Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Frederick Douglass wrote in 1845. It’s an autobiographic story about slavery and freedom, constant aim to run away from the owner and at last become a free man. One failure follows another one. But in the end the fortune favours Douglass and he runs away on a train to the north, New-York. It would seem he is free now. Suddenly, he realises that his journey isn’t finished yet. He understands that even after he got free he can’t be at real liberty until the slavery is abolished in the USA…

When a fourth-grade student, Jenny, was asked about reading, she stated: "I love to read, you get real neat ideas. I really like books about animals and biographies. I'm writing my autobiography now. Oh, I also really like Judy Blume books. " Her enthusiasm for reading is evident as she tells you about the Judy Blume book she just read, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (1970). Jenny reads almost every night at home. Jenny's classmate through 4 years of elementary school, Anna. responds, when asked about reading: "I hate to read; it's boring. " Anna says she never reads at home. She says she'd rather watch television or play with friends. Anna would even rather clean her room than read. She explains, "I'd rather clean my room because it makes the room look neat. Reading makes my head hurt because it's so boring and no fun. " Jenny and Anna attended a large neighborhood elementary school in Austin, Texas. The school is located in a lower socioeconomic status (SES) area of small houses, duplexes, mld apartments. About 45% of the children at the school are Hispanic, 35% are African-American, and 20% are Anglo. The school consistently ranks mnong the lowest schools in the district on standardized reading achievement tests. Upon entering first grade, neither Jenny nor Anna could read the words that were to appear in their first preprimer reader.

An experienced teacher of reading and writing and an award-winning historian, E. Jennifer Monaghan brings to vibrant life the process of learning to read and write in colonial America. Ranging throughout the colonies from New Hampshire to Georgia, she examines the instruction of girls and boys, Native Americans and enslaved Africans, the privileged and the poor, revealing the sometimes wrenching impact of literacy acquisition on the lives of learners. For the most part, religious motives underlay reading instruction in colonial America, while secular motives led to writing instruction. Monaghan illuminates the history of these activities through a series of deeply researched and readable case studies. An Anglican missionary battles mosquitoes and loneliness to teach the New York Mohawks to write in their own tongue. Puritan fathers model scriptural reading for their children as they struggle with bereavement. Boys in writing schools, preparing for careers in counting houses, wield their quill pens in the difficult task of mastering a "good hand." Benjamin Franklin learns how to compose essays with no teacher but himself. Young orphans in Georgia write precocious letters to their benefactor, George Whitefield, while schools in South Carolina teach enslaved black children to read but never to write. As she tells these stories, Monaghan clears new pathways in the analysis of colonial literacy. She pioneers in exploring the implications of the separation of reading and writing instruction, a topic that still resonates in today's classrooms. Monaghan argues that major improvements occurred in literacy instruction and acquisition after about 1750, visible in rising rates of signature literacy. Spelling books were widely adopted as they key text for teaching young children to read; prosperity, commercialism, and a parental urge for gentility aided writing instruction, benefiting girls in particular. And a gentler vision of childhood arose, portraying children as more malleable than sinful. It promoted and even commercialized a new kind of children's book designed to amuse instead of convert, laying the groundwork for the "reading revolution" of the new republic.

For many years, the development of theories about the way children learn to read and write was dominated by studies of English-speaking populations. As we have learned more about the way that children learn to read and write other scripts - whether they have less regularity in their grapheme-phoneme correspondences or do not make use of alphabetic symbols at all - it has become clear that many of the difficulties that confront children learning to read and write English specifically are less evident, or even non-existent, in other populations. At the same time, some aspects of learning to read and write are very similar across scripts. The unique cross-linguistic perspective offered in this book, including chapters on Japanese, Greek and the Scandinavian languages as well as English, shows how the processes of learning to read and spell are affected by the characteristics of the writing system that children are learning to master.

Literacy is a skill for all time, for all people. It is an integral part of our lives, whether we are students or adult professionals. Giving all educators the breadth of knowledge and practical tools that help students strengthen their literacy skills is the focus of Read, Write, Lead. Drawing on her experience as a mentor teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, and staff developer, author Regie Routman offers time-tested advice on how to develop a schoolwide learning culture that leads to more effective reading and writing across the curriculum. She explains how every school—including yours—can: implement instructional practices that lead to better engagement and achievement in reading and writing for all students, from kindergarten through high school, including second-language and struggling learners; build Professional Literacy Communities of educators working together to create sustainable school change through professional learning based on shared beliefs; reduce the need for intervention through daily practices that ensure success, even for our most vulnerable learners; and embed the language of productive feedback in responsive instruction, conferences, and observations in order to accelerate learning for students, teachers, and leaders. In their own voices, teachers, principals, literacy specialists, and students offer real-life examples of changes that led to dramatic improvement in literacy skills and—perhaps just as important--increased joy in teaching and learning. Scattered throughout the book are “Quick Wins”--ideas and actions that can yield positive, affirming results while tackling the tough work of long-term change.

Now in its fifth edition, Reading Pathways (with help from Dewey the Bookwormâ?¢) offers an easy-to-use, highly effective approach to teaching reading accuracy and fluency to students of all ages, using a unique pyramid format. Reading pyramids begins with one word, and slowly build into phrases and sentences of gradually increasing complexity. As the student moves from the pinnacle to the base of each pyramid, the phrase or sentence becomes a more interesting and expansive, and the student's confidence grows with each line completed. Progressively building up the amount of text per line increases eye span, strengthens eye tracking, and develops reading fluency. The book also features more challenging multi-syllable word pyramid exercises and games to further develop fluency and vocabulary. Learning to read long words by syllables removes the fear and mystique of multi-syllable words and helps students build the strong vocabulary so critical for success in reading and writing. Dewey® and Dewey Decimal Classification® are proprietary trademarks of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, and are used with permission. Dewey the Bookworm™, Dewey D. System, Bookwormus Giganticus™, and the design mark of the character Dewey are trademarks of Dolores G. Hiskes and are also used with permission.