Some Comments About Text Reconstruction
as an Instructional Method
 

"Using (Whimbey's)… How to Analyze, Organize, and Write Effectively and similar exercises with a wide range of students, I obtained gains of between 3.0 grade levels and 6.2 grade levels per year of instruction, as assessed by the Woodcock/Johnson Revised 'writing sample' test.  How to Analyze, Organize, and Write Effectively is the best text for improving writing skills I have ever seen…"   

Nathan Crow, Principal
Littleton Preparatory Charter School, Colorado    

National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin: In text reconstruction "students’ reading skills ... improve by the increased accuracy the reordering process requires. The great payoff for writing competencies ... is the enhancement of logical organization, a major problem in many student papers."

"Text reconstruction helps students understand the general / specific pattern for organizing ideas better than any other method I’ve used."

Professor Ed Vavra
Pennsylvania College of Technology

"I am currently teaching the first two sections of "Reading, Thinking, and Writing" this Spring Quarter. The central text is Analytical Reading and Reasoning by Dr. Arthur Whimbey. The feedback from both students and instructors has been extremely positive and we have also added a critical thinking course as an elective which will begin next year using Problem Solving and Comprehension by Whimbey. We owe Dr. Whimbey a tremendous debt of gratitude."

Steve Whipple, Dept. Chair
General Studies Department
St. Cloud Technical College

(comments selected from
a letter to Whimbey)

From Urban Educator, the publication of the Council of the Great City Schools: "Text reconstruction, correctly ordering a set of sentences to form a coherent story, teaches organization of ideas and the logical sequence of events."

"In learning to walk, children need a physical object to hold onto for support. Similarly, in learning to write well, students need a structure for support. This program provides that structure. We like it very much."

Vera M. White, Principal
Thomas Jefferson Junior High School
Washington, D.C.
Two-Time Presidential Award Winner

(comments on a workbook with text
reconstruction by Whimbey, Williams,
and Linden.)