Laura Robb: Author, teacher, coach, and speaker, this is Laura Robb's 43rd year of teaching in Grades 4–8. She presently coaches teachers in Grades K–8 at Powhatan School in Boyce, Virginia; in Staunton, Virginia; Long Island, Chicago; and New York City. She teaches reading and writing to fourth graders in Winchester City Public Schools and to a group of seventh graders at Johnson-Williams Middle School in Boyce, Virginia. Over the years Robb has actively taught Grades 4–8. For several years, Robb taught struggling middle school readers at Johnson-Williams Middle School while training teachers to scaffold instruction. For long-term professional study projects, Robb always works with those students who need the most support from teachers.

She has written 15 books for teachers—her most recent titles are Nonfiction Writing From the Inside Out: Lessons for Teaching All Elements of the Craft, Inspired by Conversations with Leading Authors; Teaching Reading in Middle School; Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science, and Math; Grammar Strategies and Lessons That Strengthen Students' Writing (all Scholastic). Robb's latest Scholastic project is a binder called Teaching Reading: A Complete Guide for Grades 4 and Up, which will be available from Scholastic in August, 2006. Teaching Reading in Middle School has been translated into Chinese. In addition, Robb has published two books with Heinemann: Redefining Staff Development: A Collaborative Model for Teachers, published in 2000, and Literacy Links: Strategies That Develop the Emergent Literacy Needed for Success in Reading and Writing, published in 2003.

Robb has designed classroom libraries for Scholastic. She is presently working on a genre reading project for Grades 6, 7, and 8 that will include trade books below, at, and above grade level as well as a booklet for organizing and managing instruction for three strategic reading groups.

A coauthor of The Great Source's Daybooks and Sourcebooks, Grades 2, 3, 4, and 5, Robb also coauthored The Great Source's Summer Success Reading Program for Grades K–8, their Reader's Handbook for Grades 6–8, one for Grades 4–5, and one for Grade 3. Presently, Robb is the senior author of Reading Advantage, a Great Source program for middle and high school students who read two to eight years below grade level. Also available by Robb is Writing Advantage, a scaffolded writing program for students in middle and high school (The Great Source).

Robb has just completed a three year term on the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Commission on Reading. Her term began January, 2003. Recently, Robb was asked to be a news contact on reading for NCTE. This means newspaper reporters can interview her on topical issues. She's also on the editorial review board for Language Arts magazine. Robb wrote the “Motivating Readers” Column for Instructor magazine from 1996–1998. She's also collected two poetry anthologies: Snuffles and Snouts, illustrated by Steven Kellogg (Dial, 1995), and Music and Drum, illustrated by Deborah Lill (Philomel, 1997).

Robb is a keynote speaker at conferences all over the country and writes articles for education journals. She leads workshops on reading and writing for teachers throughout the United States in elementary, middle, and high schools.

To view Laura Robb’s bio as a pdf, click here.