Content Area Reading: Teaching and Learning in an Age of Multiple Literacies

Content Area Reading: Teaching and Learning in the Age of Multiple Literacies by Maureen McLaughlin From MaryEllen Vogt: During the past twenty years, Maureen McLaughlin has been a pioneer in articulating comprehension processes and critical literacy. At the same time, she has provided teachers with practical, use-tomorrow, classroom-tested instructional techniques and activities for effectively teaching comprehension, while incorporating critical literacy perspectives. Maureen McLaughlin is first and foremost a teacher, and in her writing, research, and professional development efforts, it is the teacher's voice that is always heard. In this bold, new content reading text, she once again breaks down barriers between the theoretical exploration of diverse literacies (e.g., critical, media, information, and multicultural), and the practical realities of today's elementary and secondary students. She suggests that these youngsters, whose generation is identified as the Millennials, are plugged in, turned on through a myriad of technological tools, and at times tuned out while they sit placidly in their traditional content classrooms. Early in this ground-breaking text which teachers, teacher-educators, and administrators will find indispensible, Maureen McLaughlin states, "In the past, being literate required only that we be able to read and write, but in today's world, we need to be fluent in multiple literacies." Through this book, the reader will find practical, effective instructional techniques situated in the multiple literacies of our time. Always grounded in the realities of the classroom, the book includes textual features that engage the reader, including Making Connections, electronic resources, portfolio and performance assessment ideas, and opportunities for collaboration with other teachers. Teachers who commit to using the approaches as recommended in this terrific content reading book, will motivate, stimulate, and engage their students in carefully and critically examining the content and varied texts they encounter both in school and out. The strategies the students will learn are those that will prepare them to be successful readers, learners, and thinkers in this exciting and challenging multiple-literacy environment. From Dick Allington: Maureen McLaughlin's new book on content area reading is a gem. A gem because 1) it so thoroughly addresses what we already know about developing content reading proficiencies in students and 2) it also addresses a broad and contemporary set of issues around content area reading that have been too often omitted in previous works on the topic. This is a practical book, a useful book. Readers will not only learn about how we might better address content area reading but also will learn about the emerging theme of developing multiple literacies in students. For too long actual reading instruction typically ended shortly after students completed fourth grade. If we hope to foster better reading achievement throughout the school years, we must continue to teach students how to read more complex and different sorts of texts than those found in elementary school reading series. This book provides teachers with a great start in achieving that goal.