Interactive Handbook for Understanding Reading Diagnosis

Interactive Handbook for Understanding Reading Diagnosis, 1/e

Kathleen Roskos, John Carroll University
Barbara J. Walker, Eastern Montana College

Published March, 1998 by Prentice Hall Career & Technology

See other books about:
Reading Assessment/Diagnosis and Remediation-Curriculum and Instruction

Summary

This unique interactive handbook offers thirty-two “hands-on” activities, plus concise coverage of concepts, which together help students learn to help youngsters become better, more independent readers. It's an approach that gets students “learning by doing”—that really gets them involved in reading diagnosis! Every chapter offers brief coverage of fundamentals, followed by interactive exercises designed to involve students in activities similar to those they will use with their elementary students. Accompanying case studies in each text section help students visualize how strategies are used in real classrooms, with real readers. The authors focus on a core group of strategies based on a whole language/literacy approach to teaching reading, and proven effective by reading research. They emphasize the need to match teaching technique to a young reader's needs—thus helping children develop crucial critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and empowering problem readers to become more proficient, and more autonomous.

Features

two key ideas about reading diagnosis serve as “themes” for text coverage: 1) That reading is a process whereby individuals construct meaning with print; and, 2) that diagnosis is a process whereby teachers observe, analyze, interpret, and translate information about reader behavior into instructional action.
text activities “model” strategies and techniques that students will be using with their students; involvement with concepts helps students develop their own critical thinking and diagnostic skills; and cooperative learning exercises encourage problem solving, higher-order thinking, and transfer of knowledge to new situations.
case studies throughout the text better acquaint students with practical applications of diagnosis techniques; ask them to critique actual reading lessons; and, require critical reflection on ambiguous situations and ethical decisions based on theoretical constructs.
notes in the margin highlight key information throughout the narrative and the activities.
pedagogical features in every chapter include objectives, summary, readings, and worked examples. An end-of-text glossary is also included.

Table of Contents
I. FUNDAMENTALS OF READING DIAGNOSIS.

1. Foundations.
2. The Process of Diagnosis.
3. The Tools and Procedures of Reading Diagnosis.

II. TEACHING TECHNIQUES AND READER STRATEGIES.

III. APPLYING THE PROCESS AND PROCEDURES OF READING DIAGNOSIS.

IV. FORMAL ASSESSMENT AND MANAGING DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION.