Cecil, Nancy Lee (2004)
Activities for a Comprehensive Approach to Literacy.
Scottsdale, AZ: Holcomb Hathaway Publishers.
Reading teachers, reading tutors, and libraries that support the teaching of reading will want to purchase this excellent collection of creative, skill-focused literacy activities, although the author identifies preservice and inservice teachers as her main audience. The ideal audience for this book may be the individual language arts teacher, as the pages are perforated, making the activities easily removable to a teacher's own Teaching Ideas binder where each single-page, double-sided activity can be filed into a favorite subject scheme.
In the book, the collection of 100-plus activities is brilliantly organized into 11 distinct language skills to make it easy to locate an activity that will assist students to learn or improve a reading, writing or speaking skill. Librarians will want to scour the "Children's Literature" lists and "Other Resources for …" lists that conclude each chapter. These lists contain the children's stories that are used in a chapter's activities and professional reading suggestions that are focused on best teaching practices and on providing a theoretical context for the activities in the chapter.
The author's annotations of these resource lists are clearly the work of an expert teacher, and the summaries of the professional books make it clear why other teachers would be interested in each title. If teachers or librarians are looking for professional resources on a range of topics connected to early literacy, these chapter reference lists offer "best of the best" selections of current resources from major authors and publishers. Cecil also notes that her Striking a Balance: Best Practices for Early Literacy (Holcomb Hathaway, 2003) and Literacy in the Intermediate Grades: Best Practices for a Comprehensive Program (Cecil, Nancy Lee and Gipe, Joan P., Holcomb Hathaway, 2003) are complementary texts for Activities for a Comprehensive Approach to Literacy because they provide a theoretical background for the practical activities.
The activities are arranged in a coherent series, from "Activities to Develop Early Literacy", to chapters that focus on phonics instruction, the development of oral language, spelling, vocabulary, reading comprehension, writing, reading in the content areas, the promotion of recreational reading, and "Activities for Working with Parents". Each chapter follows the same format, including a brief, usually 1-page introduction to the skill focused on in the chapter, followed by 8 to 10 classroom activities that Cecil has used and that have been proven to be successful with young students. The activities include whole class and small group work, with follow-up assessment at the individual student level. The activities typically require simple instructions, but encourage children to practice the development of a specific skill. For example, in "Silly Food Rhymes" part of the activity includes asking the children to think of their favorite foods and to substitute the first sound in the word with a different sound, for the purpose of "an enjoyable listening activity" and "practice in manipulating beginning sounds" (p. 65).
The early chapters are intended mainly for Pre-school to grade 3-level teaching, although in every chapter there are activities that could be used with various age groups if a teacher has students who need further practice with or instruction on a particular skill. The activities are explained within a well-designed format that always includes a suggested grade level, purpose, materials, procedures, and assessment ideas. The materials are always easily obtainable, usually including nothing more exotic than construction paper, scissors, magazine pictures, and glue. Teacher reflection is encouraged by the inclusion of lined blank space at the conclusion of each activity labeled "Notes for next time…". Following the main activities in each chapter are "Other Ideas & Activities" that provide even more creative ideas for reinforcing the reading skills focused on in the chapter. For example, in the chapter that provides activities for spelling, other ideas include suggestions for teaching students how to create mnemonic devices, and a way of varying the calling out of spelling lists by offering clues to the words rather than just saying them.
Many of the activities in the book offer ways of reaching students with particular difficulties, such as students with fine motor coordination problems or those who need more practice with a particular skill. The author notes in her Preface that the activities "are designed expressly for, or are adaptable to, English language learners (ELLs) and therefore have the prerequisite sheltering necessary for this diverse population" (p. xi). Throughout the book Cecil indicates when an exercise is particularly appropriate for ELL learners – usually by noting that an emphasis on adding vocabulary is a part of the activity. The thoughtful attention paid to all learners adds value to the teaching activities that Cecil offers in this book. This author's attention to the reality of the classroom experience suggests that Cecil's current work as a professor of Education at California State University, Sacramento, and her previous experience as a reading teacher and specialist come together successfully here to provide a set of activities based on best practices and the evidence of current research.
Pages: 305
Price: $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-890871-52-4
Reviewed by Brenda Reed, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
