This book is a compilation of four primary texts, which we significantly remixed and edited, as well as original compositions of our own. The basis for the organization and the majority of the first two chapters of this book are adapted from Fran Bozarth’s Reading & Writing for Learning1. Bozarth’s opening chapter provides a clear focus for students entering college—they must create a basis for learning.  We supplemented these chapters with material and activities from both Marken2 and Martinez, et al.3, which are comprehensive courses dedicated to helping students learn strategies for success in academia. Unit 2 is Bozarth’s work on vocabulary skills, with a few edits and a bit of composition from us. We used portions of Babin, et al.4 to develop Unit 3, which directs students to analysis and reflection on literary texts, necessary skills for moving forward in college courses. The final chapters go back to material from Bozarth, but also contain significant original contributions of our own. The course finishes with a focus on comprehending authorship and authority, literacy, and persuasion in academic/professional texts.

In addition to the amazing content from our fellow collaborators, special thanks go to Delta College’s Librarians and the Instructional Support Team, without whom we wouldn’t have been able to complete this book.

What an honor it has been to collaborate with these talented and dedicated educators. We are grateful for the opportunity to create this text for our developmental reading students. As a result of the challenges and surprising fulfillment of creating this book, we have become dedicated to the use of open educational resources (OER) for our students in all classes. We believe that free resources for education is a stepping stone to a worldwide literacy; those who didn’t have access before, now do.

Many, many thanks,

Amee Schmidt & Donald Winter

1. Fran Bozarth, Reading & Writing for Learning https://www.oercommons.org/courses/reading-writing-for-learning-course-materials
2. Liv Marken, Strategies for Academic Success http://openpress.usask.ca/strategiesforacademicsuccess/
3. Graciela Martinez, et. al, Student Success http://www.canyons.edu/Offices/library/Documents/Counseling%20150%20Textbook%20Version%201.pdf
4. Monique Babin, et al. The Word on College Reading and Writing https://www.oercommons.org/courses/the-word-on-college-reading-and-writing