Professional+Books

On this page you will find professional books to assist you in moving your students towards higher levels of comprehension.

 [|Deeper Reading] Gallagher, K. (2004). Deeper reading: Comprehending challenging texts, 4-12. Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.   __Deeper Reading__ is a valuable resource for teaching students to attain rich, meaningful understanding from complex texts. Gallagher discusses a five step process for supporting students in this task: focusing the reader, first-draft reading, second-draft reading, collaboration, using metaphor, and student reflection. This is a very helpful model for framing your literacy instruction. In his discussion of each phase, Gallagher includes a practical array of classroom activities that challenge students to move beyond surface level comprehension. The text is targeted for teachers of grades 4-12, but I caution that many of the lessons may be difficult for readers at the young end of this spectrum. However, with modification and a higher level of teacher support, these "deeper" reading activities can be attainable to the younger reader. [|Strategies that Work] Goudvis, A. & Harvey, S. (2007). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension for understanding and engagment. Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.  "We can't tell students to read; we simply have to show them." This is the driving principle behind the book __Strategies that Work__. Goudvis and Harvey provide elementary level teachers with a practical guide for encouraging active reading. It highlights seven strategies to move students towards deeper levels of comprehension. These strategies include making connections, questioning, inferring, visualizing, determining importance, and synthesizing. For each strategy, the authors provide explicit lessons that move across content areas. They also include organizers to "track students' thinking" and provide their readers with real examples of the resulting student work. One of the best features of this book is the list of anchor texts provided in the appendix. It supplies teachers with a multitude book titles to model each of the targeted comprehension strategies. The link provided allows you to preview a large portion of this valuable text. [|Mosaic of Thought]   Keene, O. & Zimmerman, S. (1997). Mosaic of thought: Teaching comprehension in a reader's workshop. New Hampshire: Heinemann.  In the book __Mosaic of Thought__, Keene and Zimmerman take you on journey through the process of deep comprehension. The authors detail five strategies used by proficient readers: making connections, asking questions, creating sensory images, inferring, and synthesizing. They dedicate a full chapter to discussing each of these important skills. Within each chapter, the authors reflect on their own experiences as adult readers. They also provide sample texts which encourage their audience to engage in and reflect on each strategy. In addition, they detail their visits to real classroom where they observe lessons and converse with teachers about their successes and stumbles. This powerful book is recommended for literacy teachers of all grade levels. The one caveat is that this is not a book that can be picked up today and applied in the classroom tomorrow. It does not contain a list of lessons and activities, rather it is a book that shapes your thinking about meaningful comprehension. [|Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading] McGreggor, T. (2007). Comprehension connections: Bridges to strategic reading. New Hampshire: Heinemann. This is another book for deepening comprehension through explicit strategy instruction. What sets this book apart from others are the novel, creative approaches for introducing and reinforcing the strategies. For example, McGreggor suggests creating a "reading salad" to teach making connections, using a rock to focus on questioning, and a paint chip to communicate shades of understanding. These activities are not only motivating and engaging, but they also help make the invisible process of comprehension graspable to the student. Although many of these activities may appear primary, I recently tried some of the techniques with upper elementary students and found them to be very successful. Additional titles to consider for your professional library: [|Teaching for Deep Comprehension]    Dorn, L. & Scoffos, C. (2005). Teaching for deep comprehension: A reading workshop approach. Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

[|Reading with Meaning: Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades] Miller, D. (2002). Reading with meaning: Teaching comprehension in the primary grades. Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.