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A neuropsychologist shows how outmoded methods for teaching reading have resulted in plummeting literacy levels and offers a new program.
Nearly forty percent of all fourth graders in this country cannot read at grade level, and this number rises to sixty percent for children coming from poor families. This gap in learning increases as students go through grade school and is a primary reason for school failure. Ironically, this problem comes even after comprehensive research demonstrates that nearly all children can learn to read if taught using proven-effective instruction. Here, the authors describe the principles of this research in language that non-educators can understand and educators can use. It discusses how to recognize whether the research on reading is being used appropriately, and if not, how to make that happen. Through the eyes of parents and educators who have succeeded in their own struggles to change the educational system, the book provides the reader with the tools and knowledge for transforming the way reading is taught in their children's classrooms. This book takes the reader step-by-step through an understanding of the research on reading and ways in which a single, determined person can make a difference in the learning ability of every student in our nation's schools. Part One is a series of chapters written by individuals who discuss what they experienced during these battles and what made them successful. Part Two is written by a series of experts who describe how they have overcome the challenges involved in creating widespread change in school systems. This second edition also includes information on Common Core State Standards, increased testing and accountability efforts, and related policy issues that directly impact how children learn to read. The appendix is filled with resources-people, places, sample tools, a glossary and bibliography to help the reader. Some key features of this book include: Easy to understand descriptions of research First-person stories of how they have helped teach their kids to read Clear understanding of scientifically based reading and how it can be applied to the classroom Summary of reading-related Common Core State Standards Sample tools for parent advocates Resource lists of government officials, organizations that can help with reading efforts
The classic book on phonics--the method of teaching recommended by the U.S. Department of Education. Contains complete materials and instructions on teaching children to read at home.
For Kylene Beers, the question of what to do when kids can't read surfaced in 1979 when she met and began teaching a boy named George. When George's parents asked her to explain why he couldn't read and how she could help, Beers, a secondary certified English teacher with no background in reading, realized she had little to offer. That moment sent her on a twenty-three-year search for answers to the question: How do we help middle and high schoolers who can't read? Now, she shares what she has learned and shows teachers how to help struggling readers with comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, word recognition, and motivation. Filled with student transcripts, detailed strategies, reproducible material, and extensive booklists, Beers' guide to teaching reading both instructs and inspires.
Celebrate the freedom to read with this timely, empowering middle-grade debut in the spirit of The View from Saturday or Frindle. When twelve-year-old June Harper's parents discover what they deem an inappropriate library book, they take strict parenting to a whole new level. And everything June loves about Dogwood Middle School unravels: librarian Ms. Bradshaw is suspended, an author appearance is canceled, the library is gutted, and all books on the premises must have administrative approval. But June can't give up books . . . and she realizes she doesn't have to when she spies a Little Free Library on her walk to school. As the rules become stricter at school and at home, June keeps turning the pages of the banned books that continue to appear in the little library. It's a delicious secret . . . and one she can't keep to herself. June starts a banned book library of her own in an abandoned locker at school. The risks grow alongside her library's popularity, and a movement begins at Dogwood Middle--a movement that, if exposed, could destroy her. But if it's powerful enough, maybe it can save Ms. Bradshaw and all that she represents: the freedom to read. Equal parts fun and empowering, this novel explores censorship, freedom of speech, and activism. For any kid who doesn't believe one person can effect change...and for all the kids who already know they can!
"The Teacher Who Couldn't Read" is John Corcoran's life story of how he struggled through school without the basic skills of how to read or write and went on to become a college graduate and a high school teacher, still without these basic skills. National literacy advocate John Corcoran continues to help bring illiteracy out of the shadows with this autobiography, "The Teacher Who Couldn't Read." It is the amazing true story of a man who triumphed over his illiteracy and who has become one of the nation's leading literacy advocates. His shocking and emotionally moving story-from being a child who was failed by the system, to an angry adolescent, a desperate college student, and finally an emerging adult reader-touched audiences of such national television shows as the Oprah Winfrey Show, 20/20, the Phil Donahue Show, and Larry King Live. His story was also featured in national magazines such as Esquire, Biography, Reader's Digest, and People. "The Teacher Who Couldn't Read" is a gripping tale of triumph over America's national literacy crisis-- a story you'll thoroughly enjoy while being enlightened to a national tragedy.
Early Reading Instruction is a comprehensive analysis of the research evidence from early writing systems to computer models of reading. In this book, Diane McGuinness provides an innovative solution to the "reading war"—the century-old debate over the efficacy of phonics (sound-based) versus whole-word (meaning- based) methods. She has developed a prototype—a set of elements that are critical to the success of a reading method. McGuinness shows that all writing systems, without exception, are based on a sound unit in the language. This fact, and other findings by paleographers, provides a platform for the prototype. Other elements of the prototype are based on modern research. For example, observational studies in the classroom show that time spent on three activities strongly predicts reading success: learning phoneme/symbol correspondences, practice at blending and segmenting phonemes in words, and copying/writing words, phrases, and sentences. Most so-called literacy activities have no effect, and some, like sight word memorization, have a strongly negative effect. The National Reading Panel (2000) summarized the research on reading methods after screening out thousands of studies that failed to meet minimum scientific standards. In an in-depth analysis of this evidence, McGuinness shows that the most successful methods (children reading a year or more above age norms) include all the elements in the prototype. Finally, she argues, because phonics-type methods are consistently shown to be superior to whole-word methods in studies dating back to the 1960s, it makes no sense to continue this line of research. The most urgent question for future research is how to get the most effective phonics programs into the classroom.
Is today's fast-paced media culture creating a toxic environment for our children's brains? In this landmark, bestselling assessment tracing the roots of America's escalating crisis in education, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D., examines how television, video games, and other components of popular culture compromise our children's ability to concentrate and to absorb and analyze information. Drawing on neuropsychological research and an analysis of current educational practices, Healy presents in clear, understandable language: -- How growing brains are physically shaped by experience -- Why television programs -- even supposedly educational shows like Sesame Street -- develop "habits of mind" that place children at a disadvantage in school -- Why increasing numbers of children are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder -- How parents and teachers can make a critical difference by making children good learners from the day they are born
From the Back Cover: In this incendiary sequel to his earlier best-seller, Why Johnny Can't Read, Rudolf Flesch contends that our most common method of teaching reading is fraudulent and pernicious and has failed miserably. For fifty years the vast majority of American schoolchildren have been taught to read by the look-and-say method rather than by traditional phonics. Because of it, says Dr. Flesch, the majority of today's American adults are handicapped readers. Indeed, the U.S. literacy rate has dropped below that of every European nation. His wide-ranging research shows how educators have conducted a continuing defense of this teaching method despite hundreds of scientific studies proving its ineffectiveness. Bound to stir controversy and discussion, this book is must reading for parents, educators, administrators, and public officials responsible for allocating educational funds.
