Reading Instruction Books

I bought this along with several other books to get me started on the violin (I am in my 30's). I had played the cello as a kid, so I was familiar with some of the aspects of string instruments. This book has really helped me to remember notes. The spiral binding is awesome. The exercises are not glamourous, but they get the job done.

My son receives private lessons in Suzuki violin. This book is used by his instructor. It moves along at a perfect pace so as not to distract from working on Suzuki pieces but to hold the students interest as he learns to read music.

This book is perfectly designed for the Suzuki lesson structure. If there is an able teacher and parent present to introduce and teach each lesson, the book is very successful. My students are exposed to the basic concepts of music theory in a theory class following their weekly group classes - so there is no need to explain basic concepts like the "treble clef" or "staff." There are plenty of introductory reading books out there for the older beginner, but this book has a gradual yet not monotonous pace, catering to an early beginner who has a support structure (parent/teacher).
I use this book for all of my students in a studio of 40+ Suzuki Violinists!

I use this book to teach children how to read music. It came in great shape and i use it all the time!

This book has been a great help to my small daughter in her violin practice. By splitting the tasks of note reading and rhythm reading into separate sections on pitch and rhythm she doesn't get as frustrated. The author knows that it's best to concentrate on ONE thing at a time as you're learning!

I like this instructional book. It's great for practice. If you have'nt played for a while it will help you get back to the fun of music.

I want to learn how to sight-read, and perhaps its not a goal that I can accomplish with just a book and no teacher. I have an idea that for a person who has played an instrument in the past, or has a fundamental understanding of notation, this book is just fine. However, if you're like me, just starting, the book reads like a school textbook that the teacher is going to use in class, and then quiz you on next week! I'm going to keep it because I'm taking piano lessons, and the book might actually mean something in a few weeks/months.

As a former organist who after a twenty year hiatus decided to become a self-taught pianist, I bought this book to help me get back to reading music quickly and easily. The church music that I played was largely a treble clef melody line with chord names written above it, leaving my bass clef reading, slow, laborious, and highly dubious. ("It's a 'D', no, C! Wait...B") Once I got hold of some piano music, I found that I just couldn't keep the left hand going and couldn't decipher the notes fast enough to play much of anything. This book promised to help in that area, and I have used it as a supplement to a number of other books to help my overall playing. (Check out my other reviews.) So far, I have found this helpful in improving my note reading ability. Keep in mind, I already knew how to read notes in treble and bass clef, just needed to brush it up, so I'm not sure how useful this book would be for a raw beginner. The random note exercises are something entirely different for me, and they provide a good challenge and excellent sight reading practice. I don't think the rhythm exercises are terribly useful without having somebody on hand to tell you if you have the right rhythm or not (I suppose a metronome would help), but I didn't really buy the book for that aspect. I haven't gotten far enough in the book yet to tell if it is going to help me as much as I want in the ledger lines area above and below the normal clefs, but if it continues to perform in the later lessons as well as it has in the early lessons, I'm sure I will gain a lot from this manual.

Reading music may be difficult at first-hand, but when you're getting assistance from Berklee, you know it's worth it. So take advantage of the best composers and their teachings and receive it and apply it to creativity.

I just got this book 1 week ago, and its helping me read the maple leaf rag with ease! The book offers a good workbook style work out. The author does not write long paragraphs about piano, the author just tells you what piano is and how to play it. The book will truly help you play the piano better.

It is rare enough for art books to be commented on, but to have the opportunity to read commentary on art book making and writing by a poet and old hat at art book typesetting, binding, etc is a great joy. A reference to cherish, and part of a necessary set of works by a fine author who is still underacknowledged for all she is bringing to contemporary book arts today.

This book is an incredible resource to artists creating bookworks or any form of artist's books. Numerous professors in Columbia College's Book & Paper Arts MFA program use excerpts for readings and they always add insight and information to the recipients. Additionally, the readings (chapters) are not so complex as to not be able to absorb the information.

It is outrageous that the [$$$] book is being sold for [$$$] here, just because it's out of print. Book artists are not bankers!

A landmark book. Does double duty as a showcase of some of the most incredible books of the century and puts forth some much needed critical groundwork. Johanna Drucker has done the world of book arts a huge service by initiating discussions about the definitions and categories that are necessary to formulate a critical language for this art.

The theory parts are not heavy-handed, but spring naturally from the way she has decided to structure the material for presentation. Not many books are a reference, an inspiration, a sweeping survey, a seed for further criticism, and a flower of criticism in their own right. This one is all that and more.

Your expectations of this book might be quite high if you've been wishing in vain for something like it. Even so, you will not be disappointed, because there is nothing else like it.

When I finished it, I flipped back through the pages once, pressed the covers gently together and whispered to the book, "Well done, Johanna, well done, indeed."

If you are a serious artist or student of art, this book is almost a complete waste of time. Drucker's flowery writing is pretentious and difficult to follow, and in the end she has little to say. She also needs a new editor; There is a typo on the first page! (I believe it's "and and", but I don't have it in front of me) I also find it frustrating that she has no typographic sense. I took an undergraduate class about artists' books which featured her book. Several design students joked in the back of the class that they shouldn't have to read the book on that basis alone. (These are undergraduate students, not people who are writing books about the art and design of BOOKS.)

A landmark book. Does double duty as a showcase of some of the most incredible books of the century and puts forth some much needed critical groundwork. Johanna Drucker has done the world of book arts a huge service by initiating discussions about the definitions and categories that are necessary to formulate a critical language for this art.

The theory parts are not heavy-handed, but spring naturally from the way she has decided to structure the material for presentation. Not many books are a reference, an inspiration, a sweeping survey, a seed for further criticism, and a flower of criticism in their own right. This one is all that and more.

Your expectations of this book might be quite high if you've been wishing in vain for something like it. Even so, you will not be disappointed, because there is nothing else like it.

When I finished it, I flipped back through the pages once, pressed the covers gently together and whispered to the book, "Well done, Johanna, well done, indeed."

The April 2008 of THE READING TEACHER, published by the International Reading Association gives high ratings to the Critical Reading Inventory-2 for use with students in this NCLB and Reading First era. Eight IRIs were analyzed, and this inventory rated very positively.

I am a huge fan of the CRI-2. As a reading specialist, it is a fantastic tool to identify strengths and weaknesses within a reader. I especially like the differentiation of the critical reasoning skills. The CRI-2 identifies areas of strength and weakness that the other inventories do not focus on. The CRI-2 is user friendly, parent friendly and an all around great tool.

I think the CRI is an excellent tool for reading assessment. I've had a great deal of success finding student levels quickly and effectively through the use of this program. It is easy to use and the testing results are much more accurate and clear than the IRI. I would highly recommend this program.

The CRI II is a wonderful reading tool to assess students reading and thinking. Most IRI's are text based. The CRI II takes reading inventories to the next level, it assesses students critical and inferential thinking. We know reading is not just spitting back text based information yet it involves a deeper understanding of the text. The CRI II helps educators identify what students are not "thinking" while reading. The data gathered from the inventory helps teachers and specialists design lessons and programs that fit the needs of their students. Unlike other inventories, the CRI II passages are interesting and engaging. The students actually enjoy reading the passages!! I would have to say it is by far the best reading inventory I have used.

It is hard to believe that Gluckman was talking about the same inventory that I used. The CRI is a breeze to learn; the instructions are crystal clear and there is a DVD in case you need visual learning. The 2nd edition includes a subset of words that are included in both the word lists and the passages so if you want to explore the relationship between isolation and context, it is a no brainer. Why the CRI would take longer to find appropriate levels is a mystery to me. Just read the manual--they explain all kinds of variations and short cuts for using the test. As far as the kids hating it goes, does anyone out there know of a reading test that kids love? For my money, the CRI has infinitely better stories and passages than the other inventories, and I've used many of them!
The big advantage of the CRI over the others is that it tests the kids' ability to think about as well as remember what they read. I'll grant you that thought-provoking questions are tougher to score, but the web-based tutorials included with CRI 2 make it simple for even novices to score. The retelling rubrics are unique and I'll admit that they are a bit complicated but there is a downloadable program that will calculate those scores automatically. It will also calculate all kinds of word recognition and comprehension percentages automatically and that makes analysis and reporting really simple. The program will even print out a professional looking recapitulation record. As far as I'm concerned, the CRI is way ahead of the curve in assessment and technology. I've been down the road with the other inventories and I'm not going back.

For Fidelity was a superb text for Religion, Family and Ethics a course I taught at the Lexington Theological Seminary, Lexington, KY. Funny, engaging and theologically rigorous, Fidelity provoked expansive conversation and soul-filled thinking. Sex was never treated like this during my graduate school days!

I was assigned this book to read, and wasn't looking forward to it because the I thought it sounded kind of dull or heady. WAS I WRONG! My personal copy is underlined and there are notes everywhere. I bought 7 other copies to give to friends and family.
Anyone who has children, or who works with children or teens, should read this book. The author shares her wisdom about sex education really needing to be about so much more than sex: friendship, intimacy, committment, many things we can talk about when our children are very young, and then they will be ready to understand a sexual relationship as something that is bigger than just sex.

This is, without question, the most wonderful book on the subject I've ever read. She is so eloquent in her prose and so lucid in her pattern of thought that I was, quite honestly, taken totally by surprise.

I, coming from a failed union, had embraced an 'open marriage' with a fervor. This book has been the only one to actually explain why and how my old life was a dead end.

While she does mention God every now and then, most of the comments are toward the end of the book -- long after the punchy arguments you're looking for are made. Any faith-based writing on her part is totally set aside. In other words, you can fully skip over it if you like. The important points totally stand on their own, without mention of religion.

I had read "Passionate Marriage" by David Schnarch -- long considered to be the Bible on the subject of passion and marriage. I hated it. It didn't speak to me. Where that book has the reader listening to other people's psychological problems and forcing you to try and extrapilate the point, "For Fidelity" tells you the point straight out: no allegory, no BS.

The author has a Ph.D (I think in English) -- and man does it show in the writing of the book.

As a person who has done sexuality education with people of all ages over the past 25 years, I welcome this book that is framed in a discussion of the nurture and transmission of moral tradition. Not because it is a how-to manual for parents, but rather because of its examination of why this is important for children and adults alike, straight or gay. The author sees our sexuality as a blessing, and includes an excellent trip through Western Christian ideas about sexual feelings and reproduction to help us recognize the unexamined assumptions that lead to inappropriate guilt. In fact, the whole book is built on the concept of blessing from love, intimacy, parenthood, and even, when necessary, divorce.

This does not mean that she does not understand the stresses and strains that come from living together in the real world, along with the challenges of raising children, and working together as we and the world around us change over time. She has written a book from real life experience that celebrates sexuality and morality together. It provides a rich resource for thoughtful parents and adults.

It is a rare book that manages to be intellectually stimulating and spiritually satisfying. This is one of those books. Wallace occasionally goes almost to the edge of being too academic or too religious, but redeems herself by meaningful, thought-provoking ideas about what it really means to be sexually faithful: to love one another as whole human beings, to never treat anyone as a commodity to be used, to teach kids about ethics and friendship rather than simply telling them "you'll get AIDS" or "you'll go to hell." These are some of the ideas that give true meaning and value and purpose to our lives, far beyond mere pleasure or avoidance of pain. Wallace manages to stay out of the mainstream without actually attacking it. Read this book if you long to believe that monogamy is the way to go and need some intelligent, loving reasons to back up your opinion.

If you need to improve your rhythmic vocabulary and reading, this book has it all.
The only reason I didn't give it the last star is because it supports the old fashion "counting system", that make it as impossible to learn how to sight read. Buy it together with "Sight Read Any Rhythm Instantly", and you have the power education of the decade as far as reading is concerned.

Great Book.

Very methodical. Essential for anyone who wants to become a good sight reader.

This book will help you get it together

This book will provide a music teacher with a tremendous amount of examples for the student to work through. Although it explains how to read rhythms, I would not recommend it for someone who knows nothing about reading rhythmic notation. Rather, the working through of this book should be supervised by a music teacher who has extensive experience reading music. I use it with almost all my guitar students and they develop a tremendously precocious understanding of rhythm which helps them learn everything else at a much faster pace than the average student.

I like this book because the excercises are progressive and well thought out. It allows the student to move at his own pace. It also includes a practice record so you can track time spent. The exercises range from very simple in the begining to complex near the end. It is also practical since the rhythms are the kind that are consistently used in music being played today. I highly reccomend this book.

This is a great resource for helping kids to develop reading skills in a fun and clear way. It is presented as a stand-up book that can be placed in learning centers or used during small group instruction. It contains easy-to-use activities that can be done either before, during or after reading. It contains 55 activities that reinforce skills like fact and opinion, character traits, summarization, cause-effect relationships, story elements, compare and contrast, and many more. All the activities come with clear step by step instructions that will promote independent work, and most of them require filling graphic organizers or foldable activities that will make comprehension a more attainable goal and will help kids to develop high order thinking skills. The overall appearance of the book (large print, colored charts, pictures) make this resource really attractive for kids to use.

I took Ms Cayuso's Flip for Comprehension book overseas to work with English speaking international students from grade 3 to grade 10. It was very beneficial for all types - from academic high to low, Asian to American, male or female. Her clear cut graphics used in presenting and applying the essentials of comprehension not only improved the students' grasp of the skills, but also motivated and enhanced their desire to read and to write (reports/essays). Many of the students and their parents were grateful for the simple, clearcut charts used to teach the comprehension basics - citing that they would always remember them for future use and help. This is an excellent tool for any teacher to own for their class library.

What a wonderful teaching tool Emily Cayuso has created! I keep the flip chart next to my teaching table. I'm a Reading Specialist who works with many reading groups every day, all of whom are at different levels. This chart enables me to quickly differentiate the comprehension strategies I'm using with each group.It also serves as a reminder of all the many strategies available to me in my planning,and ensures that I'm exposing my students to a variety of them.

Flip for Comprehension is a great table-top teaching tool. It lends itself well to small group lessons, independent reading time and literacy centers. Because the book is self contained in its flip format, the activities you and your students need are right at hand.

During independent reading or while in literacy centers, students won't have the excuse that they don't have materials or didn't understand the instructions. Even struggling readers can use Flip for Comprehension since the directions contain graphics as well as words.

The book is well planned out, with a good balance of text and graphics. I feel comfortable letting my students work independently using Flip for Comprehension after a brief explanation from me.

Ms. Cayuso has created a tool that will be helpful to teachers in two ways. First,as a very visible teacher tool to help when planning activities for guided reading, small group instruction. As I teach younger children, this is how I plan to use it--to ensure that I give my students many different ways to respond to literature. If you were teaching 3rd grade and up, I think it could also be used as a literacy center activity chart, with students making their own graphic organizers following the Flip book format for stories they are reading.

The format of the book is very conducive to students using it. Each page has a clear, colorful enough, but not overwhelming layout. After teacher modeling, I truly think students could use this book with little assistance--something we all need and want!!

As a former inner city teacher who now works as a public defender representing the same population behind bars, I've born witness to the inextricable connection between illiteracy and crime.
Lillie Pope's marvelous book, "Teach Anyone To Read: the No-Nonsense Approach" has fashioned a winning strategy, integrating the best in phonetic and whole language approaches. It is a practical "how to" guide that should be in the tool chest of every reading teacher from pre-school to adult educator.
I can't recommend it highly enough.

This book provides a user-friendly approach to specific techniques for teaching children, adolescents, and adults to read, thus making literacy an achievable goal. It shows how to evaluate the students' reading levels, build on their strengths in order to achieve success, and provides an abundance of practical tips and relevant support materials. Kudos to Dr. Pope for providing those who teach and those who learn a down-to-earth, well written, inspirational book that will open the door to the joys of reading for many thousands of students.

Great book for the basic tried and true methods for
teaching reading. If you're looking for new fangled, its not here, but
if you want nuts and bolts, this is the best book.

This wonderful book approaches the subject of teaching reading in a lighthearted and humorous manner. It really is a complete, practical guidebook for professional instructors, literacy tutors, home-school teachers, parents or anyone who wishes to teach a wide range of students from children to adolescents to adults how to understand the concepts of reading and how to decode words to make sense of written language.

It includes suggestions and activities for ESL instruction.

It contains many helpful suggestions on setting up, organizing, and conducting instructional activities. The book includes many pages of word lists (such as sight words, vowel sounds, and consonant combinations) and instructional games and activities that can be photocopied and used in the classroom. It also includes a very complete and up-to-date bibliography and list of resources for reading instructors, including web links to publishers, periodicals, and literacy organizations.

I can enthusiastically recommend "Teach Anyone to Read: The No-Nonsense Guide" as a very clearly-written and well-organized guidebook for instructors of all kinds.

S.W. Poppick (Former teacher and supervisor of adult education)

As a language specialist, I have followed Dr. Pope's work for many years. I feel that her new book may appear simple, but it is very sophisticated in the manner in which it focuses on methods that produce successful results. There is no ideological infatuation, so there is no chance to go astray.

This wonderful volume can be used with great success -in individual and group instruction- with children in the early grades who need extra work on the foundations of reading, as well as with discouraged high school students and adults who have all but given up on their potential to learn to read.

Just what I needed to help me through my first year of Reading Workshop....and I've been teaching 14 years!!!

Recieved item on time, right when we were told it would arrive. Book in very good condition.

This book gives tips and suggestions for the beginning workshop teacher. Ideas for constructing mini-lessons, organizing books and classrooms, and month by month suggestions for topics to use to make your workshop a success.

This book is a companion book to Serafini's "Lessons in Comprehension". You do not need to have that book in order to use this one, but because minilessons in "Lessons in Comprehension" are cited throughout the book I would recommend using them together. If you've read a lot about balanced literacy it does repeat a lot, however, there are useful new ideas like poetry discussion groups.

I saw the pre published text and met with the author. Here is a fully comprehensive, wonderfully detailed, and beautifully created book that clearly reflects an exacting 'lifetime labor of love' from Ward Bissell. I heartily recommend this book to all scholars, educators, students, collectors, dealers and appreciators of art in general and Artemisia in particular. Bissell has given us the definitive word on Artemesia Gentileschi with his work.

I plan to use both the Bissell and the Garrard book on Artemisia Gentileschi in my Baroque Art History class this Spring. Since these authors often interpret both works and life events rather differently, students should find the comparison stimulating.

This is a superbly written and researched account of Artemisia's Gentileschi's fascinating life and art. While not at all hostile to feminist interpretations of the painter, chiefly Mary Garrard's, Bissell is refreshingly skeptical and respectfully critical of many of their key points. Bissell is a more traditional art historian than I myself prefer, but one can't find better art history than this. Despite the high price, I wholeheardtedly recommend this wonderful book to anyone interested in Artemisia Gentileschi's paintings and as a feminsit icon.

I plan to use both the Bissell and the Garrard book on Artemisia Gentileschi in my Baroque Art History class this Spring. Since these authors often interpret both works and life events rather differently, students should find the comparison stimulating.