This article presents a brief biography of Judith Viorst, best known for her children's picture books and poetry. Viorst's well-known and most unforgettable character Alexander was based on her youngest son. Alexander was featured by name in the title of three of Viorst's picture books. In fact, Viorst often has used her family life to provide…

Upper-elementary students encounter a sometimes dizzying array of traditional and nontraditional texts both in and outside of the classroom. This practical handbook helps teachers in grades 4-6 harness the instructional potential of fiction, poetry, and plays; informational texts; graphic novels; digital storytelling; Web-based and multimodal…

Even the youngest readers and writers in today's classrooms can benefit enormously from engagement with a wide range of traditional and nontraditional texts. This teacher-friendly handbook is packed with creative strategies for introducing K-3 students to fiction, poetry, and plays; informational texts; graphic novels; digital storytelling;…

This book focuses on constructing rubrics that assess students' literacy skills. Nine chapters include: (1) "Using Rubrics to Assess Literacy" (e.g., rubrics to assess authentic literacy and converting rubric scores); (2) "Using Rubrics to Assess Reading Comprehension" (e.g., examining the components of reading comprehension and how to use…