Engaging Words

Acts of reading appear everywhere in the late Middle Ages, from the margins of Books of Hours to self-portraits of authors in their studies. What relevance did this image have for the late medieval imagination? Engaging Words is an interdisciplinary study on the conception of reading in late medieval society. Beginning with an examination of the social conditions that produced a viable reading public, the book proceeds to examine popular tastes, the interrelationship between manuscript form and content, and finally the theory and poetry of late medieval authors. By drawing on images from late medieval culture as well as from historical documents and literary texts, Engaging Words shows how reading became a cultural metaphor in the late Middle Ages that transformed the way the Western world thought about identity and social roles.

In this collection of articles written over forty years, Packer sets out his beliefs about the authority of Scripture and the principles that should be applied when interpreting it. Important topics such as the adequacy of human language, upholding the unity of Scripture, and challenges in Biblical interpretation are considered in the first two sections: "Gods Inerrant Word" and "Interpreting the Word." In the final section, "Preaching the Word," Packer turns his attention to pastoral leaders and the importance of correct and responsible expository preaching.

Increasingly, educators are recognizing that for children to thrive intellectually they need socially and emotionally healthy classrooms. Conveniently, this is exactly what parents have always wanted for their children's classrooms that offer and grow positive relationships and behavior, emotional self-regulation, and a sense of well-being. Using the guiding principles from Peter Johnston's best-selling professional resources, Choice Words and Opening Minds,Peter and six colleagues began a journey to create just such classrooms'senvironments in which children meaningfully engage with each other through reading, writing, making, and discussing books. Together, they bring you Engaging Literate Minds: Developing Children's Social, Emotional, and Intellectual Lives, K-3 where you'll discover how these teachers struggled and succeeded in building such classrooms. Inside you'll find the following: Practical ways to develop a caring learning community and children's socio-emotional competence Powerful teaching practices from real classrooms Engaging ways to encourage inquiry and student agency Suggestions on how to use formative assessment in everyday teaching practices Helpful research behind the classroom practices and children's development Ways to help students inspire and support each other Building a just, caring, literate society has never been more important than it is today. By embracing the ideas and teaching strategies Engaging Literate Minds, you can help children to become socially, emotionally, and intellectually healthy. Not only do these classroom practices develop the skills to achieve district benchmarks and beyond, they help develop children's humanity.

This volume demonstrates how promoting children's engagement with reading can greatly enhance reading achievement. From leading literacy researchers and educators, the book illuminates what a child needs to become an engaged reader and presents a set of instructional principles designed to facilitate this goal. Helping teachers offer a coordinated emphasis on competence and motivation in reading instruction, chapters blend research evidence with practical recommendations. Topics covered include ways to provide children with a good foundation at the word level, help if they are in trouble, ample time and materials for reading, opportunities to share in a community of learners, instruction that is coherent, motivating, and responsive to each child's strengths and weaknesses, school-wide coordination of instruction, and continuities between home and school.

Most Christians are unaware of the doctrinal debates taking place within the religious academic community. When they are aware of these discussions, they may consider them irrelevant or even harmful to Christian practice. Jaime Clark- Soles invites seminarians, seminary faculty, and church leaders to find common ground by considering the various debates, the reasons they persist, the implications of each, and how they pertain to Christian identity and faith within the larger contemporary culture. Includes study questions.

This introductory textbook invites students into the depths and riches of the Old Testament and shows the Old Testament's relevance for Christian readers. Rising Latino evangelical Old Testament scholar Dominick Hernández demonstrates how to read Old Testament texts well and put the ancient written word into practice in our day and age. Hernández shows that four core commitments put readers on the right trajectory for reading and applying the Old Testament to their lives: (1) reading humbly, (2) reading successively, (3) reading entirely, and (4) reading deliberately. Students will learn how to become better readers of the text and how to read select Old Testament passages well, paying attention to how the biblical authors used rhetorical techniques to provoke readers to action.

An important goal of teachers is to get all students, especially those in the upper elementary and middle grades who struggle with academic work, engaged in reading. This book examines current research on instructional principles and actions related to engaged reading. It shows how teachers can translate this research into evidence-based actions that promote productive instructional contexts and focus students’ purposeful use of literacy in acquiring knowledge. The authors integrate descriptions of principles and actions with concrete examples of classroom instruction and thematic teaching across disciplinary contexts and demonstrate how teachers might mediate students’ reading of complex texts. The book provides readers with a vivid picture of the complexities of teaching reading in the upper elementary and middle grades. In particular, the book blends individual principles and practices into a holistic approach to creating productive and engaged learning environments for all upper elementary and middle grade learners.

Preschool teachers and early childhood professionals know that storybook reading is important, but they may not know how to maximize its benefits for later reading achievement. This indispensable guide presents research-based techniques for using reading aloud to intentionally and systematically build children's knowledge of print. Simple yet powerful strategies are provided for teaching preschoolers about book and print organization, print meaning, letters, and words, all while sharing engaging, commercially available books. Appendices include a detailed book list and 60 reproducibles that feature activities and prompts keyed to each text.

Two worship experts issue a call to renewed appreciation of the role and power of language in worship.