Incorporating curricular theory, educational psychology, and 14 years of high school teaching experience, Smagorinsky (English education, University of Georgia) provides a rationale and process for not only teaching well but also for producing integrated curriculum units that encourage students to deepen their thinking throughout the entire school year. He offers a primer for teaching secondary English, and a guide to creating and using four- to six-week instructional units. The author offers insight on how students learn and what kinds of classrooms support their achievement in reading and writing, then uses those findings to open up key ideas of unit design. His units are organized around key concepts in English such as reading and writing strategies, genres, periods and movements in literature, themes, and the works of a significant author. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)