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Rating: 
Summary: Simply Superb
Review: Frank Smith wrote the first edition of this book in 1971. This is the 4th edition, and although he has done some updating, the basic theme is the same. The book covers two problems: How do we make sense of text (read), and how do we learn to read? If you are a fan of phonics either don't read this book or read with an open mind.
Rating:
Summary: The most significant book on reading of this century
Review: Frank Smith wrote the first edition of this book in 1971. This is the 4th edition, and although he has done some updating, the basic theme is the same. The book covers two problems: How do we make sense of text (read), and how do we learn to read? If you are a fan of phonics either don't read this book or read with an open mind.
Rating:
Summary: Children learn about READING...as long as they read!
Review: The above is apparently a tautology. It's also basis of Frank Smith's renowned theories on reading and The Most EFFECTIVE(in my estimate and innumerable teaching experts)APPROACH TO READING INSTRUCTION currently practiced..."Children learn about READING...as long as they read" is not only a hypothesis about what Reading Instruction should be and comprise...but what READING is NOT; therefore, what Reading Instruction should NOT be or emphasize. In a "Word": reading is NOT about amassing or applying battle-arrays of Phonics-based RECODING or word-calling skills. Reading is about extracting MEANING from print. Meaning: COMPREHENSION of printed text(on paper;or On-line)should focus on what Linguists term DEEP STRUCTURE. Deep Structure is essential knowledge-information bearing constructs presented or implied in texts. These convey Meaning when cognitively processed.Word-Calling or excessive reliance on phonetic-RECODING skills actually impedes or even PREVENTS COMPREHENSION by emphasizing what should be ignored: what a specific word sounds/looks like,rather than what entire passages may or must mean... Smith's theories propose a READING-Acquisiton mechanism similar to the Oral-language speaking/comprehension mechanism asserted by M.I.T. Prof Noam Chomsky. Children learn to speak because this faculty is TRIGGERED by "speech activities". This comprises the speech environment learners are exposed to: Parents;teachers;or the god-awful, electronic TV baby-sitter...TALKING. Similarly, children LEARN to READ BY READING.((Not by watching TV; listening to CD's; playing videos OR learning Decoding/Recoding PHONICS-"translation" rules divorced from effectuating Meaning contexts.)) Frank Smith is supported by vast, reliable research. Experts like Paul McKee, founder of the prestigious Houghton-Mifflin basal series; and Kenneth Goodman; whose work in so-called "Miscue Analysis" consistently demonstrates effective readers rely on(Word-BY-Word)Surface Structures--individual words,sentences, and even(redundant)paragraphs--as little as possible, convincingly assert the tenability of MEANING STRATEGY-READING ACTIVITY over "Hooked-On" Gimmicks, Dialect Readers or weekly visits to tutoring agencies to "do" worksheets (rather than READING). This is the FOURTH EDITION of this justly reputed book. It's more important today because non-professionals determined to HOME SCHOOL need background to structure instruction and measure effectiveness.Mothers...or fathers if PC police are ready to pounce here...need to go back to reading to their children. Pre-reading/language readiness is SINE QUA NON, an absolute necessity!) UNDERSTANDING READING:A Psycholinguistic Analysis etc...is also vital to new educators about to be exposed to a "Nuclear-strike" agenda of National Testing.The focus of this enterprise will and must be READING.Ultimately gimmicks will not work. Parents and teachers must face a fact: TO READ or NOT TO READ?is more than an "educational" question. Immense economic-political implications, perhaps viability of American democracy itself, loom in how this QUESTION is regarded. Frank Smith's book offers worthy, practical answers on what Reading is and promoting TEACHING-LEARNING of what educational historian Nila Banton Smith believed when she stated: "READING was the most important subject in our early American schools and it has continued to be the most important subject all through the years of our national growth(N.B. Smith, 1965--not related to Frank)." UNDERSTANDING READING is a 10-star book..........
Rating:
Summary: Simply Superb
Review: This book cuts straight to the point without any nonsense inbetween. It is a valuable resource for any teacher or parent, no matter what field. Hightly recommended.
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