Reading to Live: How to Teach Reading for Today's World

Reading is not an end in itself. As Lorraine Wilson reminds us: "We read to do something else...to follow directions, to make something, to relax, to learn about community events...reading is social practice." We read to live, according to our individual interests and needs. So it makes no sense to separate the teaching of reading from the lives of children. Unfortunately, in many state-mandated curricula, that relationship has been lost.

In Reading to Live, Lorraine Wilson makes a strong case for preserving integrated, holistic reading programs, debunking the belief in one-size-fits-all instruction and taking us inside classrooms to demonstrate progressive, meaning-centered teaching. She offers easy-to-use strategies that build upon the life experiences and language that children bring with them to school. Most important, she expands upon the reading practices of Luke and Freebody's Four Resources Model-code breaker, text participant, text user, and text analyst-and details many techniques for developing these practices through holistic integrated learning.

In preparation for today's world, children need more from their reading programs than just learning how to break the code-they need to engage with all reading practices, especially critical literacy. With tips on physically arranging classrooms, techniques for effectively grouping children, as well as advice on organizing precious class time, Wilson ensures that teachers have the tools to tailor their reading programs to the lives of the children they teach.