The Bottom Line
By Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmermann; 255 pages. From the book cover: "How do students become thoughtful, independent readers who deeply understand what they read?"
Wondering why your child’s reading textbook is suddenly full of exercises asking kids to relate stories to their own experience? It’s probably using the research outlined in this book, which examines strategies used by successful readers. Though meant for teachers, it’s accessible to parents and actually pretty enjoyable.
- A research-based approach to helping struggling readers.
- The writing is lively, and the examples used thought-provoking.
- Ideas can be adapted to make your reading time with your child more meaningful.
- Knowing the latest education theories can buy you some credibility with teachers.
- Sheds some light on those strange new homework questions.
- Written for teachers, so all examples are classroom-based.
- Assumes understanding of teaching terms and techniques.
- You'll need to use your imagination to adapt the strategies to home use.
- You may feel jealous that your child's not in the fun reading-enriched classes described here.
Description
- Chapter 1: The Mosaic Takes Shape.
- Chapter 2: Mind Journeys.
- Chapter 3: What Lies Beneath.
- Chapter 4: Homes in the Mind: Connecting the Known to the New.
- Chapter 5: The Essence of Text: Determining Importance.
- Chapter 6: Delving Deeper with Questions.
- Chapter 7: A Mosaic in the Mind: Using Sensory Images to Enhance Comprehension.
- Chapter 8: The Intersection of Meaning: Inferring.
- Chapter 9: The Contour and Substance of Meaning: Synthesis.
- Chaper 10: From Problem to Resolution: Empowering Children to Solve Reading Problems Independently.
Guide Review - Book Review: Mosaic of Thought - Teaching Comprehension in a Reader's Workshop
Reading books written for professionals can be a great way for parents to stay informed and understand the point of view of the person on the other side of the conference table. It’s much easier to make suggestions and be taken seriously if you know how to speak the language. But those books can be hard to get through, boring at best, incomprehensible at worst. “Mosaic of Thought” may be the first book written for teachers that I can actually say I enjoyed reading.
And it’s a good thing, because the subject matter is important. The authors present research on the habits of good readers and attempt to teach those habits to children who are struggling. Most parents of bad readers are desperate for ways to help them, and there is some solid advice here. The authors illustrate each strategy in four ways: by demonstrating how it works with a piece of adult reading material; describing a classroom scene in which kids are having trouble; outlining how the strategy helped them; and pulling out key ideas for review.
This research is now finding its way into textbooks, so even if your child is not a struggling reader, his or her homework will likely call for these strategies. For parents who remember when there was only one way to interpret stories -- the teacher’s way -- all this personalizing of literature may be an adjustment. “Mosaic of Thought” can help; and if nothing else, you’ll look really smart reading it while you wait for your next teacher conference.
Discuss this book.
