Robert W. Blake

The "Literacy Primer" is devoted to the most recent topics in literacy studies, such as the meanings of literacy, the invention of alphabetic writing, a history of reading, the consequences of literacy, teaching the two modes of knowing - literary and informational - and literacy for diverse learners. Each chapter includes a glossary of key terms for students new to the field. A list of selected resources and further readings is provided at the end of the volume. The book is written in a refreshingly straightforward style that is inviting to undergraduate students who might otherwise have difficulty learning about the subject.

A state-of-the-art compendium of resource materials and current practice that answers two basic questions: "What is literacy?" and "How do individuals become literate?"Not long ago, literacy simply meant knowing how to read and write. Today, the study of literacy is a complex field encompassing many different areas, from computer literacy to geographic literacy, and including several degrees of competence such as functional, pragmatic, and cultured. In addition there are six kinds of readers: the submissive, the active, the semiotic, the subjective, the psychoanalytic, and the interpretive community reader, and at least two distinct ways of reading: aesthetic reading and rational reading.In this comprehensive, accessible volume, two literacy experts not only help readers understand the latest theories and the heated controversies in this exciting field, they also show readers how this vast new knowledge is being applied in successful literacy programs.Detailed discussion of reader response theory and the different types of readersContact information for a variety of literacy organizations along with a list of websites offering lesson plans, teaching resources, and literacy research

"An Enactment of Science: A Dynamic Balance Among Curriculum, Context, and Teacher Beliefs" examines the specific role of an urban sixth-grade teacher as she engages her students in the learning of science. With a four component model of curriculum enactment (curriculum, context, teacher beliefs, and enactment) as a guiding framework for inquiry, this book addresses an essential question in contemporary science education: Is exemplary science teaching a process of -traditional- practices, -progressive- practices, or, an eclectic combination of both, constituting some notion of a middle ground? Also examined is the teacher's explicit process of coaching students in the use of social skills as part of the content of science as she guides students toward successful cooperative group work and collective and individual problem solving. Robert W. Blake, Jr., suggests that pre-service and in-service teachers may want to evaluate how closely their beliefs about the curriculum, context, and teaching match the reality of their classroom situation with the potential of altering one (the curriculum) or the other (their beliefs) to enhance the enactment of science. Also, explicit teacher modeling of social skills may serve useful for students to act independently of the teacher as they engage in science activities. Finally, teachers may consider their practice a balance between traditional and progressive modes of teaching, finding what is most useful are components from both frameworks."