Content Area Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today's Diverse Classrooms

A continuing best-seller, Content Area Reading and Literacy, Fifth Edition, equips preservice and inservice teachers to teach content area literacy in an era of high accountability and provides in-depth and integrated attention to the needs of students from diverse cultural and language backgrounds.

In a time when high-stakes testing, standards, and scientifically based reading research are driving the field, Alvermann, Phelps and Ridgeway include a new focus and greater emphasis on helping teachers and students meet their schools’ annual yearly progress plans. More classroom-tested and research-based teaching and learning strategies to use in all core areas (e.g., math, science, English/language arts, social sciences) have been included in all chapters. In addition, current trends in technology and multimedia use have been highlighted as well as ideas for increasing students’ motivation to learn (e.g. engaging them in more in-depth learning of content) and developing their sense of self-efficacy). Finally, it provides updates on many state and federal initiatives affecting adolescent literacy instruction (including the new Striving Readers Initiative, NCLB, literacy coaches, content standards, and so on.)

Now in its fifth edition, this well-respected best-seller equips preservice and inservice teachers to teach content area literacy. Lauded for its scope of topics and examples and its accessibility, Content Area Reading and Literacy addresses the needs of students from diverse language and cultural backgrounds. Trusted authorities in adolescent literacy Alvermann, Phelps, and Ridgeway provide classroom- and research-based teaching and learning strategies in all core areas, from English to math to social sciences, and highlight current trends in technology and multimedia.

New features to this edition include updated information on high-stakes assessments; state and federal initiatives affecting adolescent literacy, such as No Child Left Behind and the Striving Readers Initiative; and a look at reciprocal teaching. A new chapter on literacy coaches introduces readers to the need for specialists in the current era of high accountability, and Chapter 6 has a newly expanded section on problem-solving activities as a way of building background knowledge.

The text includes a variety of icons to help identify certain features, such as examples of writing, evidence-based research, and standards from different subject areas to help pre-service teachers connect content area literacy to meeting the standards in their disciplines. It emphasizes cognitive and sociocultural factors in relation to diagnostic assessments and instructional approaches, and it offers lesson and unit planning examples.

The Fifth Edition Builds on Past Strengths and Adds New Ones…

Student Centered. Culturally Diverse Students. Evidence-Based Standards.

Written by renowned authors Donna Alvermann, Steven Phelps, and Victoria Ridgeway, Content Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today's Diverse Classrooms includes superior coverage of addressing the literacy needs of English language learners and culturally diverse students and a timely focus on evidence-based practices and standards.

What Continues to Make This Book a Best Seller…

·          Includes an important new chapter (Ch. 13) on literacy coaches, which introduces readers to the need for such specialists in the current era of high accountability. Emphasizes the reciprocal responsibilities of literacy coaches and regular content area teachers, and how best to make use of both kinds of teachers to increase adequate yearly progress (AYP).

·          Adds a new feature called “Dispelling Myths and Policy Implications” enhances teachers’ knowledge base and helps make them more critical consumers of ideas and materials.

·          Contains updated information on high-stakes assessments, explanation of reciprocal teaching, state and federal initiatives affecting adolescent literacy (including the Striving Readers Initiative, NCLB, and so on), new note-making strategies, writing-to-learn approaches, and descriptions of model school-wide literacy programs for adolescents and their relation to literacy coaching.

·          Uses new opening vignettes drawn from the authors’ personal teaching experiences to connect to the main ideas in the chapter, personalizing the information for the reader.

Ringing Endorsements for Content Area Reading and Literacy:
“Chapter 14–“Teaching for Diversity.” This is an excellent chapter that certification students and other graduate students can use to understand more about the types of diversity categories that are present in instructional settings. This textbook is excellent for students.”
Lavernia F. Hutchison, University of Houston–Central Campus

“There are many strengths in this text. I particularly like the way it is laid out. I believe that helping the students to see the importance of content literacy from the very beginning is extremely important. Immediately following this topic the students then move directly into diversity, which includes understanding the meaning of language and culture. Both of these topics form the basis for the rest of the course. Overall, I believe that this book is an excellent text for teaching in the Content Area.”

Randy M. Wood, Baylor University

“The strengths of this text include the authors’ in-depth knowledge of the field of content area reading. Their chapter on assessing textbooks is invaluable for secondary teachers who don't understand the difficulty of some textbooks and the problems these texts can cause students. The chapter on multiculturalism and the ESL learners is a strength. The chapter on vocabulary is outstanding.”
Patricia J. Pollifrone, Gannon University