Reading Now
Advance praise forReading Now Presenting the skills together is brilliantI think the idea to cover all of the skills up front and reinforce later is a clever idea.  It is difficult to teach the reading process in an artificially segmented way.--Laurel Severino, Santa Fe College I love that the pre-reading questions ask them to look at the picture/graph before they read.  This helps developmental reading students understand the importance of previewing the photos/graphs.--Barbara Kashi, Cypress College I LOVE the use of photographs and graphs, etc.  Visuals are very important to readers, they draw the reader in and help them understand what the author is trying to say.  Readers learn to use picture clues early on, and if we use them they make the reading selections more interesting for those visual learners.--Eileen P. Steeples, Middlesex Community College The first two chapters are excellent.  Presenting the “big picture” at the beginning is not done nearly enough in developmental reading textbooks.  Students are going to be reading many things in their other classes and need to have an overview as soon as possible. Helping students to see the big picture right at the start is an excellent idea.  I really like the major comprehension concepts introduced right at the beginning.  Too often developmental reading instruction is presented as a combination of discrete skills.  The reality is that all of it relates together.  This synthesis of ideas/concepts is very appealing to me.--Linda Huber Mininger, Harrisburg Area Community CollegeI like the inclusion of photographs a lot!  They are real and students can respond to them in open-ended ways, where cartoons or graphs may require deeper thinking to come to the “right” answer.  I think they add tremendously to the chapters, not just for the aesthetic quality of them, but because the author asks the reader to think about them, to answer questions about them, to “read” them, it engages the reader. --Lynette D. Shaw-Smith, Benedictine University at Springfield Students are more interested in reading and analyzing current trends and issues, such as politics and global warming. I have seen that using these types of materials have a greater impact on my students’ ability to do well in class when current events are used rather than old material from textbooks. Therefore, I would like to use a text that has up to date material.--Marisol Varela, Miami Dade College I love the tone and way the author presents the information.  It is very approachable and conversational.  I teach my students to ask similar questions with my students in an effort to make them active readers… to show them how to interact with the text… and these questions apply to various types of texts and summarize the reading process very well.--Karen Larmon Whalen, Collin College The best part of the book is the selection of readings. --Lynette D. Shaw-Smith, Benedictine University at SpringfieldThe questions before and after the reading selections are amazingly comprehensive, thought-provoking, cover the basic skills, but also “dig a little deeper” so the reader makes text-to-self connections, learns vocabulary in a context, is engaged in before, during and after reading strategies… The author designed these questions based on what the reading research suggestions effective readers do, the strategies they have internalized, which our developmental students need help mastering and applying. --Lynette D. Shaw-Smith, Benedictine University at SpringfieldI like the diversity of texts and genres. I like how some of the readings can really help them in the time of their life right now — a subtle message being taught when practicing the skills of reading — nice touch! And I found the articles that I skimmed through very attention-getting and interesting, and I’m sure my students would feel the same way. The literature based readings are good also.--Rachel Evans, St. Charles Community CollegeOverall, I feel that the material covered in Reading Now is a complete and comprehensive manual for teaching students how to improve their reading comprehension.--Rachel Evans, St. Charles Community College I really liked the chapter content.  I sincerely appreciate the vocabulary section as this could potentially eliminate the need for a separate, more costly, vocabulary book purchase.  I appreciated the Internet activities because students today are on the Internet more than ever and they enjoy using it for their coursework.-Melanie Ward, Tyler Junior College The themes are appealing and seem applicable to real-world reading that a college student is required to complete. --Linda Huber Mininger, Harrisburg Area Community College The holistic and specific-skills approach is totally unique.  I think it is a more natural way to learn reading skills which engages the brain in problem solving. --Sandra Jones, Community College of Baltimore CountyThe readings are current and very interesting and provocative.  I think they would also spark discussion and debate and group projects.  They excite the teacher in me to think of additional activities for small group work.  It is important that one textbook reading is included in each chapter.  Students need “real” textbook excerpts to practice the skills on in preparation for their general education classes.--Sandra Jones, Community College of Baltimore County The readings are appropriate and interesting.  They cover a variety of topics and are timely.  They seem to be at the proper level for our developmental students.--Helen L. Streicher, Kankakee Community College I found the readings to be very valid for the course.  They are real world, relevant, and cross-curricular, three things I struggle to find each semester. -Melanie Ward, Tyler Junior College