Developing Higher-Level Literacy in All Students: Building Reading, Reasoning, and Responding

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).