Dave Stuart has an important insight: that a skill all kids already know how to do, which is argue, also happens to be a central one in the new standards for college readiness. In Stuart's wonderful book, These Six Things, he draws extensively on his own classroom experience to show teachers how to help students use their everyday argument skillls to energize the classroom, meet these standards, and achieve success. An extra treat is that Stuart himself writes in a down to earth language refreshingly devoid of Educationese. If you're a teacher or school administrator interested in turning your students onto argument, Dave Stuart is your man!–Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, authors of They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing
Dave Stuart’s These Six Things is among the most helpful, passionate, practical, insightful teaching resources I have ever come across. It is brimming with simple, practical—exceedingly realistic—suggestions and strategies for immediately improving the quality of schooling and student work—starting tomorrow. These Six Things is an impressive and arrestingly-written book by a working teacher. I hope it gets a wide reading.
–Mike Schmoker, author of FOCUS: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning
What I appreciate most about Dave Stuart’s book These 6 Things: A Focused Approach for Long-Term Flourishing In and Beyond the Classroom is that he is one of us: a classroom teacher sharing with us what works for him in ways that will work for us in our own classrooms with our own students. When I read about the poster on his class wall that says “[In this class] we are all about becoming better thinkers, readers, writers, speakers, and people,” I think of the years of hard work I have watched Dave Stuart put into his craft and this book, and how the same statement applies to Dave Stuart himself: He is all about becoming a better thinker, reader, writer, speaker, person—and teacher, and showing us how we can do the same.–Jim Burke
If you’re searching for balance as a teacher of literacy, search no further. Dave Stuart Jr. offers a calming voice for a frenzied profession and provides practical classroom strategies that will help you teach adolescents in the rich and meaningful ways they deserve without becoming overwhelmed. This book is packed with ideas that are research-based, student-centered, and most of all, workable.
This is a book written for classroom teachers by a classroom teacher, one who understands the struggle of teachers to navigate the demands of standards and content and offers an accessible, sensible formula for classroom success. Dave is a guide, a mentor, an advocate, and a fellow traveler on the road to nurturing and educating students through positive, focused instruction.
Stuart not only encourages teachers to stay focused and positive about their teaching, he offers specific strategies to help them do it. While humble about his own journey as a classroom teacher, Dave draws from it lessons that will guide any literacy teacher toward better, more focused instruction.
–Barry Gilmore
These 6 Things is a joyful shot in the arm for experienced teachers as well as for novices. Is it possible to consolidate the most important aspects of teaching into one book – complete with relevant, engaging examples that have been tried and proven by teachers in various content areas? I wouldn’t have thought so, but Dave has managed to do it, all while affirming, encouraging, and acting as a ‘guide on the side’ for those who may feel unsure about trying out new activities with their students. You’ll want to carve out some reading time for this book. The journey will yield wonderful rewards for both teachers and students.
–ReLeah Cossett Lent, author of This is Disciplinary Literacy: Reading, Writing, Thinking and Doing… Content Area by Content Area
“No teacher needs more to do, but every teacher wants better to do. These 6 Things cuts through all the demands that bombard teachers and focuses on the essentials of great education. Combining a little theory and a lot of practice, Stuart shares practical, powerful ways to make all students successful.”
–Erik Palmer, author of awesome books on teaching speaking
