Course Match

Bridging the Gap: College Reading, 8/e

BASIC APPROACH

(Note: This textbook was published by our college division for use by students at post-secondary institutions whose reading skills are below the level needed to succeed in college. Please review this text carefully to ensure appropriateness of content for your students.)

Written for the mid to high-level developmental reading course, Bridging the Gap, Eighth Edition by Brenda Smith continues to be the #1 textbook choice of developmental reading educators.

Bridging the Gap was the first book to focus on how to read textbooks. Over the course of several editions, this theme has been broadened by linking textbook readings to recent news in the popular press and adding material on critical thinking and the Internet. A hallmark of the text, the end-of-chapter readings represent varying reading levels to permit individualization of assignments to meet varying student needs. A variety of academic disciplines are represented throughout, including psychology, history, biology, business, allied health, English literature, and more.

FEATURES

• To take a broader and more inclusive view of abilities, Chapter 1 includes practical information on Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Students can discover their innate strengths by looking at eight different ways to be smart and respond to an associated self-inventory on the text's Web site.
• Attention to thinking while reading. Comments and inferential questions modeling the comprehension strategies of good readers are strategically placed in the margins alongside the longer reading selections.
• "Concept Preps." At the end of reading selections, "Concept Preps " present commonly known key concepts that lie at the core of each academic area. This feature builds cultural literacy and helps students develop a schema of major concepts and people in the academic disciplines. The Instructor's Manual includes quizzes that can be used to assess student mastery of each concept prep.
• Variety of academic disciplines. Many disciplines are represented in both the shorter and longer textbook readings and "Concept Preps, " including psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, history, computer science, communication and language, literature, philosophy, art, the sciences, business, economics, nutrition, and allied health.
• Flexible organization. Although the skills presented in each chapter build upon one another, each chapter can be taught as a separate unit to meet individual class or student needs.
• Each chapter offers different levels of reading selections allowing instructors to adapt to their students' needs.
• Paired readings link each longer, end-of-chapter textbook selection with a short non-textbook excerpt, called "Contemporary Focus," demonstrating the real-world relevance of the text selection.
• "Vocabulary Booster" activities focus on linking and learning words through word parts or word families. These lessons, which introduce more than 200 words, fall at the ends of chapters.
• "Reader's Tip" boxes give easy-to-find advice, condensing strategies for improving reading into practical hints for quick reference.
• A four-color design makes this the most student-friendly and engaging text available.

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