About the Author

This is a picture of me, Rachel Winchel, in summer 2024 after riding my bike halfway across Iowa with my kids. Why did I choose this picture? Well, I am more than just a person who teaches writing and English as a Second Language online. We all have our personal hobbies, interests, and families that make us who we are. My hobbies are part of who I am and I want to celebrate that. I also want to celebrate you and give you a chance to share about yourself in the classroom. I have been teaching since 2009, but that is also just a part of who I am as a person. It is my hope that with this free open source textbook, you are able to learn and improve your reading skills to be successful in not just your college classes, but also at work, or at home helping your kids with their homework. I want you to gain the confidence that says “HEY, I just read a huge article and now I am realizing that with the right skills and training, I can do you anything.”

I didn’t just ride my bike across Iowa on a whim. This was a dream in process over several years and with several pauses for raising babies. In order to train, I rode my bike over 300 miles a month for 5 months and I plan to do it again. You also need to train and practice reading to improve and build your confidence. Yes, you can do it and you have to start by engaging with the textbook and with your instructor and classmates. Will you hate reading sometimes? Yes, probably just as I hate my bike sometimes, but you know what, I grab a snack, a refreshing beverage, and I keep going and it feels awesome when I reach that finish.

If you are teaching and you found this book, I hope you clone it. I hope you make changes to it. I hope you add to it to make it relevant for your own classes.  I hope you put your own picture here and I hope you keep going even when you want to give up.

Dr. Susannah M. Givens has been searching for the perfect textbook for her developmental reading and writing courses since she started teaching at Northern Virginia Community College in 2004.

Many texts include an overwhelming amount of information, are too expensive, or lack engaging readings. Other developmental English texts tend to focus mostly on writing while glossing over critical reading practices that are essential for students to apply in their college courses. After many years of thinking, “I should write my own text,” Dr. Givens finally did to address the gaps she had identified.  

As states and colleges have redesigned (and re-redesigned) developmental English programs, course offerings and credit hours have shrunk, leaving faculty with limited instructional time and the need to distill the most essential practices for students to gain before entering English composition. This text is an attempt to provide a free resource that will target those essential practices.