Bridging English (4th Edition) [Paperback]

Joseph O. Milner (Author), Lucy F. Milner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0132397471 | ISBN-13: 978-0132397476 | Publication Date: June 25, 2007 | Edition: 4

  Bridging English, fourth edition, is a comprehensive English methods text that is structured on James Moffett’s conception of the “universe of discourse” in the teaching of English: talking and listening, writing and reading.    The book combines theory and practice, that is, overarching structures with particular instructional strategies.  It provides prospective teachers with a huge array of approaches and activities that are active, constructivist, and student-centered.  It mirrors that emphasis with boxed Invitations to Reflection that continually survey its readers about their experiences of English classrooms, their new learnings as they read the text, and their projection into classroom teaching of their own.  It takes into account the range of student learners a teacher will teach from the gifted to the reluctant and struggling.  It addresses the special needs of English language learners.  It also anticipates the need of its readers – prospective teachers – to put theory and method into practice by designing and delivering effective units and lessons.  In several chapters on pedagogy, it helps them answer questions such as: How do I actually teach writing? design a unit? evaluate student learning?  This edition also addresses many of the most persistent issues that arise within the field, issues that bubble up in individual classrooms, English departments, and school communities and in the general culture.  Pre-service English Teachers

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This comprehensive English methods book brings together established tradition, current theory and research, and innovative classroom practice for future secondary English teachers. Basic principles of learning, language, and literature that inform practice are clearly presented...and an account of actual practice -- approaches, strategies, activities, materials, and texts -- occupies the major portion of the twelve chapters. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

This comprehensive English methods text grounds students in theory and prepares them for practice. It provides a huge array of active, constructivist, student-centered approaches and activities to ensure that students enter their own classrooms armed with the knowledge and tools they need to be effective teachers.

 

In this fifth edition the authors retain the strengths of the previous editions, while also addressing new developments in the field of English education, of education in general, and of the culture.

 

The increasing diversity of today’s students, with their unique learning styles and needs; the expanding definition of literacy; the mounting pressures of accountability and end-of-course testing; and the challenges and opportunities arising from rapid advances in technology are subjects that the authors tackle to bring the text up to date and in step with what’s really happening in today’s classrooms.

 

Unique to this new fifth edition –

 

·         Instructional methods and curricular choices designed to help teachers meet the unique needs of culturally, linguistically, and educationally diverse students in today’s classrooms.

 

·         An expanded definition of literacy to encompass the wide range of abilities and competencies in today’s classrooms.

 

·         Instructional strategies for incorporating technology in the classroom.

 

·         Instructional strategies for preparing teachers to meet today’s persistent local, state, and national accountability.

 

·         The most recent, up-to-date research in the field of reading and writing.

 

·         A new Effective Practice in Today’s Classrooms feature that helps teachers see the link between theory and actual classroom practice.

 

·         More comprehensive research, sharpened conceptual frameworks, more cogent methods, and more engaging lessons.

 

·         A new co-author, Joan Mitchell, who brings to the text her years of experience as an award-winning English teacher in North Carolina and Colorado high schools, as well as her recent doctoral research in writing instruction.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 4 edition (June 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0132397471
• ISBN-13: 978-0132397476
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Teaching English book out there..., July 1, 2005

By 

Bradley Cawn (Highland Park, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bridging English (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

I can't comment on the third edition entirely because I only have the second edition--from '99--but what's in there is really impressive, even to a methods cynic like myself. What I like about the Milner's is that they don't hesitate to give their textbook a personal slant: they provide their own perspective on theories and research as it relates to English instruction, and their classroom ideas are essentially their own preferences, based on reviewing lots of different sources. I personally can't stand it when a book comes out with the same old KWL charts and whatnot, so I love that many of the ideas in this book are novel and not familiar to most English teacers; it definitely stands out from similar texts.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent text on teaching; arrived in great condition, September 28, 2009

By 

teacher in training (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bridging English (4th Edition) (Paperback)

This is a very helpful and well written text on teaching. The authors' progressive and enlightened approach (it's all about the student taking charge of his/her own learning, especially in group work) is provocative and layed out in detail.
I was quite pleased with Amazon and the whole buying process.

3.0 out of 5 stars Great, but..., January 10, 2011

By 

Zachary (catalunya) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bridging English (4th Edition) (Paperback)

Yes, it is an invaluable text for beginners and veterans alike. The Milners leave no stone unturned. However, one would think such a teaching bible, for ELA no less, would be free of typographical and paragraphing errors. Totally unacceptable.