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Secondary ELA Book Study – Thinking Reading: What Every Secondary Teacher Needs to Know About Reading – Chapter 4

April 20, 2023

Join the ADE English Language Arts Team for a FREE Secondary ELA Focused 9-week book study. Thursdays from 4:30-5:30 MST (3/30 through 5/4). Everyone is welcome!

Text: Thinking Reading: What Every Secondary Teacher Needs to Know About Reading by James and Dianne Murphy

To order: http://bit.ly/3ml78e3 (note: this publishing company is in Australia, so feel free to purchase from other vendors)

This is a thought-provoking book about young people who have reached secondary school and are unable to read fluently, and about what teachers and school leaders can do to help improve attainment, confidence, and life-chances. This book provides a thorough, easy to use introduction to the extensive research on reading, its effects on student achievement, and how the brain best learns to read. It then delves into how the general secondary school classroom can support all levels of reading more effectively, regardless of subject; how school leaders can ensure that their systems, practices, and school culture deliver the very best literacy provision for all students; and what it takes to ensure that a racing intervention aimed at adolescent struggling readers is truly effective. The overall message of this books is one of great optimism: the authors demonstrate that the right of every child to learn to read is entirely achievable if schools employ the best research-driven practice.

Participants must register for each week’s session individually. All participants who register in APLD, read their chapter, and attend the book study will be given 2-hours PD credit. Certificates will be in APLD and no record of attendance will be emailed.

Zoom link will be individually emailed to registrants the day of the webinar. Registration closes at 12 PM on Thursdays.

Dates/Chapters:

  • 3/30 Ch 1 “Why every teacher needs to know about reading”
  • 4/6 Ch 2 “Misconceptions about reading, and their consequences”
  • 4/13 Ch 3 “How do we learn to read, and why is it important”
  • 4/20 Ch 4 “Helping struggling readers in the secondary classroom”
  • 4/27 Ch 5 “What school leaders need to know and do about reading”
  • 5/4 Ch 6 “What does it take for effective reading interventions at secondary school?”
  • For questions regarding this resource, please contact .
  • Contact Name: Lauren Spenceley
  • Email Address: lauren.spenceley@azed.gov