Reading Essentials
Regie Routman, Heinemann, 2002

In this highly readable book, Regie offers us an important reminder: We are already doing too much. Making a bigger difference isnít about doing more, it is about being more thoughtful, using resources as tools rather than prescriptions, and using ongoing in-process observations of learners to guide us toward instructional decisions which will make the biggest difference for our learners. Regie offers practical advise on basics such as building a classroom library, making every minute count, and the essentials of a reading day. You will love her conversational style and easy to apply recommendations.

A Vitally Important Trio:

These three books profile the work of the National Reading Panel, The No Child Left Behind Act, and the ensuing challenges teachers and children will face as a result. You will find tools to empower your thinking, research to help you question unnecessary mandates, and a call to take action on behalf of the children we serve. I personally found them tremendously interesting as they profiled, historically, the path education has taken over the last 30 years while helping me to understand that I can no longer sit back and wait for the public and politicians to understand. It is time to become part of the solution by talking to my friends, neighbors, relatives and writing to the politicians who have been elected to serve. Our children are at stake. Testing and mandated programs are not silver bullets.

Interactive Writing and Interactive Editing
Stanley Swartz, Adria, Klein and Rebecca Shook, Dominie, 2001

If you are interested in interactive writing this book is a winner. With full color photos to lead you on visually, the authors path a path for using interactive writing across the curriculum and across all grades. The examples are easily adapted to your curriculum and age group, and make the processes of writing and editing clear and inviting.

Reading With Meaning:
Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades
Debbie Miller, Stenhouse, 2002

Comprehension from the beginning is the message and it is done beautifully. Debbie invites the reader into her classroom with easy to read explanations of the structures and strategies which empower her first graders as readers. The voices of Debbie and her students ring through clearly as she unravels the complexities of a rigorous teaching environment which also brings joy and commitment to children.

Information Tool Kit: Using Nonfiction Genres and Visual Texts
Steve Moline, Dominie, 2002 (Books A-C)

This tool kit is loaded with reproducible examples of informational texts such as directions, diagrams, maps, cross sections, timelines, tables, and so on. Each example is designed with enlarged print to maximize its use at the overhead projector and comes with a helpful checklist students can use to empower their own writing. Lesson plans for each example provide tips on how to maximize the examples and how to link them into the heartbeat of your daily teaching. We know that students who understand informational text features and use them are more comfortable as readers and writers of info textÖ This is a great support system for teachers!

Review of Gerald Coles, Reading The Naked Truth
Heinemann, Submitted to amazon.com, By Stephen Krashen

A central theme of this book is the insight that the claims of superiority of intensive phonics instruction and phonemic awareness instruction rest on studies in which one group does heavy phonics or phonemic awareness instruction and the comparison group does either nothing at all, or an activity that has nothing to do with reading. Coles points out that it should be no surprise that the phonics or phonemic awareness group will read better after such a comparison. But Coles concludes that even this is not true: When the trained group is better, they are typically only clearly better on low level tests, eg tests of phonemic awareness and phonics. There is hardly any evidence that they actually read better. Coles has taught us that we always need to ask this question when somebody says a reading method is better: Better than what?

Coles provides extensive documentation of this point. This book, along with Garan's Resisting Reading Mandates, pulls the rug out from under the National Reading Panel's claim that heavy skills training is called for in teaching children to read.

Strategies That Work:
Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding
Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, Stenhouse, 2000

Wow! is a great way to summarize the powerful array of resources encompassed in this book. Harvey and Goudvis offer powerful models of comprehension instruction complete with suggestions of beautiful children’s picture books. They keep a steadfast focus on the key comprehension strategies which so enlightened us in Mosaic of Thought (Keene and Zimmerman, 1998) and bring our knowing full circle with suggestions of children’s literature which slide naturally into the context of daily teaching. Annotated bibliographies ready to integrate into your content area teaching are also provided.

What Really Matters for Struggling Readers:
Designing Research-Based Programs
Richard Allington, Pearson Education, 2001

Hate research? Don’t worry! Allington’s clear and concise writing style brings tidbits of critical research to light then rapidly grounds it in classroom practice. If you work with struggling students, this book is a must. If you are a principal, staff developer, reading specialist, Title I or special educator, this book is a must! We no longer have any excuse for giving our students less than they deserve. Allington’s Four Critical Understandings and suggestions for implementation are easily attainable and will make a difference for those students who most need the best we have to offer.

Is That A Fact?
Teaching Nonfiction Writing K-3
by Tony Stead, forward by Tomie dePaola, Stenhouse, 2002

I realized that for too long I had kept my students in a world of personal narrative and fantasy by providing demonstrations of these writing forms almost exclusively. When I looked through my classroom library I found that 90 percent of the books were fiction. My real-alouds and shared readings were limited to the world of make-believe or personal narrative. (Tony Stead, page 7)

In Is That a Fact?, Tony Stead provides a rich invitation to broaden thinking about the forms used by young children in their writing and strategies which teachers might use to broaden the range of forms our students employ. He begins by building a strong argument for nonfiction research and writing then brings a lazer light focus onto the various forms which are encompassed within nonfiction texts. Readers will delight in his straightforward writing style, engaging visuals, and assessment tools. You will even find bibliographies which show guided reading levels clearly identify forms such as instructional writing, descriptive reports, scientific explanations, persuasive writing, and nonfiction narrative.

Shaping Literate Minds
Developing Self-Regulated Learners
by Linda J. Dorn and Carla Soffos, Stenhouse, 2001

I found this book to offer powerful reminders of the foundations which support a high quality language and literacy learning environment. The authors bring theory into clear focus with student work samples, charts, and specifics of classroom implementation. Those who are looking for specifics of how to integrate orthography and phonological prowess into a rich learning atmosphere, will particularly enjoy this book. In a time where reflective, intentional teaching practices must be our hallmark, this book is an invitation to thoughtful, wise teaching.

Book Review by Cathy Bernhard,
District Math Specialist, Beaverton, OR
Math Is Language Too
Teaching and Writing in the Mathematics Classroom
by Phyllis Whitin and David J. Whitin, NCTE and NCTM, 2000
available from NCTE and NCTM

As many of us work to integrate the teaching of mathematics across all areas of the curriculum, there is a new book that should prove to be very useful. Math is Language Too is unique because it is the first joint publication by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Council of Teachers of English. This collaborative effort demonstrates that common beliefs about learning cut across the fields of mathematics and language.

Historically, members of these two national organizations have had minimal communication with each other. Each usually held its own annual conferences and published its own research. However, the core beliefs of a growing body of research now unite these organizations. These core beliefs include:

1. Valuing learners as constructors of their own knowledge;
2. Recognizing the social nature of how learners construct
   that knowledge; and
3. Encouraging the uses of multiple methods (writing, talking, drawing) for expressing understandings.

Phyllis and David Whitin, a fourth grade teacher and college professor writing team, have created a book that is filled with examples of how to create a mathematical community that values each student in a classroom. It is a book about how reading, writing, and talking can be used to enrich the collective pool of mathematical ideas in any classroom. The author’s educational philosophy is clear:

Teachers play a key role in capitalizing on the benefits of writing and talking. Part of this role involves establishing norms of classroom life that recognize and appreciate the reasoning of others; highlight the process of mathematical thinking as children use concepts, strategies, and skills in strategic ways; honor surprise as a natural and legitimate part of the learning process; and invite reflection and self-evaluation as avenues for personal growth. Writing and talking enable learners to make their mathematical thinking visible....The fluid nature of talk allows for the quick brainstorming of many ideas while the permanent quality of writing provides an important trail of our children’s thinking.

The book is filled with examples of activities and student work that highlight the value of meaningful mathematics. The focus of the book is on respecting children as sense makers. “If sense-making is at the heart of what we believe as educators, then reading, writing, talking, drawing, and doing mathematics become tools for expressing those sense-making efforts.” The ideas shared in Math is Language Too will help all teachers foster this sense-making ability in their students.

Video Reviews

Results That Last: A Literacy Model for School Change
Linda J. Dorn and Carla Soffos, Stenhouse, 2003

This video profiles the award winning Arkansas Literacy Model which focuses on creating long term change, accelerating student performance, and emphasizing well informed teachers as critical change agents. Tapped as a premier use of Reading First funds, this project comes to life in this four part video set. You can count on this series to provide support in creating systems for change, empowering instruction, targeting critical assessments, and the role that coaching plays in change.

Happy Reading:
Creating a Predictable Structure for Joyful Teaching and Learning
Debbie Miller, Stenhouse, 2002

This 3 part video collection provides a powerful look at the strategies Debbie describes in Reading with Meaning (see book reviews). The footage is easy to watch, well narrated and clearly demonstrates that even our youngest students can grasp complex comprehension strategies and use them WHILE they are learning to read.

Strategy Instruction in Action
Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, Stenhouse, 2001

This 4 part collection covers the ground work for developing a culture of deep thinking, strategies for questioning, using think alouds in informational texts, and enhancing book club discussions. The emphasis is on middle grades.