Books and Beyond : New Ways to Reach Readers

Try counting how many different types of texts you read each day. Now count how few your students read in class. Michael Opitz, Michael Ford, and Matthew Zbaracki argue that if we want children to meet our literacy expectations, we must do more than supplement basal reading or anthologies with a few books here and there. What kids need to grow into lifelong readers is true variety in a print-rich classroom, teaching that values their out-of-school literacy as well as their in-school literacy, and an emphasis on what works, instead of whats mandated.

Books and Beyond is a book of big ideas and smart, useful strategies. Opitz, Ford, and Zbaracki suggest ways to model literate behaviors so that students come to understand that reading is not reserved for the classroom but permeates everything adults do. They describe step by step how to use ten distinct types of outside-world text in your reading program, including a wide range of genres and media. They offer specific advice and instructional alternatives for each kind of text and answer key instructional questions about it such as:

• Why use it?
• How can it be used in the classroom?
• How does it work with different age groups?
• What are examples that are appropriate for students?
• What websites are good for researching it?

Books and Beyond has everything you need to create a reading program that truly offers students choice alongside a strong sense of how and why we use reading in our everyday lives. And with tips for working around the obstacles of basals, suggestions for reforming the attitudes that have left many real-world texts undervalued, ignored, or even banned from classroom use, as well as methods for using alternative texts to increase student interest and motivation, its got enough savvy to help you make the transition to a balanced reading program without making waves.

If you or your students struggle with banal basal programs, or if youd simply like to open childrens eyes to a wider world of genres, texts, and literature, read Books and Beyond. Youll find a whole new world of reading instruction at your fingertips.

A former elementary school teacher and reading specialist, Michael Opitz (@MichaelOpitz4) is professor emeritus education of reading at the University of Northern Colorado where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses and supervised doctoral dissertations. He is now a literacy consultant and author well known to individual teachers, instructional leaders, and researchers as the author of numerous professional and curricular resources and through his extensive work in schools nationwide.

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL BOOKS

Titles with Heinemann

• Accessible Assessment: How 9 Sensible Techniques Can Power Data-Driven Reading Instruction (2011)
• Classroom Catalysts: 15 Efficient Practices That Accelerate Readers' Learning (2014)
• Comprehension and English Language Learners: 25 Oral Reading Strategies That Cross Proficiency Levels (2009)
• Do-able Differentiation: Varying Texts, Supports and Groups to Reach Readers (2008)
• Good-bye Round Robin (1998/2008)
• Books and Beyond: New Ways to Reach Readers (2006)
• Listen Hear! 25 Ways to Enhance Listening Comprehension (2005)
• Reaching Readers: Flexible and Innovative Strategies for Guided Reading (2001)
• Rhymes and Reasons: Literature and Language Play for Phonological Awareness (2000)

• Reading Diagnosis and Improvement: Assessment and Instruction, 6th ed. (Allyn & Bacon, 2011)
• Literacy Lessons to Help Kids Get Fit and Healthy (Scholastic, 2010)
• Don't Speed. Read! 12 Steps for Smart and Sensible Fluency Instruction (Scholastic, 2007)
• Flexible Grouping in Reading (Scholastic, 1998)
• Literacy Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students (IRA, 1998)
• Getting the Most from Predictable Books (Scholastic, 1995)
• Learning Centers: Getting Them Started, Keeping Them Going (Scholastic, 1994)

CORE, SUPPLEMENTAL, AND RTI PROGRAMS

• Pair-It Extreme (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), a supplemental reading program aimed at engaging boys with reading
• Literacy by Design (Rigby, 2008), a supplemental literacy and RtI program
• Intervention by Design (Rigby, 2009), an intervention program tailored to children who need additional help with reading
• Summer Success Reading (Great Source, 2007), a reading program designed to help children who need additional help with reading
• Afterschool Achiever's Reading Club (Great Source, 2003)
• Daybooks, Grades 3-5 (Great Source, 2008, contributing author)

ARTICLES
Mike is the author of more than 20 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as:

• The Reading Teacher
• Literacy Research and Instruction
• Reading Horizons

AWARDS AND HONORS
Mike has received more than 15 awards for his teaching, scholarship, and service to professional organizations, including the Fannie Stabenow Award from the Colorado Council of the International Reading Association.

LEADERSHIP ROLES

• Editorial Boards of The Reading Teacher and Reading Horizons
• Former Chair of IRA's Teacher Educator Award Committee
• Numerous committees in CCIRA

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Michael Opitz provides on- and off-site professional development through Heinemann Professional Development.

Michael Ford is a professor of reading in the College of Education and Human Services at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. He has been involved with literacy education for more than 30 years as a first-grade and Title I teacher as well as a researcher and teacher-educator. His work with the international school associations has taken him to Africa, Europe, Central America, South America, and the Middle East.

Teacher Professional Books with Heinemann

• Classroom Catalysts: 15 Efficient Practices That Accelerate Readers' Learning (2014)
• Do-able Differentiation: Varying Texts, Supports and Groups to Reach Readers (2008)
• Books and Beyond: New Ways to Reach Readers (2006)
• Where Have All the Bluebirds Gone? How to Soar with Flexible Grouping (2002)
• Reaching Readers: Flexible and Innovative Strategies for Guided Reading (2001)

Core, Supplemental, and RTI Programs

• LEAD 21 (McGraw Hill-Wright Group, 2010, senior author)

Articles
Mike is the author of more than 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as:

• The Reading Teacher
• Childhood Education
• Language Arts
• Reading Research and Instruction

Leadership Roles

• Chair of the International Reading Association's Children's and Young Adult Book Awards Committee
• Former President of the Wisconsin State Reading Association (WSRA)
• Current WSRA Advocacy Chair
• Current President of the Wisconsin Professors of Reading
• Host of the series Behind the Lesson--a teacher PD companion to the award-winning Wisconsin Public Television children's series Into the Book

Awards and Honors

• The McGraw Hill Seeing the Learner in Every Child Award
• WSRA's Celebrate Literacy Award
• WSRA's Outstanding Service Award

Professional Development
Michael Ford provides on- and off-site professional development through Heinemann Professional Development Services. Visit Heinemann.com/PD for more information.

Matthew D. Zbaracki was previously on the faculty of the University of Northern Colorado and now teaches at Rhode Island College. Zbaracki's love for children's literature began when he taught grades four through six and culminated in his Ph.D. in children's literature from The Ohio State University. He coauthored Listen Hear!