Better Books! Better Readers!: How to Choose, Use and Level Books for Children in the Primary Grades

This book is used at the University of Arizona for teaching teachers in their Masters program on reading to learn about children and literature. I recommend highly. Learn tricks of the trade and improve your teaching skills.

As a second grade teacher, I am a firm believer that "practice makes perfect," especially when it comes to reading. The only way children will become better readers is if they read, and the only way they will read is if it is enjoyable to them. Linda Hart-Hewins and Jan Wells have developed a reading program that makes reading fun by using only trade books for the K - 2 classroom. They do an excellent job of describing the stages that young readers go through in their quest to learn to read, including checklists of the characteristics of the beginning, developing, and fluent reader and writer. They outline the program and the organization of the classroom. They do a lot of small group and individual work with the children in their classrooms which is really the way to determine what students are learning. They suggest many activities to use in learning centers while the teacher is working with groups or individuals. A long bibliography of suggested books is included at the end of the book. If you are looking for a reading program that is new and different, and you are able to acquire the books and resources to support the program and learning centers, then this is the program for you. Personally, though, I would find it difficult to throw out all my desks to replace them with learning centers. It would also take quite a bit of funding to collect all the books that would be needed to support the program in the primary classroom. It sounds like a great program in theory, but I feel that implementation might be difficult.