Sarah Tantillo - The Literacy Cookbook: A Practical Guide to Effective Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening Instruction

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tantillo, Sarah, 1965

A practical guide to effective reading, writing, speaking, and listening instruction / Sarah Tantillo; with illustrations by Sandy Gingras.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-28816-0 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-118-33376-1 (ebk.)

ISBN 978-1-118-33153-8 (ebk.)

ISBN 978-1-118-33489-8 (ebk.)

1. Reading. I. Title.

LB1050.T33 2012

418.4dc23

2012030716

First Edition

About the Author

Sarah Tantillo consults with schools (especially urban schools) seeking to improve student achievement. She taught high school English and humanities in both suburban and urban New Jersey public schools for fourteen years, including seven years at the high-performing North Star Academy Charter School of Newark, New Jersey, where she chaired the Humanities Department and her students achieved a 100 percent passing rate on the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) for Language Arts and Literacy. In addition to teaching, she also founded the New Jersey Charter School Resource Center and the New Jersey Charter Public Schools Association. She led the Resource Center from 1996 to 1999 and the Association from 1999 to 2003. Since 2007, she has coached K12 schools on literacy instruction, curriculum development, data-driven instruction, school culture-building, and strategic planning. In 2009, she launched The Literacy Cookbook Website (http://www.literacycookbook.com) to provide teachers and school leaders with practical resources and strategies for literacy instruction. That Website formed the basis for this book. In her free time, she writes a blog called Only Good Books (http://onlygoodbooks.wordpress.com). Tantillo earned her B.A. from Princeton University, her M.Ed. from Harvard University, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, and her Ed.D. from Rutgers University.

Acknowledgments

This book represents a culmination of several decades of fortunate educational experiences combined with a lifelong obsession with what it takes to read and write well. Since the day I entered first grade, when my teacher, Mrs. Scholl, told us that her father named her Jewel because she was so precious, and that is how I think of all of you, as my little Jewels, so many teachers have blessed me with their expertise, enthusiasm, and love. Whether I was their student or colleague, they made deeper impressions than they probably realized, and I hope they see that now. I am also grateful to the thousands of students I have been lucky enough to work with and learn from. So many people have informed my thinking that I cannot name them all. Please picture me bowing here with gratitude.

I also recognize that I would be nowhere without the support of my family and friends, whose wit and wisdom buoyed me through this process. Again, while the list of those who deserve thanks is impossibly long, a few simply must be named. At many pivotal moments, Norman Atkins has invited me to dive into meaningful, instructive work (at North Star, TeacherU, and Relay), and I am thankful that he referred me to the wonderful folks at Jossey-Bass, especially Kate Gagnon, Tracy Gallagher, Robin Lloyd, and Sarah Miller, who have made this experience remarkably pleasant. And I am in awe of Jeff Puda for designing such a beautiful cover.