As English teachers, one of our greatest goals is to turn our students into lifelong learners and readers. But between grading essays, planning engaging lessons, and prepping for your first day, it can feel impossible to carve out time for your own growth. When you do manage to set aside a moment for professional development, you want to make it count. That’s exactly why I’ve gone straight to the source and rounded up the BEST professional development books for English teachers. Each recommendation comes directly from a secondary ELA teacher who’s been in your shoes. These PD books will genuinely impact your teaching and offer real-world strategies you’ll actually use in the classroom.
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Reading PD Books for ELA Teachers
The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child
The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller is THE number one book I’d recommend to reading and ELA teachers. If you were to borrow my copy, you’d see dog-eared pages with highlights and annotations galore as well as labeled tabs littered throughout the entirety of the book to mark the different lessons and ideas that I wanted to make sure to come back to. It’s truly *that* good. In “The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child,” Miller turns you into a fly on the wall of her 6th grade language arts classroom. She walks you through how to recommend books to students, how to assess in alternative ways outside of book reports and reading logs, and, ultimately, how to turn every kiddo into a reader. Full of practical tips, she even includes an “Ultimate Library List” to give you a launching pad for your very own classroom library. If you are looking for a must-have PD book for ELA teachers that will create the type of classroom reading culture you’ve always dreamed of, this is it! – Bridget Granville, Middle School Reading Teacher
Passionate Readers: The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child
I was lucky enough to “meet” Pernille Ripp at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) event years ago in Atlanta, GA; I was captivated by her genuine commitment to sharing stories with young people. After hearing her speak enthusiastically about the classroom library she’d cultivated, the book reviews her students shared, and the Global Read Aloud (which she started in 2010), I ran out to buy her PD book for ELA teachers: Passionate Readers: The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child. As a middle grades reading teacher, this is a text that I continue to reference every year. This book has shaped how I support students as they build their own reading identities, how I have built my own classroom library that is filled with diverse and engaging texts (many of them donated or found in thrift stores!), and how I work to create lifelong readers filled with empathy and perseverance. This book is my top pick for any new or experienced ELA teacher who wants to build intentional, meaningful reading routines that last beyond a school year. -Jaime Williams, 6-8th grade Reading Teacher & Subject Area Coordinator (Georgia)
Do you have a goal of building a strong, independent reading classroom? Keep reading here: How to Incorporate Independent Reading with Middle and High School Students
The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers
If you are looking to build a reading-focused classroom, The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers will undoubtedly be your guide to help get you there. As a middle school educator of 13 years, I look to trusted resources to help me target the needs of my classroom, and The Reading Strategies Book is a staple in my lesson planning. My copy of the book is filled with countless post-it notes where I save all my favorite strategies for teaching both nonfiction and fiction texts across multiple reading levels. Jennifer Serravallo has compiled over 300 strategies that are organized in a clear format, helping you plan quickly and efficiently. My favorite part of this book is the visuals, especially the sample anchor charts included with the strategies she presents. While her anchor charts may look much neater than mine, the inclusion of these visuals really helps the strategies come to life! If you are searching for a new professional development book for English teachers, please look no further. This book is invaluable for any English teacher! – Gina Manfra, Middle School Educator
Writing Professional Development Books for Teachers
Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling and Mentor Texts
Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling and Mentor Texts by Kelly Gallagher completely changed how I prompt writing. If you are at a point where you simply can’t stomach another 5-paragraph essay, then this book will help you reimagine what writing assignments look like. As the title suggests, the strategies are real-world driven, which helps with engagement plus better prepares students for life outside the classroom. Full of mentor texts and student samples, it will help you shift from cookie-cutter essays to meaningful writing. Add this PD book for ELA teachers to your library and listen to the groans fall silent (or at least fade) the next time you assign a writing prompt! -Ashley Bible, Building Book Love
Want to add more real-world activities to your lessons? Get more vocational ideas here!
The Writing Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers
The Writing Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers by Jennifer Serravallo is chock-full of digestible techniques that you can use to help your students gain confidence and mastery in writing. It’s one of the best professional development books for English teachers who want to help grow their writers from any level. We all know that great teachers meet their students where they are. If your students struggle with precise word choice, simply flip to one of the thirty—yes, thirty!—strategies in this book that target just this skill. Or maybe you have emerging writers: this book starts at the beginning, with methods to teach letter formation. Each idea includes an overview of the strategy, suggested language for teaching a mini-lesson, teaching tips, a mentor text, and prompts that align with the skill. You can find the 300 strategies organized by writing skill, grade level, or even into a pacing guide, which makes teaching any skill feel effortless. This book includes everything you need to meet the needs of a variety of learners and enhance your writing instruction. -Ms. Ahlberg, Middle School ELA Teacher
Voice Lessons: Classroom Activities to Teach Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax, and Tone
Voice Lessons: Classroom Activities to Teach Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax, and Tone by Nancy Dean has seriously saved me so much time in lesson planning. What I love most is how easy it is to use. Many professional development books for English teachers get too theoretical for me, but this book gives you activities you can actually use right away. The exercises are great as quick warm-ups at the beginning of class because most of them take just 10-15 minutes, which is perfect to get class started. However, you can easily stretch them into full lessons that take a full day, or even across a week. There are 100 activities in total that are built around diverse texts taken from world literature. Dean helps students to find their voice and think carefully about how they write, skills that are more important than ever as AI continues to grow. Voice Lessons is hands down one of the best resources I’ve found for teaching writing and voice. -High School ELA Teacher, California
Inspired to add mentor texts to your daily routine? You’ll love these book bell ringers!
Building Strong Writers: Strategies and Scaffolds for Teaching Writing in Secondary ELA
“Being a good writer and a good writing teacher could not be more different” hooked me from the very first page. As someone who loves writing and even has a Master’s degree in it, I could not resonate with this sentiment more. Despite having expertise and training, I find myself struggling to find ways to teach students how to write. Colleagues have said, “Some people just aren’t good at writing,” while others blame it on the digital age. Regardless of what we scapegoat as the cause, it never sat well with me. Christina Schneider’s PD book for ELA teachers finds ways to address the age-old conundrum. She provides sample objectives and student challenges for the various strategies she provides. My favorite strategy to use from this book is the sentence frames because they truly provide a strong basis for my students, especially in AP Lang to think about how they would write an essay in a timed format. Christina Schneider’s book will help you truly build strong writers and guide you every step of the way. -Mrs. Alexander, High School Teacher
Want to implement a better grading system that saves you time AND supports students during the writing process? Keep reading here: 5 Tips for Grading Essays Faster While Leaving Better Feedback
Engagement PD Books for English Teachers
Keeping the Wonder: An Educator’s Guide to Magical, Engaging, and Joyful Learning
As someone who has taught middle school for six years, I know that kids don’t always concretely remember the content and skills they learn in our classes. My goal is always to create an environment where students remember the joy they felt and the fun they had while learning. That’s why I love Keeping the Wonder: An Educator’s Guide to Magical, Engaging, and Joyful Learning! In this PD book that’s perfect for ELA teachers (and those in other content areas), the authors walk you through how to use surprise, curiosity, freedom, and inspiration to up engagement among your students. This book hooked me because the content is conveyed in a way that’s genuinely fun to read; the authors include personal stories, examples, and even use some of their approaches on the reader. It also offers various strategies for each of the four key elements, so every time you sit down with this book, you’re guaranteed to walk away with an idea you want to try with your students! Alternatively, you can flip to a specific section to find a technique to target bringing a specific element, like curiosity, into your classroom. This book works for the spontaneous teachers and the detailed planners, and let’s be honest: sometimes we’re both! -Ms. Ahlberg, Middle School ELA Teacher
100% Engagement: 33 Lessons to Promote Participation, Beat Boredom, and Deepen Learning in the ELA Classroom
After years of reading professional development books for ELA teachers that felt more like theory than practice, 100% Engagement by Brian Sztabnik and Susan Barber is a breath of fresh air. I usually avoid professional development books because they often lack real classroom application, but this one is different. It’s applicable, creative, and written by teachers who truly get what it’s like to stand in front of a class (and are currently still in the classroom). Susan and Brian give you 33 classroom-tested lessons that are not only engaging but also easy to visualize, adapt, and implement across a range of grade levels and learning styles. Each lesson includes the rationale behind the activity, what it looks like in action, thoughtful variations, and resources to help you hit the ground running. Whether it’s getting students out of their seats, deepening literary analysis, or sparking collaboration, this book helps foster the kind of student-centered, high-engagement classroom we’re all striving for. It’s like having two trusted colleagues walk you through their best lessons. If you’re looking to shake things up or just need a fresh spark, this is the PD book you’ll want to keep right by your desk. – Carrie Smith, High School AP Lit and EL teacher (California)
So there you have it! I asked a group of English teachers which PD books would give readers the best bang for their buck, and these are their top recommendations! Whether you’re aiming to inspire readers, sharpen your teaching of writing, or boost engagement, there’s something here for you. Happy lifelong learning!
