Susan Kempton talks about the importance of helping children build the content knowledge that is critical to educational success. She shows how she capitalizes on children’s natural curiosity and uses various tools—literature (particularly nonfiction), visuals, living and nonliving artifacts, drawing, song, movement, dramatization—to develop language, concepts, and basic literacy skills. As their foundation becomes richer, children’s talk, writing, and options for reading expand and flourish.   After discussing the importance of developing schema, the principles that underlie her instruction, and the role of the teacher in developing background knowledge, Sue tells stories from her own diverse classroom that reveal how—by layering tools and integrating concepts—her children’s understanding grows. In each classroom vignette, you will hear Sue’s conversations with the children (Story), listen to the reasoning behind her teaching (Unpack), observe the children’s thoughts (Conference/Reflection), and see their writing samples (Original Writing). Get an in-depth look at Sue’s classroom and her purposeful teaching via forty-five minutes of online video, as her classroom community comes together, supports one another, and celebrates each person’s new learning. Watch as the children act out a scene between lions and elephants to improve reading comprehension, learn how Sue emotionally supports each child as she greets him or her at the beginning of the day, and see how Sue teaches effective word choice as her children share their written work and more. As you incorporate Sue’s strategies into your own classroom, you will see your students become more confident, accomplished learners with improved language and literacy skills across content areas.

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