Ready-To-Use Activities & Materials for Improving Content Reading Skills - by Wilma H Miller (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For teachers, reading specialists and special educators in grades 4-12, this practical resource is packed with hundreds of strategies and activities for evaluating and improving students' reading, writing, study, and test-taking skills in all content areas. It first provides several ways to categorize the skills needed and lists of specialized vocabulary and skills required for effective reading/writing/study skill in each subject area. It then provides a multitude of ready-to-use methods and over 100 reproducible activities to help assess and improve the ability of all students. Special features include a list of multicultural trade books useful for all students, guidelines for using teacher-pupil conferences to assess skills, computer software for vocabulary in the content fields, ideas for students with limited English-speaking ability, professional resource books for teachers of students who are at risk, and more.

From the Back Cover

This practical resource for grades 4-12 classroom teachers, content teachers, reading specialists, and special educators is packed with hundreds of tested strategies and activity sheets for evaluating and improving students? reading, writing, study, and test-taking skills in the content areas of literature (language arts), social studies, science, and mathematics.

It first gives you several ways to categorize the reading/writing/study skills needed in content reading and writing, and lists of specialized vocabulary and skills required for effective reading/writing/study in each major subject area. It then provides a multitude of ready-to-use methods and over 100 reproducible activities and other devices to help you assess and improve the ability of all students to read, comprehend, write, and study.

For quick access and easy use, materials are printed in a big spiral-bound format that folds flat for photocopying and are organized into eight chapters. Here's an overview of chapter titles along with one example of the kind of help each chapter contains:

1. Teaching the Vocabulary & Skills Required for Effective Reading & Writing in the Content Areas (Listing of Unique Literacy-Study Skills for Science)

2. Strategies & Activity Sheets for Assessing Competencies & Weaknesses in Content Reading, Writing & Study Skills (Literacy-Study Skills Observational Checklists)

3. Strategies & Activity Sheets for Improving Vocabulary in the Content Areas (Modified Cloze Procedure for Literature)

4. Strategies & Activity Sheets for Improving Comprehension & Critical & Creative Reading in the Content Areas (Activity Sheet Using Visual Imagery to Improve Comprehension)

5. Strategies & Activity Sheets for Improving Writing Skills in the Content Areas (Reproducible Learning Log)

6. Strategies & Activity Sheets for Adapting the Literacy-Study Skills to the Unique Demands of Each Content Area (Activity Sheet Stressing the Use of Heteronyms)

7. Strategies for Improving Test Construction & Test-Taking Skills in the Content Areas (Reproducible PORPE checklist to Help Students Evaluate Essay Test Responses)

8. Strategies & Materials for Teaching Content Reading & Writing to ?At-Risk? Students (Reproducible Weekly Planner for "At Risk" Students)

Special features include a list of multicultural tradebooks that will benefit all students ? guidelines for using teacher-pupil conferences to assess content reading/writing/spelling skills ? computer software for vocabulary in the content fields ? effective ideas for limited English-speaking students ? professional resource books for teachers of students who are at risk ? and many more.

In short, this resource gives everyone involved in the teaching of content literacy an unparalleled store of tested, ready-to-use information and materials for the quick, accurate evaluation and improvement of the reading, writing, and studying ability of all students.

About the Author

Wilma H. Miller, Ed.D., is former Professor of Education at Illinois State University in Normal, where she taught undergraduate and graduate students in reading for over 25 years. Prior to that she was an elementary school teacher in Illinois and Arizona. Dr. Miller has published numerous journal articles dealing with reading, and has also authored 17 books in the field, including Reading Comprehension Activities Kit (1990), Complete Reading Disabilities Handbook (1993), and Alternative Assessment Techniques for Reading & Writing (1995), all published by The Center for Applied Research in Education.