Help your students develop higher-level literacy skills required by today’s demanding curriculum and high-stakes tests with Thomas Gunning!
Known for his practical, research-based approach, Dr. Gunning offers classroom teachers the tools to promote higher-level literacy in all students. In his new book, he presents assessment procedures in a step-by-step format to guide teachers in reading assessment and includes model lessons for all strategies and techniques.
Teachers rave about Thomas Gunning’s strategies to promote higher-level skills!
"I think this book would make an exceptional subject for an in-service workshop for all teachers of any school since the strategies can be applied at any grade level. I would enjoy participating or teaching a workshop of these ideas. The author seems to have created a knowledge base that is desperately needed in today’s educational environment…especially in the…world of high-stakes testing, merit pay, and low-performing schools."
-Sylvia Hoke, MacArthur Junior High School, AR
"I find the organization of the book logical, moving from an overview of specific issues, to assessment, to remedies and application. The writing style is personable and clear. The anecdotes and practical applications are, of course, the “good stuff,” and it is impossible to ever have enough of them."
-Polly Bill, Brandywine School District, DE
Take a look inside:
• Provides step-by-step lessons, examples, and practice materials for each higher-level literacy teaching strategy.
• Addresses the needs of struggling learners with examples of maximum scaffolding that is gradually reduced to help teachers instruct all students.
• Presents systematic specific instruction from easiest to complex and provides a comprehensive program for teaching students how to respond to higher-level constructed response questions.
• Aligns instruction with assessment of higher-level skills.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Higher-Level Literacy Skills Needed in Today’s World and the World of the Future
Status of Higher-Level Thinking Proficiency
Tests Might Mask Abilities
Discussions with Students
Analysis of Literacy Programs
Analysis of Responses
Demands of Today’s Proficiency Tests
The Nature of Higher-Level Thinking Skills
Cognitive Dimensions of Reading
Locate and Recall
Integrate and Interpret
Critique and Evaluate
Other Strategies
Study Group Questions
Chapter 2 Assessing Higher-Level Skills Development
Diagnostic Conversations
Think-Alouds
Observation
Using Rubrics
Monitoring Progress
Study Group Questions
Chapter 3 General Approaches for Developing Higher-Level Literacy
Creating a Culture of Understanding
Developing Higher-Level Talk
Developing the Language of Thinking
Using Thinking and Language to Develop Self-Management Skills
The Role of Read-Alouds and Listening in Building Higher-level Skills
The Role of Graphic Organizers in Fostering Higher-level Literacy
Systematic Use of Graphic Organizers
Using a Coherent System of Graphic Organizers
Using Graphic Organizers to Foster Discussion and Writing
Intensive Teaching and Extensive Practice
Fostering Wide Reading
Maximizing the Benefit
Reading to Deepen Understanding
Building Background Knowledge
The Critical Role of Content Area Literacy
Importance of Academic Learning Time
Metacognition: Thinking about Thinking
Lessons from Experts
Differentiating Instruction
Matching Materials and Instruction with Achievement and Ability
Study Group Questions
Chapter 4 Using Strategies to Build Higher-Level Literacy Skills
Reflecting and Sharing
Approaches to Teaching Reading, Reasoning, and Responding Strategies
Taking a Deductive Approach
Taking an Inductive Approach
Need for Sustained Instruction
Study Group Questions
Chapter 5 Developing Specific Strategies and Skills
Locate and Recall (Forming a General Understanding)
Locating and Comprehending Details
Main Idea
Processing Main Ideas and Details
Determining Importance of Information
Asking Why
Themes
Summarizing
Study Group Questions
Chapter 6 Integrate and Interpret (Developing Interpretation)
Inferences
Using QAR
Using Writing to Develop Character Traits
Cloze
Making Inferences with It Says-I Say-And So
Inferring Word Meanings from Context
Learning New Words
Predicting
Using the DR-TA
Predict-O-Gram and Possible Sentences
Conclusions
Drawing Conclusions
Supporting Conclusions
Imaging
Comparing and Contrasting
Introducing Comparing
Making Connections
Text-to-Self Connections
Text-to-Text Connections
Text-to-World Connections
Making Varied Connections
Study Group Questions
Chapter 7 Making Judgments about Text
Critique and Evaluate
Critical/Evaluative Reading
Uses of Language
Biased Communication
Judging Sources
Detecting Assumptions
Using Evaluative Criteria
Teaching Students to Use Language with Care
Developing Aesthetic Judgment
Study Group Questions
Chapter 8 Integrating Higher-Level Literacy Strategies
Approaches That Integrate Multiple Strategies and Discussions
The Role of Questioning in Cooperative Learning
Introducing Question Generation
ReQuest
Reciprocal Teaching
Reading Seminar
Study Group Questions
Chapter 9 Using Talk to Build Higher-Level Literacy Skills
Accountable Talk
Accountability to the Learning Community
Accountability to Knowledge
Accountability to Rigorous Thinking
Discussion Approaches
Reading Seminar: Intensive Reading Instruction
Literature Discussion Groups
Fostering Higher-Level Discussions
Community Share
Debriefing
Writing
Demonstrating the Power of Discussion
The Role of Strategy Instruction
Using Discussions to Gain Insight into Cognitive Processes
Study Group Questions
Chapter 10 Using Writing to Improve Higher-Level Literacy Skills
Not All Writing Is Equal
Writing Requires Instruction
Minilesson
Guided Writing/Strategic Writing
Conferring
Determining Needs
Kinds of Conferences
Essential Writing Strategies
Writing-Intensive Reading Comprehension
Workshop Approach
Targeted Reading
Two-Handed Reading
Probable Passages
Dialogue Journals
Using Varied Writing Modes and Structures
Need for Extensive Writing
Use of a Common Rubric
Study Group Questions
Chapter 11 Preparing Students for High-Stakes Tests
Planned Program of Test Preparation
Building Cognitive Bridges
Students’ Performance on Higher-Level Tests
Questions on the Locate and Recall Level
Writing Text-Based Responses
Application
Teaching Activity
Including Sufficient Details, Reasons, or Examples
Justifying a Title (Main Idea)
Questions on the Integrate/Interpret Level
Explaining Why
Putting Pieces of Information Together
Providing Support
Questions about Character Traits
Teaching/Practice Passages
Connection Questions
Questions on the Critique/Evaluate Level
Analyzing Responses to Multiple-Choice Items
Providing Ongoing, Embedded Practice
Study Group Questions
Chapter 12 Developing a Whole School Program
Components of a Program for Developing High-Level Literacy
Staff Development
Building Ladders for the Short Kids
Helping Good Decoders Who Are Poor Comprehenders
Helping English Language Learners
Steps for Constructing a Higher-Level Literacy Program
Making an All-Out Effort
Study Group Questions
Appendix A: Reciprocal Teaching Lesson: Student Copy of Selection
Appendix B: Survey of Higher-Level Reading and Responding Skills
References
Index
About the Author :
Dr. Gunning has taught at every level and has been working with students for the past several years to develop their higher-level literacy skills. Dr. Gunning is the author of Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students (6th ed.), Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties (3rd ed.), and Building Literacy in the Content Area, all published by Allyn & Bacon and Basic Reading Skills (Continental Press) and Word Building (Phoenix Learning Resources).
