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Home › Professional Development › Professional Library
Professional Library
Inform your teaching with the latest research, find practical teaching tips, or get inspired. This selection of books, journals, and position statements comes to you from the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English.
Books
Family Message Journals: Teaching Writing through Family Involvement
This book follows the development of emergent and beginning writers as they explore the power and joy of written communication.
Creating Lifelong Readers Through Independent Reading
This book provides information on the benefits of independent reading, how to set up a classroom library, and ways to actively engage students in independent reading.
Journals & Other Publications
Language Arts
Are you interested in language arts learning and teaching of students in grades K-8? Articles from this journal discuss both theory and classroom practice.
Sample Article:
Mar-10 | Violent Red, Ogre Green, and Delicious White: Expanding Meaning Potential through Media
The Reading Teacher
If you're a literacy professional who works with children up to age 12, you'll find a wealth of information in this journal, including practical, evidence-based teaching ideas and information on the latest research.
Sample Article:
May-10 | Singing Across the Curriculum
Voices from the Middle
If you work with students in grades 5-8, you'll find research and best practices in middle-level reading, writing, speaking, and listening in the visual and language arts in these articles.
Sample Article:
May-04 | Stop Pretending and Think about Plot
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
This journal, aimed for teachers of older learners, includes practical ideas for instruction, including tips on how to integrate technology, media, and popular culture in your classroom.
Sample Article:
Oct-09 | Critical Literacies and Graphic Novels for English-Language Learners: Teaching Maus
English Journal
In this award-winning journal for English language arts teachers in secondary schools, you'll find information on the teaching of writing and reading, literature, and language, and best uses for technology.
Sample Article:
Jan-07 | Research Matters: What Kinds of Classroom Discussion Promote Reading Comprehension?
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Lesson Plans Related to the Professional Library |  |
Grades K – 2 | Lesson Plan
Family Message Journals Teach Many Purposes for Writing
This lesson encourages children to explore authentic reasons for writing by writing messages to their family in a family message journal.
Based on Family Message Journals: Teaching Writing through Family Involvement
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan
BOOKMATCH: Scaffolding Independent Book Selection
This lesson will be turning heads and pages as students learn how to choose appropriate books for independent reading exercises and later evaluate their choices.
Based on Creating Lifelong Readers Through Independent Reading
Grades K – 2 | Lesson Plan
Using Songwriting to Build Awareness of Beginning Letter Sounds
"Bessie bird lives in a barn" in this lesson in which students create alliterative animal songs to help them learn letter names and consonant sounds and build phonemic awareness.
Based on Singing Across the Curriculum
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan
Plot Structure: A Literary Elements Mini-Lesson
Students learn that the plot structure described by Freytag's Pyramid is actually quite familiar as they diagram the plots of a familiar story, a television show, and a narrative poem.
Based on Stop Pretending and Think about Plot
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan
Making It Visual for ELL Students: Teaching History Using Maus
Spark the engagement of English-language learners or reluctant readers with the graphic novel Maus. The visual information provided by the genre serves as a support for reading and critical engagement.
Based on Critical Literacies and Graphic Novels for English-Language Learners: Teaching Maus
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan
A Case for Reading—Examining Challenged and Banned Books
Students examine books, selected from the American Library Association Challenged/Banned Books list, and write persuasive pieces expressing their views about what should be done with the books at their school.
