Bridging The Gap College Reading, 10E By Brenda Deutsch Smith
Email: Richard@qwconsultancy.com
develop that skill. Reading selections follow in most chapters, including eight new longer reading selections covering relevant and high-interest topics such as Internet romances and managing college stress. One new feature to the tenth edition is The Reading Workshop. This feature has been added for you to use to help students build their background knowledge while encourag-ing them to read for pleasure. When used along with The Reading Workshop Journal, this feature should also help foster students’ writing skills. As you will no doubt continually stress to your students, the best way to improve read ing skills is to read at every opportunity. At the end of each chapter, the new MyReadingLab feature provides students with more interesting readings and skill development exercises. Another new feature that should prove beneficial to you as you plan your assignments is the addition of grade level equivalents (GLEs) for each of the longer reading selections. The GLEs can be found at the beginning of each selection and also in the table of contents. With the use of this feature, you can select readings that best fit your own students’ needs.
Organization of Chapters Since each chapter is actually a self-contained teaching unit, instructors do not have to cover them in the order presented. However, the first several chapters of the book focus on more generic reading and study skills, as well as the importance of being able to pin-point significant details that lead to the main idea. Chapters 7–9 cover inference, point of view, and critical thinking, respectively. Chapters 10–12 could be covered at any point in the semester: respectively, they cover graphic illustrations, rate flexibility, and test taking.
Organization within Chapters The typical chapter begins with Focus Questions for that chapter. It is suggested that instructors use these questions to provide an overview of each chapter. You could refer students to the first page of the chapter to be covered, where the questions appear. Explain to students that when they have finished studying the chapter, these are the main questions they should be able to answer. Following the Focus Questions, the chapters have an introduction and discussion of a specific skill. This is followed by practice exercises. The longer selections are introduced by a Contemporary Focus feature. Each longer selection is designed to offer students: Practice and reinforcement of specific skills introduced in that chapter Practice on skills introduced in previous chapters An evaluation of literal and inferential comprehension An evaluation of word knowledge from vocabulary in context An opportunity to use new information by responding to an essay question An opportunity to use critical thinking skills to make real-world connections A challenge to research a related topic on the Internet An introduction to concepts in the related academic area
Contemporary Focus These short excerpts are from current magazine or newspaper articles that connect to topics within the longer reading selections. These excerpts are short enough to be read in two or three minutes in class, and then students can discuss responses to the discussion questions in collaborative groups. This can be done before reading the longer selection in order to heighten interest, activate schema, and add current relevance to the textbook material. After reading the longer selection, students reply to a Contemporary Link ques-tion that connects the current issue with the textbook topic. This activity
requires critical thinking and particularly emphasizes the text-to-text and text-to-world connections.
Preview Items Use previewing to stimulate interest, activate schema, help students set a purpose for reading, and for predicting. To encourage involvement, preview questions appear before the readings. Instructors may wish to predict answers to these items with the class as a group when the selection is assigned. The subsequent reading of the selection either confirms or invalidates the predictions.
Word Knowledge The ten vocabulary items at the end of each selection highlight words within the selection that might be new to students. This Instructor’s Manual contains a true-false item for each vocabulary word. Since vocabulary should be studied in context, vocabulary-in-context exercises are also included in this Instructor’s Manual.
Inserted “Think Alouds” Beginning with Chapter 1, you will be stressing to students the necessity of thinking while reading. The major difference between a passive reader and an active reader is that an active reader is purposely focusing on the material as he or she is searching for meaning; a passive reader is just “going through the motions” to be able to say that he or she completed the reading assignment. Strategically placed inferential questions and comments which model thinking are placed in the margins alongside the longer reading selections. Point out to students that these are not inclusive of all thought processes one might have while reading; these are just representative of the many thoughts that might occur while reading. A person’s indi-vidual schema on a particular subject will guide the kinds of thoughts and questions he or she will have while reading. Reading is an individual process.
Comprehension and Vocabulary Questions Each selection is followed by comprehension and vocabulary questions. Answers to these questions appear only in the Annotated Instructor’s Edition so that you can assign the selec-tions for homework. Each comprehension question is labeled as main idea, detail, or infer-ence for the students so that they can analyze and monitor their progress in each area.
Written Response Items Research has shown that reading and writing are complimentary processes: as a person becomes more accomplished in one area, the other area also sees improvement. In order to give students extended practice at answering essay questions, a written response item appears at the end of each selection.
Reader’s Journal Each Reader’s Journal is now on the Web site so students can either print it out or email it back to you. For each chapter, the Reader’s Journal feature offers an opportunity for students to use writing as a mode of learning to communicate with themselves and the outside world: in this instance that is you, their instructor. The goal is for students to take ownership of their own learning and to monitor their own progress. To motivate students toward serious responses and to make this assignment more manageable for you, you might consider a system of ten points for each journal that is thoughtfully completed and submitted so that ten journals at ten points each equal a 100-point grade.
Instructor’s Manual/Test Bank The Instructor’s Manual/Test Bank is presented in a combined form for the tenth edition. The Instructor’s Manual contains additional comprehension and vocabulary quizzes for each selection. These quizzes can be assigned to students before they read the selections to stimulate interest, or after reading for evaluation. Vocabulary-in-context exercises fol-low each of the comprehension and vocabulary quizzes to reinforce the vocabulary words. Since building on students’ writing skills is seen as an essential job of the reading instructor, written response guidelines are also included for most selections. Selected concepts in different academic areas are introduced to students in Concept Prep, a con-tinued feature in the tenth edition. Each Concept Prep is covered with true-false quizzes in the Instructor’s Manual. The Instructor’s Manual also includes an additional vocabulary test over the ten Vocabulary Booster lessons found at the end of ten consecutive chapters, beginning with Chapter 2. Transparency Masters for Class Discussion The Instructor’s Manual includes several Transparency Masters over every chapter. You can use these in several different ways. In some instances, the Transparency Masters (TMs) are duplicates of items that appear in students’ texts, such as the Reader’s Tip boxes. In these instances, you can make a copy of the TMs and display them as you discuss the informa-tion with students, or have them refer to their books, or both. You will probably want to make a classroom set of some of the TMs for students to use either individually or in groups in class. If you have a document camera in your classroom, then displaying each TM will be easy for you to do. The Test Bank includes chapter tests which require students to respond in several dif-ferent formats: multiple-choice, true/false, matching, outlining, mapping, and written responses. Answers for all tests are provided, including suggestions for the outlining, mapping, and written responses. In addition, you will find the answers to Mastery Test I, which covers chapters 1–6, and Mastery Test II, which covers chapters 7–12. The answers for the two quizzes in Appendix 1 over Figurative Language and Common English Idioms are also included, as well as a few more suggestions for student book reports as a follow-up to Appendix 2.
Ideas for your Classroom: Sample Materials Examples of classroom materials that you might find useful are included in this section of the Instructor’s Manual. Please feel free to copy these materials and adjust them to your own needs. These materials include the following: Student Information Profile Informal Reading Interview Personal Essay Instructions Sample Syllabus Reader’s Workshop/Reader’s Journal (example of one way to handle) Concept Preps Assignment Sheet (example of one way to handle) Mid-Term Notebook Organization sheet (example) Students’ Mid-Term Grade sheet for:1) Homework2) In-Class Comprehension Grades3) Vocabulary Booster Quizzes Students’ Daily Schedule Syllabus/Schedule Scavenger Hunt Class Roster with Contact Information Green Slip (Getting students to make an appointment to come to your office)
Signed Permission Form (to be able to use student work anonymously for presentations) From Your Instructor: How’s It Going? (Sample Mid-Semester Evaluation Form) The Road to Success: Getting Students to Discuss Barriers to Their Success Student Feedback Form for Student Presentation Bookmark with Comprehension Tips Transparency Masters for Class Discussion
Student Information Profile
1 Your name as registered for this course: _______________________________________________ 2 Name you would like to be addressed by: ______________________________________________ 3 What is the best way to contact you? Please circle one and then fill in the information: Home phone, cell phone, work phone, email: __________________________________________ 4 Do you work?__________ If so, where? _________________________________________________ How many hours a week?__________ What is your position there? _______________________ 5 Is this your first semester in college?__________ If not, how long have you attended college (this college or any other college)? ____________________________________________________ 6 How many total hours are you taking this semester?_____________ What other courses are you taking? ___________________________________________________ 7 What is your ultimate career objective? (For example: I’d like to be an elementary teacher; I’d like to be a police officer; I’d like to run my own computer business.) _________________ 8 What degree or certification will you need to enter your career choice? Will you need an Associate of Arts Degree (two-year degree), a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree (four-year degree), or a certification from a technical program? ___________________ 9 Do you have a computer at home? _______________ Internet at home? ___________________ Tell me about any special problems you have of which I should be aware: ________________ 10 Tell me a little about your family: _____________________________________________________ 11 What would you like to learn from this course? ________________________________________ 12 What is something about yourself that you feel good about?_____________________________
Informal Reading Interview
NAME __________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Overall, how do you feel about your reading ability? ____________________________________ 2 Do you like to read?__________________________________________________________________ 3 When you can choose what you read, what do you like to read? _________________________ 4 What was the last book you read that wasn’t an assignment? ____________________________ 5 Do you have a favorite author?__________ If so, who is the author? ______________________ 6 Are you reading anything right now (that isn’t a class assignment)? ______________________ If so, what?__________________________________________________________________________