Reading Instruction Books

It was easy to purchase and came quickly. I am very satisfied with the book!

Now in an expanded and updated second edition, Building A Knowledge Base In Reading is knowledgeably compiled and effectively co-authored by Jane Braunger (Senior Research Associate at the Strategic Literacy Initiative/WestEd in Oakland, CA) and Jan Patricia Lewis (the School of Education at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA). This completely "user-friendly" exploration is a highly researched study of children's comprehension and understanding of the curriculum and general education they receive. Introducing the reader to the implications granted to all students at every level, teacher resources for the translation of particulars into the classroom practice and summaries of the research presented in each chapter to help with putting together the ideas, Building A Knowledge Base In Reading acts a not only an outstanding guide and curriculum development resource, but a truly indispensable companion recommended to all novice classroom teachers struggling with addressing their students literacy needs and how best to approach the teaching process with respect to reading instruction.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful book about the volatile genius Caravaggio. The text gives an interesting and compelling account of the artist's turbulent life, and the book would not be nearly so good without it, yet it is the beautiful color prints that take the breath away. All depictions are in color, and are often augmented with detailed close-ups or the works of other artists who influenced, or were influenced by, Caravaggio.

A wonderful book for anyone interested in this remarkable artist.

Notorious bad boy of Italian Baroque painting, Caravaggio (1571-1610) is finally getting the recognition he deserves. Though his name may be familiar to all of us, his work has been habitually detested and forced into obscurity. Not only was his theatrical realism unfashionable in his time, but his sacrilegious subject matter and use of lower class models were violently scorned. Caravaggio's great work had the misfortune of enduring centuries of disrepute. It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that he was rediscovered and, quite posthumously, deemed a great master. He is now considered the most important painter of the early Baroque period; without him there would have been no Ribera, Zurburán, Velázquez, Vermeer or Georges de la Tour. Franz Hals, Rembrandt, Delacroix, and Manet would have been different. In this new book you'll find over 50 of Caravaggio's best paintings; we think you'll agree that he was a genius beyond his time.

This book contains exactly what the title says: a complete guide for beginners in the art of painting pretty well written in Spanish and easy to follow. Also, it was received according to the conditions established by the seller.

Las tecnicas de pintura, los materiales, y los ejercicios son excelentes para cualquier principiante comoyo

I'm slightly biased cause I've been a fan of Mr. Kites work for a few years but this is a laugh-out-loud funny, coffee table, Christmas book. Now how many of THOSE have ya got. Not only are the images fabulous but his commentary is as silly, insightful, irreverant and outlandish! If you love Christmas and especially if you don't, this is one book you must have. And must give someone else. As long as they're a "real friend"!

This is great. Santa being shot at is a super fantasy for any and all cynics.

This book not only has a lot of information about different learning techniques, but it also gives ideas for lessons and templates to use.

I'm currently in a teaching program, but not yet a teacher. This book is required for class, but I plan on keeping it for my resource library because it has so much great information for new teachers. I really enjoy the book lists inside and helpful worksheet/diagrams and examples of assessment forms.

Dr. Casey, a leading researcher and professor in teaching reading, presents a compelling argument for the implementation of technology in classrooms as early as pre-school. While this is not a revolutionary idea these days, the approach she advocates is. Many schools still use the computer as a glorified typewriter or calculator, or as an electonic "ditto sheet." Not so here. With the help of colleagues throughout the world, Dr. Casey has studied real-life situations in which children, who might otherwise fail and join the ever-growing ranks of the functionally illiterate, not only learn to read, but experience the joy of success. This is accomplished through the use of the "talking computer", a learning machine which gives immediate feedback to children in all learning modalities, visual, kinesthetic, aural, and oral. Many practical problems are addressed, such as funding, and the resistance to change in the "corporate culture" of many schools. A helpful appendix ennumerates online sources, software and other technology resources. Specific advice for teachers is given in the form of a checklist. My only disappointment with the book is a lack of illustrations; this is no doubt attributable to the publisher's budget restraints. I highly recommend this book as a starting point for school districts and staffs, as well as parent advocacy groups. Many state school boards would also be well-advised to heed Dr. Casey's words.

Dr. Casey presents compelling anecdotes of the real experiences of many children who have been transformed by the use of the "talking computer." That's what makes this book stand out from the pack of other comupter-in-the-classroom works. She espouses an even higher technology which replaces and surpasses the use of computers as alternate work papers. The word-sound connection, which has been proven to be of paramount importance in several recent studies, is experienced in realtime with visual, kinesthetic and aural feedback. Not content to stop with her own observation and experience, which is impressive, she collaborates with colleagues from several countries in Europe to prove the efficacy of her methods across cultural and language barriers. The outstanding results should raise some eyebrows, not only among classroom teachers, but in the hallowed halls of administration, and at the state government level. Many current problems such as bilingual education, increasing functional illiteracy and dropouts could be easily solved by the methods presented here. A useful appendix ennumerates websites, online sources, software and reviews. Highly recommended for those dedicated to the belief that Johnny CAN read, if given the right tools.

In this book McGuinness reviews reading research under the headings set out by the National Reading Panel. She makes a compelling argument for the kind of reading instruction known as synthetic, or linguistic phonics. The range of knowledge displayed is formidable.

Diane McGuinness is a terrific psychologist and writer. Her books are fantastic. This is another book of hers that should be required reading for anyone who want to understand the process of learning to read. Though written for a technical audience, she writes so well and clearly that any lay person would find it understandable and enjoyable to read. Make sure to also read her other book, Langauge Development and Learning to Read.

This is a book that every parent must own! Dr. Clinard is a leading expert in this field and a world renowned educator. This book will pay dividends in your child's future for years to come.

This book is full of lots of activities to help children learn to read and write. The activities are practical and easy to do with limited materials. A good choice for teachers to recommend to parents of younger students, this book would also be helpful to those who need activities to use at day care or in a tutoring situation.

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

Reviewed by
Yurika Iwahori
University of Hawai`i at Mânoa
United States
[...]

Fluency Instruction: Research-Based Best Practices, edited by Rasinski, Blachowicz, and Lems, is a comprehensive book about reading fluency that presents an overview of history, theory, instructions, programs, and assessment. This book is for teachers, school district administrators, and undergraduate and graduate students who would like to expand their knowledge of reading fluency and help struggling or beginning first language readers from kindergarten to secondary school as well as adult ESL learners.

This book is divided into three parts: (a) fluency theory and research; (b) best programs, practices, and assessment; and (c) special populations and issues related to kindergarteners, adult learners, and parents. The 16 chapters are contributed by 34 reading specialists from a range of different backgrounds, including universities, school districts, and classrooms for students at all age levels. A number of these authors emphasize the importance of oral reading and recommend multiple rereadings of the same text using a variety of techniques for developing reading fluency, such as paired reading, radio reading, and tape-assisted reading. In the same vein, strategies such as reader's theater and parental support are presented, the former as an effective reading strategy and the latter as a program beyond the confines of the school. In reader's theater, learners read a script aloud so that the audience can visualize the action (Martinez, Roser, & Strecker, 1999). In this respect, reader's theater provides a context for purposeful rereading. In a parental support program, children listen to model reading. Parents who simply listen to and read with their children can foster reading advancement (Stevenson, Rasinski, & Padak, 2006). As is known, prosody is an important aspect of reading fluency (Samuels, 2006). Unfortunately, struggling readers often do not know how to read aloud with expression. Therefore, it is effective for learners to listen to a model reading to improve fluency. In the book, model reading is a necessary element for developing reading fluency. Finally, computer-based fluency assessment is proposed as a motivational tool. Because many children will enjoy hearing their own voices and receive immediate and specific feedback, it is a stimulating technology to use. As a tool for self-assessment, parental involvement and multiple learning opportunities are also described.

The structure of the book is well-balanced between theory and application. In the first part, theories for reading fluency are discussed. In the remaining sections, a variety of practices are presented as applications of fluency instruction. When the contributing authors present fluency programs, practices, and assessment, they cite research studies as a justification for their statements. In terms of statistical analyses, although some results are described in detail, most of them are written in a simple manner. Because not all teachers are trained in statistics, a simple way of reporting statistics makes them reader friendly and accessible to teachers.

The book presents a theoretical framework for reading fluency, which is important because reading instructors' accurate comprehension of reading fluency theory is fundamental for incorporating fluency instruction into classrooms. According to two of the contributors, Ash and Kuhn (2006, pp. 159-160), about 60 percent of the teachers they surveyed in the U.S. employed some kind of round robin reading in their classrooms, regardless of its low productivity and ineffectiveness for learners' comprehension of text (e.g., Stanovich, 1980). They also assert that 70 percent of teachers who employed round robin reading regularly could not explain fluency research accurately. Therefore, this book is suitable for teachers who may be familiar with the term reading fluency but are not sure what it actually means or are not able to describe it.

Samuels (2006) argues that due to the growing interest of practitioners, reading fluency has become a hot topic in the last few years, and there are now a number of textbooks which address this issue. The Fluent Reader (Rasinski, 2003), for example, provides compelling reasons for why oral reading is important in the 21st century, such as improving reading comprehension and vocabulary size, activating motivation, building confidence, and increasing fluency. Rasinski also supplies concrete applications such as paired reading, repeated reading, and error analysis that teachers can utilize in their classrooms, as well as research-based ideas of rereading practices and assessment. Although silent reading is predominant as students advance in grade level, oral reading remains a fundamental skill. Because The Fluent Reader addresses the need for information on oral reading in reading methods textbooks for teachers at elementary and middle schools, the target audience is narrow.

Fluency Instruction: Research-Based Best Practices is a useful resource for teachers and school district administrators working to develop reading fluency with struggling or beginning readers from child to adult learner level. Readers will acquire a sound knowledge of reading fluency theory and practice from the theoretical ideas and concrete instructions presented in the book. I strongly recommend this book, which combines the experience and research of 34 authors, as a synergistic and insightful book for a wide audience, whose readers range from those who simply have an interest in reading fluency to those who feel a sense of crisis at the number of nonfluent readers in their educational programs.

References

Ash, G. E., & Kuhn, M. R. (2006). Meaningful oral and silent reading in the elementary and middle school classroom: Breaking the round robin reading addiction. In T. V. Rasinski, C. Blachowicz, & K. Lems (Eds.), Fluency instruction: Research-based best practices (pp. 155-172). New York: The Guilford Press.

Martinez, M., Roser, N. L., & Strecker, S. (1999). "I never thought I could be a star": A readers theatre ticket to fluency. The Reading Teacher, 52, 326-334.

Rasinski, T. V. (2003). The fluent reader. New York: Scholastic.

Samuels, S. J. (2006). Reading fluency: Its past, present, and future. In T. V. Rasinski, C. Blachowicz, & K. Lems (Eds.), Fluency instruction: Research-based best practices (pp. 7-20). New York: The Guilford Press.

Stanovich, K. E. (1980). Toward an interactive compensatory model of individual differences in the development of reading fluency. Reading Research Quarterly, 16, 32-71.

Stevenson, B., Rasinski, T. V., & Padak, N. (2006). Teaching fluency (and decoding) through fast start: An early childhood parental involvement program. In T. V. Rasinski, C. Blachowicz, & K. Lems (Eds.), Fluency instruction: Research-based best practices (pp. 253-264). New York: The Guilford Press.

About the Reviewer

Yurika Iwahori is an MA candidate in the Department of Second Language Studies, University of Hawai`i at Mânoa. She has seven years of experience in teaching English in Japanese high schools. Her current interest is in reading fluency in ESL and EFL contexts. E-mail: iwahori@hawaii.edu

I've always been a Richard Collins fan -- even when I was 11 and bought "Flying" magazine off the drug store rack and pored over every article -- understanding maybe 15%.

The percentage is higher now, but I still need to read and re-read to fully comprehend all the material presented.

The chapter on Lows is worth the price of this book. Every IFR and VFR pilot should buy and read this book. If you find you don't understand half of what Dick is talking about, it's time to go back to the basic Aviation Weather texts and get up to speed. Nothing is more critical to GA flying safety than the PIC's complete understanding of the Weather picture before launch and during flight.

This is one of the best books that I've come across. Richard L. Collins does a great job of covering the basics of weather and what is really going on in order to build on real useful knowledge. Once he completes that, Richard takes you on 40+ actual flights where he talks about the briefing that he got, what the weather is really like and what the NOOA maps showed after the flight (since they always look at the past).

You learn more than just about weather. You learn about how to work with FSS, what to ask, and why forecasts are sometimes so different than actual when they shouldn't be. After reading this, I felt a lot more confident about my IFR weather planning and flying and look at the weather with a whole new mind set.

......2
-- C --