Additional information
by Ellin Oliver Keene (Author), Nell K. Duke (Author), Marcia Invernizzi (Author)
"When we give every student worksheets to learn phonics and spelling, we miss opportunities to get our students excited about words and fail to give them the opportunity to meet the high standards represented by the Common Core Standards. Our students need instruction that makes them think and helps them apply their word knowledge to real reading and writing situations." --Jennifer Palmer and Marcia Invernizzi
We want students to be curious about how words work and develop strategies that work whether they are decoding words or spelling them. And our jobs would be easier if students couldn't wait for word study.
Yet so many classrooms are stuck in the cycle of unengaging, one-size fits all phonics and spelling worksheets.
Reading specialist Jennifer Palmer and literacy researcher Marcia Invernizzi offer better, more effective, more engaging practices. Their suggestions lead kids to not only make progress during word study but also to transfer what they learn about words to their reading and writing. No More Phonics and Spelling Worksheets show us:
- why skill-and-drill methods and worksheets cause children to struggle or disengage
- the kinds of teaching that research shows actually works
- instructional ideas for word study can put to use right away.
"We can cast off one-size-fits-all factory instruction and try a more useful practice," write Jennifer and Marcia, "meeting each child where s/he is." Pick up No More Phonics and Spelling Worksheets, discover practices that better support literacy growth, and help everyone make progress.
Author Biography
Jennifer Palmer (@DrJennPalmer) is coauthor, with Marcia Invernizzi, of No More Phonics and Spelling Worksheets. The book is a part of Heinemann's Not This But Series, edited by Nell K. Duke and Ellin Oliver Keene. Jennifer is a veteran elementary school educator with experience as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, teacher mentor, and professional developer. She was among the first in Maryland to earn National Board Certification as an Early Childhood Generalist in 1998 and was honored by the Milken Family Foundation in 2002 as a Milken Educator. She graduated with her Ed D in Educational Leadership and Innovation in 2012 from Wilmington University where she earned the Audrey K Doberstein award for leadership for her work in mentoring National Board Certified teachers in her district and for creating a program that encouraged teachers in Title 1 schools to attempt to earn this challenging certification. As moderator of the Mosaic listserv, she is passionate in her belief that encouraging teachers to be thoughtful and reflective in their instructional practices is the most effective way to create outstanding schools that are responsive to the needs of all students.
Nell K. Duke, Ed.D., is a professor in literacy, language, and culture and also in the combined program in education and psychology at the University of Michigan. Duke received her Bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and her Masters and Doctoral degrees from Harvard University. Duke's work focuses on early literacy development, particularly among children living in economic poverty. Her specific areas of expertise include the development of informational reading and writing in young children, comprehension development and instruction in early schooling, and issues of equity in literacy education. She has served as Co-Principal Investigator of projects funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the George Lucas Educational Foundation, among other organizations. Duke has been named one of the most influential education scholars in the U.S. in EdWeek. In 2014, Duke was awarded the P. David Pearson Scholarly Influence Award from the Literacy Research Association, and in 2018 she received the International Literacy Association's William S. Gray Citation of Merit for outstanding contributions to research, theory, practice, and policy. She has also received the Michigan Reading Association Advocacy Award, the American Educational Research Association Early Career Award, the Literacy Research Association Early Career Achievement Award, the International Reading Association Dina Feitelson Research Award, the National Council of Teachers of English Promising Researcher Award, and the International Reading Association Outstanding Dissertation Award. Duke is author and co-author of numerous journal articles and book chapters. Her most recent book is Inside Information: Developing Powerful Readers and Writers of Informational Text through Project-based Instruction. She is co-author of the books Reading and Writing Informational Text in the Primary Grades: Research-Based Practices; Literacy and the Youngest Learner: Best Practices for Educators of Children from Birth to Five; Beyond Bedtime Stories: A Parent's Guide to Promoting Reading, Writing, and Other Literacy Skills From Birth to 5, now in its second edition; and Reading and Writing Genre with Purpose in K - 8 Classrooms. She is co-editor of the Handbook of Effective Literacy Instruction: Research-based Practice K to 8 and Literacy Research Methodologies. She is also editor of The Research-Informed Classroom book series and co-editor of the Not This, But That book series. Duke has taught preservice, inservice and doctoral courses in literacy education, speaks and consults widely on literacy education, and is an active member of several literacy-related organizations. Among other roles, she currently serves as advisor for the Public Broadcasting Service/Corporation for Public Broadcasting Ready to Learn initiative, an expert for NBC News Learn, and advisor to the Council of Chief State School Officers Early Literacy Networked Improvement Community. She has served as author or consultant on several educational programs, including Connect4Learning: The Pre-K Curriculum; Information in Action: Reading, Writing, and Researching with Informational Text; Engaging Families in Children's Literacy Development: A Complete Workshop Series; Buzz About IT (Informational Text); iOpeners; National Geographic Science K-2; and the DLM Early Childhood Express. Duke also has a strong interest in improving the quality of educational research training in the U.S.
Marcia Invernizzi (@anosygnosia) is the coauthor, with Jennifer Palmer, of No More Phonics and Spelling Worksheets. The book is a part of Heinemann's Not This But Series, edited by Nell K. Duke and Ellin Oliver Keene. In addition to her Heinemann title, Marcia is a coauthor of Words Their Way and twelve other books related to word study. She is the creator and primary author of PALS, the Phonologial Awareness Literacy Screening tool used in many states and a founder of Book Buddies, a tutoring framework for struggling readers in the first and second grades. The Henderson Professor of Reading Education at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education, Marcia teaches graduate classes for the program areas of reading and teacher education in the department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education. Her favorite course is Word Study in which she and her students explore the structure of words and their meanings. Marcia's research focuses on the role of written word knowledge in literacy development, on reading difficulties, and on formative and diagnostic literacy assessments that can inform instruction. She has received many awards for her teaching and research, including the Curry School of Education's Outstanding Professor Award, and the University of Virginia's Edlich-Henderson Innovator of the Year Award. Marcia's favorite word is serendipitous; some of her most important insights have come from her work with children.
Ellin Oliver Keene has been a classroom teacher, staff developer, non-profit director and adjunct professor of reading and writing. For sixteen years she directed staff development initiatives at the Denver-based Public Education & Business Coalition. She served as Deputy Director and Director of Literacy and Staff Development for the Cornerstone Project at the University of Pennsylvania for 4 years. Ellin works with schools and districts throughout the country and abroad. Her emphasis is long-term, school-based professional development and strategic planning for literacy learning. Ellin recently published The Literacy Studio: Redesigning the Workshop for Readers and Writers which is focused on an up-to-date conceptualization of Readers/Writers' workshop. She is the author of Engaging Children: Igniting the Drive for Deeper Learning (2018), is co-editor and co-author of The Teacher You Want to Be: Essays about Children, Learning, and Teaching (Heinemann, 2015); co-editor of the Not This, but That series (Heinemann, 2013 - 2018); author of Talk About Understanding: Rethinking Classroom Talk to Enhance Understanding (Heinemann, 2012), To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension (Heinemann, 2008), co-author of Comprehension Going Forward (Heinemann, 2011), co-author of Mosaic of Thought: The Power of Comprehension Strategy Instruction, 2nd edition (Heinemann, 2007, 1st edition, 1997) and author of Assessing Comprehension Thinking Strategies (Shell Educational Books, 2006) as well as numerous chapters for professional books and journals on the teaching of reading as well as education policy journals.
