Basal Readers: A Second Look."Can the basal leopard change its spots?" ask whole language advocates Patrick Shannon and Kenneth Goodman, professors of education at Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania State University, main campus at University Park, State College; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1855, opened 1859 as Farmers' High School. and the University of Arizona (body, education) University of Arizona - The University was founded in 1885 as a Land Grant institution with a three-fold mission of teaching, research and public service. , respectively. The pair answer this by examining textbook publishers' claims of basal changes through a collection of essays in Basal Readers basal reader n. A textbook compiled to teach people, especially young children, to read. : A Second Look. They conclude, "A basal is a basal, still a spotted leopard, still caught in its own internal inconsistencies." While this book will challenge the views of those not committed to whole language, it should be useful as a resource for any administrator responsible for I language arts language arts pl.n. The subjects, including reading, spelling, and composition, aimed at developing reading and writing skills, usually taught in elementary and secondary school. curriculum or textbook adoptions. As Shannon and Goodman are highly influential in the world of reading education, it also may provide a glimpse of the next generation of changes in basals. Each essay challenges the validity of a specific basal change in reviews that cover 10 current basal series. The essayists The following is an abbreviated list of essayists, arranged alphabetically by last name (years of birth and death, if applicable, and country of birth, are noted in parentheses). Note: An individual's country of birth is not always indicative of his or her nationality. , also whole language advocates, are classroom teachers and reading educators. Their reviews provide an indepth look into such purported changes as use of whole language terminology in teacher manuals, replacement of worksheets with writing process assignments, reductions in testing, additional opportunities for children o read literature in a variety of genre, and added emphases on diversity and multiculturalism. The essayists conclude unanimously that the changes are more superficial than substantive. (Basal Readers: A Second Look, by Patrick Shannon and Kenneth Goodman, Richard C. Owen Publishers, P.O. Box 585, Katonah, N.Y. 10538, 1994,217 pp., $17.95 softcover soft·cov·er adj. Not bound between hard covers: softcover books; a softcover edition. ). |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion