What's It All About
My own example of "marking text" and using post-its to track my thinking!
Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12 is an amazing professional book by Cris Tovani. The book explores how important it is for content area teachers to explicitly teach students how to read and comprehend content-specific text. The information in the book is centered on middle and high school students, although the strategies discussed can easily be adapted for elementary students. Below is a brief overview of each chapter featured in the text:
Chapter 1- “Introduction: ‘I’m the Stupid Lady from Denver…’”: This chapter introduces the premise of the book, which is teaching reading comprehension in content area classrooms. Tovani discusses an example lesson in which she explains that the key to becoming a better reader is learning how to use the strategies that “good readers” automatically use then they are reading.
Chapter 2- “The ‘So What?’ of Reading Comprehension”: This chapter focuses on the wonderful strategy of using double entry diaries (see video for more information on this strategy), which helps students to stop and think while they are reading. The idea behind double entry diaries is for students to make relevant connections to the text they are reading.
Chapter 3- “Parallel Experiences: Tapping the Mother Lode”: This chapter is where Tovani really dives into her beliefs about content area comprehension. For those that don’t believe students don’t need to learn how to read text specific to content areas—she points out examples such as science investigation directions and even blueprints, explaining that students must be able to read these texts, but aren’t going to learn how to read them in their language arts classes.
Chapter 4- “Real Rigor: Connecting Students with Accessible Text”: In this chapter, Tovani explains that texts need to be accessible for students. In order for them to be accessible, they need to be written at a level at which students can comprehend. To help with this, she recommends the use of text sets, which is a grouping of texts on a similar topic. Students can access the same information, while having the opportunity to choose a text that is on their reading level.
Chapter 5- “’Why Am I Reading This?’”: This chapter focuses on the purposes for reading and teaching. In order to actively read, students must have a purpose—your job as a teacher is to either set that purpose or to guide students in setting that purpose for themselves. In my video, I discuss how Cris Tovani sets purposes for teaching, which is through the use of an instructional purposes sheet.
Chapter 6- “Holding Thinking to Remember and Reuse”: This chapter focuses on the use of strategies in order to help students remember what they read. As mentioned in my video, Cris Tovani uses comprehension constructors in order to help students keep track of their thinking.
Chapter 7- “Group Work That Grows Understanding”: In this chapter, Tovani explains how she successfully manages groups. She stresses the importance of modeling appropriate group behaviors, using the “fishbowl strategy” to model what is expected. Each student must contribute his or her own thinking in some way, meaning everyone equally participates.
Chapter 8- “’What Do I Do with All These Sticky Notes?’ Assessment That Drives Instruction”: Tovani explains that assessment does not always need to be in the form of a “test,” but it does always need to drive instruction. She cites strategies such as individual conferences with students and the use of conversation calendars and reading logs in order to assess students’ thinking.
Chapter 9- “’Did I Miss Anything? Did I Miss Everything?’ Last Thoughts”: In her concluding chapter, Tovani relays the importance of not giving up on student progress and for teachers to understand that they will never have all the answers.
Chapter 1- “Introduction: ‘I’m the Stupid Lady from Denver…’”: This chapter introduces the premise of the book, which is teaching reading comprehension in content area classrooms. Tovani discusses an example lesson in which she explains that the key to becoming a better reader is learning how to use the strategies that “good readers” automatically use then they are reading.
Chapter 2- “The ‘So What?’ of Reading Comprehension”: This chapter focuses on the wonderful strategy of using double entry diaries (see video for more information on this strategy), which helps students to stop and think while they are reading. The idea behind double entry diaries is for students to make relevant connections to the text they are reading.
Chapter 3- “Parallel Experiences: Tapping the Mother Lode”: This chapter is where Tovani really dives into her beliefs about content area comprehension. For those that don’t believe students don’t need to learn how to read text specific to content areas—she points out examples such as science investigation directions and even blueprints, explaining that students must be able to read these texts, but aren’t going to learn how to read them in their language arts classes.
Chapter 4- “Real Rigor: Connecting Students with Accessible Text”: In this chapter, Tovani explains that texts need to be accessible for students. In order for them to be accessible, they need to be written at a level at which students can comprehend. To help with this, she recommends the use of text sets, which is a grouping of texts on a similar topic. Students can access the same information, while having the opportunity to choose a text that is on their reading level.
Chapter 5- “’Why Am I Reading This?’”: This chapter focuses on the purposes for reading and teaching. In order to actively read, students must have a purpose—your job as a teacher is to either set that purpose or to guide students in setting that purpose for themselves. In my video, I discuss how Cris Tovani sets purposes for teaching, which is through the use of an instructional purposes sheet.
Chapter 6- “Holding Thinking to Remember and Reuse”: This chapter focuses on the use of strategies in order to help students remember what they read. As mentioned in my video, Cris Tovani uses comprehension constructors in order to help students keep track of their thinking.
Chapter 7- “Group Work That Grows Understanding”: In this chapter, Tovani explains how she successfully manages groups. She stresses the importance of modeling appropriate group behaviors, using the “fishbowl strategy” to model what is expected. Each student must contribute his or her own thinking in some way, meaning everyone equally participates.
Chapter 8- “’What Do I Do with All These Sticky Notes?’ Assessment That Drives Instruction”: Tovani explains that assessment does not always need to be in the form of a “test,” but it does always need to drive instruction. She cites strategies such as individual conferences with students and the use of conversation calendars and reading logs in order to assess students’ thinking.
Chapter 9- “’Did I Miss Anything? Did I Miss Everything?’ Last Thoughts”: In her concluding chapter, Tovani relays the importance of not giving up on student progress and for teachers to understand that they will never have all the answers.