One of my professors made a comment to our Content Literacy class that "one of the salient points about content area literacy and students is that we assume that because a student can read, we automatically take for granted that her interaction with the text will be a fruitful one. But as many of you know, this is frequently not the case. Especially with ESL students,students from other than white, middle class, suburban backgrounds, and students with exceptionalities. This is where content area literacy methodology comes into play, and as a teacher, you play a crucial role in helping students interact with their texts in a way that helps the student make meaning. Interaction with the printed word is at the very heart of literacy."

This text contains a wealth of practical activities and strategies designed to foster content area literacy by assisting the teacher in scaffolding instruction so that all students can become knowledgable and profficient in developing their own learning strategies.

Although the book is a little "pricey," in the end it is well worth the investment, because it is just that, an investment. I have a rich resource that I can utilize many times over, which will be a source of support and instruction for many years to come.

As I present material on how one goes about selecting a good textbook, I use this book as an example of a text which is well prepared and very user friendly. The organizational structure of the book is excellent, from the front material through the appendices, bibliography and indices.

My only complaint about the book is its price. But the way text prices are going lately, maybe it's not too far out of line. Seventy four dollars just seems like a lot of money for 550 pages.

I highly recommend this text to anyone who needs to incorporate literacy instruction into a content area classroom. It is very practical yet has a solid theoretical base. It will be an excellent resource for the thoughtful practitioner.