Today in education, there are many interesting research studies being done on how children learn and what strategies we as teachers should use to facilitate learning. Paula Moore and Anna Lyon dedicate Part I of their book to research in the areas of talk and instruction, the comprehension process, vocabulary development and reading fluency. They establish the importance and interconnectedness of these topics to reading instruction. Throughout this section of the book the authors discuss definitions, examples, and research based teaching approaches. The importance of talk is a common thread found in each chapter of Part I. There are discussions and examples for using talk as a learning tool in each section.
With the research close at hand in Part I, the goal of Part II is to provide models so that teachers are able to apply the research in their classrooms. This part of the book, Research in Practice, begins with the different developmental changes children go through when developing literacy knowledge. The authors feel it is important for teachers to understand the development of young children so that they may adapt their instruction to their student’s changing needs. The second chapter in Part II consists of vignettes describing how to use talk as a learning tool in preschool, kindergarten, first grade and second grade. Talk is used to support comprehension during read-alouds, shared and guided reading. It also provides literacy experiences and conversations to support the writing process.
Teaching to foster comprehension, vocabulary and fluency are the next topics. Again, the teaching strategies and vignettes are broken down into different grade levels. The last chapter focuses on how to incorporate this book into a Reflective Practice Study Group, to support curriculum change, within a school. As explained in the book, in order “to change, teachers must have time to explore theory and practice and feel that they are initiating the curriculum changes with the support of the administration” (p. 146).
I am sure that all teachers will appreciate the easy to read, organized details that can be effortlessly incorporated into their present instruction practices such as read-alouds, guided reading and shared reading. Teachers don’t have a lot of time to research appropriate practices to enhance their teaching skills. This book does that for them.
Through my classroom experiences, I believe that oral language is an important part of a young child’s development. The authors make a statement in this book that I have not been able to forget. They say “when children start school, they enter a time of language deprivation” (p.19). This statement made me think about my teaching practices over the years and I realize I am guilty of this. I was reminded of the times I would struggle with having to cut a conversation short because I needed to move on to make sure I covered everything in the curriculum. There were times I would loose sight of best practices. In actuality, if the research based instruction from this book is applied across the board, the students will be life long learners.
This book not only reports the latest research on developing comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency, it also provides easy to follow descriptions of how to develop strong reading foundations when including this research in everyday teaching practices.
Pages: 176 Price: $21.99 ISBN: 0-439-62368-5
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