Using Literature to Support Skills and Critical Discussion for Struggling Readers: Grades 3-9

Emphasizing the need to develop higher-level thinking skills and critical discussion with intermediate and middle school struggling readers, Williams uses quality children's literature as a springboard to help readers: understand and use descriptive vocabulary and figurative language, make personal connections with text, create and solve text related mathematical problems, promote an active, engaged discussion and critical analysis of the story and the important issues raised in text, extend meaning through research and writing, art, and drama. To help teachers match student to text, literature selections are categorized according to interest (e.g., mystery, sports, humor, identity/solving problems), genre, and include reading level, interest level, and number of pages. Discussion questions and extension activities_specific to over 100 children's literature selections_provide opportunities for students to ask questions, discuss and use descriptive language, make predictions and inferences, evaluate story elements, and critically reflect on character perspectives and social issues raised in the text. All questions are appropriate for individual work, special education classrooms, general education and inclusion classrooms, and help teachers facilitate literature discussion groups, book club discussion and response writing, self-regulated reading, guided reading, and whole class discussions.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 List of Figures Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Introduction Chapter 4 1 How to Make Connections between Reader and Text Chapter 5 2 How to Develop Literacy Skills and Higher-Level Thinking Chapter 6 3 Book Descriptions, Discussions, and Extensions Chapter 7 4 Resources Chapter 8 Appendix A: Children's Book Titles by Interest Chapter 9 Appendix B: Children's Book Titles by Genre Chapter 10 Appendix C: Idioms and Familiar Expressions in Literature Selections Chapter 11 Index Chapter 12 About the Author

About the Author :
Nancy S. Williams is a professor in the School of Education at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois. She teaches courses in reading and children's literature, and supervises remediation practica in reading and learning disabilities. She has been an art instructor, reading specialist, and learning disabilities resource room teacher in public elementary and secondary schools, and has worked as a learning specialist and cognitive rehabilitation therapist in a hospital setting. She served as program coordinator in a collaborative university-school partnership program preparing career change individuals as teachers and served two years as associate dean in the School of Education. She has published articles about university-school partnerships, literacy, coauthored a book about developing literacy skills through trade books in clinical and classroom settings, and authored a resource book for teachers and another one for parents about how to select and use quality children's literature for students with reading difficulties.

Review :
Williams uses high-quality children's literature to deepen the enthusiasm and engagement of all children and adolescents as they discuss and analyze stories. Highly recommended. Williams...shows how to use children's literature to develop critical thinking skills in struggling readers in intermediate grades and middle school. Reading and interest levels, five to eight discussion questions, and extension activities (writing, art, drama) are provided for more than one hundred selected books. The questions are coded according to their purpose in eliciting student responses...A useful chapter on professional resources includes Web sites, and appendixes include lists of books by genre and interest. Williams interweaves up-to-date research and writing into the field in her discussions. This book will be a highly useful text for youth librarians and teachers.