The Reading Detective Club: Solving the Mysteries of Reading/A Teacher's Guide

by Debra Goodman

Overview

"Readers are a lot like detectives," says Debra Goodman. "We use clues from the author's text. We use strategies to try to figure out what's going on. We make up theories to solve the mystery of each text, and we check out our theories as we read along." Thus, Goodman invites us to join The Reading Detective Club, a unique new book of "mystery cases" that are actually reading strategy lessons for third through eighth graders and their teachers.

Here are two engaging books in one: a smart professional book for teachers and a fun "nonworkbook" for students. The teacher section offers a comprehensive overview of the reading process, with step-by-step instructions for sponsoring a Reading Detective Club, analyses of each case, and discussions of topics such as second-language readers and dialect variations. The student section features a series of reproducible mystery cases presented by student-detectives Jacob, Michele, and Scott. Children are encouraged to solve cases - and come to understand their own approaches to literacy - by exploring the meaning clues, language (grammar) clues, and graphic clues in printed texts.

Central to The Reading Detective Club is the importance of miscue analysis as a vital assessment tool. Teachers will appreciate the accessible, practical advice for appropriating miscue analysis in the classroom. Most of all, students will be reassured and inspired to learn that the detective work they do to understand language is proof that they are already smart thinkers and readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780325001081
Publisher:	Heinemann
Publication date:	03/30/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	182
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.41(d)
Age Range:	8 - 13 Years

About the Author

Debra Goodman has been a reading detective ever since she was a kid. She grew up to share the mysteries of reading with children of all ages as a teacher in Detroit Public Schools. She currently holds Reading Detective Club meetings with college students who are studying to become teachers.

Table of Contents

Teacher Book:
What Is a Miscue?
Goals of The Reading Detective Club
Readers and Detectives: What's the Connection?
Supporting the Principles of a Whole Language Curriculum
Teaching Language in Context: Strategy Lessons
Tips for Club Sponsors
Tips for Teachers
Overview of Reading Detective Club Cases Student Book:
Reading Detectives Use Clues and Strategies
The Case of the Missing Word
The Case of the Messy Hands
The Case of the Torn Page
The Case of the Gluey Page
Let's Take a Guess
The Case of the Goldfish
Everybody Makes Mistakes
The Case of the Missing Mom
The Case of the Damaged Books
The Case of the Smashed Chicken
The Kas of the Stoopid Chekin
Playing with Language
The Case of the Norful Snig
The Shrag of the Glumpy Frinkle
You Are What You Read, or You Read What You Are
The Case of the Missing Titles
The Case of My Own Miscue Investigations:
What Have You Read Today?
Easy as Falling Off a Bicycle
Studying Our Own Miscues

Editorial Reviews

I would highly recommend The Reading Detective Club to you and your students. I think you'll have fun.”–Talking Points

From the Publisher