Reading Manipulatives

As we are focusing more on manipulatives in Math, it makes me think of Tanny McGregor's launching sequence from her book Comprehension Connections. It is interesting how often what we are learning about instruction in one subject transfers well to the other subjects. Starting with something concrete in Math helps students visualize, connect and explore. So, why wouldn't it be the same in Reading?! I am beginning to really understand the term "best practices".  Just has the strategies we learn for our ESL students are actually beneficial for all students, the things that work well in a particular subject often times work well in all instruction, regardless of the subject. Makes our lives as educators a little more simple...let's take advantage!