Educators, please click here to request a desk copy.

Key Features of the Ten Steps Series

Focus on the basics.  The book is designed to explain, in a clear, step-by-step way, the essential elements of each skill. Many examples are provided to ensure that students understand each point. In general, the focus is on teaching the skills—not just on explaining them and not just on testing them.

Frequent practice and feedback.  Because abundant practice and careful feedback are essential to learning, this book includes numerous activities. Students can get immediate feedback on the practice exercises in Part One by turning to the limited answer key at the back of the book. The answers to the review and mastery tests in Part One, the reading questions in Part Two, and the relationships and combined-skills tests in Part Three are in the Instructor’s Edition and the Instructor's Manual.

High interest level.  Dull and unvaried readings and exercises work against learning. Students need to experience genuine interest and enjoyment in what they read. Teachers as well should be able to take pleasure in the selections, for their own good feeling about them can carry over favorably into class work. The readings in the book, then, have been chosen not only for the appropriateness of their reading level but also for their compelling content. They should engage students and teachers alike.

Ease of use.  The logical sequence in each chapter—from explanation to example to practice to review tests to mastery tests—helps make the skills easy to teach. The book’s organization into distinct parts also makes for ease of use. Within a single class, for instance, instructors  can work on a particular skill in Part One, review another skill with one or more mastery tests, and provide variety by having students read one of the selections in Part Two. The limited answer key at the back of the book also makes for versatility: the teacher can assign parts of some chapters for self-teaching. Finally, the mastery tests—each on its own tear-out page—and the combined-skills tests make it a simple matter for a teacher to test and evaluate student progress.

Integration of skills.  Students do more than learn the skills individually in Part One. They also learn to apply the skills together through the reading selections in Parts One and Two as well as the combined-skills tests in Part Three. They become effective readers and thinkers through repeated practice in applying a combination of skills.

Thinking activities.  Thinking activities—in the form of outlining, mapping, and summarizing—are a distinctive feature of the book. In addition, four discussion questions at the end of each reading selection encourage student reflection, as do the writing activities that are provided for each selection.

Available electronic resources. This text can be purchased with Ten Steps Plus, a subscription-based collection of digital materials including interactive exercises, mastery tests, assessments, bonus readings, instructional videos, eBooks* of the entire Ten Steps Series, and more than 100 Townsend Library titles. Click here to learn more about subscription options, including discounted digital/textbook bundles.

*eBooks are not included with Ten Steps Plus LE (Limited Edition).

Efficacy Report. Results from a study that examined the impact of the Townsend Press Ten Steps Series on students' reading skills in higher education developmental reading courses are available (full report, short report). This study was conducted by an independent research firm.

Table of Contents

Preface: To the Instructor

How to Become a Better Reader and Thinker


Part One 
Ten Steps to College Reading 

1     Getting Started
        Reading: A Parent Gets a Reading Lesson    Lucia Herndon
        Mastery Tests

2     Dictionary Use  
        Reading: Discovering Words    Malcolm X
        Mastery Tests

3     Vocabulary in Context
        Reading: One Less Sucker Lives    Jeanne R. Smith 
        Mastery Tests
 
4     Main Ideas
        Reading: Classroom Notetaking    Robin White
        Mastery Tests

5     Supporting Details 
        Reading: Winning the Job Interview Game    Marcia Prentergast 
        Mastery Tests
 
6     Finding Main Ideas
        Reading: Learning Survival Skills    Jean Coleman
        Mastery Tests
 
7     Signal Words I
        Reading: Migrant Child to College Woman    Maria Cardenas 
        Mastery Tests

8     Signal Words II
        Reading: Life Over Death    Bill Broderick
        Mastery Tests

9     Inferences 
        Reading: Dare to Think Big    Dr. Ben Carson
        Mastery Tests
 
10   The Basics of Argument 
        Reading: The Shocking State of the American Diet    Adam Taylor 
        Mastery Tests


Part Two
Ten Reading Selections 
 

1. Learning to Read: The Marvel Kretzmann Story    Mary Sherry
2. The Blind Vet    Gail Hoffman
3. The Fist, the Clay, and the Rock    Donald Holland
4. It's Not My Fault    Roger Kennedy  
5. Joe Davis: A Cool Man     Beth Johnson
6. Rosa: A Success Story    Edward Patrick
7. The Lady, or the Tiger?    Frank R. Stockton
8. Dawn's Story    Nancy Kerns
9. Knowledge Is Power    Anna-Maria Petricic
10. What I Believe    John Langan

Part Three
Relationships and Combined Skills

1. Relationship Tests
2. Combined Skills Tests

APPENDIXES 
        Pronunciation Guide 
        Writing Assignments
        Limited Answer Key 
 
Acknowledgments
Index
Reading Performance Chart