Review

Rating: 9

This is a relatively small text, focusing on the “Big Five” components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. There are only seven chapters and each goes more in depth on the Big Five. Chapters six and seven focus on assessment and reading programs, respectively.

I do like how the text is broken into core, color-coded chunks of information. The authors focus on “The Five Pillars of Effective Instruction” and highlight (a) teacher knowledge, (b) assessment, (c) effective practice, (d) differentiated instruction, and (e) family/home connections in each chapter. I found this extremely helpful.

I read this for a course on development reading. It provides a very-accessible introduction to reading, reading difficulties, and what a teacher can do to mitigate these difficulties.