In Teaching Reading in a Title I School, Nancy Akhavan shows primary teachers why workshops are good for students, even those who struggle, and especially those who are English language learners. Drawing on her experiences as a principal, a reading staff developer, and a teacher, she shows us how teachers use reading and writing workshops successfully.

In Nancy's workshop, students record their thoughts after they read. The process of thinking and writing about their thinking "deepens their comprehension of the book and gives them practice with reading and writing strategies." Reading and writing are the work children need to do each day, and this is what happens in the well-designed and well-implemented workshops that Nancy creates.

Using carefully crafted planning tools, lessons, student samples, and graphic organizers, Nancy shows you what constitutes an effective workshop to make the workshop fit seamlessly into your day. She includes effective intervention tools and activities for struggling readers, as well as tips for working with English learners.

With its companion, Teaching Writing in a Title I School, individual teachers, teachers studying together in professional learning communities, and preservice teachers will find the tools they need to build literacy instruction that guides all their students to high achievement.

Nancy Akhavan is Assistant Professor in the department of Educational Research and Administration at California State University, Fresno. Previously, she was Assistant Superintendent of School Leadership for Middle Schools in Fresno Unified School District, a large urban district in California's Central Valley. She has worked as a district staff developer, principal, elementary school bilingual teacher, bilingual resource teacher, and professional development coordinator for over twenty years. Dr. Akhavan is passionate about providing a high quality education for all children through authentic, purposeful instruction. She has provided staff development training to teachers grades K-12 on topics as literacy, vocabulary development, writing, English Language Development, standards based instruction, coaching and leadership. She also has provided training to teacher leaders and administrators in systems and culture change, school reform, and classroom based professional development. In addition to her work in classrooms and schools, she has written a number of professional books, including the Heinemann titles Teaching Reading in a Title I School, K-3; Teaching Writing in a Title I School, K-3; Help! All My Students Don't Speak English: How to Set Up a Language Workshop in Your Linguistically Diverse Classroom; and How to Align Literacy Instruction, Assessment, and Standards and Achieve Results You Never Dreamed Possible. Nancy Akhavan is Heinemann Professional Development provider.