Drawing on major new insights in brain research, Gentry shows how reading and writing develop in five phases—from operations with no letter knowledge to understanding of phonics chunks—that provide the blueprint for instructional approaches. The book enables teachers to identify a child's phase of development, set reasonable expectations for growth, and select the methods that will move each child forward. For use with Grades PreK-2.
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Richard Gentry takes the guesswork out of beginning reading and writing instruction with an easily applied approach to step-by-step assessment and matched instruction. No more hours spent testing isolated skills!
The book is divided into two parts, and is accompanied by a DVD. In Part One, supported by rich examples from real children, Richard Gentry delineates a sequence of five code-breaking phases that all beginning readers and writers go through:
* Phase 0: Operations Without Letter Knowledge
* Phase 1: Operations With Letters but Without Sounds
* Phase 2: Operations With Partial Phonemic Awareness
* Phase 3: Operations With Full Phonemic Awareness
* Phase 4: Operations With Full Code and Chunking Knowledge
The DVD shows you how to apply what you've learned in Part One to meet the needs of your own readers and writers. On the DVD, Gentry shows you how to determine which phase a child is in, how to pinpoint his or her needs, and how to design custom-fit instruction that builds on the skills the student has demonstrated.
In Part Two of the book, Gentry illuminates our understanding of the reciprocal nature of reading and writing development, suggests promising new directions for Reading Recovery, and provides fresh insights into the decades-old debate between phonics-first and meaning-based approaches to beginning reading instruction.
About the Author
Richard Gentry earned his elementary education degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in reading education from the University of Virginia. For sixteen years he taught reading education at Western Carolina University, where he directed the Reading Center. Well known for his research and writing in literacy education, Gentry is currently an independent researcher, author, and consultant. His published books include Breaking the Code: The New Science of Beginning Reading and Writing and The Science of Spelling.
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For more detailed information about Richard Gentry, visit his website, www.JRichardGentry.com.
J. Richard Gentry, Ph.D., earned his Elementary Education degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in Reading Education from the University of Virginia in 1977. For sixteen years he taught Reading Education at Western Carolina University where he directed the Reading Center. He is well known for his research and writing in literacy education and is currently an independent researcher, author, and educational consultant. A frequent keynoter and featured speaker at conferences for teachers both nationally and internationally, J. Richard Gentry continues to write and speak widely on literacy development and spelling. His depth of knowledge and breakthrough thinking about the importance of teaching spelling for reading and writing development has resulted in a number of books including Spel... Is a Four-Letter Word, The Literacy Map: Guiding Children to Where They Need to Be, and My Kid Can't Spell as well as numerous articles in academic journals and textbooks for school-age children.
J. Richard Gentry's ground breaking book, Breaking the Code: The New Science of Beginning Reading and Writing (Heinemann) was released in February of 2006. Writing with the same clarity and teacher-friendly approach as in his best-selling The Science of Spelling (Heinemann, 2004), Richard Gentry shows you how scientific thinking and student-centered teaching can work together to create powerful literacy instructional practices. His staff development sessions open a window for teachers and parents into the minds of young readers, so that they can open a window for them into a world of literate possibilities.
His books Breakthrough in Beginning Reading and Writing, released by Scholastic in late in 2007 and Step-by-Step Assessment Guide to Code Breaking released in 2009 are already popular for teachers of beginning reading and writing and along with his other books have established Richard as one of the foremost national experts on teaching beginning reading and writing. Richard is the author of Zaner-Bloser's new Spelling Connections: Words into Language, one of the nation's top selling spelling programs for grades K-8.
In his latest book and in many ways considered his best work yet, Raising Confident Readers, How to teach your child to Read and Write, from Baby to Age 7,to be released by Da Capo Press in July, 2010, Dr. Gentry has created a template for parents who are looking for guidance with their child's literacy path. We all know the importance of reading aloud to our children, but beyond that, how do kids really learn to read? Why should you jump-start the process before formal instruction in school begins? How do drawing and early writing fit into the literacy picture, and what can you do to encourage them? How can you recognize and intervene if your child's literacy skills are not developing normally?
In this empowering guide, Dr. J. Richard Gentry describes how to teach reading before your child enters kindergarten and how to monitor progress once your child is in school. He offers parents an easy-to-understand program outlining the five phases of kids' literacy development, with age- and stage-appropriate activities that make reading and writing fun. Raising Confident Readers is essential reading for every parent who wants their child to succeed in school and be a lifelong learner.
A life dedicated to literacy education, Richard Gentry also has enjoyed life to the fullest. Time with family and friends, traveling to far away exotic places, cooking, gardening, working out, and just relaxing while reading a good book are just some of the personal attributes that round out and center his life. He currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
J. Richard Gentry, Ph.D., earned his Elementary Education degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in Reading Education from the University of Virginia in 1977. For sixteen years he taught Reading Education at Western Carolina University where he directed the Reading Center. He is well known for his research and writing in literacy education and is currently an independent researcher, author, and educational consultant. A frequent keynoter and featured speaker at conferences for teachers both nationally and internationally, J. Richard Gentry continues to write and speak widely on literacy development and spelling. His depth of knowledge and breakthrough thinking about the importance of teaching spelling for reading and writing development has resulted in a number of books including Spel... Is a Four-Letter Word, The Literacy Map: Guiding Children to Where They Need to Be, and My Kid Can't Spell as well as numerous articles in academic journals and textbooks for school-age children.
J. Richard Gentry's ground breaking book, Breaking the Code: The New Science of Beginning Reading and Writing (Heinemann) was released in February of 2006. Writing with the same clarity and teacher-friendly approach as in his best-selling The Science of Spelling (Heinemann, 2004), Richard Gentry shows you how scientific thinking and student-centered teaching can work together to create powerful literacy instructional practices. His staff development sessions open a window for teachers and parents into the minds of young readers, so that they can open a window for them into a world of literate possibilities.
His books Breakthrough in Beginning Reading and Writing, released by Scholastic in late in 2007 and Step-by-Step Assessment Guide to Code Breaking released in 2009 are already popular for teachers of beginning reading and writing and along with his other books have established Richard as one of the foremost national experts on teaching beginning reading and writing. Richard is the author of Zaner-Bloser's new Spelling Connections: Words into Language, one of the nation's top selling spelling programs for grades K-8.
In his latest book and in many ways considered his best work yet, Raising Confident Readers, How to teach your child to Read and Write, from Baby to Age 7,to be released by Da Capo Press in July, 2010, Dr. Gentry has created a template for parents who are looking for guidance with their child's literacy path. We all know the importance of reading aloud to our children, but beyond that, how do kids really learn to read? Why should you jump-start the process before formal instruction in school begins? How do drawing and early writing fit into the literacy picture, and what can you do to encourage them? How can you recognize and intervene if your child's literacy skills are not developing normally?
In this empowering guide, Dr. J. Richard Gentry describes how to teach reading before your child enters kindergarten and how to monitor progress once your child is in school. He offers parents an easy-to-understand program outlining the five phases of kids' literacy development, with age- and stage-appropriate activities that make reading and writing fun. Raising Confident Readers is essential reading for every parent who wants their child to succeed in school and be a lifelong learner.
A life dedicated to literacy education, Richard Gentry also has enjoyed life to the fullest. Time with family and friends, traveling to far away exotic places, cooking, gardening, working out, and just relaxing while reading a good book are just some of the personal attributes that round out and center his life. He currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Breakthrough in Beginning Reading and Writing,
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This review is from: Breakthrough in Beginning Reading and Writing: The Evidence-Based Approach to Pinpointing Students' Needs and Delivering Targeted Instruction (Theory and Practice) (Paperback)
In this book, J. Richard Gentry uses phase theory to explain how beginning readers are neurologically different than skilled adult readers. The first five chapters delineate, in brief descriptions based on phonological awareness and writing skills, how young students' literacy abilities and needs can be categorized into the five different phases. Gentry also briefly provides teaching strategies for each phase so as to help move students finally into phase 4, where they finally begin demonstrating more adult-like literacy skills.As a teacher of primary readers, I appreciate Gentry's overview of the phases, especially the way he considers all aspects of literacy skills--including phonological awareness, writing, and spelling--and not just reading. However, I would have liked more in-depth descriptions of not only the phase characteristics but also specific learning objectives and teaching strategies within each of the phases. Unfortunately, Gentry presupposes understanding of not only his previous book, Breaking the Code, but also the work of other literacy experts. For example, Gentry focuses one short chapter on the supposed short-comings of Marie Clay's Reading Recovery model. Although Gentry's arguments are succinct and specific, Clay's eminent reading intervention model deserves more understanding and professional contemplation than a novice reader could derive from this book. Ultimately, it appears Gentry is trying to revolutionize the instruction of beginning readers. His ideas and theories deserve some attention, and may be helpful to classroom teachers. However, within this short book, I don't think he lands his point.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Review on Gentry,
By
This review is from: Breakthrough in Beginning Reading and Writing: The Evidence-Based Approach to Pinpointing Students' Needs and Delivering Targeted Instruction (Theory and Practice) (Paperback)
In his book on primary literacy, Richard Gentry explains phases of children's literacy development and presents reasons for why teachers should frame their teaching based on Phase Theory. The book is written from a research perspective, but as a teacher, I would find it helpful if Gentry would give more advice on how to practically apply Phase Theory to daily teaching.The first half of the book, describing the phases of development, is a helpful overview for teachers who are working on identifying students. It would be more helpful, however, if Gentry provided more specific checklists or assessments for teachers when they are trying to determine what phase their students are in, for the purpose of providing more specific instruction. Also, when reading this book, Gentry is assuming that the reader has significant background knowledge of particular reading teaching methods, such as Reading Recovery. He also assumes that his reader knows the work of Marie Clay and Sally Shaywitz. As a teacher of students with dyslexia, I have read Sally Shaywitz's book, "Overcoming Dyslexia" and have met with her in person. In later chapters, Gentry quotes Shaywitz on her work and beliefs on phonemic awareness. However, I believe that Gentry is taking her work out of context. She wrote her book based on research of students with dyslexia and she makes clear distinctions on how these students learn to read differently than students without dyslexia. He tends to quote Shaywitz's beliefs on phonemic awareness as relating to teaching reading to ALL students in the general classroom setting. I found this line of arguing to be out of context and ineffective to his emphasis on phase theory.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Info but Boring to Read!,
By
This review is from: Breakthrough in Beginning Reading and Writing: The Evidence-Based Approach to Pinpointing Students' Needs and Delivering Targeted Instruction (Theory and Practice) (Paperback)
Breakthrough in Beginning Reading and Writing discusses Richard Gentry's Phase Theory which is the stages young readers and writers go through during their literacy development. This book is very informative but boring to read! However, I did appreciate his explanations and vignettes for each phase of a child's literacy development. Gentry also included a resourceful chart on page 69 that explains "precise definitions, identification of specific strategic operations for each level, and identification of expected guideposts for guided reading text levels" which is useful to match assessments and instruction for students in kindergarten and first grade (pg. 69). In chapter 7, Gentry provides examples of various children during each of his phases. This is particularly interesting if one is attempting to compare actual classroom work to his theory. Finally, this book concludes with Gentry's proposals for education in the 21st Century. He believes these three things to change in order to advance education in the 21st Century: 1. Overhaul teacher preparation programs to focus more on teaching reading and struggling readers; 2. The U.S. should provide universal preschool; and 3. The best teachers and administrators should be working in the worst schools.
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