Reading Theme and Skills: A Skills-Based American Culture Reader
Edition: 2
Copyright: 2023
Edition: 2
Copyright: 2023
Pages: 196
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Reading Themes and Skills 2nd edition introduces fascinating elements of American culture. Topics range from Halloween to the Super Bowl, and also include college dining halls, leftovers, fast food, tailgating, American clothes styles, Ghosts in the White House, and the Vortex in Sedona, Arizona, and the Amish in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The work also presents short fiction: The Adventures of a Maple Leaf, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Tortoise and the Hare, Hanbu and Nobu, A Chance for Glory, and Weekend Dog.
To the Instructor
Introduction: The Basics: Parts of Speech
1 Eating Out/Eating In
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Building Background Knowledge
Vocabulary: Words about Dining
Reading 1.1
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Reading for Details
Personal Analysis: Reflecting on What You’ve Read
Scanning Practice
Vocabulary Study
Vocabulary Practice: Matching
More Vocabulary Practice: Fill-ins
Identifying Parts of Speech 1
Identifying Parts of Speech 2
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Gathering Information from the Title
Predicting/Analyzing the Title of the Reading
Discussion: Talking about the Ideas in the Reading
Reading 1.2
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Reading for Details
Finding the Main Idea of a Paragraph
Parts of Speech: Adjectives Study
Text-Based Writing Assignment
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Analyzing Events/Chronology
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Building Background Knowledge
Reading 1.3
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Summarizing
Focus on Parts of Speech: Conjunctions
Grammar in Context: Identifying Discourse Markers
Identifying Discourse Markers
Finding Discourse Markers in Reading 1.3
Sentence Completion
Vocabulary Review Activities
Words on a Theme
Lists and Categories
Category Expansion
2 In Style
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Previewing the Vocabulary
Vocabulary Practice: Fill in the Blanks
Write Your Own Sentences Using These Phrases
Building Background Knowledge
Reading 2.1
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Reading Comprehension: Reading for Details
Making Inferences Using Reading 2.1, Style in America, Make Inferences by Identifying the Hint or Clue that Helped You
Reflecting on What You’ve Read
Grammar in Context: Simple Sentences
Grammar Practice
Theme Study: Prereading Exercise
Talking about the Ideas in the Reading
Classroom Discussion
Reading 2.2
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Reading for Details
Scanning Exercise
Vocabulary Study: Matching
Vocabulary Study: Positive and Negative Connotation
Reading Skills: Understanding Fiction
Understanding Literary Terms and Concepts
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Vocabulary Practice
Discussion: Talking about the Ideas in the Reading
Reading 2.3
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Reading for Details
Finding the Main Idea of a Paragraph
Text-Based Writing Assignment
Focus on Parts of Speech: Prepositions and Articles
Identifying Prepositional Phrases
Unit Vocabulary Review Activities
In Style Criss-Cross Puzzle
3 At Home
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Building Background Knowledge
Vocabulary Study
Word Forms
Vocabulary Practice: Matching
Vocabulary Practice: Fill in the Blanks
Reading 3.1
Skill Study
Reading for Details
More Reading for Details
Understanding Film Terms and Concepts
Classroom Discussion: Talking about the Ideas in the Film
Video-Based Writing Assignment
Focus on Parts of Speech: Nouns
Practice with Noun Endings
Identifying Nouns
Theme Study: Prereading Exercise
Understanding Organization
Reading 3.2
Skill Study
Finding the Meaning of Words from Context
Grammar in Context: Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
Finding Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Understanding the Narrator
Reading 3.3
Skill Study
Reading for Details
Understanding Discourse Markers
Text-Based Writing Assignment
Vocabulary Review Activities
Lists and Categories
At Home Word Search
At Home Criss-Cross Puzzle
4 In Shape
Theme Study: Prereading Exercise
Previewing the Vocabulary
Sentence Completion Exercise
Building Background Knowledge
Previewing the Reading
Reading 4.1
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Scanning Practice
Finding the Main Idea of a Paragraph
Reading for Details
Finding Facts by Scanning
Vocabulary Study
Theme Study: Prereading Exercise
Understanding Symbolic Characteristics of Animals
Reading 4.2
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Reading for Details
Talking about the Ideas in the Reading: The Moral of the Story
Vocabulary Study: Parts of Speech
Vocabulary Study: Finding Definitions
Vocabulary Study: Matching
Identifying Irregular Past Tense Verbs
Theme Study: Prereading Exercise
Predicting
Analyzing Characteristics of Family
Reading 4.3
Skill Study
Making Inferences
Sentence Completion: Reading for Details
Literary Analysis
Text-Based Writing Assignment
Vocabulary Study: Matching
Focus on Parts of Speech: Pronouns
Identifying Pronouns
Identifying Pronouns
Vocabulary Review Activities
In Shape Criss-Cross Puzzle
5 Out of this World
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Previewing the Vocabulary
Reading 5.1
Vocabulary Note: Kill versus Assassinate
Skill Study
Telling Fact from Claim or Opinion
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Talking about the Ideas in the Reading
Vocabulary Study
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Analyzing Differences
Writing about Differences
Reading 5.2
Skill Study
Analyzing Endings
Reading for Details
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Discussion Prompts: Talking about the Ideas in the Reading
Vocabulary Study
Part of Speech Review
Grammar in Context: Sentence Types
The Three Sentence Types
Identifying Sentence Types
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Building Background Knowledge
Reading 5.3
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Reading for Details
Scanning Practice
Text-Based Writing Assignment
Identifying Verbs
Vocabulary Review Activities
Out of This World Criss-Cross Puzzle
6 It’s the Weekend
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Building Background Knowledge
Reading 6.1
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Scanning Practice
Finding Facts by Scanning
Vocabulary Study
Reading 6.2
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Understanding the Organization of the Passage
Vocabulary Study
Focus on Parts of Speech: Adverbs
Identifying Adverbs and Their Functions
Theme Study: Prereading Exercises
Building Background Knowledge
Reading 6.3
Skill Study
Reading Comprehension: Understanding the Reading
Reading for Details
Narrative Voice Practice
Finding the Main Idea of a Paragraph
Grammar in Context: Time Words in Chronology
Identifying Time Words
Unit Summary Activities
Text-Based Writing Assignment
Vocabulary Review Activities
Vocabulary Practice: Antonyms
Vocabulary Practice: Synonyms
Word Groups
Cloze Exercise
It’s the Weekend! Word Search
It’s the Weekend! Criss-Cross Puzzle
Brian Altano is the author of 14 textbooks, including Writing Processes and Structures and Reading Processes and Structures, published by the University of Michigan Press, and Creative Grammar, a three-level grammar series published by Spotlight Learning. His most recent books are Public and Private Writing by Kendall Hunt and the Emerging Communicators for ESL published by Allwrite Editions. Prof. Altano has taught ESL, literature, and writing at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey for more than 25 years. Prof. Altano has twice been a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University, and has also held Visiting Professorships at Ramapo, Kean, Union, Middlesex, Rutgers, and N.J.I.T. He was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in Florence, Italy and an Oldrini Foundation Fellowship in Rome, Italy. He has lectured extensively on language learning and translation at national conferences throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. A professional translator and interpreter specializing in Italian, Spanish, French and and Latin, Prof. Altano has translated Notas Fuera Del Tiempo by Victor Arango (Spanish), the short fiction of Carlo Emilio Gadda (Italian), Alberto Moravia (Italian), and Guy de Maupassant (French), as well as computer and technical manuals and the legal documentation for the Parmalat Trial in Italy for the European Union.
Prof. Altano is also a professional storyteller, who has told his original stories in performances throughout the United States (New York, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Austin), and in Austria, Venezuela, Italy, France, Canada, and Morocco. Much of his short fiction has also been published. Prof. Altano has also written and lectured extensively on educational issues. “Language Minority Crossover Students in the ESL Classroom” was a concept that Altano originated. It was later renamed “Generation 1.5.” Articles on this issue appeared in the Princeton University Fellows Report and in Innovations Abstracts (NISOD Publications). To address problems with remedial education, Prof. Altano also researched and wrote Grammar Without the Teacher, an innovative approach using a flipped classroom and technology to streamline remediation. Prof. Altano delivered lectures on the topic at the National TESOL Convention in New York, the New Jersey TESOL Convention in New Brunswick, NJ, and published articles in the Princeton University Fellows Report and in Innovations Abstracts (NISOD Publications). The online text of Grammar Without the Teacher is Prof. Altano’s second collaboration with Kendall Hunt Publishers.