- MODELS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Want to bring more consistency to the practices in your school or district? Start with models that make a difference. Models help us organize and explain what we do. That makes doing things more efficient and getting more people to do them together more likely. Models are also compact. Getting everyone on the same page is a lot easier when there’s only one page to get everyone on. - IF YOU’RE ACCOUNTABLE FOR LITERACY, GET A GOOD CPA
While perfect for persuasive and informational writing, the Content-Purpose-Audience strategy is a great pre-write for any form. Beyond pre-writing, it makes an excellent revision tool as well. CPA can also be used as a reading strategy to dissect any type of text. If you could only take one strategy to class with you each day, CPA would probably be your best choice. - STEP-BY-STEP SUCCESS WITH TRANSITION-ACTION-DETAILS
Transition-Action-Details is a great strategy for all forms of narrative writing including memoir, biography, accounts of historical events, math algorithms, science experiments, directions, and anything else that can be described in a sequential fashion. It also improves reading comprehension in situations where students have to summarize and retain large amounts of information. - CRITICAL THINKING: IT’S AS EASY AS WHAT-WHY-HOW
Most logical thought follows a simple structure: What do I think? Why do I think it? How do I know? The What-Why-How strategy captures this pattern in a compact and easy-to-use tool that helps students build effective logical arguments in expository and persuasive essays, research papers, essay questions, and constructed responses. It’s also a terrific non-fiction reading strategy. - INSPIRING INSTRUCTION
This is a collection of over 40 of our best mini-lessons and articles. These are the tools we use most frequently, the ideas we know we can rely on. Each lesson is on its own page and no single article is longer than 750 words. These are tools you can use once or over and over again, wherever reading, writing, and organized thinking are required. - THE FIVE FACTS OF FICTION
A powerful tool for readers of all ages and abilities, Five Facts helps kids explore character, motivation, plot, theme, setting and other story elements in an efficient way that increases enjoyment and improves comprehension. This strategy also works well with narrative non-fiction like biographies, historical events, drama, and other character-driven forms. - THE LANGUAGE ARTS SURVIVAL KIT
Is it possible to teach an entire school year with just the 20-or-so pages in this packet? We think it might be. The Language Arts survival kit contains some of our best “organizers,” those handy-dandy compilations of strategies and other ideas for effective instruction. You’ll find the equivalent of 100+ lessons here, many of which can be used over and over throughout the school year. - BESTING THE TESTING
Teachers are working harder than ever these days to help kids learn. But most schools aren’t making as much progress as they’d like. On the national level, NAEP scores aren’t moving much and it doesn’t seem like kids are as well prepared as they need to be for college and the world of work. So what’s the secret to besting the testing and getting kids ready for real life? - THE BEST OF TTMS
We’re always writing about education. So periodically, we collect up a few current pieces that we think represent the best of our thinking and make them available to the public. Our purpose in doing this is to elicit response and to raise the level of dialog on important issues. So if you’ve got something to tell us about something we’ve said, please let us know. - THE WRITING STUDENT’S STRATEGY GUIDE
This packet contains a wide variety of writing strategies that can be used at all grade levels and across the curriculum. You’ll find mini-lessons, student samples, and tips for helping kids get the most out of each technique. You’ll also find information on sharing, conferencing, beating writer’s block, revision, beginnings and endings, and other important issues writers face every day. - STUDENT WRITING SAMPLES
We’ve collected over 100 authentic student writing samples and arranged them by grade level so you can see how writers develop. These samples have been carefully culled from thousands of papers to give you an accurate understanding of grade level benchmarks in authentic writing. These pieces make great models for mini-lessons. They’re also just a lot of fun to share with students. - PROMPTED WRITING
To help teachers get their kids prepared for testing, we’ve collected anchor papers at all score levels from high-stakes tests in narrative, expository, and persuasive modes. This packet discusses why we should favor student self-selected topics over prompts in our everyday teaching while also explaining how to help kids prepare for prompted writing assessments. - READ LIKE A READER, READ LIKE A WRITER
Explore the reading-writing connection with this fascinating approach to comprehension and response that combines the best strategic teaching in reading with the same trait-based criteria you use for writing assessment. Discover a single unified model of reading comprehension and instruction that can be shared across the curriculum and up and down the grade levels. - WELCOME TO WRITER’S WORKSHOP
There’s simply no better way to run a writing classroom than to use Writer’s Workshop. But what exactly is it? This packet tells you in simple language you can understand and apply to your daily teaching. You’ll find a variety of practical tips for getting started as well as handy single-page organizers for helping you manage a classroom of writers effectively and efficiently. - WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
Students should be writing in every subject. But how do you fit that in without losing time to cover your curriculum? This packet explores solutions and provides practical tools for helping teachers in the content areas bring writing into their classrooms. With a few new ideas and a set of simple strategies, you’ll find it isn’t nearly as hard as you thought. - WRITING ASSESSMENT
Assessment is complicated. What’s the difference between testing, assessment, grading, and reporting? This packet helps you sort it all out. It also provides you with some innovative assessment models you’ve probably never seen before. And while all the tools in this collection can be used to assess writing, they can also be used in other subjects. - WHAT IS GOOD WRITING?
We spend hours teaching writing criteria to our students, yet most of them never understand what this language means. This packet discusses each criteria item across six traits of writing quality: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. You’ll also find single-page organizers with trait language for both beginning and maturing writers. - AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WRITING PROCESS
Nothing in the teaching of writing seems more basic than the writing process. But there’s more to it than you might expect. Most of us know the writing process but often we struggle to use it in ways that help students become more effective writers. In this overview, you’ll get the basic concepts you need to help your students develop a true process approach. - WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT A BOOK?
Are you tired of boring book reports and bland character sketches? Ever wish your kids could engage in the same high quality book discussions adults do? This packet gives you the tools. But it also gives you an important perspective. By looking at book reviews, and organizing reading response by topic, you can help your students develop a repertoire of analytical techniques. - ALL’S WELL THAT SPELLS WELL
Tired of spelling lists, spelling sentences, and spelling tests that have little positive effect on your students’ ability to spell when they write? You’re not alone. Spelling experts tell us that teaching spelling out of the context of writing isn’t very helpful. Find out why in this practical introduction to contemporary research-based best practice. - A NEW APPROACH TO GRADING
If you’ve read the research on grading, you know that averaging grades and using the traditional point-percentage system isn’t the best way to go. Here’s a new approach that saves teacher time, improves student ownership through powerful self-assessment, and puts an end to squabbles with parents about fairness and accuracy. - THE HANDOUTS
If you’re already using the reading and writing strategies in our other packets, you’ll want these handy handouts, too. Each contains a single strategy or criteria item. They’re perfect for mini-bulletin boards when you’re short on space or for kids to keep in their folders or notebooks. They also work well as overheads when you’re introducing concepts in mini-lessons. - THE ORGANIZERS
Wouldn’t it be great if you could get your teaching on a few sheets of paper? You can with TTMS Instructional Organizers. Each organizer summarizes the essential elements of a particular part of your curriculum from reading and writing strategies, to criteria, to the basic elements of Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop. Put away those cumbersome notebooks and get organized. - THE POSTERS
This packet contains 28 black and white posters coordinated with the strategies in the handouts and organizers. With a single strategy or criteria item printed on each 11 x 17 page, the posters are great for bulletin boards or other special displays. And if you want them even larger, just send the digital files to your local copy shop and have them enlarged.
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