About the Author

Barbara A. Nelson is an Arizona-based educator, conference speaker, and consultant. During her 46-year career, she has taught at every grade level. She conducts workshops on reading and writing strategies throughout the U.S. on topics including CCSS.

Reviews

GHR is to complex texts what the Rosetta Stone was to Egyptian hieroglyphics. It gives baffled readers clear tools and simple methods to analyze, interpret, and comprehend. Weber, Nelson, and Schofield's book will be an indispensable guide for anyone who seeks to teach a close reading of a difficult text. - Barry Lane, author of But How Do You Teach Writing?: A Simple Guide for All Teachers-- "Author"

There is no doubt that it will be useful to teachers who are trying hard to adapt to a new way of thinking about helping children navigate complex text. In fact, these strategies could be scaffolded from less to more complex text so that students [and teachers] own them. - Dorothy S. Strickland, Ph.D., author of Teaching Phonics Today and Rutgers Professor Emerita-- "Rutgers Professor Emerita"

What a timely and valuable book to help 4-12 teachers implement the Common Core Standards. The authors demonstrate in concrete, practical ways how to use prompts to engage students with complex texts. The new standards demand critical analysis of complex text through both reading and writing responses. The authors have found that for many students, asking questions and providing group discussion is not enough to enable students to think critically or analyze the important issues of various genres. Cleverly, these teachers have used prompts to engage students in thinking about complex text and thus becoming skilled and competent readers. This book is all inclusive. It covers the intensity of the Common Core Standards in ways that benefit teachers and students. More importantly, it creates excellent teaching and learning as it promotes student engagement and understanding. The authors give clear examples of Guided Highlighted Reading using complex historical texts. Rubrics are provided for assessments. Ninety pages of reproducible lessons are available in the appendix: a valuable treasure chest for classroom teachers. Even though the book is written for 4-12 teachers, it has inspired me to develop prompts for my second graders. It reminds me of my Reading Recovery training when I learned to prompt for â oeWhat makes sense, ⠝ What sounds right, ⠝ and â oeWhat looks right⠝ for beginning readers. What a Eureka moment! Of course! Why not prompt independent readers for critical, skilled reading and writing? - Joan E. Masaryk, Yavapai Reading Council President (Arizona Reading Association)-- "Yavapai Reading Council President (Arizona Reading Association)"