Reading Essentials: The Specifics You Need to Teach Reading Well

by Regie Routman

With all the controversy and confusion over "best practice" issues in teaching reading, someone with the necessary experience, the ability to take the long view, and most of all a level head is essential to set things straight. This is where Regie Routman steps in: giving clarity, support, specific demonstrations, and confidence to teachers so they can teach reading in a manner that is consistent with research and learning theory and respectful...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0325004927
• ISBN13: 9780325004921
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.3" x 9.4"
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 8

Customer Reviews

Great book club material

I teach 5th grade, and the teachers on our grade level enjoy being involved in a book club. This year, we've selected Reading Essentials as our book of discussion. The book is easy to read and full of ideas to make reading effective in your classroom. If we only had enough time to implement the many wonderful ideas, we'd be in great shape.

A Member Of the Literacy "Best" List...

...along with Frank Smith (READING WITHOUT NONESENSE), Brian Cambourne (READ AND RETELL), Ralph Fletcher (A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK), and James Gee (SOCIAL LINGUISTICS AND LITERACIES). This one represents the most "classroom friendly" of the bunch which might (in some eyes) put it a slight step ahead of the other heavyweights mentioned above. Each subheading alone gives a lesson about how to teach reading/literacy in a classroom (especially an early childhood one). Punctuated by pictures within short chapters, Routman allows the reader to absorb each chapter as a separate entity (similarly to James Gee's and Sonia Nieto's books). I would highly recommend this book for early childhood literacy experts (and everybody else) because it offers many guidelines (especially Chapter 8) on how best to instill the basic skeleton for emergent literacy. Bravo, Regie.

Not for the faint of heart!

Read this book only if you have the courage to look at your teaching and say, "I can do better." I can do better and I am! This book liberated me! She doesn't tell you to throw out everything you know and embrace the newest methods, step by step. She tells you to study the literature and adapt it to your classroom! How much better can that be! I teach resource and right now, my kids are on fire. They have actually turned down a classroom reward party to stay in my room and read! I told them I didn't want them to miss the party. They looked at each other and asked, "Do we have to go?" I said they didn't and they dove into the books. Every few pages has a teaching tip to help you as you implement the strategies and ideas in the book. You have GOT to read this book and make some changes. Grow as a professional and it will change your life and the lives of your students.

A Terrific Resource for Primary Grade Teachers

This book is a 'must-have' for any primary grade teacher. It is a practical plan for teaching the basics of reading. Routman has taken reading instruction to a new level and it is clear she truly understands reading and the needs of the youngest readers. A great book and an easy read!

A first-rate resource for parents and educators alike

Reading Essentials: The Specifics You Need To Teach Reading Well by language arts expert and reading workshop instructor Regie Routman is a detail-oriented "how to" guide for becoming an effective reading teacher. Individual chapters address how to organize an above-average classroom library, setting up an independent reading program, emphasizing shared reading, and so much more. A first-rate resource for parents and educators alike, Reading Essentials should be a mandatory addition to academic reading instruction reference collections and curriculum supplementation reading lists.