Vocabulary Handbook

“I’m normal because I am a normal kid — going to school, being happy, getting homework, having a family. I’m not normal because I’m dyslexic…” Thus begins the autobiography of an eleven-year-old boy who describes how he created a board game based on the popular Harry Potter series and entered it into his school’s yearly Invention Convention, where it became an instant hit.

Spending a month on a remote island in Maine with his teasing older brother and grandparents he hardly knows is not Josh’s idea of a great time. But that’s what happens the summer his parents go abroad. Twelve-year-old Josh, who has dyslexia, can’t do anything right in his grandfather’s eyes, and is constantly compared to his perfect bookish brother, Simon. So Josh secretly plans to run away back to New Jersey. However, despite gruff Gramps, Josh finds himself captivated by life on Sea Island and all of the challenges it offers him. Plus, Josh discovers unexpected romance and kinship with a young visitor. His biggest challenge, though, comes at the end of the summer when he faces a life-threatening emergency and uses skills he didn’t know he had to lead the rescue.

Life is good for Jenna Bianchi. She’s just started her second year of teaching English at Morrison High School, a job she loves. She has a pet parrot with attitude. And there’s a handsome math teacher who wants to be more than just friends. But everything changes when a defiant, disruptive tenth grader walks into her classroom.

With a smart mouth and a swagger to match, Michael Tayler is a problem for Jenna from the very first day. His school record screams troublemaker, and Jenna wonders if the new year is already doomed. But when she reads Michael’s first poetry assignment, she recognizes it for what it truly is: a cry for help.

Michael’s presence sets into motion a chain of events that turns Jenna’s perfect life upside-down and threatens to destroy her career. Faced with a challenge unlike anything she’s ever known, Jenna commits to doing what no one has done for Michael Tayler before.

This practical volume is designed to help school practitioners and educators build stronger connections with families and enhance student achievement in grades K-12. Beyond simply getting parents involved in schoolwork, the book describes how positive family-school relationships can socialize and support children and adolescents as learners throughout their academic careers. Identified are key pathways by which professionals and parents can develop common goals for learning and behavior, a shared sense of accountability, better communication, and a willingness to listen to different perspectives. The focus is on assumptions, goals, attitudes, behaviors, and strategies that professionals can draw on both to assess school-home connections that are currently in place and to implement new, more productive practices. Grounded in theory and research, the book features case examples, self-reflective exercises, and discussion questions in every chapter.

This book takes the reader step-by-step through an understanding of the research on reading and ways in which parents and educators can make a difference in the learning ability of every student in our nation’s schools.

Note: This is the bound book only and does not include access to the Enhanced Pearson eText. To order the Enhanced Pearson eText packaged with a bound book, use ISBN 0134471881. A practical approach to identifying, understanding, and helping students with language difficulties achieve success in school and beyond. 

With an emphasis on the connection between language and literacy, Teaching Students with Language and Communication Disabilities explores language development and language disorders within the context of specific disabilities. The book is designed to help teachers and other professionals acquire knowledge about language, language development, language disorders, and evidence-based practices for enhancing language skills that will enable them to become more effective teachers and/or clinicians. Student vignettes, teacher perspectives, activities, and literacy sections foster the application of concepts to real classroom situations.

The Fifth Edition includes reconceptualized chapters that use the Response to Intervention (RtI) model as as the framework for classroom-based language assessment and instructional methods. Expanded discussions of emerging teaching technologies and the latest research literature are included throughout the book. The Enhanced Pearson eText version of the text features embedded videos, check your understanding quizzes, and application exercises. Improve mastery and retention with the Enhanced Pearson eText The Enhanced Pearson eText provides a rich, interactive learning environment designed to improve student mastery of content. The Enhanced Pearson eText is:

• Engaging. The new interactive, multimedia learning features were developed by the authors and other subject-matter experts to deepen and enrich the learning experience.*
• Convenient. Enjoy instant online access from your computer or download the Pearson eText App to read on or offline on your iPad(R) and Android(R) tablet.**
• Affordable. Experience the advantages of the Enhanced Pearson eText along with all the benefits of print for 40% to 50% less than a print bound book.

* The Enhanced eText features are only available in the Pearson eText format. They are not available in third-party eTexts or downloads. *The Pearson eText App is available on Google Play and in the App Store. It requires Android OS 3.1-4, a 7” or 10” tablet, or iPad iOS 5.0 or later.