The Literacy Teacher's Playbook, Grades 3-6 ─ Four Steps for Turning Assessment Data into Goal-Directed Instruction

Serravallo, a literacy consultant, speaker, and author, leads third through sixth grade literacy teachers through a four-step assessment process that focuses on meeting the needs of students and planning for students based on what they already know, understand, and are able to do. The steps involve collecting data through the lenses for reading (engagement, fluency, print work, writing process, and conversation) and the qualities of good writing, writing process, and writing engagement; analyzing data to understand what students know and can do; synthesizing data from multiple assessments to create learning goals; and developing instructional plans and follow-ups to monitor progress. She includes information on what types of student work to collect, what to look for, and what types of goals are age-appropriate. There is no index. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jennifer Serravallo is the author of New York Times bestseller The Reading Strategies Book as well as other popular Heinemann titles, including Teaching Reading in Small Groups; Conferring with Readers; and The Literacy Teacher's Playbook, Grades K - 2 and Grades 3 - 6. Her newest book is The Writing Strategies Book. She is also the author of the On-Demand Course Teaching Reading in Small Groups: Matching Methods to Purposes where you can watch dozens of videos of Jen teaching in real classrooms and engage with other educators in a self-guided course. Jen began her career in education as a teacher in Title I schools in NYC and later joined the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. Through TCRWP and now as an independent consultant, she has spent over a decade helping teachers across the country to create literacy classrooms where students are joyfully engaged and the the instruction is meaningfully individualized to students' goals. Jen holds a BA from Vassar College and an MA from Teachers College, where she has also taught graduate and undergraduate classes on urban education reform and children's literature. Learn more about Jen and her work at www.jenniferserravallo.com, or connect with her at @jserravallo.