1st Edition

Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12

By Cris Tovani Copyright 2004

    Do I really have to teach reading? This is a question many teachers ask, wondering how they can add a new element to an overloaded curriculum. The answer is yes; if teachers want their students to learn complex new concepts in different disciplines, they need to help develop their students’ reading skills.In Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12 , author Cris Tovani takes on the challenge of helping students apply reading comprehension strategies in any subject. Tovani shows how teachers can expand on their content expertise to provide the instruction students need to understand specific technical and narrative texts. Inside the book you’ll find:

      Examples of how teachers can model their reading process for students Ideas for supplementing and enhancing the use of required textbooks Detailed descriptions of specific strategies taught in context Stories from different high school classrooms to show how reading instruction varies according to content Samples of student work, including both struggling readers and college-bound seniors Comprehension Constructors : guides designed to help students recognize and capture their thinking in writing while reading Guidance on assessing students Tips for balancing content and reading instruction
    Tovani’s humor, honesty, and willingness to share her own struggles as a teacher make this a unique take on content reading instruction that will be valuable to reading teachers as well as content specialists.

    1: Introduction: “I'm the Stupid Lady from Denver …”; 2: The “So What?” of Reading Comprehension; 3: Parallel Experiences: Tapping the Mother Lode; 4: Real Rigor: Connecting Students with Accessible Text; 5: “Why Am I Reading This?”; 6: Holding Thinking to Remember and Reuse; 7: Group Work That Grows Understanding; 8: “What Do I Do with All These Sticky Notes?” Assessment That Drives Instruction; 9: “Did I Miss Anything? Did I Miss Everything?” Last Thoughts

    Biography

    Cris T Tovani taught elementary school for ten years before becoming a high school reading specialist and English teacher. In In addition to teaching full-time, full-time, she is a nationally known known consultant focusing on issues of reading and content comprehension in in the high school classroom. Cris has also worked for many years as a staff developer for the Denver-based-based Public Education and Business Coalition (PEBC), the consortium that that has received national acclaim for its work in in r reading comprehension reform. She is the author of the book I Read It, It, but I don’t Get It (Stenhouse(Stenhouse 2000).

    "All in all, Tovani has written a nicely approachable book that practices what she preaches. Do I Really Have to Teach Reading isn't just about teaching students, but about teaching ourselves." - Education Review
    "A wonderful resource." - School Library Journal