Synopses & Reviews
LANDSCAPES is a comprehensive college reading preparatory text (spanning grade levels 8-10) that takes a metacognitive approach and focuses on how the brain processes information, often referred to as brain-based learning. Since metacognition can best be understood as thinking about "thinking," the text consistently presents new information with written "think alouds" to model the thought process involved in applying skills and strategies to reading passages. Based on the premise that the brain learns best through organization of information, the text presents the recognition of text structure and organization as a fundamental skill--one that is especially important for students who have limited prior knowledge of a subject. This focus on text structure provides a scaffold onto which developmental-level readers can apply new knowledge. Information is presented in a carefully crafted sequence that serves to build upon prior knowledge and expand understanding of skills and strategies in a recursive manner.
Review
"I again wish to commend the author's continued use of the cumulative approach in the pedagogy. I have tried this method throughout my years, and have found in to be most helpful to students. The continued reference to previous chapters' instruction is laudable."
Review
"The interwoven presentation of concepts is the most compelling feature along with the content of all the readings. If I told colleagues about this text, I would tell them that it covers about the same concepts that we cover now, but the readings are more interesting, practical, and beneficial, and the concepts are all presented in a correlated fashion that relates to real, natural reading."
About the Author
Christine Evans Carter is a Professor at St. Louis Community College at Meramec in the English department (since 1999) and has served as the Coordinator of their Reading Program for 5 years. Prior to her appointment in St. Louis, Christine was lead reading faculty in the transitional studies department at Denmark Technical College in South Carolina. She has also taught as an adjunct instructor at several institutions. Christine has a BA in English and an MA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Connecticut (1984, 1988), and a MS in Reading from Western Illinois University (1994). In addition, she has acquired more than a PhD level of graduate credit in her field. Christine has been teaching for more than 20 years and has over 15 years of experience teaching all developmental and college level reading courses, ESL, advanced reading, all levels of developmental writing courses and introductory anthropology. She has made numerous presentations in her field at both national and regional conferences.
Table of Contents
UNIT I: APPROACHING COLLEGE READING. 1. Active Reading and Previewing. OBJECTIVES. Pre-Assessment: "College Survival Tips: Making the Transition". FOCUS ON READING STUDY SKILLS: THE READING PROCESS. Before You Read. While You Read. After You Read. FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION: ACTIVE READING, PREVIEWING, AND PREDICTING. Active Learning. Active Reading. Memory and How the Brain Processes Information. Previewing. Making Predictions. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY: DEFINITION AND SYNONYM CONTEXT CLUES. Transition Words. Definition Clue. Synonym Clue. APPLICATIONS. Application 1: "Procrastination: Ten Things To Know" by Hara Estroff Marano. Application 2: "Planning Sets You Free". WRAPPING IT UP. Post Assessment: "Organizing Your Time" by Dianne Hales. 2. Topic and Questioning. OBJECTIVES. Pre-Assessment: "Students Under Stress" by Dianne Hales. FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION: DETERMINING TOPIC AND POSING GUIDE QUESTIONS. Topic. General Versus Specific. Finding the Topic. Finding the Topic in a Longer Passage. Posing Guide Questions. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY: ANTONYM AND INFERENCE CONTEXT CLUES. Antonym Clue. Inference Clue. FOCUS ON READING STUDY SKILLS: MOTIVATION AND TIME MANAGEMENT. Internal and External Motivation. Managing Your Time. APPLICATIONS. Application 1: "10 Healthy Habits That May Help You Live to 100" by Deborah Kotz. Application 2: "Five Ways to Resolve Conflict". WRAPPING IT UP. Post Assessment: "Stress on Campus" by Dianne Hales. UNIT II: MAIN IDEAS. 3. Explicit Main Ideas. OBJECTIVES. Pre-Assessment: "Money = Happiness" by John M. Grohol. FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION: AUTHOR'S PURPOSE AND EXPLICIT MAIN IDEAS. Author's Purpose. To Inform. To Instruct. To Persuade. To Entertain. Main Idea. Finding the Main Idea. Location of Main Idea. Explicit Main Idea in a Paragraph. Explicit Main Idea in a Longer Passage. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY: RECOGNIZING PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES. Prefixes. Suffixes. FOCUS ON READING STUDY SKILLS: GOAL SETTING AND STUDY ENVIRONMENTS. Setting Achievable Goals. Creating a Motivating Study Environment. APPLICATIONS. Application 1: "Why Money Doesn't Buy Happiness" by Sharon Begley. Application 2: "Global Stratification" by Jon Shepard. WRAPPING IT UP. Post Assessment: "Billionaire Clusters" by Duncan Greenberg. 4. Implied Main Ideas. OBJECTIVES. Pre-Assessment: "Do our genes make us popular?" by Jordan Lite. FOCUS ON READING STUDY SKILLS: PARAPHRASING. The Importance of Paraphrasing. How to Paraphrase. FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION: INFERENCE AND IMPLIED MAIN IDEAS. What Are Inferences? Implied Main Ideas. Method 1: Topic + Existing Sentence = Implied Main Idea. Method 2: Sentence + Sentence = Implied Main Idea. Method 3: General Statement Based on Supporting Details = Implied Main Idea. Finding an Implied Main Idea in a Longer Reading. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY: RECOGNIZING PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES. Root Words. APPLICATIONS. Application 1: "Oh, Brother: How Nature and Nurture Can Conspire to Create Ideologically Opposed Siblings" by Christina Gillham. Application 2: "Nature Versus Nurture" by Robert V. Kail and John C. Cavanaugh. WRAPPING IT UP. Post Assessment: "Self-Confidence: Nature or Nurture?" by Ray B. Williams. UNITS I AND II TEXTBOOK APPLICATION. Surveying a Chapter. Using Textbook Features. Applying What You Have Learned to a Full Length Chapter--Chapter 2: Learning about Learning from FOCUS on College Success by Constance Staley. Eight Steps to Approaching This Textbook Reading. Chapter 2: Learning about Learning from FOCUS on College Success by Constance Staley. Understanding Test-Taking Strategies: Taking Objective Tests. UNIT III: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN IDEAS. 5. Patterns of Organization. OBJECTIVES. Pre Assessment: "What Happens When You Sleep?" by the National Sleep Foundation. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY: RECOGNIZING TRANSITION WORDS. Transitions Signal Patterns. FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION: RECOGNIZING PATTERNS OF ORGANIZATION. Relationships between Ideas. Patterns of Organization. Supporting Details. Patterns That List. Patterns That Define or Classify. Two-Part Patterns. Mixed Patterns. FOCUS ON READING STUDY SKILLS: READING GRAPHICS. Types of Graphics. APPLICATIONS. Application 1: "Nightmares: What Do They Mean? Are They Just Scary Inventions of Our Minds?" by Kassidy Emmerson. Application 2: "Sleep, Dreaming, and Circadian Rhythm" by Ellen Pastorino and Susann Doyle-Portillo. WRAPPING IT UP. Post Assessment: "How Bad Dreams Can Lead to High Anxiety" by Mail On Sunday Reporter. 6. Supporting Details. OBJECTIVES. Pre Assessment: "What Are Some Job Interview Tips?" By N. Madison. FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION: IDENTIFYING AND ORGANIZING SUPPORTING DETAILS. Supporting Details. Major Details. Minor Details. Text Marking and Annotating. How to Mark a Text. Note Taking from Readings. Outlines. Summaries. Double-Column Notes. Graphic Organizers: Webs, Clusters, Maps. FOCUS ON READING STUDY SKILLS: Reading Rate and Monitoring Comprehension. Reading Rate. Comprehension Monitoring. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY: Improving Your College-Level Vocabulary. Using a Dictionary. Textbook Glossaries. Strategies for Learning Key Terms. Vocabulary Notebook. Vocabulary Cards. APPLICATIONS. Application 1: "Happy (Un)equal Pay Day" by Linda Hallman. Application 2: "What Is Networking?" by Peter M. Hess. WRAPPING IT UP. Post Assessment: "What are Some Common Job Interview Mistakes to Avoid?" by Sheri Cyprus. UNIT IV: CRITICAL THINKING. 7. Critical Reading. OBJECTIVES. Pre Assessment: "The Right to Privacy in a Mediated Society" by Rudolph F. Verderber, Kathleen S. Verderber, Deanna D. Sellnow. FOCUS ON READING STUDY SKILLS: CRITICAL THINKING AND CRITICAL READING. Critical Thinking. Critical Reading. FOCUS ON VOCABULARY: RECOGNIZING BIAS, TONE, AND LOADED LANGUAGE. Bias and Tone. FOCUS ON COMPREHENSION: READING ARGUMENTS. Understanding Arguments. Evaluating Arguments. Mapping Arguments. Determining If Supporting Arguments Are Relevant. Determining If An Argument is Strong. Author's Credentials. Intended Audience. APPLICATIONS. Application 1: "Why city crime rankings offer a misleading picture" by Richard Rosenfeld. Application 2: "YES--Do the Department of Homeland Security terror alert codes make us safer?" by Susan Samuels and "NO--Do the Department of Homeland Security terror alert codes make us safer?" by Susan Samuels. WRAPPING IT UP. Biased?" by Rudolph F. Verderber, Kathleen S. Verderber, Deanna D. Sellnow. UNITS III AND IV TEXTBOOK APPLICATION. Applying What You Have Learned to a Full Length Chapter--Chapter 3: Communicating Verbally from Communicate! by Rudolph F. Verderber, Kathleen S. Verderber, and Deanna D. Sellnow. Seven Steps to Approaching This Textbook Reading. Chapter 3: Communicating Verbally from Communicate! by Rudolph F. Verderber, Kathleen S. Verderber, and Deanna D. Sellnow. Understanding Test-Taking Strategies: Taking Objective Tests. Overcoming Test Anxiety.