Reading Comprehension: Strategies for Independent Learners

Now in a revised and updated second edition, this practical resource and widely used text presents a wealth of research-based approaches to comprehension instruction. The authors offer specific classroom practices that help K-9 students compare and evaluate print and online sources, develop vocabulary, build study and test-taking skills, and become motivated readers. The second edition reflects new research on informational literacy and academic and content-specific vocabulary development, and also discusses the impact of recent federal initiatives. Newly updated sample activities, classroom- and text-based examples, resource lists, and reproducible classroom tools enhance the utility of this indispensable work.

Children's Literature

This interesting textbook, designed for classroom teachers or teachers-in-training, attempts to bring the latest information on reading comprehension together with practical strategies on achieving "good comprehension." The first chapter sets the stage by presenting a variety of good readers and their myriad of strategies and styles. The authors are reading teachers, and they emphasize that good comprehension is a process and that individual student's personal styles must be considered in the process. The way that teachers organize classroom activities and opportunities makes a difference in how students' comprehension skills grow. Chapter 2 discusses research models of comprehension and suggests a model of "best practices." Chapters 3 and 4 describe classroom and instructional organizational issues as well as how to process from the point of assessment. The remainder of the book provides strategies for specific comprehension goals such as reading for information, studying, engaging in research, or taking tests. Teachers can pick and choose from these strategies as needed in their own classrooms. There are a wide range of graphics and examples among the comprehension goals for use among students of all ages and levels. The emphasis is on tailoring activities to meet the needs of the students so that they can develop as individual learners. Reviewer: Meredith Kiger, Ph.D.

Camille Blachowicz, PhD, is Professor of Education at National-Louis University, where she also directs the Reading Program and the Reading Center. She is the author of several books and numerous chapters, monographs, and articles on vocabulary and comprehension instruction and on working with at-risk readers. Dr. Blachowicz was a Fulbright Fellow to Italy and is active in professional organizations and staff development nationally and internationally. She is codirector of the Literacy Partners: Advanced Reading Development Demonstration Project (ARDDP), a project on coaching and school literacy improvement, in the Chicago Public Schools. In 2003 she was named to the roster of Outstanding Teacher Educators in Reading by the International Reading Association.

Donna Ogle, EdD, is Professor of Education at National-Louis University, a member of the Reading Hall of Fame, and a past president of the International Reading Association (2001-2002). She currently is directing two multischool projects in the Chicago Public Schools: Project ALL (Advancing Literacy for Learning) and the Transitional Adolescent Literacy Leadership (TALL) Project. She is also Senior Consultant to the Chicago Striving Readers Research Study. Dr. Ogle is the author of many publications related to the topic of comprehension development and has particular interest in informational reading and learning. She works internationally in professional development projects and is an editorial reviewer for Lectura y Vida, the Spanish-language journal of the International Reading Association.