Teaching Phonics & Word Study in the Intermediate Grades: A Complete Sourcebook

Rating:
Summary: Just Bought the Book, and It's Already Dogeared
Review: Fantastic book for teaching word study and phonics to intermediate grade students. I teach reading in small groups, and there are many useful ideas for games and lessons. Blevins also gives a fantastic overview of the importance of systematic, explicit phonics instruction for developing phonemic awareness, and also of linguistics, phonemes, phonograms, and spelling "rules," none of which are emphasized enough in teachers' colleges nor in many school districts (especially those that are gung-ho about "whole language"). EVERY teacher, regardless of grade level, should have this book for the phonics discussion alone. Blevins also provides word lists teachers can use for prefixes, suffixes, compound words, root words and word roots, and so forth. This book is indispensable and much needed.

Rating:
Summary: Just Bought the Book, and It's Already Dogeared
Review: Fantastic book for teaching word study and phonics to intermediate grade students. I teach reading in small groups, and there are many useful ideas for games and lessons. Blevins also gives a fantastic overview of the importance of systematic, explicit phonics instruction for developing phonemic awareness, and also of linguistics, phonemes, phonograms, and spelling "rules," none of which are emphasized enough in teachers' colleges nor in many school districts (especially those that are gung-ho about "whole language"). EVERY teacher, regardless of grade level, should have this book for the phonics discussion alone. Blevins also provides word lists teachers can use for prefixes, suffixes, compound words, root words and word roots, and so forth. This book is indispensable and much needed.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Resource
Review: This book was desperately needed. A great many books are written about reading strategies and vocabulary skills. However, there is little out about what to do with middle school students who can't read the words on the page. This book helps. It is clear and suggests realistic ways to improve students' word skills. Thank you Wiley Blevins!

Rating:
Summary: Well-researched, thorough book!
Review: This is one of the most thorough books explaining phonics/reading that I have come across. Blevins uses simple, yet well-researched terms to explain the basics of phonics and factors related to reading comprehension. The informal assessments and word lists he includes are invaluable. I would recommend this to anyone who needs a better understanding of reading processes and strategies.