Annotated Bibliography

Brook Spurlock

Professional Development Resources

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 Child Development

Santrock, J. W. (2014). Child development (14th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Very informative, this book is a clear and effective roadmap to understanding child

development. Santrock uses a modern tone and makes clear connections with development

themes. Throughout my master’s courses and beginning years of teaching this has proven to be

a solid resource I reference often.

Slavin, R. E. (2008). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn &

Bacon.

Understanding how students think and learn is critical for teachers to use best teaching

practices. This book is reader friendly and organized well with bold print highlighting major

topics, engaging examples, and case studies. I used this at the beginning of my master’s work

but believe it would be a good resource to continue to revisit. Every year I develop classroom

relationships with children I have never experienced before. Sometimes I feel so stumped by

their behavior but opening a book like Educational Phycology has helped me identify new

strategies of understanding toward the diverse students I work with.

Diversity

Hammond, Z, & Jackson, Y. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting

authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Written to inform the teacher of instructional strategies to best be culturally responsive. Based

on brain research this book is organized well and informative when proving these best practices

work. This book is a practical resource that teaches the relationship between culture and

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cognition helping me identify what I am doing in my classroom that beneficial to student

growth and what activities and strategies I need to look more closely on how to change.

Johnston, P. (2012). Opening minds: Using language to change lives. Portland, ME:

Stenhouse Publishers.

Johnston has the gift of storytelling and using words as he examines how words have the power

to open or close students’ minds. This book is a beginning teacher (and parent) classroom

building block, explaining how to engage students with more productive talk and create an

inclusive classroom environment where students can be respected and develop as human

beings. It’s a book I revisit often to remind myself the power I have, just with words and

attitude in affecting relationships and student experiences.

Tomlinson, C. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners

(2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Students learn at different rates, using different styles, and expressing different needs.

Tomlinson provides practical strategies to support a diverse population of learners in the

classroom. I love this book because it outlines making the differentiated classroom easily

accessible and realistic. I will continue to use it as an easy resource to support ways to

differentiate in future classroom activities and lessons.

Language Arts

Atwell, N. (2015). In the middle: A lifetime of learning about writing, reading, and

adolescents (3rd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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A beautifully written narrative and guide offering honest, real, and invaluable ideas for running

an intermediate language arts program. This is a reference I will reread because it is so packed

with experiences and ideas to take away from to help make young readers and writers learning

more productive.

Daniels, H. & Steineke, N. (2004). Mini-lessons for literature circles. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann.

A book written for active teachers who want practical reading mini-lessons that are focused

with answers of frequently asked questions in realistic classroom language. This is a great

resource I plan to use to guide everyday teaching strategies and reading mini-lessons.

Fletcher, R. & Portalupi, J. (2001). Writing workshop: The essential guide. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann.

This book discusses the foundations and purpose of the writing workshop. It’s an encouraging

nuts and bolts of running a writing workshop written in an accessible manner for all teachers.

Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2004). Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach

reading, esl, spelling, phonics, and grammar. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

This is a worthy book to learn about how language is acquired and is helpful to understand how

to break down the English language. This is important for a teacher because once they better

understand the process of acquiring language, they can better develop an appropriate and

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strong program for teaching reading and word study. It is very interesting but also a heavy

read.

Johnston, P. (2004). Choice words: How our language affects children’s learning. Portland,

ME: Stenhouse.

Johnston shows teachers how to create healthy learning communities through the use of the

most powerful teaching tool: language. He demonstrates how the things we say and don’t say

have an impact on what children learn and who they become as readers, writers and thinkers. I

love Perter Johnston’s work. His teachings are accessible and noteworthy for all teachers. This

is a must resource for all teachers and parents.

Lu, C., & Hamill, S. (1991). Lu Chi's wen fu, the art of writing (Rev. ed.). Minneapolis, MN:

Milkweed Ed.

One of or the oldest book on writing poetry. It contains translated poems about the craft of

writing poetry that any writer can relate to. This would be a great book to use in the classroom

to introduce intermediate and older students to writing poems or even personal narratives and

writing in general.

Strickland, D. (2002). Supporting struggling readers and writers: Strategies for classroom

intervention 3-6. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Strickland provides effective teaching strategies for all key aspects of literacy instruction that

will benefit all students not just struggling readers and writers. Written with authority on

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differentiating and motivating low-achieving students. The strong descriptions and various

vignettes demonstrate teaching practices in action.

Routman, R. (2003). Reading essentials. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Routman’s book is a detail-oriented "how to" guide for becoming an effective reading teacher.

A book full of essential information for teachers who want to evaluate and rethink how their

literacy classroom should run and what it should look like.

Weaver, C. (2009). Reading process. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Weaver defines what reading is and what it means to teach reading. It is not an easy read but

guides teachers to help perform a miscue analysis in their own classrooms. It is wealth of

information as is the miscue analysis for understanding what students’ strengths are and what

they need support in for reading.

Science

Bass, J., Contant, T., & Carin, A. (2009). Teaching science as inquiry (11th ed.). Boston, MA:

Pearson Education Inc.

The approach of this book really focuses on teaching students science with the approach of

how we learn things not just knowing facts. Inquiry learning emphasizes hands on learning

activities, students asking questions and teachers guiding students not “telling” or dictating.

I’ve done several of the science experiments with 2nd graders and the students have fun and

are engaged while learning.

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Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies that work: teaching comprehension for

understanding and engagement (2nd ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

The reviews of this book describe it as “indispensable”. I agree. Although it is in my science

section, this book really is about teaching comprehension explicitly. It is geared toward literacy,

but all subjects being taught have comprehension and most subjects involve literacy.

Strategies that Work explores the importance of explicitly using student background knowledge

to engage and teach for understanding. It teaches the teacher how to teach thinking strategies.

Math

Van De Walle, J., Karp, K., & Bay-Williams, J. (2012). Elementary and middle school

mathematics: Teaching developmentally (8th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Education.

An amazingly comprehensive resource for teaching math at the elementary level. This textbook

combines state standards while teaching great methods to teach students math. It stresses

some of the most important points of teaching math, like emphasizing the process of solving

math problems, not the answers. This textbook helped me learn a lot about teaching math to

diverse learners and provides guidance about how to tell if students are understanding the

concepts.

Social Studies

Koechlin, C. & Zwaan, S. (2006). Q tasks: How to empower students to ask questions and care

about answers. Ontario, Canada: Pembroke Publishers.

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Q Tasks is like a toolbox for teachers to use for helping students develop critical and creative

ways to ask their own questions and navigate the information students encounter. I like this

book because the activities focus on personal understanding and nurture curiosity. Most of

these activities do aim to create a community of learners. Although these activities are not only

geared to social studies, I have found that the book is an exceptional resource for dissecting

and discovering about the world we live in: geography, history, culture and society, civics and

government, and economics.

Loewen, J. (2010). Teaching what really happened: How to avoid the tyranny of textbooks

and get students excited about doing history. New York: Teachers College Press.

In this book Loewen call for history to be taught in a new way where the multicultural student is

considered, and historical textbook myths are broken down. Every adult and secondary/college

student should read this book. Loewen is persuasive, a good storyteller and prompts us to ask

good questions about why history happened, what the real truths are and who it really

impacted. It stretches the reader to consider asking more questions and not just taking what

history books have always told us. This book is a relevant and practical book for the current

political and racial socioeconomic criticisms being discussed nationally.

Moline, S. (1995). I see what you mean: Visual literacy K-8 (2nd ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse

Publishers.

One of my favorite practical resources in my first years teaching in the classroom. This book

has a so many examples of how to incorporate visual literacy into all subjects. I have used it as

a resource when writing about teaching social studies and science, but really these ways for

students to show what they know and how they are thinking can be used in every subject. This

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book is a reminder that incorporating visual literacy into the classroom is responsive to teaching

diverse learners and can open doors to expanding story telling as well.

Arts Integration

Wigg, P. & Hasselschwert, J. (2001) A handbook of arts and crafts (10 th ed). Boston, MA:

McGraw-Hill.

This handbook is a guidebook of step-by-step elementary art activities with eye catching project

visuals. It acts as an easy-to-use resource/reference for all teachers to successfully integrate the

arts into their classroom. I especially like the clear project organization and clear instructions.

The book includes historical references, a timeline, and expanded resources to put art in

context with student’s lives or another subject they are learning.

Instructional Design & Assessment

Miller, D. (2008). Teaching with intention: Defining beliefs, aligning practices, taking action.

Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

This book is exactly as the title states, a guide to teaching with intention. She has

transformational ideas about teachers creating and developing their own beliefs about teaching

and learning. This is an important resource for me in developing my own literacy classroom

lower and intermediate grades alike.

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Taylor, C. & Nolan, S.B. (2008). Classroom assessment: Supporting teaching and learning in

real classrooms (2nd ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

This book’s straightforward approach describes how assessment is an essential feature in the

everyday life of a classroom. It highlights how to effectively use assessment to support

learning. This book has been a great resource for planning incorporating assessment into my

ideal classroom because it has opened my eyes to the importance and neeed for assessment.

Tomlinson, C. A., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction & understanding

by design: connecting content and kids. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision

and Curriculum Development.

This book is the top resource I have gone to and still use for integrating differentiated

instruction with the use of the backward design curriculum model. I strive to teach to all my

students so that they have an understanding of the content. Tomlinson and McTighe are good

at breaking down what strategies and planning should occur so that content is taught in

meaningful ways to diverse learners. This is an essential resource to revisit yearly, asking

myself if I am crafting powerful lessons for what I teach and diversity of whom I teach.

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2006). Understanding by design. New Jersey: Pearson Merrill

Prentice Hall.

I used this book as a key resource to learn more in-depth about Understanding by Design, the

concept of teaching by backward design. Although the courses I have taken have been at the

core of me understanding curriculum design, this book is a necessary resource for supporting

the use of UBD in my own teaching. As I use the backward design method, I actually can

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become more efficient in curriculum design as well as more thoughtful about what instruction

choices I am making.

Classroom Management

Burgess, D. (2012). Teach like a pirate. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.

Sometimes I pick this book up and brows like going into a store for new ideas on improving

student engagement in my classroom. The book is clearly organized, and ideas well

communicated so that all teachers can easily implement a variety of new teaching techniques.

One of my favorite “quick” engagement activities is using the surprise element. I can get

reluctant writers excited about writing when the writing prompt is in a sealed envelope. This

book has hundreds of ideas to spice up how you teach and encourage me as the teacher to be

more creative with my teaching.

Charles, C.M. (2011). Building classroom discipline (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

This text looks at 18 models of school discipline and how a variety of theorist recommend, from

his or her own research, to managing classroom behavior.

It has been helpful to me in constructing a personal philosophy of discipline.

Fields, M.V & Boeser, K (2014). Constructive guidance and discipline: From birth to age eight

(6th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

I love this book. This text explains everything about a child development, why children do what

they do and how to cope and manage those problems. The approaches are positive and suggest

best ways in nurturing students for success.

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Lemov, D. (2010). Teach like a champion: 49 techniques that put students on the path to

college. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

A collection of teaching strategies to improves one craft of teaching. It inspires teachers and

practically outlines to use time wisely, teach deeply and have fun. The lessons I incorporated

these strategies in really worked. I have more strategies ear-marked to try out.

MacKenzie, R. (2010). Setting limits in the classroom (3rd ed). New York, NY: Random House.

It’s like a bag of tricks, but it’s a book full of many classroom management techniques that

work. Choose from a variety of options depending on the behavior challenge. I used it as a

quick guide when considering individual student behavior. It will be a helpful resource for

student teaching.

Wong, H. & Wong, R. (2001). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher.
Mountain View, CA: Harry Wong K. Publications

Setting the stage for procedures in the classroom, this book is a recommended book for all

teachers to revisit before the beginning of each school year. The Wongs give tips about

classroom management, discipline, routines and procedures, lesson planning, and assessment.

I like the practicality of this book. It reminds me to be intentional about how I plan out my

classroom, how I teach, and how I communicate.

Parents and Community References

Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practices (3 rd ed.). New

York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Reading this book inspires me to teach culturally responsively with a caring attitude, tuned into

student backgrounds, and culturally compatible with the modern world and the community I

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live in. Gay outlines the importance for using culturally responsive teaching to improve

marginalized students. This book has helped me improve how I approach teaching and it

continues to help me recognize in what ways I can improve my teaching with filtering more

learning activities through my student’s own cultural experiences and viewpoints.

Lickona, T. (1994). Raising good children: From birth to teenage years. New York, NY: Bantam

Books.

A valuable and sensitive developmental guide written for parents but also used by educators

about what to expect in children’s behavior. It advises parents who want their children to grow

up with positive values how and when to teach them. Lickona’s work relates to Kohlberg’s

moral development. I have used this reference for informing my philosophy of behavior

management, communication with parents and discussions with other teachers.

Research/Professionalism

Burnaford, G., Fischer, J., & Hobson, D. (2001). Teachers doing research: The power of action

through inquiry (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group 2.

I used this book as a resource in my coursework in teacher research. It was a friendly read for

the stressed-out teacher I was because it incorporated teachers’ own writing about action

research. With these “real” teacher experiences I was more engaged in what could have been a

dry or overwhelming subject.

Hubbard, R. & Power, B. (2003). The art of classroom inquiry. Revised Edition. Portsmouth,

NH: Heinemann.

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This is a well-organized collection of research techniques to support a teacher who is launching

their own research project. It was assigned reading that I may not have picked up on my own,

but it did prove to be informational and expand my knowledge of conduction research in my

own classroom.

O’Leary, Z. (2017). The essential guide to doing your research project (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks,

CA: SAGE Publishing.

This was a practical source for preparing myself for research. It is a clear, organized, well-paced

guide to managing and completing a master’s research project. It went along well with the two

above assigned readings.

Technology References

Hicks, T. (2009).  The digital writing workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 

Hicks has suggestions on how to teach and assess author's craft while utilizing the tools of

digital writing for the 21st century writer. He stresses the importance of authentic learning

experiences and inspires us to teach the new categories technology has created.

Palfrey, J., & Gasser, U. (2008). Born digital: Understanding the first generation of digital

natives. Basic Books.

This book explores a wide range of issues about the digital age, from privacy to cyber bullying to

activism. It’s a book that discusses what means to be raised in the digital world that is

constantly being reshaped by the internet and technology. As a teacher it brings to light how

technology is affecting the students, I work with helping me understand where their viewpoints

may differ from my own. It has helped me think about how I can integrate and use technology

as a tool with the modern student.

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