Joining a Community of Readers

A contemporary thematic reader, JOINING A COMMUNITY OF READERS offers a holistic approach to developing reading skills and building schema. It maintains a constant focus on key skills while providing ample practice with shorter and longer readings. The real-life context for skill instruction engages students as they are able to stay with a single theme throughout each instructive unit. The authors' PRO reading strategy (Prepare to Read, Read Actively and Reflect, and Organize to Learn) places an emphasis on pre-reading, active reading, and post-reading activities throughout the text and gets students applying the skills in the context of the reading process. Significant attention is given to vocabulary skills and finding the main idea and support.

Table of Contents:
To the Instructor. Acknowledgments. Features of Joining a Community of Readers, Sixth Edition. To the Student. 1. The Reading Process: Becoming a Successful Student. 2. Working with Words: Technology and You. 3. Main Ideas: How We Look. 4. Unstated Main Ideas: Challenges in Education. 5. Main Ideas and Supporting Details: Popular Culture. 6. Supporting Details: Drugs in Our Society. 7. Patterns of Organization: Families. 8. Inferences: Coming of Age. 9. Critical Reading: Social Connectedness and Community. Additional Readings and Exercises. Cululative Mastery Tests. Bibliography. Index.

About the Author :
Dr. Roberta Alexander is Professor Emeritus at San Diego City College. She has taught Reading, Composition, Literature, Chicano Studies and Black Studies as well as English as a Second Language courses for the San Diego Community College District since 1974. Formerly the Department Chair of English, Chair of Chairs and Academic Senate President, she now focuses on teaching and writing and is the author of a series of college reading textbooks. Dr. Alexander earned her BA in Spanish Literature from University of California, Berkeley and her PhD in Comparative Literature from University of California, San Diego.

Review :
"I really like the text. I choose to use it because I like the web activities. I also like the collaboration suggestions and I think the material is presented in a clear and understandable way. I also like how the exercises give students a chance to practice, but do not overwhelm them with busy work...The topics for the readings are also very interesting especially in a multicultural environment." "We have used this text at John Tyler for about six years for our lowest level of reading and have found it covers the essential reading skills needed by this level of student in the most interesting and appealing format. Although its focus is skills, its thematic arrangement appears more like a reader used in other English courses and avoids the "workbook" look. The articles are current and promote a lively discussion."