How to Raise a Reader


Book Description

An indispensable guide to welcoming children—from babies to teens—to a lifelong love of reading, written by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, editors of The New York Times Book Review. Do you remember your first visit to where the wild things are? How about curling up for hours on end to discover the secret of the Sorcerer’s Stone? Combining clear, practical advice with inspiration, wisdom, tips, and curated reading lists, How to Raise a Reader shows you how to instill the joy and time-stopping pleasure of reading. Divided into four sections, from baby through teen, and each illustrated by a different artist, this book offers something useful on every page, whether it’s how to develop rituals around reading or build a family library, or ways to engage a reluctant reader. A fifth section, “More Books to Love: By Theme and Reading Level,” is chockful of expert recommendations. Throughout, the authors debunk common myths, assuage parental fears, and deliver invaluable lessons in a positive and easy-to-act-on way.




Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children


Book Description

While most children learn to read fairly well, there remain many young Americans whose futures are imperiled because they do not read well enough to meet the demands of our competitive, technology-driven society. This book explores the problem within the context of social, historical, cultural, and biological factors. Recommendations address the identification of groups of children at risk, effective instruction for the preschool and early grades, effective approaches to dialects and bilingualism, the importance of these findings for the professional development of teachers, and gaps that remain in our understanding of how children learn to read. Implications for parents, teachers, schools, communities, the media, and government at all levels are discussed. The book examines the epidemiology of reading problems and introduces the concepts used by experts in the field. In a clear and readable narrative, word identification, comprehension, and other processes in normal reading development are discussed. Against the background of normal progress, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children examines factors that put children at risk of poor reading. It explores in detail how literacy can be fostered from birth through kindergarten and the primary grades, including evaluation of philosophies, systems, and materials commonly used to teach reading.




Critical Issues in Early Literacy


Book Description

This volume helps understand the power and complexity of the forces in the lives of children that impact their literacy learning. The critical issues presented emerge from interpretivist research and thinking practices that are constructivist in nature. --From publisher's description.




Issues and Trends in Literacy Education


Book Description

This issues reader presents current information on critical trends and developments in literacy education to help teachers choose and articulate their own informed approach to reading education. Now in its Fourth Edition,Issues and Trends in Literacy Educationcontinues to present a wide variety of opinions and positions in all crucial aspects of reading and writing education. This new edition includes up-to-date discussions on current topics such as fluency, the use of technology in reading, and multicultural literacy, among others. Renowned authors Dick Robinson, Mike McKenna, and Judy Wedman gear students to success by presenting scrupulously researched material that meets the NCATE/International Reading Association requirements for accreditation of graduate reading programs. A Letter to Students from the Authors Dear Reader, The authors of this literacy education textbook welcome you to the study of this important aspect of instruction. You are probably quite aware of the many current controversial topics in literacy such as assessment, the use of technology, and approaches to the teaching of reading skills. This new edition ofIssues and Trends in Literacy Educationwas organized around a number of the most critical questions in the current field. Articles in each of these areas were selected primarily on the basis of providing you, the reader, with the latest information as well as varying opinions on a wide variety of literacy topics. One of the primary goals of this book is for you to use these readings as a “springboard” for further investigation in topics that interest you related to effective literacy instruction. Each of the chapters includes a selection of related readings for additional study in a particular area of reading education. These can be used for in-depth study as well as a basis for personal research and writing of related class papers and presentations. The field of literacy education is a rapidly expanding and changing area in education. We hope you find the materials in this book to be both challenging and interest as you continue your study of this field. Thank you, Dick Robinson Mike McKenna







Literacy Teaching and Learning


Book Description

Organized into 10 thematic sections, the 30 carefully selected articles and accompanying pedagogical features enable students to gain an in-depth understanding of and practical ideas about current trends and issues in literacy teaching and learning. This text is a must-read for preservice teachers, in-service teachers, graduate students of literacy and related fields, and alternative teaching candidates seeking reading endorsement or certification."--Jacket.




Issues and Trends in Literacy Education


Book Description

This issues text presents current information on critical trends and developments in literacy education to help students choose and articulate their own informed approach to reading education. Issues and Trends in Literacy Education, Third Edition, continues to present a wide variety of opinions and positions in all crucial aspects of reading and writing education. This new edition includes up-to-date discussions on current topics such as reading assessment, the use of technology in reading, and adolescent literacy, among others. Renowned authors Dick Robinson, Mike McKenna, and Judy Wedman gear students to success by presenting scrupulously researched material that meets the NCATE/International Reading Association requirements for accreditation of graduate reading programs.




The State of Literacy in America


Book Description

This document presents synthesized estimates of the rates of level 1 literacy by congressional district in the 50 states and District of Columbia. The estimates are extrapolations of the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) that were based on the findings of approximately 26,000 interviews. The document begins with an introduction containing the following: overview of the NALS; examination of what it means to be literate in the 1990s; definition of level 1 literacy (ability to perform many tasks involving simple texts and documents but difficulty using certain reading, writing, and computational skills considered necessary for functioning in everyday life); and discussion of the impact of low literacy. Presented next are answers to 12 frequently asked questions about synthetic estimates of adult literacy proficiency. The remainder of the document consists of bar graphs and maps detailing the rates of level 1 literacy by state, congressional district, county, and municipality. A total of 119 figures/tables/maps are included throughout the document. Appended is a paper, "Synthetic Estimates of Literacy Proficiency for Small Census Areas" (Stephen Reder), that describes the extrapolation techniques, which are said to be relatively accurate for individual localities with at least 10,000 inhabitants. (MN)




Multicultural Issues in Literacy Research and Practice


Book Description

This volume brings together researchers and participants from diverse groups, reflecting the different ways in which the field of multicultural literacies has been interpreted. A common theme across the chapters is attention to the ways in which elements of difference--race, ethnicity, gender, class, and language--create dynamic tensions that influence students' literacy experiences and achievement. The hope of the editors is that readers will build on the experiences and findings presented so that the field of multicultural literacies will have a greater impact of literacy research, policy, and practice.




Multicultural Issues and Literacy Achievement


Book Description

This book is a sequel to the author's earlier volume entitled, Literacy Instruction in Multicultural Settings. In addition to extensive updating of earlier material, this book extends the content coverage to include issues of power, attitudes, and systemic change through the application of discourse theory and critical theory. In doing so, however, the author has tried to maintain the brevity, stylistic clarity, and classroom focus of the earlier volume. Key features of this important new book include: *Teaching Flexibility. Although written with the classroom needs of pre-service teachers in mind, theory and research are treated in sufficient depth to make the book suitable for graduate courses and for teacher study groups. *Issues Organization. Each chapter is organized around familiar issues that characterize schools and classrooms with diverse student populations and explores these issues through new lenses that most teachers have not previously encountered. *Social Constructivist Perspective. Critical theory, discourse theory, and historical perspective are introduced in order to sensitize readers to the need to recognize negative, socially sustained patterns that hamper literacy achievement and replace them with positive patterns. To this end each chapter asks students to maintain a running list of negative patterns along with alternative positive patterns.