Reading Conversations

Miscue analysis may be the single best tool for assessing readers' difficulties. With Reading Conversations, you can take this tool to a new level, moving beyond diagnosis and into developmental strategies that involve not only teacher-student explorations of how students make meaning with texts, but also peer-led discussions.

In retrospective miscue analysis (RMA) you work directly with students, engaging them in conversations about their reading miscues. RMA sessions achieve three important goals:

• helping you understand what readers are thinking as they read
• making readers more aware of their actions and thoughts during reading
• investing your students in the process of improving their own reading by building on their strengths.

Then as your readers better understand their own strengths and weaknesses, they can take on increasing responsibility by discussing their processes with peers through collaborative retrospective miscue analysis (CRMA).

Grounded in scientific research, Reading Conversations includes chapters on using RMA and CRMA at the elementary, middle, and high-school levels, reproducible self- and teacher-assessment forms, and testimonials and vignettes from teachers who have successfully adopted RMA and CRMA in their classrooms.

Put the strategies in Reading Conversations into practice, implement RMA in your reading instruction, and get to know students' abilities better than ever before. Then use CRMA to further invest students in their learning and watch as your struggling readers develop the skills and confidence they need to enjoy a lifetime of reading.

Rita Moore is Associate Professor of Education at The University of Montana-Western, where she teaches literacy and education courses at the University of Montana-Western. A former K-12 literacy specialist and high-school language arts/Spanish teacher, Moore's current interests include classroom research into literacy instruction and interactive readers response. She and her husband enjoy hiking and traveling in the Rocky Mountains.

Carol Gilles is Associate Professor of Reading and Language Arts at the University of Missouri-Columbia. A former 20-year classroom and special-needs teacher, she is currently interested in struggling readers, children's literature, and examining talk as a vehicle for deeper learning.