RKcover

Reading Keys

2nd edition, 2007, available February 2006

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
222 Berkeley Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116-3764

Reading Keys is the introductory text in Laraine Flemming's three-part series. The first book in the series, it offers an introduction to all the basic skills covered in more depth and with greater sophistication in the two later books, Reading for Results and Reading for Thinking. Reading Keys offers clear, detailed explanations of everything from using context clues and interpreting transitional signals to recognizing organizational patterns in multi-paragraph readings and evaluating a writer's bias in both informative and persuasive prose. The explanations are bite-size nuggets of information that never overwhelm the student. To ensure both comprehension and retention, explanations are itemized and summarized in mini-reviews sprinkled throughout the text and introduced by key-shaped icons.

As always, Flemming has selected high-interest readings designed to whet the appetite of even the most reluctant readers; the book includes readings on topics such as the growing threat of tsunamis, the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the heroism of actor Christopher Reed, and color-coded warnings about terrorist threats. Readings like these will hold students' interest, but perhaps just as importantly, they will contribute to their cultural literacy about historical and current events. Like the other texts, Reading Keys comes with Getting Focused, a CD written by the author and designed and programmed by Ulrich Flemming. A family affair, the CD features sprightly content and a pedagogically sound sequence along with a visually appealing design and ease of navigation.


Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Words and Meanings

Strategy 1: Using Context Clues
Strategy 2: Breaking Words into Parts
Digging Deeper: Primer Lesson
Vocabulary Check-Out
Rounding Up the Keys
 

Test 1: Reviewing the Key Points
Test 2: Using Word Parts and Context Clues
Test 3: Using Word Parts and Context Clues
Test 4: Using Word Parts and Context Clues

Chapter 2: Making Sentence Connections

General Statement and Specific Example
Cause and Effect
Agreement... Modification
Contrast
Comparison
Time Order

Digging Deeper: Moral Courage in Practice
Vocabulary Check-Out
Rounding Up the Keys
Test 1: Reviewing the Key Points
Test 2: Sentence Connections
Test 3: Sentence Connections
 

Chapter 3: From Topics to Main Ideas

What's the Topic
What's the Main Idea
Digging Deeper: On Being Latino, Then and Now
Vocabulary Check-Out
Rounding Up the Keys

Test 1: Reviewing the Key Points
Test 2: Identifying Topics
Test 3: Identifying Topics and Main Ideas
Test 4: Identifying Topics and Main Ideas
Test 5: Identifying Topics and Main Ideas
Test 6: Discovering Main Ideas
 

Chapter 4: Recognizing Topic Sentences

Topic Sentences at the Beginning
Topic Sentences Closer to the Middle
Topic Sentences at the End
Get Into the Habit of Paraphrasing
Digging Deeper: Family Ties
Vocabulary Check-Out
 

Rounding Up the Keys
Test 1: Reviewing the Key Points
Test 2: Recognizing Topic Sentences
Test 3: Recognizing Topic Sentences
Test 4: Recognizing and Paraphrasing Topic Sentences
 

Chapter 5: Drawing Inferences About Implied Main Ideas

Inferring Main Ideas
Effective and Ineffective Inferences
Allusions and Inferences
Digging Deeper: The Future of Zero Tolerance
Vocabulary Check-Out
Rounding Up the Keys
 

Test 1: Reviewing the Key Points
Test 2: Identifying the Implied Main Idea
Test 3: Identifying the Implied Main Idea
Test 4: Identifying the Implied Main Idea
Test 5: Inferring the Main Idea
 

Chapter 6: Working Together: Topic Sentences and Supporting Details

The Function of Supporting Details
Major and Minor Details
Evaluating Minor Details
Clues to Major Details in Topic Sentences
Digging Deeper: Killer Waves
Vocabulary Check-Out
 

Rounding Up the Keys
Test 1: Reviewing the Key Points
Test 2: Recognizing Supporting Details
Test 3: Recognizing Major and Minor Details
Test 4: Recognizing Major and Minor Details
 

Chapter 7: Transitions and Paragraphs

Transitional Words and Topic Sentences
Transitional Sentences and Topic Sentences
Topic Sentences, Transitions, and Major Details
Transitions Linking Paragraphs
Digging Deeper: When Shopping Becomes Addictive   
Vocabulary Check-Out
 

Rounding Up the Keys
Test 1: Reviewing the Key Points
Test 2: Types of Transitions
Test 3: Topic Sentences and Transitions
Test 4: Recognizing Transitions and Topic Sentences
Test 5: Transitions and Major Details
 

Chapter 8: Recognizing Patterns of Organization

Time Order
Definition
Cause and Effect
Comparison and Contrast
Digging Deeper: The Origins of Cinco de Mayo
Vocabulary Check-Out
 

Rounding Up the Keys
Test 1: Reviewing the Key Points
Test 2: Patterns and Topic Sentences
Test 3: Recognizing Patterns of Organization
Test 4: Recognizing Patterns of Organization
Test 5: Recognizing Patterns of Organization
 

Chapter 9: Mixing and Matching Patterns

Pure Versus Mixed Patterns
Combining Patterns in Longer Readings
Common Combinations
The Importance of Combinations
Digging Deeper: The Kursk's Tragic End
Vocabulary Check-Out
 

Rounding Up the Keys
Test 1: Reviewing the Key Points
Test 2: Recognizing Patterns in Paragraphs
Test 3: Recognizing Patterns in Paragraphs
Test 4: Recognizing Mixed Patterns in Longer Readings
 

Chapter 10: Drawing Inferences About Purpose, Tone, and Bias

Informative Versus Persuasive Writing
Drawing Inferences About Purpose
When Bias Goes Overboard
Digging Deeper: Archbishop Oscar Romero
Vocabulary Check-Out
Rounding Up the Keys
 

Test 1: Reviewing the Key Points
Test 2: Fact and Opinion
Test 3: Fact and Opinion, or Both
Test 4: Recognizing Tone and Purpose
Test 5: Evaluating Bias
 

Combining Your Skills
Reading 1: The Seven-Day Antiprocrastination Plan
Reading 2: Nonjudgmental and Critical Listening
Reading 3: Good Grief
Reading 4: Online Therapy Clicks
Reading 5: Watching Out for Potholes on the Information Highway
Reading 6: Checking the Stats
Reading 7: What Makes a Hero?
Reading 8: Dying for the Truth
Reading 9: In from the Cold
Reading 10: Taylor's Miracle
 


Last update of this page: November 8, 2005

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