECORD

IF YOU DON'T HAVE TIME FOR ONE-ON-ONE RUNNING RECORDS DO GROUP INVENTORIES

MATCH STUDENTS TO BOOKS BASED ON THEIR COMFORT LEVEL

CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE PEERS SUPPORT EACH OTHER'S DIFFERENCES

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING FOR LEVELED READING

KEEPIN' IT REAL

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

Part 2: Steps To Creating Lifelong Readers

Chapter 2: Teaching Students to Understand What They Read: Why Videogames Beat Candyland

STRATEGIC READING: WHAT INDEPENDENT READERS DO

USE THE READ-ALOUD/THINK-ALOUD TO INTRODUCE STRATEGIES

MOVING FROM CHECKS FOR UNDERSTANDING TO GUIDED PRACTICE

COMMON THINK-ALOUD PITFALLS

CHOOSING A THINK-ALOUD TEXT

WHERE TO BEGIN: A SEQUENCE OF STRATEGIES FOR READING COMPREHENSION

STRATEGIES TO DETERMINE LITERAL MEANING

IMPLIED MEANING STRATEGIES

MAKING NEW MEANING STRATEGIES

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

FAQ

KEEPIN' IT REAL

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING FOR TEACHING STRATEGIC READING

Chapter 3: Choice Reading to Encourage a Ton of Reading: Reading in Istanbul

WHAT CHOICE TIME LOOKS LIKE

TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO BUILD THEIR STAMINA

EXPLICITLY TEACH STAMINA

PROACTIVELY BUILD STAMINA

HELP STUDENTS MAKE GOOD CHOICES

HELP STUDENTS GET LOST IN THE FLOW OF READING

HARNESS STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

APPLY STRATEGIC READING TO CHOICE READING

HOLD STUDENTS ACCOUNTABLE TO THEIR THINKING

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

FAQ

KEEPIN' IT REAL

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

Chapter 4: Shared Reading to Teach, Reinforce, and Challenge: Why Reading Teachers Need to Be Like the Best Tennis Coaches

SCHEDULING A SHARED READING BLOCK

MID ELEMENTARY

UPPER ELEMENTARY

LOWER MIDDLE SCHOOL

UPPER MIDDLE SCHOOL

LOWER HIGH SCHOOL

UPPER HIGH SCHOOL

GUIDE STUDENTS THROUGH CLOSE READING

ASSIGNED READING

SCAFFOLDING SHARED READING FOR STRUGGLING READERS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

Chapter 5: Guided Reading to Move Students Along Their Continuum: Practice “Yet”

FOLLOW THE SAME PREDICTABLE STRUCTURE

GROUP STUDENTS HOMOGENOUSLY AND TEACH ONE GRADE LEVEL UP

CONFERENCE FOR GROW GOALS

BE PROACTIVE TO HAVE SUCCESSFUL GUIDED READING CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

RE-ASSESS STUDENTS EVERY SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING FOR GUIDED READING

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

Part 3: Putting The Power Of Choice, Shared, And Guided Reading To Work In Your Classroom Or School

Chapter 6: Make It Visible: Borrow from Casino Developers and Interior Designers

SET UP COMFORTABLE READING SPOTS

BE INTENTIONAL WITH WHAT YOU PUT ON THE WALLS

INTENTIONALLY SET UP YOUR LIBRARY AND ROOM

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

Chapter 7: Muscle Memory Routines: Where Do You Put Your Keys?

START BY FIGURING OUT ALL THE DETAILS OF THE ROUTINE

MAKE IT BIZARRE AND FUN

REMIND AND REINFORCE

READING WITHOUT LIMITS ROUTINES

CHOICE READING: BOOK CHECKOUT

CHOICE READING: BOOK RETURN

CHOICE, SHARED, AND GUIDED READING: KEEPING A CLEAN LIBRARY

CHOICE AND SHARED READING: READING BINDERS

CHOICE READING: ABANDONING BOOKS

CHOICE, SHARED, AND GUIDED READING: COMFORTABLE SEATING

CHOICE READING: BOOKCASE UPDATES

CHOICE, SHARED, AND GUIDED READING: TURN AND TALKS

CHOICE, SHARED, AND GUIDED READING: HOW TO HANDLE A BOOK

CHOICE, SHARED, AND GUIDED READING: STUDENTS LISTENING TO A READ-ALOUD

SHARED READING: ASSIGNED BOOKS

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

Chapter 8: What to Do When Choice, Shared, or Guided Reading Isn't Working: Why Can't, Low, and Doesn't Care Are Ugly Words

CHANGE YOUR THINKING TO GROWTH MINDSET

CONSIDER WHOLE-CLASS AND INDIVIDUAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS COMMON PITFALLS

ADDRESS PITFALL TRENDS

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

Part 4: Steps To Enhance Lifelong Readers

Chapter 9: Reading Conferences, Our Aha Moments

START WITH HALFTIME AND RACETRACK CONFERENCES

CREATE A GROW GOAL FOR EACH STUDENT

STICK TO ONE GROW GOAL UNTIL MASTERED

TAKE NOTES

HOLD STUDENTS ACCOUNTABLE TO THEIR GOALS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

Chapter 10: Teaching Vocabulary: Become a Word Whisperer Without Being “On” All Day

DEVOTE LOTS OF TIME TO READING TO BOOST VOCABULARY

SPEAK USING HIGH-LEVEL VOCABULARY

CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORDS TO TEACH

EXPLICITLY TEACH NEW WORDS ON MONDAY

REVIEW TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

INCORPORATE APPLICATION IN CLASS OR IN HOMEWORK

ASSESS ON FRIDAY

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

Chapter 11: Class Discussion: Interview Skills Go Beyond Trying to Get a Job

BEFORE THE DISCUSSION

HOLD STUDENTS ACCOUNTABLE WITH DIFFERENT ASSESSMENTS

EXPLICITLY TEACH CLASSROOM DISCUSSION SKILLS

KEEP IT KID CENTERED

AFTER THE DISCUSSION SUMMARIZE AND REFLECT

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

Chapter 12: Standardized Tests: You Don't Need to OD on Test Prep

TEACH STANDARDIZED TESTS LIKE YOU TEACH STRATEGIC READING

BUILD TEST-TAKING STAMINA

IMMERSE STUDENTS IN THE TESTING GENRE STARTING WEEK ONE

RECOGNIZE LEVELED READING

DESIGN INTERVENTION GROUPS

DON't WAIT 'TIL THE END

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

Chapter 13: Testing 1, 2, 3 . . . Testing: Why We Don't Want Our Data, Like Our Laundry, to Pile Up

TYPES OF READING ASSESSMENTS

CRITERIA FOR A WEEKLY READING ASSESSMENT

SHOW ME WHAT YOU KNOW (THIS WEEK'S STRATEGIES)

PLEASE, CAN I HAVE SOME MORE (THIS WEEK's OBJECTIVES WITH AN UNFAMILIAR TEXT)

REVIEW A FEW (SPIRALING CONTENT FROM LAST MONTH)

TAKE THAT AND REWIND IT BACK (SPIRALING CONTENT FROM MONTHS OR EVEN YEARS BACK)

SOAR TO A FOUR (STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENTS)

VOCABULARY

SURVEY SAYS (SELF-ASSESSMENT)

KEEP IT KID-FRIENDLY

ASSESSMENT LOGISTICS TO CONSIDER

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

FURTHER READING

Part 5: Putting It All Together

Chapter 14: Planning a Lesson: Why Teaching Is Like Cooking

CREATE EXPLICIT CRITERIA BASED ON YOUR AIM

FOLLOW THE SAME PREDICTABLE STRUCTURE

GUIDED PRACTICE AND CHECKS FOR UNDERSTANDING (WE DO)

INDEPENDENT READING (YOU DO)

DON't FORGET TO CLOSE OUT YOUR LESSONS

TO CONSIDER

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

Chapter 15: Building the Reading Without Limits Program: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

ROUTINIZE THE ESSENTIALS

BUILD WHEN YOU ARE READY

SPIRAL

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MILD, MEDIUM, SPICY NEXT-STEP SUGGESTIONS

KEEPIN' IT REAL

FOR COACHES AND SCHOOL LEADERS

Appendix A: List of Children's and Young Adult Texts Referenced and Recommended

References

Index

Praise for Reading Without Limits

“Insightful, detailed, original; Reading Without Limits is an outstanding guide for educators.”

—Deborah Kenny, Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer, Harlem Village Academies

“Reading Without Limits isn't just a tool for you to help get kids to pass a test. Maddie Witter gives teachers and leaders the tools to create lasting change in kids' lives.”

—Wendy Kopp, founder and CEO, Teach For America

“Maddie Witter is a stunning teacher and leader and has given us all a tremendous gift in sharing her practice with us within the pages of this book. Teachers, school leaders, and anyone else interested in ensuring your students become only the strongest, most avid readers should devour this book, keep it near, and use it again and again.”

—Susan E. Toth, director of Secondary Academics, KIPP DC, former principal of Mercer Middle School with the Seattle Public Schools

“The developments have truly been remarkable. Maddie Witter's practical techniques have revolutionized literacy education within our setting. Our students now use a diverse skill set to build a deeper understanding. Further, Maddie's potent, yet simple strategies have allowed our students to develop an appetite for reading and created lasting change.”

—Matthew Hyde, campus principal, Parkville Juvenile Justice Precinct, Melbourne, Australia

Copyright © 2013 by Maddie Witter. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and is on file with the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-118-47215-6 (paper); ISBN 978-1-118-48373-2 (ebk.);

ISBN 978-1-118-48374-9 (ebk.); ISBN 978-1-118-48375-6 (ebk.)

The key to KIPP's success is the remarkable team of teachers and principals who work at each KIPP school. We are excited to debut the KIPP Educator Series to share great ideas, practices, and proven strategies developed within KIPP schools. Each book in the series will feature work that has produced transformative results for students.

These books do not represent a single “official KIPP way.” That's because at KIPP, we don't believe there is only one way to approach the teaching of any subject matter. In fact, great instruction often results from the synthesis of approaches previously considered diametric opposites and incompatible. Part of KIPP's credo is, “If there is a better way, we try to find it.” As we find better ways, we will keep sharing them.

Rooted in a shared commitment to ensuring that all students will learn, KIPP teachers experiment and collaborate to maximize everyone's learning. KIPP encourages teachers to work together and share their practices in order to build off of each others' successes. And, when practices prove extraordinarily successful, as a team and a family we celebrate them. The KIPP Educator Series represents another way of sharing and celebrating these practices.

In this collection of books, educators will find practical examples, techniques, and approaches tried and tested in KIPP schools. We hope other educators will take these ideas and make them even better to help each and every student build a better tomorrow for themselves and us all.

Foreword

You've picked up a remarkable book written by a remarkable teacher, Maddie Witter. In Reading Without Limits, Maddie describes tried-and-true practices for teaching literacy and the research behind them in a simple and accessible manner. Maddie and countless other teachers have used these ideas to help thousands of kids transform their lives through reading—including the students at Maddie's former school, KIPP Infinity, which ranked number one out of New York City's 1,089 elementary and middle schools in 2008 and has since remained one of New York City's top-performing schools.

Reading, along with its companion skill, writing, is the gateway to deeper learning in the content areas, to higher education access, and to almost all career success. Since the earliest people populated this planet, reading has paved a path to knowledge and freedom.

Harriett Ball—one of the finest teachers in history, life-altering mentor to Mike Feinberg (KIPP's co-founder) and me, and one of the primary inspirations behind KIPP—enshrined reading's importance in this chant, popularized in KIPP schools nationwide:

“You got to read, baby, read. The more you read, the more you know. Knowledge is power and power is freedom and I want it!”

“I want it,” is the wish, silent or stated, of every student who walks into every school in every city in the world. Sometimes they might not even know what “it” is yet. Nonetheless, they know they want “it”—let's call “it” the power to pursue their dreams. Reading is the key that opens almost all future opportunities.

Reading Without Limits starts by sharing some of the dispiriting statistics regarding literacy in the United States. Custom suggests that I do the same here. Instead, I'd prefer to share a small part of the story of one young boy and the life-altering difference a skilled teacher of literacy can make. That boy was me.

In 1979, my school informed my mom that I was reading several years below grade level. I was entering fourth grade. They told my mom that they weren't sure what was wrong with me or how to help me. Can you imagine that meeting? Scientific sounding words were used to describe the problem. You didn't need big words to describe my tears or my shame.

Leaving that meeting, my mom's resolve changed the course of my life. She refused to be discouraged. She found someone who could teach me—really teach me. Dr. Jeanette Jansky and I spent several hours a week together for nine years, until I graduated high school. Dr. Jansky taught me how to read, and that changed everything that followed. Learning to read transformed my shame into confidence. Learning to read opened the door for me to go to college, become a teacher, and help start KIPP. In short, learning to read unlocked my dreams.

Learning to read, however, shouldn't require a mom's extra commitment or the private services of a teacher as gifted as Dr. Jansky. Teaching reading should not be a mystery. But for too many kids and too many teachers, it is just that.

Reading instruction has always been fraught with ideological debates. In the 1990s it was whole language versus phonics. More recently, teacher-directed instruction has been contrasted to what's commonly known as a workshop-based approach. While well-meaning adults continue these intellectual debates with near religious zeal, our kids' literacy skills either fail to develop or atrophy after fourth grade. In Maddie's Introduction you'll find all the data you need—our kids aren't learning to read well and don't like reading.

Reading Without Limits defies categorization. It pulls great ideas from wherever they may be found—and that's exactly what kids need today. After all, anyone standing in front of kids every day knows this single fact: if it works, you use it.

Maddie unpacks the myriad of elements that make up effective reading instruction, including the triangle of shared reading, guided reading, and choice reading; vocabulary instruction; creating powerful reading assessments; and most important, how to make reading fun so that kids want to read for a lifetime. And she does this for all kids across all reading levels.

Thankfully, Reading Without Limits breaks each of these elements into easy to understand component parts. Maddie shows us how to start using these tools immediately “on Monday,” as she says, and how to patiently develop the mastery that, to paraphrase K. Anders Ericsson, can only come from sustained deliberate practice.

As Maddie acknowledges gracefully throughout this book, Reading Without Limits “stands on the shoulders of giants,” reflecting the collective insights of countless KIPP teachers. In 2005, KIPP Infinity was founded by Joe Negron who in his first year as principal hired five gifted educators—Maddie Witter, Michael Vea, Gerard Griffith, Dilcia Ceron, and Thomas Brunzell. Together, with Maddie leading their literacy efforts, they developed many of the ideas included in Reading Without Limits.

Each year since then, more remarkable teachers have joined both KIPP Infinity and the broader KIPP team. You'll meet many of them in these pages. I only wish you could meet them all. We are so fortunate that these amazing teachers used a combination of research and direct teaching experience to hone the elements of effective reading instruction. Reading Without Limits is the result of this work. And for this result we are extraordinarily grateful.

Dave LevinNew York City

Preface

Getting the Most out of This Book

You don't have to be a reading specialist to pick up this book. Anyone who wants to dramatically improve reading achievement will find helpful suggestions. You might be a third grade teacher whose students have mastered decoding, and you are ready to build their comprehension. Or you might be a high school English teacher whose students aren't yet reading on level with deep critical thinking. This book is for you. The primary audience for Reading Without Limits is teachers who want to raise reading achievement. The secondary audiences for this book are coaches, school leaders, and administrators who want to make programmatic changes. It doesn't matter whether you are a public, charter, private, or alternative education teacher. I've had the pleasure to work with teachers in all institutions, and the Reading Without Limits program works in each one.

THE PURPOSE OF READING WITHOUT LIMITS

Our entire literacy framework will be shared, including pitfalls that we discovered along the way. The book is designed to give a teacher, school, or district the guidebook and map to move their kids to the highest level of fervor, stamina, love of learning, and independent thinking. Not all teachers were as lucky as I to have had an incredible literacy coach beside me. The book is designed to accomplish what my coach, Jannett, accomplished for me: it will provide a framework, build confidence, offer perspective, and help do whatever it takes to get our kids to become lifelong, independently motivated learners.

I started teaching in 2002 in a low-income neighborhood in New York City after working as an elementary ELL guided reading teacher for several years. In 2002 I taught eighth grade special needs students, many emergent readers, most sixteen years old or older. Over the next ten years, I taught upper elementary through eighth grade reading, writing, and nonfiction studies for students at all ability levels. I also designed and supervised the literacy program at KIPP Infinity for six years, working with a team of dedicated, brilliant literacy teachers. Finally, I've had the pleasure to work with staffs across the United States and abroad to share strategies that boost literacy achievement.

Not every school looks like KIPP Infinity. Some teachers work in self-contained classrooms. Some alternative schools have class sizes of six. High school teachers can have nearly 200 students each. For the past seven years I've consulted with a range of educators. It's inspirational and extremely humbling. That's why I decided to write Reading Without Limits. The purpose of this book isn't about the particular literacy program at one individual KIPP school. Instead, it's to share all the different ways you can apply the strategies to make it work for your own community of scholars.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

What follows are chapters designed to get students reading without limits starting Monday. What sets the book apart from similar books is the practical approach it takes. I work with teachers who often are inspired by a great idea but don't know where to start in order to make their vision a reality. I also work with teachers who shoot for the stars for Monday's lesson, and are then tempted to give up on the stars when all they needed were some baby steps. This book will provide the baby steps necessary for teachers, coaches, and school leaders to make a change on Monday. It will also provide the tools to make a change for an entire school year, or even an entire literacy program, by providing the steps necessary to create the long-term love of learning, rigor, and stamina in each student. You might need the background research before applying practical strategies. That's why I made sure to couch everything in research. You might want to make tweaks to your class because your students are already doing well. Skim through the kid-friendly ideas and give one a try next week. Or you might want to make dramatic change to your school. In that case, apply the structural changes I suggest.

You will be able to mix and match how you want to implement suggestions from the book through the mild, medium, and spicy suggestions within each chapter. Each chapter is customizable for you and your kids, but no matter what combination you choose, you will be building Reading Without Limits learners.

Each chapter is divided into the following sections:

Kid-Friendly Teaching Ideas

Each chapter includes research based, ready-to-use, fun ideas. They can be implemented tomorrow with not a lot of set up. You don't need to include all to have a successful classroom. I hope that they will inspire more kid-friendly ideas of your own.

Keepin' It Real

Building a literacy program isn't easy. There will be times, many times, when all doesn't go as planned. Following each chapter are common pitfalls that many others have experienced along the way, so they won't happen to you.

Mild, Medium, Spicy

Sometimes we want to spend hours painting a mural in our class, other times the thought of spending five minutes stapling causes us to grimace because we are late getting home. Because teaching is not a nine-to-five job, we need time-efficient ways to make things happen in our classroom. Each chapter is divided into big ideas. The mild, medium, spicy table at the end of each chapter shows how to make those ideas happen based on time. Mild = less time. Spicy = more time. Mix and match to suit your needs.

For Coaches and School Leaders

Suggestions at the end of each chapter are included for how to make the chapter's big ideas a reality in your school. This section is specifically intended for administrators as a supplement to the chapter's content.

Additional Resources

Because we created so many strategies that work, we needed another forum to include more resources. We created www.reading-without-limits.com, which includes videos, interviews, webinars, podcasts, reproducibles, and lesson plans.

To Sum Up

We need review to remember, so the chapter ends with the biggest ideas.

Reading Without Limits Checklist

In the first pages you'll find the Reading Without Limits Checklist, which lists all of the kid-friendly teaching ideas in one place. Use it as a reminder, a self-assessment, or a bag of tricks.

Struggling Readers

This book is not for struggling readers. It is for all readers. However, most of the population of kids in schools where I've worked entered far below reading level. The principles of Reading Without Limits hold true for all readers, including disengaged readers. In order to raise struggling students' achievement, research suggests1 to

Model explicit direct instruction

Create specific knowledge goals

Provide frequent, specific feedback

Create tasks that are challenging, but doable

Link learning to real life

Teach how to accurately self-assess

Give students an abundance of interesting books that gives them some control and choice

Encourage interactive learning

Text boxes throughout Reading Without Limits will show how chapters align to these learning principles, and how the principles directly impact struggling or disengaged learners. All of the Reading Without Limits strategies hold true for all of our readers, regardless of ability or interest in reading.

Nonfiction Studies

This book includes strategies that literacy teachers can use, regardless of grade level or genre. Content teachers who want to teach reading strategies should use strategies recommended in this book. Nonfiction needs to be thoroughly integrated into all aspects of the Reading Without Limits literacy program.

Make It Your Own

The Reading Without Limits program is not a one-size-fits-all program. Use this book as a guidebook and implement strategies that will work for your school, your classroom, and your kids.

MEET OUR STUDENTS

Throughout Reading Without Limits, I tell the true stories of students that I've worked with throughout the past 12 years. To protect the privacy of my students and their families, I've changed student names.

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

This book was written on the shoulders of giants: dedicated educators who are committed to the relentless pursuit toward excellence in their classrooms. You will meet them throughout the pages of Reading Without Limits.

Lelac Almagor

Lelac Almagor teaches literacy and coaches literacy teachers at KIPP DC AIM Academy in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, DC.

Adrian Antao

Adrian is a high school English teacher and has made college readiness his mission for eight years. He has taught ninth through twelfth grade with a focus on honors curriculum.

Sarah Baumann

Sarah is a fifth grade reading teacher at KIPP Academy. Joining KIPP as a former first grade teacher, she has taught fifth grade literacy for the past nine years.

Tamiko Forrest

Tamiko is currently in her third year of teaching nonfiction research at KIPP Infinity Middle School. She has taught fourth through sixth grade in New York City.

Allison Willis Holley

Allison Willis Holley was the founding sixth grade nonfiction studies teacher at KIPP Infinity Middle School and taught the class for four years. After completing her master's degree in school leadership at Harvard Graduate School of Education, she returned to KIPP Infinity as an instructional coach and assumed the role of school leader in 2012.

Sheena Johnson

Sheena is a second grade teacher and Grade Team leader at KIPP Academy Elementary School in the Bronx. She is currently studying to receive her master's in education from Hunter College in New York City.

Amber Koppel

Amber is a reading teacher and dean of literacy at KIPP Infinity Middle School. She has taught sixth and eighth grade reading.

Lynn Liran

Lynn joined the New York City Teaching Fellows program in 2003, where she earned her master's degree in childhood education. She joined KIPP Infinity Middle School in 2006, and has served as a literacy and special education teacher for all four grades.

Annica Schroeder Lowek

Annica is an intervention specialist and special education coordinator at KIPP Infinity Middle School.

Theresa McCaffery

Theresa has held the positions of preschool teacher, third grade special education teacher, and fifth grade reading teacher at KIPP Infinity Middle School. She is currently on a hiatus from teaching while she raises her two children.

Joy Osborne

Joy is a founding member of the KIPP NYC College Prep High School staff. She has worked with students in middle and high school for eight years, the last four of which have been spent with KIPP NYC.

Elizabeth Raji-Greig

Liz is a dean of teaching and learning at KIPP AMP Academy in Brooklyn, New York. She has been involved in education for over eight years, teaching English language arts and coaching teachers across all subject areas.

Sayuri Stabrowski

Sayuri was a founding seventh grade reading and writing teacher at KIPP Infinity Middle School, where she continues to teach eighth grade reading. She serves as an instructional coach and curriculum writer for middle school literacy teachers throughout the KIPP NYC region.

Michael Witter

Michael was the founding sixth grade reading teacher at KIPP Infinity Middle School, and currently is the director of training and leadership for Teach for Australia. He is the proud recipient of the 2010 KIPP Excellence in Teaching award.

Dominique Young

Dominique taught English at KIPP DC for two years and is currently teaching seventh grade reading at KIPP Infinity Middle School. As a former KIPPster, she was a founding member of the KIPP Academy School in the Bronx, and is currently pursuing her master's degree in education at the RELAY School of Education.

Autumn Zangrilli

Autumn Zangrilli is the dean of teaching and learning at KIPP AMP in Brooklyn, New York. Autumn taught middle school reading and writing in Brooklyn and Rome, Italy, prior to joining the KIPP team and family.

1 John T. Guthrie and Marcia H. Davis. “Motivating Struggling Readers in Middle School Through an Engagement Model of Classroom Practice.” Reading and Writing Quarterly (Taylor & Francis) 19 (2003): 59–85; Renate N. Caine and Geoffrey Caine. Education on the Edge of Possibility. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD, 1997; Eric Jensen. Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD, 1998.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to so many people for helping bring Reading Without Limits to readers. The support from KIPP has been extraordinary since I started my work with the Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP, in 2005. Dave Levin, co-founder of KIPP schools, brought vision, unending optimism, and support to each sentence of this book. Joe Negron, founding principal of KIPP Infinity, championed and cultivated KIPP Infinity's literacy program. I told Joe several years ago that one of my dreams was to write a book. At the time, I thought that dream was far-fetched: thank you Joe for making it a reality. KIPP Infinity was co-founded by a team of brilliant people: Tom Brunzell, Dilcia Ceron, Gerard Griffith, Joe Negron, and Michael Vea. They are truly the hardest working group and are doing whatever it takes to help lead a group of brilliant scholars to and through college. The staff of KIPP Infinity, from 2005 until now, are creative, hard-working, passionate visionaries. It was a privilege to work with them, and I miss having the opportunity to see them in action on a daily basis. I am forever grateful to the students and families of KIPP Infinity. In 2013, the founding class of KIPPsters are graduating high school. Does it get better than that? I can't wait to see them walk the stage.

For the past 10 years I have worked with schools and educators who are performing miracles. During my first year of teaching, my literacy coach, Jannett Bailey, led me. She taught me that teaching isn't about figuring it out all on my own. She directed me to a community of educators: in books, workshops, and throughout the school. I followed her around like a puppy for three years, soaking up her wisdom. Jannett has been fighting to close the achievement gap for decades, and I am blessed to have started my career with her. I am also incredibly grateful to Harlem Village Academies, the Achievement First network, and RELAY School of Education in New York City for their commitment to New York City and the tri-state area's youth. Thank you to Teach for America, Teach for All, Teach for Australia, and KIPP Foundation for their pursuit toward excellence in teaching. In Melbourne, Australia, Brendan Murray is fighting to bring education equality to disengaged youth. I want to thank Brendan for his relentless commitment with an often-ignored population.

Several folks helped turn chicken scratches into something readable! Kate Gagnon from Jossey-Bass brought nothing but positivity from the moment we reached out with our idea. Paula Stacey, writer extraordinaire, patiently helped guide me into becoming a book writer, and thank you to Cathy Mallon and Suzanne Copenhagen for their help. Special thanks to Minnow Park who took beautiful photographs of our KIPPsters.

Finally, I want to thank my support team: Tom Brunzell, my dear friend who not only co-founded KIPP Infinity with me but also is now working miracles for disadvantaged children in Australia. I wouldn't have been able to make the move to Oz or write this book without him. Thanks to my family and friends who supported me through my first pregnancy while I moved abroad and wrote a book simultaneously. Thank you to my daughter Gigi for smiling in her fourth week and not stopping since, and to my husband Michael Witter. Michael is basically the best reading teacher I've ever seen, and it's his classroom and instruction that I aspire to emulate when I teach.