Teaching Program: The House of Comprehension

Middle School Teacher Resource "The House of Comprehension"
 Middle School Teacher Resource "The House of Comprehension"



Welcome Colleagues,

Update: The House of Comprehension is available in my Teachers pay Teachers store
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/EBook-The-House-of-Comprehension-1557114 ($19.95).

For the print version, please go to http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-House-of-Comprehension-print-edition-566107 


After 30+ years of teaching, because of my passion for teachers and students, I wanted to share the knowledge that I gathered  through those years with my colleagues still leading classrooms. This led to Compass Publishing releasing my book,  The House of Comprehension (HOC), a complete program for Language Arts teachers from planning to activities through assessment.


What is the focus of The House of Comprehension program? HOC helps teachers and students:
  • Reinforce previously learned concepts 
  •  Promote comprehension 
  • Instill inductive, deductive, critical, analytical, and creative thinking skills orally and in writing
  • Communicate specific objectives, assessments, and outcome
  • Address every type of learner: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic
  • Insure that students are active intellectual participants in their education
  • Expose students to activities that are inspiring, interactive, and evocative. 

Why did I create this program for English Language Arts teachers?
  • Teachers face numerous challenges as they help their students to understand literary structure.
  • Teachers’ priority is to use class time to turn students’ weaknesses into mental muscle.
  • Teachers want students to become lifelong learners with a firm comprehension foundation as their academic launching pad.
  • Teachers know that addressing school, state and federal mandated benchmarks, the departmental program of studies,  and the diverse needs of their students is complicated.  

How does The House of Comprehension benefit teachers?
  •  HOC is designed to show students the importance of every element of literature - character, plot/conflict, setting, theme, symbols, point of view, and tone.
  • HOC reveals how these elemental building blocks mesh to form the literature's structure.
  • HOC provides teachers step-by-step instructions for using the 40 activities
  • HOC includes printable activity sheets for students.
  •  HOC includes the Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening and Language standards for each activity.
  •  HOC offers a crucial Timing of Activities chart to show where each lesson works best during the study of a fiction or narrative non-fiction piece.
  • HOC shows teachers how to address the Who, What, When, Why and How for each lesson through two planning charts: Unit Structure and Activities Plan.
  •  HOC helps teachers create engaging lessons that will address the flexibility and diversity in their classrooms.

Closing the achievement gap between students who work at or above grade level and those who perform below level is a key goal for educators. The activities in this book empower teachers to reach both proficient and non-proficient students and to help them all advance their skill levels. These lessons never fail to initiate stimulating small and large group discussions and clear, focused writing.

HOC shows that learning is invigorating and will lead to a lifetime of discovery. 


Free Download
To introduce you to the quality of the lessons in The House of Comprehension, here is a FREEBIE from the Writing Module for you to download
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Comprehension-CheckTen-Sentence-Format-16081

This Ten-Sentence Format formed the writing backbone of my classroom. Any time that I wanted students to write about literature for Warm Ups, for lesson closure, for quick comprehension checks and for short answer essays on tests I used this concept.  The students answers showed me how well they comprehended what they read, and also how clearly and thoroughly they could write about what they read.


Reviews 

Virginia English Journal Review:
"The House of Comprehension: Teaching Students the Elements of Literature" by Dr. Robert Williams. Fall 2013/Winter 2014 The Virginia English Journal, Vol. 63, Number 2 71-75.

Northern Virginia Magazine Profile Piece (November) http://www.northernvirginiamag.com/entertainment/faces/2013/11/30/warding-off-the-wolves/

Cornerstone for Teachers: http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/2013/11/the-house-of-comprehension-book-review.html

Addie Education: Teacher Talkhttp://teachertalk-addie.blogspot.ca/2013/11/house-of-comprehension-review.html

The Tutor House: http://thetutorhouse.blogspot.com/2013/08/book-review-house-of-comprehension.html

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/House-Comprehension-Constance-D-Casserly/dp/1938406168/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383659133&sr=1-1&keywords=the+house+of+comprehension+by+constance+casserly


Read much more about HOC on
Teachers pay Teachers- My Store

Happy Teaching,
                                                            



For more information, contact me at conniecasserly@gmail.com

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1 comment:

  1. If you do not have this book, you cannot teach in an English classroom. Ignore the 6-9th Grade comment on the top of the book, I use it with my 12 Grade students.
    THIS BOOK MAKES STUDENTS THINK!! What a concept! It also keeps them fully engaged, and think that they are having a great time! Connie has created a book that is easy to use. Pick it up and begin working!

    ReplyDelete