“To help every kid fall in love with at least one field of knowledge, our students must encounter our fields’ most galvanizing, tantalizing, and pivotal documents. This book is about making those encounters as compelling as we can make them.”
—Harvey “Smokey” Daniels and Steven Zemelman
We are specialists to the bone—in science, math, social studies, art, music, business, and foreign language. But now, the Common Core and state standards require us to help our students better understand the distinctive texts in our subject areas. “Nobody’s making us into reading teachers,” write Smokey Daniels and Steve Zemelman, “but we must become teachers of disciplinary thinking through our students’ reading.”
If this shift sounds like a tough one, Subjects Matter, Second Edition is your solution. Smokey and Steve, two of America’s most popular educators, share exactly what you need to help students read your nonfiction content closely and strategically:
•27 proven teaching strategies that help meet—and exceed—the standards
•how-to suggestions for engaging kids with content through wide, real-world reading
•a lively look at using “boring” textbooks
•motivating instruction that’s powered by student collaboration
•specifics for helping struggling readers succeed.
Subjects Matter, Second Edition enables deep, thoughtful learning for your students, while keeping the irreverent, inspiring heart that’s made the first edition indispensable. You’ll discover fresh and re-energized lessons, completely updated research, and vibrant vignettes from new colleagues and old friends who have as much passion for their subjects as you do.
“We’ll be using methods particular to our fields as well as engaging reading materials that help students understand and remember our content better,” write Smokey and Steve. “We can realize that vision of the light going on in kids’ heads and maybe fill them with enthusiasm about the amazing subject matter that we have to offer. Sound good? Let’s get to work.”
Harvey “Smokey” Daniels has been a city and suburban classroom teacher and a college professor, and now works as a national consultant and author on literacy education. In language arts, Smokey is known for his pioneering work on student book clubs. Harvey works with elementary and secondary teachers throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, offering demonstration lessons, workshops, and consulting, with a special focus on creating, sustaining, and renewing student-centered inquiries and discussions of all kinds. Smokey shows colleagues how to simultaneously build students' reading strategies, balance their reading diets, and strengthen the social skills they need to become genuine lifelong readers.
Steven Zemelman has worked in many capacities to promote the sustainability of innovative schools in Chicago. For eight years he directed the Center for City Schools at National-Louis University, and he is a founding director of the Illinois Writing Project. He has spearheaded the start of a number of innovative small high schools in the city. His experiences and research in these areas led to his book 13 Steps to Teacher Empowerment, coauthored with Harry Ross. Steve has been a frequent collaborator with Harvey "Smokey" Daniels. They have coauthored six books and videos including Best Practice (4/e); Content-Area Writing; Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content-Area Reading; Rethinking High School and its companion video; and A Community of Writers. Steve consults with schools and districts around the country.