"Yes,
this one is worth the time!", August 22, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from San Diego
Elemenatary teachers: READ THIS BOOK! I know, I know! ANOTHER
book about teaching strategies! Haven't we (as teachers) read
enough? The answer is no if you want to improve/create your
reading program! I have taught 6th grade for 7 years and I
was always unhappy with my reading programs. To add to my
frustration, I began to support new teachers in the BTSA program
who desperatly needed my help in creating an effective reading
program for their classroom. Fortunately, my school decided
to reorganize our instruction to focus on Guided Reading.
That is when I found this book! Strategies that work is not
just another list of strategies that need to be taught. It
SHOWS you how to plan and implement lessons that will engage
children and teach reading comprehension strategies. My favorite
chapter was 8 beacuse it specifically dealt with inferring
and this is an important piece for 6th graders in reading
and writing. Don't worry - it's an easy read that IS worth
your time. Don't let the title lull you into thinking it is
just another "teacher text". Side Bar: Try to read
it with another teacher, the discussions you will have will
be invaluable!!!
Great
book for parents too, June 20, 2003
Reviewer: A dad from Gainesville, FL United States
I bought the book in search of ways to help my 6 year old
overcome apparent reading difficulties. This book is so well
grounded on scientific findings rather than hearsays. Yet
it also provides guidelines for tutoring struggling readers
and pointers to various resources. After reading this book,
I realized that my child had the typical word-by-word problem
described in the book, most likely due to interrupting corrections
to his pronunciation. This book taught me how essential it
is to use books of the right level and the right way to tutor
a struggling reader. I put what I learned into practice during
a recent vocation and saw great improvement even just after
one week. Now my son no longer feels frustrated when asked
to read, rather he starts to enjoy reading. I really wish
that my son's teacher had read this book, but I am glad I
found it. This book really makes me in awe of the power of
knowledge gained through serious scientific research. I recommend
it wholeheartedly to parents and teachers alike.
Absolute
must for ALL English/ Language Arts Teachers, April 14,
1999
Reviewer: A reader from Spanish Fork, Utah
But don't stop there. ALL teachers need to read this book.
Provides the perfect explanation and strategies for teaching
comprehension to upper level students. Fits perfectly with
the new Utah State Core for English! I've read it twice and
plan to read it again so that I can build each year in the
way I use the strategies.
Best
professional book!, September 9, 2000
Reviewer: A reader from Hopkinton, MA USA
I can't recall ever wanting to read a professional text more
than once. I almost couldn't wait to finish the book so that
I could read it again. I find myself using the strategies
they discuss in my own reading and of course, in my student's.
I plan to use this text as a handbook for reader's workshop
in my class this year.
Teaching
Reading in Middle School, January 4, 2001
Reviewer: Dr. Ruth Nathan
The very best thing about Laura Robb's newest book is that
after you read it, you don't feel you need to meet her. As
I read, whenever I had a question,want to see an example,
or wish that a checklist might be on the next page, there
it was! After reading it you will have post-its on specific
pages, feel organized and know that you have to have two copies,
one for home and one for school. The book is perfectly organized.
A short chapter on the research that shapes a middle school
reading program, is followed by strategy lessons that go through
the process of reading almost anything: before,during, and
after reading. These chapters are prefaced by a most helpful
chapter on what strategic reading looks like in middle school.
The chapters after are on ways to connect students to books,
cross grade projects and a wonderful chapter on assessment.
The appendices are perfect! They hit the nail on the head
from reading surveys to open ended discussion questions (by
genre). This book is truly the answer to a middle school reading
teachers prayers!
Think-Aloud
while you Read-Aloud, November 9, 2002
Reviewer: A reader from Des Plaines, IL United States
If you read aloud to your class, you must read this book!
This books brings to our attention the during reading strategies
that we do automatically and demonstrates how to teach them
to our students. Appropriate for any grade level.
Superlative,
January 7, 2003
Reviewer: Leslie from IN
As a 26 year veteran of the high school English classroom,
I am thrilled with Jim Burke's latest book, Reading Reminders.
It has come at a perfect time as well since, like many schools
in our state, we have adopted a reading goal as part of our
school improvement plan. Not one of the teachers in my department
has a reading endorsement or any idea of how to teach reading.
So this book has been incredibly helpful to us all (as well
as to colleagues in other departments). It is so practical,
so well-researched and thought out! It also reminds me of
some of the best practice I engaged in when I started teaching
but have somehow forgotten over the years. I also appreciate
how easy it is to use - you can start implementing the strategies
immediately although I think it is most effective to read
it through beforehand to appreciate how beautifully it aligns
with what is overall best practice in teaching English. Having
done a great deal of research lately on this subject, I have
not found any materials to equal this book.
(I also give his English Teacher's Companion to all of our
new English teachers. They invariably rave about it.)
This
is a winner! Every MS and HS teachers needs to read it,
December 18, 2002
Reviewer: Georgia Hedrick (see more about me) from Reno, NV,
USA
Passion. Voice. Soul. Reality. This book has all of this and
more. It has substance. I wish I had been given this book
when i was teaching Middle School and High School. I wish
I had known then what I have now learned, now that I am a
retired teacher after 37 years of teaching.
This is a book that makes sense in all its many pages, as
to what teachers can and ought to do, WHEN KIDS CAN'T READ.
I loved the idea that 'it's okay to reread a book!' duh. (Why
didn't I think of that?) I loved 'think alouds'. I loved 'say
something'. I loved all the methods given because I know they
work--she presents the word for word classroom dialogue to
show how they work.
Here is a book that reaches out and touches you, no, more,
it reaches out and grabs you by the eyeballs to look, to look
again; to read, and read again; to model the methods and model
them again.
Am I being paid for this to say this? No! Do I even know
Kylene Beers? no. Do I love this book and think it is a savior
to poor adolescent readers everywhere? A resounding YES !!!
First Grade Readers Really Can Comprehend!, June 16,
2003
Reviewer: Cynthia A Fletcher from Kansas City, Kansas United
States
I read this book to help me work with my students on comprehension.
I had read Strategies That Work and Mosaic of Thought and
still didn't know how to implement this comprehension study
in my classroom. Reading With Meaning cleared it up for me
and gave me clear examples of how to integrate a true comprehension
study right along with decoding instruction. This book helped
me to outline a two year comprehension study with my first
and second grade looping classroom. My kids not only read
well but they can comprehend great too! If you are struggling
with your students to understand a text deeper this is a must
read.
One
of the best books on vocabulary instruction, August 22,
1999
Reviewer: A reader from san diego, ca
Janet Allen has done a terrific job of blending theory with
practice. Taking the last twenty years of research on vocabulary,
Allen synthesizes the major guiding principles and illustrates
a variety of strategies for helping students to acquire and
develop vocabulary. As always, Allen writes in a clear, reader-friendly,
no-nonsense style--a refreshing change from many of the language
arts books in the field. As a reading specialist for the past
twenty years, I highly recommend her new book.
A
superb resource for teachers and concerned parents, June
8, 2002
Reviewer: Midwest Book Review (see more about me) from Oregon,
WI USA
Now in a revised and updated third edition, Classrooms That
Work by Patricia M. Cunningham (Professor of Education, Wake
Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina) and Richard
L. Allington (Irvin and Rose Fien Professor of Education,
University of Florida) is a solid, practical no-nonsense guide
to creating a positive educational environment in both public
and private schools, with emphasis on teaching literacy in
first through sixth grades. The authors offer useful strategies
and techniques for helping children learn including cross-checking,
means of accurately assessing reading skill, multilevel guided
reading, and much more. Classrooms That Work is a superb resource
for teachers and concerned parents seeking to improve the
quality and learning atmosphere of the formal and informal
classroom setting.
Easy Assessments to Determine Students Levels in Phonics,
Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension
A concise, ready-to use collection of assessments to use at
the beginning of the school year. With these tests, you can
determine each child¹s level of proficiency in reading,
identify instructional needs for individuals and for the group
as a whole, and have a baseline from which to measure a child¹s
growth in reading. Covers comprehension, vocabulary, and oral
reading.
About the Author
Written by a well-regarded standardized test writer and a
team of literacy specialists at Scholastic.
This compilation addresses instructional issues for teachers
of children with reading/learning disabilities. The book is
designed to help the reader redefine professional beliefs
regarding what can be accomplished and to provide useful,
specific examples of programs and practices that foster reading
development in all children, both inside and outside the classroom.