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Burke, Jim (2001)
Illuminating Texts: How to Teach Students to Read the
World.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
In the book, Illuminating Texts: How to Teach
Students to Read the World, author Jim Burke explores
the interesting and timely concept of “textual
intelligence.” He argues that students today need the
skills to read, understand, and create a larger variety of
texts than ever before. Burke claims teachers should
provide students with the tools they need to be literate
readers of the following seven texts: the world, the
Internet, textbooks, tests, literature, information, and
images. Each chapter focuses on one of these seven types
and explains the background on and rationale for the
chapter’s focus, the connection to national academic
standards, the proper questions to ask when tackling each
type of text, classroom connections for the teacher, and
elements of the text to be analyzed.
One of the remarkable features about Burke’s writing
style is that he illustrates for the reader what he is
asking teachers to do with their students: he guides the
reader through how to best utilize this book. In his
preface, he suggests teachers use the accompanying Web
site, www.eng
lishcompanion.com/illuminating, to find sample lesson
plan ideas, student examples, and links to interesting Web
sites. The companion Web site helps to reinforce Burke’s
argument about the importance of reading and creating
multiple texts to convey ideas and information. The author
also includes eight appendices, including everything from
forms for evaluating textbooks and Web sites to a literacy
timeline. Finally, the format of Illuminating Texts
is also conducive to its easy reading and comprehension.
Each chapter has the same organizational structure and
multiple tables, figures, and icons in the margins. The
icons bring the reader’s attention to useful Internet sites
or important points of interest.
Although all of the seven chapters are helpful and well
written, the one that addresses how to read the Internet is
the most beneficial. Burke describes the various types of
texts on the Internet, questions to ask when researching on
the Internet, ways to use the Internet to supplement
classroom instruction, and methods for evaluating the
validity of Web sites. Burke also provides practical
strategies for finding the authentic educational resources
available to both students and teachers. This chapter is a
must-read for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the vastness of
the Internet.
The author sheds light on an important and multifaceted
topic: preparing literate readers in the 21st
century. Each chapter synthesizes the multitude of signs
and symbols both students and teachers will encounter into
meaningful constructs. Burke successfully advises teachers
on how to improve their students’ textual intelligence, or
their ability to critically read the world around them.
The one shortcoming of this book is that in some places
there are too many lists and not enough closure. The
effect of all the lists on the reader is that the bulleted
information becomes lost in a sea of unconnected bullets;
if the author had saved the listing technique for the most
important points in the chapter, then the truly important
points would remain salient. This overuse of lists and
lack of closure in some instances is just one criticism of
an otherwise powerful book. Overall, teachers will find
this text and its accompanying Web site a practical, well
written, and worthwhile tool to add to their repertoire of
instructional literacy texts.
Pages: 224
Price: $22.00
ISBN: 0-86709-497-4
Reviewed by Kelly Courtney-Smith, University of Oklahoma
and Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School in Oklahoma
City, OK.
Heard, Georgia (2002)
The Revision Toolbox; Teaching Techniques That Work.
Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann.
Georgia Heard is one of those people who deserves to be
called a "master" of her craft; her talent is reflected in
her book The Revision Toolbox: Techniques That Work.
She helps the reader understand the process of revision
and presents many "tools" to help fix problems that occur.
After reading this small yet amazingly complete book,
one becomes clear about how editing and revising differ.
The focus on process rather than only on product helps the
reader become aware of the value of revisiting work so that
a more objective evaluation and clearer rewording might
take place.
The ideas in this book are good for experienced writers
as well as teachers who are helping their students learn to
hone their skills. Many tips are given for enhancing
student writing. One suggestion is for an "Amazing Words"
bulletin board which helps create an environment of "word
awareness" and provides the writer with an expanded word
bank.
Activities with flashbacks, slow motion, and big sweeps
of time can be used to help students learn to add detail
and clarity to their writing. Webbing, a focusing tool, can
be used to teach organization skills. Suggestions for
experimenting with a variety of "selves" help writers learn
to describe the same event from differing perspectives.
Placing value on reading aloud and sharing writing with
others adds dimension to the writing process. Having
students close their eyes to envision details can also aid
them in using words to create a clearer description of a
situation.
If you are looking for creative ideas to help you
become a better writer, this is a great reference. If you
are a teacher, you will find practical suggestions in the
book which will offer your students exciting and
challenging ways to help them become better writers.
Pages: 144
Price: $17.00
ISBN: 0-325-00460-9
Reviewed by Dr. Kathleen E. Fite, Southwest Texas State
University
Lincoln, Melinda (2002)
Conflict Resolution Communication: Patterns Promoting
Peaceful Schools.
Lanham, MD: Scarecrow
Press.
Melinda Lincoln is an expert in the fields of
communication and mediation; she has combined theories from
both fields in an intelligent, clear and concise manner.
Lincoln states, “Conflict Resolution Communication:
Patterns Promoting Peaceful Schools offers an efficient
and proven strategy for solving problems peacefully and
provides an array of lifetime coping skills as a much
needed solution to school violence everywhere.” (p. xviii)
In Chapters One through Four, Lincoln gives stakeholders a
theoretical grounding in communication that is
unintimidating and straightforward. She connects conflict
resolution education to changing attitudes, beliefs and
patterns of behavior. Lincoln suggests that any approach
to creating conflict resolution education needs to be
holistic and involve all stakeholders. She identifies a
broad range of possible stakeholders but at the most basic
level this includes school boards, teachers, counsellors,
parents and especially students. Peer mediation training
is given great importance and Lincoln claims “Trained
mediators can affect the level of violence and promote a
sense of safety in schools by facilitating conflict
resolution processes, communication techniques, and
problem-solving skills.” (p. 37)
In Chapter Five, Lincoln talks about communication and
how nonverbal cues can belie the verbal statements of
parties in a dispute. A negotiator need not only be aware
of mediation techniques but must also recognize how the
unspoken messages between parties can affect understanding.
Chapter Six focuses on bullying and addresses the changes
that need to be made before bullying is made unacceptable
within a school. “For consistent progress to be made in
obliterating the effects of bullying, the internal causes
or reasons for the inappropriate actions of the bully must
be revealed, understood and removed.” (p. 56) Chapters
Seven through Nine focus on giving specific conflict
resolution communication techniques to teachers,
administrators, parents and students. Lincoln identifies
the unique roles that each group plays in modelling
effective conflict resolution. The abbreviated guidelines
that Lincoln has presented for creating a conflict
resolution communication program would need to supplemented
by further reading. The reference section does provide
some resources but considering the complexity of the
subject a more extensive bibliography would have been
appreciated. This book would be useful for individuals who
are thinking about implementing a peer mediation program or
who are considering alternate methods of conflict
resolution.
Pages: 126
Price: $31.95
ISBN: 0-8108-4388-9
Reviewed by Laura Koltutsky, University of Houston
Marriott, Donna (2002)
Comprehension Right from the Start: How to Organize and
Manage Book Clubs for Young Readers.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Meeting the challenge of teaching reading to children
of varying capabilities has long been a puzzle to primary
teachers. A teacher may like to work individually with a
student but class size often makes it impractical.
However, whole group instruction does not address the wide-
ranging needs of individual students. To attend to this
problem, Donna Marriott quickly focuses on small group
instruction through book clubs in Comprehension Right
from the Start: How to Organize and Manage Book Clubs for
Young Readers.
Firmly believing in the importance of comprehension,
Marriott places meaning at the center of the book clubs.
Within the group, students are asked to interact with the
text and each other as they explore the book together.
Asking young children to look into the meaning of the work
emphasizes to them that reading is not merely decoding
symbols, but a thinking, questioning and responsive
activity.
The structure of meeting daily to examine a book is
also emphasized. Students have the time to fully examine
and master the work when they are meeting. The teacher
then can take the time to meet individually with students
and provide custom guidance to the separate groups.
Intermixed with real-life examples, Marriott provides
not only a broad outline for the organization of book
clubs, but also expands on the idea, giving specific
attention to Kindergarten through second grade classes in
separate chapters. Assessment has its own chapter with
techniques and processes discussed such as “look-think-
act”, writing assessment, case studies, and video studies.
Additionally, lesson plans for specific children’s books
are included as examples.
Student teachers and practicing teachers alike will
find insight and guidance from Comprehension Right from
the Start in engaging young children in reading and
encouraging them to grow as readers.
Pages: 192
Price: $19.50
ISBN: 0-325-00429-3
Reviewed by by Melissa Cast, University of Nebraska at
Omaha
Morrow, Leslie Mandel (2003)
Organizing and Managing the Language Arts Block: A
Professional Development Guide.
New York: Guilford
Press.
Leslie Mandel Morrow has written a primer for pre-
service teachers and a study guide for in-service teachers
who are interested in “creating, revising or adding new
strategies to their teaching of a language arts block
(LAB).” (p. ix) As Dr. Mandel discovered through her
research and experience, teachers are able to learn new
strategies quickly but find implementation cumbersome. This
text, well-organized itself, offers guidance.
A weekly plan for in-service staff development or
teacher study group is succinctly outlined. Instructors of
language arts methods would use the book as a primary text.
It is suggested they guide pre-service teachers through
each chapter covering classroom literacy programs for
kindergarten through fourth grade. Generous use of
classroom photographs, diagrams, charts and other concrete
examples further clarifies the accompanying text.
Following an overview of the physical environment of
the classroom and organizing the classroom into guided
reading and center activities, Morrow neatly lays out plans
for a literacy program grade by grade. A case study of each
grade is followed by activities and plans that the case
study incorporates. The cases are composites of real
teachers exhibiting best practices in their classrooms.
Activities and plans that follow each case include such
topics as cross-curricular connections, teachable moments,
morning meeting, daily schedule options, reading and
writing workshops, mini-lessons, things to do when students
arrive, skill development and more. These are the nuts and
bolts topics teachers come to know and master if they and
their students are to experience success in teaching
language arts. The focus on management and organization
will be appreciated by in-service teachers and valued by
instructors of pre-service teachers.
Pages: 348
Price: $30.00
ISBN: 1-57230-794-3
Reviewed by Sandra R. Glass, Arizona State University
Thier, Marlene with Daviss, Bennett (2002)
The New Science Literacy: Using Language Skills to Help
Students Learn Science.
Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Marlene Thier, the Teacher Education Coordinator for
two science education programs at the University of
California, Berkley, and Bennett Daviss, a journalist who
frequently writes on educational innovation, science and
technology have collaborated in The New Science Literacy
to produce a persuasive and practical guide for science
teachers from the elementary through the high school
grades.
The authors have two clear intentions in this text:
- persuade science teachers that a student's ability to
learn science improves as that student's comprehension and
use of language improves
- provide elementary, middle and high school teachers
with classroom activities and curriculum ideas that have
been successfully used to integrate literacy development
with science learning
An enthusiastic "Foreword" by Harold Pratt, the 2001-
2002 President of the National Science Teachers
Association, introduces the book. He writes that Thier and
Daviss provide "clear guidance and concrete examples of
how to link science and language instruction by
demonstrating the inherent interdependence of the two
disciplines" (p. ix). Thier and Daviss articulately remind
us that the recent emphasis across North America on
standardized tests in reading and math has inevitably
increased both classroom time and school resources for
these two disciplines. The resulting effect is that other
disciplines, including science, suffer the consequences of
exclusion from the basic curriculum. Thier and Daviss
urge science teachers to explicitly integrate literacy into
the science curriculum; not just because the combination is
beneficial to science students, but also because links to
literacy help to move science back into the mainstream
curriculum.
Thier and Daviss take the promotion of science learning
in the schools seriously and recognize that the
integration of literacy and science will only succeed if
teachers are provided with practical guides and concrete
examples. To this end, the authors provide several
creative and highly useful guided inquiry lessons at the
elementary, middle and high school levels. Each lesson is
thoroughly described early in the book, and then as each
strand of literacy is further explored in the context of a
science classroom, these same guided inquiry lessons serve
as "how-to" examples of integrated teaching and learning.
Literacy is broken down into five strands in chapter-by-
chapter guides that focus on reading, writing, speaking
and listening, and media literacy. For each literacy
strand the authors provide performance expectations,
teaching strategies and metacognitive strategies that have
been carefully developed for the context of everyday
science activities. Science teachers will likely find that
the teaching suggestions in these chapters are easily
adaptable to their current science curriculum because the
authors are essentially making explicit for science
students the metacognitive strategies of highly literate
learners.
The ready-to-copy guides for both teachers and students
that are referred to in the text are helpfully included in
the Appendix of this valuable handbook for science
teachers. The book will be of interest to language
teachers but it is particularly recommended for all
science teachers and for university libraries that support
education programs.
Pages: 194
Price: $19.00
ISBN: 0-325-00459-5
Reviewed by Brenda Reed, Queen's University, Canada
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