Author: Cris Tovani , Ellin Oliver Keene

Publisher: Stenhouse Publishers

Pub. in: October, 2000

ISBN: 157110089X

Pages: 140

Measurements: 8.9 x 7.3 x 0.3 inches

Origin of product: USA

Order code: BA00761

Other information: ISBN-13: 978-1571100894

The author Cris Tovani is a nationally known consultant and has received national acclaim for its work in reading comprehension reform.

In this book, Chris Tovani invites you into one of her high school reading workshop classes. This reading workshop class is filled with students who are fluent readers, but who are also unable to comprehend what they read. Also, they have not elected to take the course, resulting in a room full of bored expressions and bad attitudes. The book begins at day one, and as you begin to read, you start to really feel sorry for Tovani, wondering how she is ever going to reach these reluctant students and turn them into better readers. But as she takes you through the class, and you read about each of her strategies, she makes it seem almost effortless. Tovani is able to connect with her students, and it is clear that they quickly gain her respect. You also learn that she herself was a "fake reader" until her 30s! Tovani, a nationally-known reading consultant, continues to teach English and reading at the high school level because of the dedication to helping students.

This book is divided up into three major sections. In the first part of the book, Tovani talks about "fake" readers, and she discusses some of the strategies they use to fool their teachers and pass their classes. This was eye-opening. Tovani herself admits that for book reports, she used to select a very obscure book in the library, copy down what was in the inside flap of the cover, and then hide the book elsewhere in the library so her teacher would never find it! In the second part of the book, Tovani introduces various reading comprehension strategies, and she lets you take a look at how they work on real students in her reading workshop class. Some of these strategies include: setting a purpose for reading, knowing when you're stuck, making connections with unfamiliar subject matter, asking questions of the text, and making inferences. As you read the book, you get a glimpse of how students at first struggle with each of Tovani's lessons, then find success. The last section of the book contains actual tools (worksheets, diaries, etc.) you can provide to your students to aid them in their reading assignments.

Comprehending what we read really is something that most of us take for granted, and it's a skill that is very difficult to teach. Oftentimes, students who struggle with comprehension will simply read the words on a page and expect the meaning to arrive automatically. Tovani also acknowledges that some students want to make their teachers responsible for their thinking. When they are confused, they think that it is the teacher's job to fix it. Tovani tells us that many times, students don't realize that they actually have the tools to change their reading habits themselves. The trick is to make them think about their reading, and in this book, she provides a variety of ways to do so.

- Have a Purpose for Reading Before You Read
- Concentrate and Focus While You Read (Don't Fake Read)
- Think While You Read So You Gain Understanding
- Relate What You Read to What You Already Know
- Diagram What You Read (Preferably in Writing)
- Outline What You Read (Preferably in Writing)

This book presents the problem, offers solutions, and gives teachers many models for running a class that not only goes over what the text means, but how to actually read the text itself.
- From quoting Jeff Lippincott and Brooke Parkinen

Target readers: Middle or high school teacher or students

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