Reading Instruction That Works, Third Edition: The Case for Balanced Teaching (Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy) [Paperback]

Michael Pressley PhD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1593852282 | ISBN-13: 978-1593852283 | Edition: Third Edition

This widely adopted text provides a comprehensive guide to effective literacy instruction in the elementary grades. Distinguished scholar and educator Michael Pressley presents research-based, classroom-tested best practices for combining skills-based and whole-language approaches in the context of a highly motivating environment. The book explains the theoretical underpinnings of recommended strategies and techniques and shows how exemplary teachers actually put them into practice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"No one does a better job of describing a truly balanced approach to reading instruction than Michael Pressley, particularly with the new chapters on fluency, vocabulary, and writing. If I had only ten books on reading on my bookshelves, this would be one of them."--Michael F. Graves, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota

"After reading the third edition of this book, I knew that I had another valuable resource for my classroom. I was encouraged to find coverage of new aspects of reading instruction, including new research that is relevant to my students. Current instructional standards are reflected in the new chapters on fluency, vocabulary, and writing. I highly recommend this book to elementary teachers and special educators."--Sheri Louis, MA, Special Education Teacher, Westcott Junior High School, Westbrook, Maine

"Reading Instruction That Works, Third Edition, demonstrates once again how scholarship can inform instructional practice. With a keen analytical eye, Pressley takes disparate research findings and integrates them into a model of teaching children to read that goes well beyond the recommendations of the National Reading Panel. Moving thinking in the field forward, this third edition is an invaluable resource for both emerging scholars of literacy development and accomplished practitioners and researchers. The reader is left with an overarching sense of what is important: Pressley shows how effective literacy instruction begets engagement and how, as teachers learn to become excellent, 'they also seem to become agents of peace in children's lives.'"--Anne McGill-Franzen, PhD, Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, and Reading Center, University of Tennessee

 

"This book is a tremendous resource for teachers and principals in school districts across the country. It emphasizes research-based practice in a manner that supports the importance of balanced reading instruction. Ideal for teachers' book groups and district-wide staff development initiatives, the book is also an important reference for reading specialists and reading supervisors. School districts could avoid a lot of 'bandwagons' by making use of the wealth of research in this text."--Carol S. Beers, School of Education, College of William and Mary; former Superintendent, Williamsburg-James City County (Virginia) Public Schools

About the Author

Michael Pressley, PhD (deceased), was University Distinguished Professor, Director of the Doctoral Program in Teacher Education, and Director of the Literacy Achievement Research Center at Michigan State University. An expert on effective elementary literacy instruction, he was the author or editor of more than 300 journal articles, chapters, and books. Dr. Pressley was the recipient of the 2004 E. L. Thorndike Award (American Psychological Association, Division 15), the highest award given for career research accomplishment in educational psychology.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 469 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; Third Edition edition (November 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593852282
• ISBN-13: 978-1593852283
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definite Must-Read, June 21, 2006

By 

Education Oasis "Education Oasis" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reading Instruction That Works, Third Edition: The Case for Balanced Teaching (Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy) (Paperback)

Pressley's stated goal is to provide a "reader-friendly review of the research evidence pertaining to beginning reading, one that doesn't require [readers] to have technical background knowledge in reading research." In this he succeeds admirably. While the text is chock-full of references to studies and analyses, it is by no means a dry, dense tome. It is most definitely reader- and teacher-friendly.

As denoted in the subtitle, Pressley argues for balanced instruction. "Whole-language theorists," he writes, "had it about half-right with respect to the development of reading skills. Yes, authentic reading and writing are important in the development of literacy, but systematic instruction in skills is also very important." Both whole language and skills only instruction are incomplete models, notes Pressley. What is needed is a balance of the two.

Throughout the book and in numerous ways, Pressley makes several points that any teacher (no matter what his or her grade level or subject area) should keep in mind:

-reading is an extremely active process

-the point of reading is not to simply read the words but rather to construct meaning

-students can and should be taught comprehension strategies beginning even in the primary years

-effective reading instruction includes skills instruction, immersion in a rich literacy environment, and the explicit teaching of comprehension strategies

Readers will find a gold mine of information throughout the text. Especially helpful, for example, is an overview and discussion of an analysis that he and Peter Afflerbach did in 1995. The two reviewed studies published up to that point and constructed a summary of what good readers do. In short, good readers:

-overview the text

-are "clear about what they want to get from it"

-make a reading plan

-decide which parts of the text should be read first; which parts should be read with care

-relate their prior knowledge to what they are reading

-vary their speed

-stop to reread when necessary

-draw conclusions while reading (conclusions which might eventually change as they read further)

-"integrate ideas encountered in different parts of the text"

-look for cause and effect connections

-make many interpretations as they read

-form mental images

-use fix-up strategies when understanding breaks down

-create summary comments

-reflect on the text

Unlike some books of this type, Reading Instruction That Works is not simply an overview of current reading research. Rather, Pressley includes much discussion of what the research means to the individual classroom teacher. There are, for example, two especially helpful (and inspiring) sections on outstanding teachers. Pressley takes the reader into real classrooms and offers a fly-on-the-wall perspective of what is happening in both exceptional as well as typical classrooms. It is certainly an eye-opening, and ultimately encouraging, discussion.

One particularly cogent chapter of the book is titled "Before Reading Words Begins." If you have ever wondered what phonemic awareness is and how to develop it in your students, you will come away from this chapter informed and motivated. Here Pressley notes, "Many kindergarten and grade-1 children lack the awareness that words are streams of sounds that can be disentangled and that sounds can be assembled to produce words." In other words, they lack phonemic awareness. "Fortunately," writes Pressley, "phonemic awareness can be developed through instruction, with clear benefits to subsequent acquisition of reading skills."

One section that teachers of disadvantaged, at-risk children will identify with is a discussion concerning weak readers' failures to make inferences. Pressley notes, " . . . inferential skills depend in part on the possession of prior knowledge related to text. Poor readers are often very deficient in their knowledge of the world relative to good readers." One reason--although certainly not the only reason--poor readers are deficient in their knowledge of the world is because they are poor readers. They do not learn as much content from reading as their peers who are better readers. It is an unfortunate cycle. Comprehension depends of prior knowledge. Poor readers are not absorbing that knowledge from texts because they are poor readers. Thus, as Pressley notes, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

One point that our study group found especially fascinating is "rather than trying to sound out an unfamiliar word, poorer readers rely on textual and picture cues and clues to make a guess about a word's meaning . . . Although such students might process the letters somewhat and use some letter-level information in making their guess, their processing of the letter cues is much less complete than it could be, with the picture and semantic-contextual cues given priority." This, we agreed, was something that we had witnessed over and over in our classrooms. So, while semantic-contextual cues are helpful for determining the meaning of the word, "[l]etter-level cues," notes Pressley, "are the primary means of recognizing words."

It is impossible to do justice to this wonderful work in a brief review such as this. We strongly encourage you to get the book for yourself and spend some time reading and reflecting upon it. Highly recommended. A rock-solid, impressive work.

Reviewed by the Education Oasis Staff