Reaching the Whole Child by Teaching Whole-Class Novels

There's room and reason to teach whole-class novels, right along with honoring student independent reading choice. ELA expert Robert Ward explains how to do both, as he shares three decades of success expanding the literacy skills of students at every level of proficiency. But learning the nuts and bolts of reading and writing doesn't mean much if students lack the passion and purpose to sustain a lifelong love of literature or if the teacher fails to inspire student writing that's compelling and convincing. This book shows you how to cultivate an ELA classroom filled with willingness, wisdom, wonder, warmth, and worth that has students routinely proclaiming English among their favorite subjects! Affordably priced to fit within any teacher's or school's budget, Reaching the Whole Child by Teaching Whole-Class Novels equips educators to: *Reignite your own passion and purpose for teaching literature-and in so doing, awaken critical thinking, creativity, and compassion in your students. *Move each student forward every day-socially, emotionally, soulfully, and academically-through the reading of great books. *Build class community and cohesion by teaching moving and meaningful whole-class novels through a student-centered approach. *Encourage student voice and choice with structured daily independent reading. *Become an artful book matchmaker, helping to pair each student with their next beloved reading adventure. *Inspire students to read a total of 15 grade-level books per school year, with many voraciously reading 20 or more-over half of which are of their own choosing. *Gain actionable and empowering ELA strategies and creative culminating projects. *Teach sophisticated writing strategies that allow your student essays to shine with distinction and depth. *Learn to use reader's notebooks as a framework for teaching ELA content standards. *Engage students, boost their confidence, and increase their achievement! Robert Ward is a public middle school ELA teacher in L.A. and an award-winning blogger. As the author of six books for educators and parents, Robert advocates for a whole-child teaching approach that values the core needs of each student. Based on his Edutopia article that became the #1 Google search result for "teaching whole-class novels," this book draws on Robert's 27 years of classroom experience inspiring a love of reading to thousands of students.