A handy tool for any teacher's toolbox!

Posted by Sally Doulton  

Who isn’t looking for strategies to assist struggling readers with decoding text? Are you also searching for ways to teach basic reading skills to children and adults who are ELLs or have moderate cognitive impairments? Well, look no more!  Nori Rem shares tried and true methods in her book “It’s In Your Hand!” where she outlines in a clear and concise manner, a seven step multi-sensory method to teach the fundamentals of reading and writing to children and adults.

Strategies outlined in this book, can supplement any reading program.  As a matter of fact, her lessons and activities can be shared with parents and implemented at home. It is the perfect companion for learners, no matter where they are in their reading ability, because the lessons, passages, and practice pages in the book align with solid reading instruction.

Activities presented in this book engage the students’ four senses: auditory, visual, tactile, and physical. They can be photocopied and used in a variety of ways. The best part is that the activities are laid out in a systematic and structured fashion which makes it easy for an educator or parent to address gaps in a student’s reading skills.

To be honest, at first I really didn’t want to read yet another book about teaching the alphabetic principle, phonemic awareness, syllable types, parts of speech, etc. But this book was a pleasant surprise because it provides so much more than a mere explanation of these terms. Nori Rem provides fun and interesting hands-on techniques to assist learners who could use more than one way to learn a skill.

I am excited about applying some of the strategies in this book with my students when the school year resumes next month. My reading classes will now contain students who have significant learning challenges; some of which include: cognitive, visual, auditory, dyslexia, learning disabilities, autism, etc.

The author also has a website and a useful blog to assist parents and teachers with instruction. Visit her website at: http://its-in-your-hand-reading-help.com.

Thanks Nori Rem, gotta “hand” it to ya. This book’s a winner in any teacher’s toolbox!