Workbooks, Why Not?

A Spring 2007 presentation by Dorothy Lindsay

Ms. Lindsay is Co-Director of the Mercy Bridges Literacy Program and former teacher and principal. She discusses the benefits and limitations of using workbooks with learners. She suggests the instructional and learning power of alternative methods.

Lindsay begins by inviting listeners to complete a KWL chart, listing what they know about workbooks, what they'd want to learn, and later, what they learned.

The presenter places workbooks on a:

• "Learning pyramid" that shows increased retention rate as engagement increases, and a
• "Taxonomy" scale showing increasing complexity, and a
• "Four Tenets of Literacy" chart listing workbooks and alternative methods for 
  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Listening, and
  • Speaking

Lindsay expands on the tenets by listing for each:

• Workbook advantages
• Workbook limitations, and
• Alternative methods to a workbook

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