Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques For Developing Competency In Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, And Comprehension

by Valerie Ellery

The days of stressing the acquisition of reading skills in isolation are in the past. To develop lifelong readers, it is vital for teachers to also show students how to apply these reading skills strategically to acquire meaning from text. This book is a comprehensive resource you can use to better equip yourself in the craft of teaching reading. Author Valerie Ellery first lays the groundwork for a comprehensive literacy classroom, detailing appropriate curriculum, assessment, and instruction. She then focuses on the five essential components of reading instruction identified in the 2000 National Reading Panel report—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension—to align instruction with current standards. You will learn how to implement the components into your instruction with techniques that foster active, strategic reading. Each technique identifies corresponding multiple intelligences and developmental levels of reading so you can determine which approach is best suited for each student’s specific learning style and reading need. Because scaffolding and teacher talk are essential to successful instruction, procedures for modeling the techniques and examples of teacher talk are provided throughout the book. Ultimately, you will learn how to gradually release responsibility for learning to students and guide them in becoming strategic, independent readers.

Genres: Teaching

245 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 2005

Reviews

[Rikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas...better for lower elementary grades for most of the lessons

[Jennifer Symonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is much like many of the other "how to teach reading" books that I have read as of late. It supports the idea of reading is the process of making meaning, not about the individual words on the page. It comes with a CD of templates you can use to go with the many activities provided in the book. I will probably use a few of the activities to further support Reading Power (Adrienne Gear) in my classroom.

[Krista Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some great lesson ideas - more of a book to flip through to find some fun strategies to use for reading - not one I'm ready to truly sit down and "read." Will come back to it again when looking for ideas...

[Erica Sonzogni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though much of this was a review from undergrad and graduate school, there were a lot of resources for multiple levels and some new ideas that I had never heard of. I'm excited to try them with my class and tutees.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each strategy has 4 or more activities that demonstrate the strategy as well as a CD of reproducibles. Probably one of the better textbooks I've had to buy. Now if the class were only over and all my practicum hours were completed!