Standards in Practice, Grades K-2

Viewing the English language arts standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association as a point of departure rather than a final destination, this book presents a number of ways to increase student ownership of learning. The book details a pedagogy that recognizes, respects, and builds from individual language strengths and experiences, and in each chapter presents a rich classroom portrait of the standards at work in student-centered, real-world experiences and activities. In the book, students direct the inquiry process in chapters on interest groups and the Iditarod dogsled race; in other chapters, their teachers learn to respond to growing cultural diversity in the classroom, shift from basal readers to literature-based learning, and rethink the purposes of assessment in a chapter on "real kid report cards." Throughout the book, students and teachers learn together as they develop language and literacy skills for the coming century. (Each chapter contains references.) (NKA)